Burton Seeks Review Of Data Suggesting Link Between Autism, Toxins
also see What Dan Burton said
and THE AUTISM CRISIS: ARE WE MAKING PROGRESS?

A key House Republican plans to pressure federal health agencies to
examine data that may link autism with exposure to toxic chemicals. The
push could lead to increased research dollars as scientists start to
examine whether environmental toxins have contributed to skyrocketing cases
of autism over the past two decades.

Dan Burton (R-IN), chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on
Wellness and Human Rights, said at a Nov. 20 hearing that federal agencies
should consider “alternative” research and therapies that examine the
connection between exposure to petrochemicals, pesticides and metals such
as mercury and tin. “Maybe we can get scientists at EPA, the FDA and the
[Department of Health and Human Services] to take a closer look at these therapies,” Burton told
Chemical Policy Alert.

The committee heard testimony from Stephen Edelson, founder of the
Edelson Center for Environmental and Preventative Medicine in Atlanta.
Edelson said that when treating autism patients, he noticed heightened
levels of petrochemicals and heavy metals in the blood of autistic
children. Edelson claimed he has been able to reverse autistic behaviors in
children through a treatment known as “chelation,” in which doctors inject
patients with an amino acid that they say cleanses the body of toxins.

But Edelson warned that his work needed to be verified clinically by
scientific researchers. “I am not a researcher,” Edelson said. “I am a
therapist.”

Burton asked Edelson to gather and submit his data to the committee. The
congressman said he would urge government scientists to examine the data on
an expedited schedule, saying the rigorous studies that are the standard
for the government when endorsing medical conclusions slow action in the
face of public health emergencies.

Chelation is a widely accepted treatment for metal poisoning from lead and
other heavy metals, but its effectiveness in treating a broader range of
illnesses, including autism, has not been verified in case-controlled
studies where children were given a placebo treatment instead of actual
chelation. No federal agency or major medical professional association has
endorsed chelation therapy.

Rick Rollens, a researcher at the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of
California at Davis, said the institute was conducting research on the
connections between exposure to toxins and incidence of autism. Rollens
said that his center would begin publishing studies in early 2003 that will
examine the connection between autism and exposures to toxins such as
petrochemicals, pesticides and heavy metals.

In particular, the M.I.N.D. Institute and the UC-Davis Center for
Children’s Environmental Health are conducting what the institute says is
the first-ever “major” epidemiological case-control study to examine the
genetic and environmental factors that may trigger autism in children. The
study is examining 2,000 California children.

The potential link between chemical exposures and autism is not a new issue
for lawmakers. As part of the bill establishing the Department of Homeland
Security, Republicans included a provision sought by manufacturers of a
mercury-based vaccine preservative known as thimerosol that would protect
them from class-action lawsuits over alleged adverse health effects from
the preservative. Vaccine manufacturers faced an avalanche of lawsuits from
parents alleging that the vaccine preservative caused their children’s autism.

The incidence of autism has skyrocketed in the past two decades. California
recently reported that the autism cases diagnosed in the state between 1998
and 2002 doubled, an increase that mirrors those in other states. Some have
shown that the incidence of autism in California is now as high as
one-in-150 births. Scientists, however, have yet to
find a connection between thimerosol exposure, or exposure to other
chemicals, and autism. -- Chemical Policy Alert

Date: December 1, 2003
© Inside Washington Publishers

What Dan Burton said to the House Members:
 
http://www.house.gov/burton/autism.htm

Mr. Burton: Madam speaker, as we approach the flu season, many of my
colleagues will visit the doctor's office here on Capitol Hill and receive
a flu shot. Before they go, I think all of my colleagues ought to know that
the flu shot contains mercury, which is a substance that's toxic to the
human brain. Now, that's not to say that you shouldn't get your flu shot if
you want to, but there are a lot of neurological disorders that have been
caused by mercury and I think everybody ought to know that there is mercury
in that vaccine. Now, that's not the only vaccine that contains thimerosal.
>From anthrax to hepatitis to dtap, which is given to infants to protect
them, numerous vaccines exist that contain mercury, a harmful preservative.
Parents around this country I am sure would be very upset if they knew
that. Scientific evidence continues to accumulate regarding the
biologically plausible connection between mercury and thimerosal, autism
and other neurological, developmental disorders.

 Yet several well-known and firmly established pharmaceutical companies
continue to put mercury into vaccines as a preservative, and it's never
been tested. That's very interesting. Although the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration asked vaccine manufacturers to begin removing the
mercury-laden preservative from vaccines in 1999, they didn't order them to
do it, and so the pharmaceutical companies continue to put that in our
vaccines. 

During my tenure as chairman of the house government reform committee, a
myriad of scientists testified at a series of hearings before the Committee
that mercury in vaccines is a contributing factor to developing
neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and autism in
children. 15 years ago, one out of every 10,000 children were autistic. Now
it's one out of 150 and many scientists believe that's because of the
mercury in vaccines. In May of this year, the California department of
developmental services released a report entitled "autistic  spectrum
disorders, changes in California and the caseload," 1999 to 2002. The
findings are very alarming. California's autistic population has nearly
doubled in four years, from 10,360 cases in 1968 to over 20,000 cases in
2002. This growth rate represents a 97% increase in just four years and
nearly 100% increase in California's caseload since 1999. And they're not
alone. The rate of growth in the population of persons with autism across
this country is really horrible. It's very bad in states such as Georgia,
Minnesota, and Massachusetts. We have an absolute epidemic on our hands,
and if this trend is allowed to continue at a constant rate, we could have
as many as four million autistic children in America in the next 10 years. 

Despite a growing body of science linking autism to mercury and thimerosal,
the protests of hundreds of thousands of concerned parents across the
country, the pharmaceutical industry continues to put mercury into vaccines
for both children and adults even  though they know mercury is toxic to the
human brain. Pharmaceutical caps are concerned they may be held liable for
brain damage caused by the mercury-based preservative which is still found
in childhood vaccines, diphtheria, hepatitis b, and the flu shots. Because
of these liability concerns, language was inserted at the last minute in
the homeland security bill to protect the pharmaceutical industry from
class-action lawsuits. However, because we caught it, we were able to get
it out of there because a lot of members of the House and Senate thought it
was terrible what they did. But numerous scientists have testified that
there is a simple way to prevent this and that's to go to single shot
vials, those little glass containers. You wouldn't have to put thimerosal
or any preservative in you -- preservative in if you did that. This could
have a positive impact in helping to minimize and perhaps eliminate some of
the cases of Alzheimer’s and autism and other neurological disorders
linked to mercury. This is something that the pharmaceutical companies must
address and our food and drug administration and our health agencies are
asleep at the switch, and they're letting children and adults be damaged
day after day after day by allowing mercury to continue to be put into
vaccines for adults and children. We have a growing number of people who
are becoming Alzheimer’s patients, a dramatically growing number. We have
one in 10,000 children 10 years ago that were autistic. Now it's one in 150
and scientists before my committee say it's because in large part of the
mercury in the vaccines. We have to get the FDA on the stick. They have to
demand that pharmaceutical products have mercury taken out of them very,
very quickly. If not we will continue to have an epidemic on our hands that
America doesn't need and shouldn't tolerate.

http://www.house.gov/burton/pr112003.htm

THE AUTISM CRISIS: ARE WE MAKING PROGRESS? 

            Washington, D.C. - Nationwide, as many as 1.5 million Americans
are believed to have some form of autism spectrum disorder, and Congressman
Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on
Human Rights and Wellness, wants to know what the Federal government is
doing about it.   

            As part of a continuing investigation into the growing autism
epidemic, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness will hold a hearing
entitled, “The Future Challenges of Autism: A Survey of the Ongoing
Initiatives in the Federal Government to Address the Epidemic.” The
oversight hearing will be held on Thursday, November 20, 2003, in Room 2154
of the Rayburn House Office Building at 2:00 p.m. 

            “In the past, autism was considered a rare disease, affecting
roughly 1 in 10,000 children,” stated Chairman Burton.  “Today, even
conservative estimates of autism rates in the United States indicate that 1
in every 500 children is afflicted with the neurodevelopmental disorder,
while other scientific studies reported in the Journal of American Medical
Association have observed rates as high as 1 in every 150 children are
affected, and the problem only continues to escalate.”  

            Continued Chairman Burton, “It is absolutely imperative for our
Federal government together with our various health agencies to finally
address this epidemic head on so that once and for all we can determine
what is causing this surge in autism rates and how to stop it.  To that
end, I believe the autism conference being sponsored this week by Health
and Human Services Secretary Thompson, and Education Secretary Paige is an
extremely positive first step.”

              The United States government has rightfully begun to
acknowledge the present and future public health implications of the autism
epidemic, and are currently conducting and funding research into the
causation and frequency of the disorder.  In addition to funding research
into autism spectrum disorders, the Federal government has also provided
programs to assist families of autistic individuals with some of the
financial costs associated with the care-taking of persons with autism.
Dr. Peter Van Dyke from the Health Resources and Services Administration
with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been invited to
testify to these initiatives, as well as to provide information on how U.S.
citizens may apply to receive these benefits. 

            Medical professionals have made great progress in recent years
developing treatments and therapies that have been shown to benefit
autistic individuals.  Mr. Rick Rollens, Co-Founder of the M.I.N.D.
Institute at the University of California - Davis, has been invited to
speak on the current research that the institute is conducting in regard to
autism, as well as to discuss therapies that the institute has found useful
in the treatment of autistic patients.  In addition, Dr. Stephen Edelson,
M.D., F.A.A.E.M. and Director of the Edelson Center for Environmental and
Preventative Medicine, has been invited to testify on the treatments that
his center has provided to persons with developmental disabilities, and how
these therapies have provided a better quality of life for patients.   

PANEL ONE WITNESSES: 

Dr. Peter Van Dyke

Associate Administrator

Office of Maternal and Child Health Bureau

Health Resources and Services Administration

United States Department of Health & Human Services 

PANEL TWO WITNESSES: 
Ms. Ilene Schwartz
Director 
Center for Training Personnel to Provide Evidence-Based Educational
Services to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Representing United States Department of Education Initiatives Mr. Rick
Rollens
Co-Founder

M.I.N.D. Institute

University of California Davis 
Dr. Stephen Edelson
Director

Edelson Center for Environmental and Preventative Medicine 
Ms. Colleen Pettinati
Mother of Two Autistic Children 

            For more information regarding Chairman Burton’s ongoing autism
investigation, or to see hearing resource materials, please visit the
Subcommittee’s website at www.reform.house.gov/WHR.