There is an opinion going around that it was Sen. John McCain’s statement that once again triggered the controversy that thimerosal-laden vaccine is the cause of autism. Actually, if we follow the timeline given in the media, it was a court decision that seems to have sparked MacCain’s statement.
There have been a number of studies that say there is no direct evidence to show that thimerosal causes autism. Thimerosal, a preservative added to vaccines to prevent bacteria contamination, breaks down as ethyl mercury in the human body.
Is McCain’s statement a savvy political move, a case of grandstanding based on ignorance to gain media mileage, McCain being the Republican boy in the U.S. Presidential elections?
Perhaps, the more relevant question is who commissioned the studies and whether these persons or entities were likely to have been held liable for payment of millions of dollars in damages had there been even the smallest iota of probability that thimerosal is linked to autism. In short, has anyone looked into whether the very same drug companies selling thimerosal-laden vaccines in the past were even indirectly responsible for these studies. See, it is curious why despite the conclusion that thimerosal does not cause autism, drug companies still saw it fit to remove thimerosal in vaccines over ten years ago.
