New Mexico Board of Pharmacy to Hear Petition to Limit Exposure to Aspartame and Thimerosal

Dr. Kenneth Stoller, Santa Fe Pediatrician and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico, School of Medicine, has released the text of his remarks to be made on November 14th 2005, at the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy's next meeting.

Santa Fe, NM (PRWEB) November 10, 2005 -- Dr. Kenneth Stoller, Santa Fe Pediatrician and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico, School of Medicine, has released the text of his remarks to be made on November 14th 2005, at the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy's next meeting.

He is requesting that the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy issue an immediate advisory so that all New Mexicans who desire to receive the current flu vaccine receive information about what is being injected in terms of the amount of neurotoxic mercury in the vaccine, which is a labeling omission, and thus a violation of the New Mexico Drug Act (NMSA 2-1-9). Stoller further requests that the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy prohibit the use of this flu vaccine containing thimerosal to all New Mexico pregnant woman and children under 50 lbs.

Speech to new mexico pharmacy board on november (Advance copy):

"There is an acute public health issue that very few understand even though several states have banned or limited the use of vaccines containing Thimerosal. In the months and years to come this iatrogenic poisoning of Americans and New Mexicans will be fully understood; what you decide to do here today will be noted in the not too distant future.

The mercury-based preservative, Thimerosal (49.6% ethyl mercury), has been used in killed bacterial vaccines since the 1930’s without ever having undergone adequate testing for toxicity. In the past two decades, as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have added many more vaccines containing Thimerosal to the routine vaccination schedule for all children and states have mandated these vaccines, children have been exposed to much higher levels of mercury through vaccination. During this same time period, childhood developmental disabilities have dramatically increased to the point where today the CDC estimates 1 in 6 American children is developmentally delayed with a diagnosis of autism, learning disabilities, attention problems or other learning or behavioral problems. The CDC estimates that 1 in 166 American children has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (the incidence in boys is more like 1 in every 100). Clinical and scientific evidence is now emerging which is linking mercury-containing vaccines to the regressive type of autism in some children. There has been a 2000% increase in reported cases of autism in New Mexico in the last decade.

Mercury is an incontrovertibly proven neuro-toxin that has been proven to cause brain damage in the developing fetus as well as to children and adults exposed to it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed guidelines for limiting mercury exposures to humans from many different sources, including air and water pollution; contaminated foods, such as tuna; as well as in products sold over-the-counter, such as contact lens solution.

In 1999, the AAP and the Public Health Service (PHS) asked that Thimerosal be eliminated in childhood vaccines, and the EPA and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) directed the vaccine manufacturers to remove mercury from childhood vaccines. This did not occur immediately, and six years later, has still not yet been fully realized.

Since 1999, vaccine manufacturers have been reducing the amount of mercury preservatives in killed bacterial vaccines (live virus vaccines such as MMR and chicken pox do not contain Thimerosal) and some now only contain trace amounts, depending upon the vaccine manufacturer, type of vaccine and whether the vaccine is being packaged in multi-dose or single-dose vials. Single-dose vials of killed bacterial vaccines usually only contain trace amounts of mercury.

The thimerosal vaccines were never recalled and lots of the thimerosal vaccines didn’t expire till September of this year. So, it has only been in the last two years that most children stopped receiving most of the thimerosal laden routine vaccinations.

In 1995, a 10 pound two month old infant who got the CDC and AAP recommended DPT and HIB vaccines could have been 110 times over the EPA limit and an 18 pound six month old given the recommended DPT, HIB, and Hep B vaccines could have been 76 times over the EPA limit, depending upon the manufacturers of the vaccines.

Ten years later, in 2005, a 10 pound two month old baby who receives the recommended DTaP, HIB, IPV, and pneumococcal vaccines may or may not be at all over the EPA limit for single mercury exposure, depending upon the manufacturers, while an 18 pound six month old who got these vaccines as well as a dose of flu vaccine, could be 31 times over the EPA limit.

A 125 pound teenager or adult, who gets a recommended flu and meningococcal vaccination, could be 4-8 times over the EPA limit for a single mercury exposure, depending upon the manufacturers. A teen or adult who got a mercury-containing flu vaccine would have to weigh 551 pounds to be under the EPA limit for a single mercury exposure.

On January 14, 2005, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR from the HHS/CDC printed a white paper entitled “Case Definitions for Chemical Poisoning.” On page 12, the definition for organic mercury toxicity is defined as >10 mcg/L in whole blood. In other words, aside form the EPA, we now have the CDC stating what their definition of a chemical toxicity is for organic mercury.

All the flu vaccine destined for children three years old and older in New Mexico contain thimerosal, which means they will be receiving 25 mcg of organic mercury per dose.

A rough estimate of total blood is 16% of body weight. So, for a 30 lb. child (13.64 kilograms or liters, which is the average weight of a 3 year old), this would be 13.64 X 0.16 = 2.18 liters of blood.

All the ethylmercury moves thru the bloodinitially at 25mcg/2.18L or 11.48 mcg/liter. This meets the definition of a chemical toxicity by the CDC. However, ethylmercury doesn't stay in the blood long and is assimilated into the body where it does the damage to the brain and potentially other organs as well, such as the heart.

Giving a three year old child the flu vaccine will raise their blood level of organic mercury beyond what the CDC has defined as a chemical poisoning.

Furthermore, the MMWR toxicity level of 10mcg/liter is based on mercury inhalation of older factory workers and also on individuals with normal ability to excrete mercury. This does not represent the subsets, such as autistic children, that are deficient in their ability to excrete mercury.

Therefore, the current flu vaccine will deliver a dose of organic mercury to 3 year old that meets the definition of a chemical poisoning by the MMWR, CDC and HHS. Furthermore, the recommended schedule requires that this dose be given twice (one month apart).

It is of interest to note that the EPA considers any material that has greater than 200 ppb of mercury to be hazardous waste. The flu vaccine, as well as tetanus booster, has thimerosal levels that exceed this value by 250 times or 50,000 ppb mercury.

The Manufacturer’s inserts, the package labeling, do not address nor do they warn about the dangerous levels of organic mercury being given. This omission is in violation of the New Mexico Drug Act, section 26-1-9.

Given that most New Mexicans have yet to receive this year’s flu vaccine, thanks to delivery delays, there is still time for the Board of Pharmacy to issue an advisory that informs the public of this labeling oversight if action is taken immediately. The violation of the Drug Act was not caught before now, but having so come to the fore, the Board of Pharmacy must take immediate action to defend the health and welfare of the citizens of our state, and uphold the integrity of the existing statues of the NM Drug Act itself.

Even though I have just presented the cold facts about thimerosal (facts that can be backed up with references) – we all wonder, “How can this be? How did it come to this? How was this allowed to happen?” We must leave the answers to these questions to others. Perhaps the State Attorney General’s office?

Nevertheless, we have a responsibility to perform here and the Board of Pharmacy has the regulatory power to perform it. As the truth about Thimerosal and Aspartame becomes better know to our state's citizens, New Mexicans will expect no less of their Board of Pharmacy.

Proposed Additions to New Mexico Administrative Code that permanently bans the use of the neurotoxins thimerosal and aspartame have been presented to you to act upon. Giving neurotoxins to children, pregnant woman, and the rest of us under the guise of improving our health is a violation of human rights as well as numerous New Mexico Statutes. Certainly, there is absolutely no need for you to capitulate to industry's demands of acquiescence and capitulation to the FDA and its sloppy industry-manipulated substandards, both in the case of Aspartame and in the case of Thimerosal.

Please schedule the necessary evidentiary hearings before the Board of Pharmacy at your earliest convenience.

I am requesting that you issue an immediate advisory so that all New Mexicans who desire to receive the current flu vaccine receive information about what is being injected as there has been a labeling omission (violation). And lastly, I request that you prohibit the use of this flu vaccine that contains thimerosal to all pregnant woman and children under 50 lbs.

Thank you."

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Posted by Becca

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