{"id":3324,"date":"2025-06-26T15:13:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/what-to-know-about-thimerosal-a-target-of-rfk-jr-s-new-cdc-vaccine-advisers\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:13:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:13:53","slug":"what-to-know-about-thimerosal-a-target-of-rfk-jr-s-new-cdc-vaccine-advisers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/what-to-know-about-thimerosal-a-target-of-rfk-jr-s-new-cdc-vaccine-advisers\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about thimerosal, a target of RFK Jr.\u2019s new CDC vaccine advisers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/action-bar\/instances\/cmc9pists000r26qgcdqbd797@published\" data-label-id-prefix=\"action-bar-start-of-article\" class=\"action-bar\" 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class=\"follow-topics-bar_overlay__fade follow-topics-bar_overlay__fade--hide\"><\/div>\n<p>                      See all topics              <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"action-bar__action-sheet--action\" data-title=\"share options\">\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/social-share\/instances\/cmc9pists000u26qg0ieb10z9@published\" class=\"social-share_labelled-list\">\n<div class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links vossi-social-share_labelled-list\" data-type=\"share-links\">        <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dialog\/share?app_id=80401312489&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F06%2F25%2Fhealth%2Fthimerosal-controversy-rfk-explained&amp;display=popup\" data-type=\"facebook\" aria-label=\"share with facebook\" title=\"Share with Facebook\">                                <span class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links--label\">Facebook<\/span>        <\/button>        <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Check%20out%20this%20article%3A&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F06%2F25%2Fhealth%2Fthimerosal-controversy-rfk-explained\" data-type=\"x\" aria-label=\"share with x\" title=\"Share with X\">                                <span class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links--label\">Tweet<\/span>        <\/button>                                        <span class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links--label\">Email<\/span>                <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/06\/25\/health\/thimerosal-controversy-rfk-explained\" data-type=\"copy\" aria-label=\"copy link to clipboard\" title=\"Copy link to clipboard\">                                <span class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links--label\">Link<\/span>        <\/button>        <\/p>\n<div class=\"social-share_labelled-list__copied\" data-type=\"message\">                        Link Copied!        <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>    <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__open\" data-type=\"open\" aria-label=\"open social share\" title=\"Open social share\">            <\/button>    <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__close\" data-type=\"close\" aria-label=\"close social share\" title=\"Close social share\">            <\/button><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"action-bar__buttons\">            <button class=\"action-bar__button\" data-title=\"follow\">                                        Follow            <\/button>            <button class=\"action-bar__button\" data-title=\"share options\">                                <\/button>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pists000t26qg7phi2asb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            A century ago, one of the biggest safety concerns about vaccines involved bacterial contamination. In 1916, four young children died in South Carolina after receiving typhoid vaccine that had been contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Twelve years later, 12 children in Queensland, Australia, died from tainted immunizations against diphtheria.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmccklfmq00053b6mvnf3amap@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            In the 1930s, vaccine makers began using a preservative called thimerosal to stave off microbial growth in their products. For the next six decades, it didn\u2019t receive much notice; ill effects appeared limited to minor local injection-site reactions, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0005356mh4k6egvj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            That changed in 1999, when US health officials asked pharmaceutical companies to remove thimerosal from vaccines. There was no evidence that it caused harm in the quantities used, but thimerosal contains a form of mercury, and questions had emerged about whether it could cause neurotoxicity when given in childhood vaccinations.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0006356mvc61vd0p@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Vaccine makers have removed it from all but a few shots, such as multidose vials of flu vaccine. In the meantime, subsequent studies have confirmed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and neurodevelopmental issues, including autism, and autism rates have continued to rise.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0007356m4p1ym41u@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            So public health experts were puzzled when the preservative appeared on the agenda for this week\u2019s meeting of outside vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0008356mc0bv7vyv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cI actually don\u2019t know any pediatric practices that even use that multidose influenza vaccine,\u201d said Dr. Sean O\u2019Leary, a pediatrician at Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado and former liaison to the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, for the American Academy of Pediatrics.    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/related-content\/instances\/cmcb1flic00093b6mzm1p437c@published\" data-component-name=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content-elevate related-content--article\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<header class=\"related-content__title related-content__title-text\" data-editable=\"content.title\">Related article<\/header>\n<section class=\"related-content__body\">\n<div class=\"related-content__image image__related-content\">\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmcaezkc6002d27p0ede2aie1@published\" class=\"image-elevate image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"c-GettyImages-2221878043.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--eq-large&quot;: 660}\" data-original-ratio=\"0.6754166666666667\" data-original-height=\"1621\" data-original-width=\"2400\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/c-gettyimages-2221878043.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--show-credits&quot;: 525}\">           <\/div>\n<div class=\"image__metadata-container media__metadata-container\">\n<div class=\"image__metadata media__metadata\">\n<div class=\"image__caption attribution\">    <span data-editable=\"metaCaption\" class=\"inline-placeholder\">US Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing pressure from lawmakers over his newly appointed vaccine panel that&#8217;s set to meet for the first time this week.<\/span>  <\/div><figcaption class=\"image__credit\">Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"related-content__headline\">        <span class=\"related-content__headline-text\" data-editable=\"content.headline\">Pressure builds on Kennedy\u2019s vaccine panel ahead of first meeting<\/span>      <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0009356m1wnianqn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The group is meeting on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time since US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the committee\u2019s previous 17 members, claiming they had conflicts of interest, and days later installed eight new advisers. Public health experts and lawmakers have called into question the credentials and backgrounds of some of the new panelists, and just before the meeting began, one member withdrew during the financial holdings review, an HHS spokesman said, bringing the panel down to seven.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pkt7300003b6m63k02sy4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            A presentation \u201cregarding thimerosal in vaccines\u201d is scheduled for Thursday morning, followed by \u201cproposed recommendations\u201d specifically about thimerosal in flu vaccines, according to an agenda posted Monday. The meeting is scheduled to conclude with a vote on the latter, a move that could lead to official CDC policy if adopted by agency leadership \u2013 or, without a confirmed director in place, by Kennedy.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000a356mp0k2ib24@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The last-minute addition of thimerosal to the agenda was a red flag for vaccine experts, who consider the science settled and fear that Kennedy \u2013 who led an anti-vaccine group called Children\u2019s Health Defense \u2013 is seeking to sow doubt about vaccine safety. Another former Children\u2019s Health Defense leader, Lyn Redwood, is slated to make a presentation on the topic at the meeting.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000b356mluk6aumy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Here\u2019s how thimerosal became such a hot-button issue.    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"subheader inline-placeholder subheader-elevate vossi-subheader vossi-subheader--size-h2\" data-editable=\"text\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/subheader\/instances\/cmc9pk8kx001j356m01hlo7eb@published\" data-component-name=\"subheader\" id=\"a-focus-on-mercury\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">        A focus on mercury<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000d356m5n8eotlj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            In 1997, Rep. Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat concerned about mercury pollution in his community\u2019s lakes and rivers, attached an amendment to a US Food and Drug Administration reauthorization bill that would require the agency to catalogue intentionally introduced mercury compounds in drugs and food.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000e356mwh4d1pk9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            That led to a possibly<strong> <\/strong>startling discovery: \u201cAs people looked in vaccines, there was the potential that, by six months of age, infants could have received more thimerosal than was listed in several sources of what was considered safe levels of mercury,\u201d said Dr. Walter Orenstein, who was director of the National Immunization Program at the CDC at the time.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000f356mnflu3t73@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            But those limits were set for methylmercury, the kind found in some fish, which is known to be toxic. Thimerosal contains ethylmercury, a different compound that\u2019s \u201cintrinsically less stable, and more readily metabolized, than methylmercury,\u201d said Dr. Matthew Rand, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester who studies mercury toxicity.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000g356mcsrnbx70@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            That means it\u2019s cleared from the body more quickly than methylmercury, according to the CDC, \u201cand is therefore less likely to cause any harm.\u201d The FDA notes that there were no existing guidelines for ethylmercury.    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/related-content\/instances\/cmcb1fztc000b3b6m8i4g8bcd@published\" data-component-name=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content-elevate related-content--article\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<header class=\"related-content__title related-content__title-text\" data-editable=\"content.title\">Related article<\/header>\n<section class=\"related-content__body\">\n<div class=\"related-content__image image__related-content\">\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmc28ztc9009e26p2esg1cogs@published\" class=\"image-elevate image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"c-GettyImages-1242380416.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--eq-large&quot;: 660}\" data-original-ratio=\"0.6670833333333334\" data-original-height=\"1601\" data-original-width=\"2400\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/c-gettyimages-1242380416.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--show-credits&quot;: 525}\">           <\/div>\n<div class=\"image__metadata-container media__metadata-container\">\n<div class=\"image__metadata media__metadata\">\n<div class=\"image__caption attribution\">    <span data-editable=\"metaCaption\" class=\"inline-placeholder\">The first meeting of eight newly installed vaccine advisers to the CDC will start on Wednesday.<\/span>  <\/div><figcaption class=\"image__credit\">Nathan Posner\/Anadolu Agency\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"related-content__headline\">        <span class=\"related-content__headline-text\" data-editable=\"content.headline\">CDC vaccine advisers to vote on thimerosal in flu shots at first meeting of new panel<\/span>      <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000h356myvbnzuhn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Still, the finding led to a number of emergency meetings among federal health officials and outside groups to determine what should be done, Orenstein recalled.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000i356mk8khri1c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cWhile there was no evidence of harm from thimerosal, the general feeling was, \u2018let\u2019s get rid of it, because we don\u2019t need it,\u2019 \u201d he said.<strong> <\/strong>Moving to single-dose containers alleviated the need for a preservative, although it came at a higher expense for manufacturers.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000j356mm8qqcuv9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            In 1999, the FDA sent a letter to manufacturers of US vaccines requesting their plans to remove thimerosal, and by 2001, the compound had been removed from or reduced in all vaccines routinely recommended for children under 6 in the US, according to the CDC.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000k356mzecddtkh@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The message from public health agencies, Orenstein said, was \u201cwe\u2019re going to make safe vaccines even safer.\u201d    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"subheader inline-placeholder subheader-elevate vossi-subheader vossi-subheader--size-h2\" data-editable=\"text\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/subheader\/instances\/cmc9pjzxg001g356mfl8zatkd@published\" data-component-name=\"subheader\" id=\"parents-seeking-answers\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">        Parents seeking answers<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000m356muyw1p1x6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            But the die was cast. Vaccines had already been tied to autism in 1998 by British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who published a since-retracted paper that claimed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine was linked to autism, although not because of thimerosal \u2013 the MMR vaccine never contained the preservative.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000n356m5v8g4l3m@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Still, parents of children with autism were seeking answers.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9q1col00043b6m3f0u81e6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            One of those parents was Redwood, who said that in 1999, she tallied up her son\u2019s mercury exposure and found \u201cat two months of age, he had received 125 times his allowable exposure to mercury based on EPA\u2019s guidelines in his weight.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000o356mwq2ztmtz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cThat was a real answer for me,\u201d Redwood said in a video posted by Children\u2019s Health Defense this month, \u201cbecause my son at this time was almost 5 years old, and he had regressed developmentally after his first year of life and was diagnosed with autism.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000p356m02wkaj9u@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Redwood, a nurse practioner, decided to become an advocate, speaking at events and publishing papers about thimerosal and autism.    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmc9pjsmj001d356mhhmkm3ny@published\" class=\"image_large-elevate image_large__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image_large\" data-name=\"GettyImages-53262052.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image_large--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image_large--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image_large--eq-large&quot;: 660}\" data-original-ratio=\"0.666875\" data-original-height=\"1067\" data-original-width=\"1600\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-53262052.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<div class=\"image_large__container \" data-image-variation=\"image_large\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image_large--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image_large--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image_large--show-credits&quot;: 525}\">           <\/div>\n<div class=\"image_large__metadata-container media__metadata-container\">\n<div class=\"image_large__metadata media__metadata\">\n<div class=\"image_large__caption attribution\">    <span data-editable=\"metaCaption\" class=\"inline-placeholder\">People protested in 2005 over a preservative that had been used in vaccines for decades. By 2001, thimerosal had been removed from or reduced in all vaccines routinely recommended for children under 6 in the US.<\/span>  <\/div><figcaption class=\"image_large__credit\">Nicholas Kamm\/AFP\/Getty Images\/File<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000r356mlgvdnqt6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The uproar over a potential link between thimerosal and autism came as a surprise to Orenstein and colleagues.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000s356mcrejhtge@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cMercury itself had never been implicated as a major cause of autism,\u201d Orenstein said. \u201cBut this was a major, major concern.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000t356mraqanzmc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            It led to a number of studies of the issue, including a 2004 assessment by the Institute of Medicine (now known as the National Academy of Medicine) that concluded \u201cthe body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.\u201d It made the same conclusion for MMR vaccines and autism.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000u356muqvidsq9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            A 2010 study by the CDC also found no link. And \u201ceven after thimerosal was removed from almost all childhood vaccines, autism rates continued to increase,\u201d the agency noted, \u201cwhich is the opposite of what would be expected if thimerosal caused autism.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000v356mcn7m30fv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Still, those who continued to push the disproven autism connection included Kennedy, who published a book in 2014 called \u201cThimerosal: Let the Science Speak.\u201d Its subtitle calls for the \u201cimmediate removal of mercury \u2013 a known neurotoxin \u2013 from vaccines.\u201d It rejects the findings of the 2004 Institute of Medicine report and warns that millions of children in the US and around the world \u201cappear to be at risk of injury from the thimerosal in vaccines.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000w356mu5igi0sv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Thimerosal is still present in \u201ca small percentage of flu vaccines, confined to multidose vials,\u201d according to a post from the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group focused on countering vaccine misinformation that was started at the University of Minnesota\u2019s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug000x356ma38f6j1n@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The group suspects that thimerosal is included on ACIP\u2019s agenda this week \u2013 with a presentation by Redwood and a vote by the committee \u2013 \u201cto put greater focus on and generate more public discussion about vaccine risk.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcbwg3jk0000356m7le45aph@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            CDC staff also posted its own review of the data, citing nearly two dozen studies showing \u201cthe evidence does not support an association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism spectrum disorder or other neurodevelopmental disorders.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcc30y8i00003b6my84mzqat@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            During her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Dr. Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the CDC, said, \u201cI have not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism.\u201d    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"subheader inline-placeholder subheader-elevate vossi-subheader vossi-subheader--size-h2\" data-editable=\"text\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/subheader\/instances\/cmc9pjl53001a356m9x29i7fq@published\" data-component-name=\"subheader\" id=\"a-fateful-decision\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">        A fateful decision<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0011356ms66k0ofe@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The decision to remove thimerosal from most vaccines, despite no evidence of harm, had other consequences. At the same time the FDA made its request to vaccine makers, US health authorities advised that babies born to mothers known to be negative for hepatitis B not receive a shot for that virus at birth, but at two months to 6 months of age, as thimerosal was phased out.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0012356mohamwqlu@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            But about 10% of hospitals \u201csuspended use of the hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns, regardless of their level of risk,\u201d wrote Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine scientist at the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA\u2019s outside advisory committee on vaccines, in a 2007 perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine. \u201cOne three-month-old child born to a Michigan mother infected with hepatitis B virus died of overwhelming infection.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0013356myj5esyxi@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Orenstein looks back on the decision to remove thimerosal as a hard one.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0014356mbqkl0x57@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cThe fear would be keeping it in there, doing a study over two or three years and then it showed harm, and lo and behold, for three years, we used this vaccine and this component was harmful,\u201d he said. \u201cSince we didn\u2019t know what the results would be of any of the studies at the time, we thought it better to just get it out of there.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmc9pjaug0015356mu36p9zj1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cThe autism issue,\u201d he added, \u201cdidn\u2019t play any role in the initial decision.\u201d    <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div>This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vaccines Disability issues Federal agencies Children&#8217;s health See all topics Facebook Tweet Email Link Link&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}