For those who have only tangentially heard about the addition of a nasty piece of the Homeland Security Act which protects vaccine makers from liability, see PLA. Far more rational than I would be in his position, he describes the possibility of potential links between mercury in vaccines and autism. Currently, Dick Armey has decided one of his last acts in Congress should center on being a schill for the drug industry. The effect of this bill will be to remove effective liability over using higher amounts of mercury than the EPA guidelines allow with no information as to what the effect would be. This is horribly irresponsible conduct and falls neatly into the category of a information assymetry given parents aren’t able to pay attention to every ingredient of a vaccine.
Government on the cheap produces these sort of problems. Government then trying to protect a company that was so careless is the height of cynicism.
Regardless of the ultimate resolution of the issue of whether or not thimerosal causes autism, one aspect of this controversy is not subject to dispute. Our public health system gave mercury to 30,000,000 children in amounts that exceed EPA guidelines. It did so without calculating the amount of mercury being given. It did so without knowing the medical effects of giving that quantity of mercury. A public health system that behaves in that manner is broken. It needs to be fixed.