Thimerosal by Robert F. Kennedy

Author:Robert F. Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6: Mounting Evidence of Thimerosal’s Danger in Human Studies

Other studies and events dating back decades have lent credence to the idea that the ethylmercury in Thimerosal is as damaging to humans as it is to animals.

In cases of accidental high dosages, Thimerosal has caused human deaths. Clinicians in the 1940s used Thimerosal in an attempt to treat heart disease and noted its toxicity; at least one patient in a case series of thirteen patients died from documented mercury poisoning.434 In 1969, five of six human patients (four children and two adults) died after being injected with an antimicrobial called chloramphenicol, which contained abnormally high levels of Thimerosal.435 A 1983 report from the Ohio Board of Health Division of Epidemiology strongly implicated Thimerosal in the death of a twenty-one-month-old child.436 A 1996 study even reported on a forty-four-year-old man in Germany who attempted suicide by consuming a large quantity of Thimerosal.437 438

Of course, many substances routinely ingested, injected, or otherwise placed into the human body for medical reasons can prove harmful or fatal if administered in excess. Yet the low levels long considered generally “safe” for Thimerosal in various products aroused suspicion in the medical community during the 1970s, and in some cases as soon as Thimerosal began appearing in many commercial products during the 1930s and 1940s.439 440

As described in Chapter 1, Thimerosal saw widespread use in topical medications, such as antiseptics and eyewashes. Accordingly, many studies in humans have focused on this mode of exposure. Even as early as 1943, scientists expressed concern that Thimerosal was toxic to some people who used it for eye care. Francis Ellis, an Army doctor in Baltimore, stated, “Since a patient may become sensitized to merthiolate while using the ophthalmic ointment, it may be advisable to withdraw this product from the market before a case of permanent ocular damage occurs.”441 442

Several years later, anecdotal cases of reactions to Thimerosal began to mount. H. D. Cogswell and Alex Shoun noted: “Many severe reactions have been reported following the use of mercurial ointments and a lesser number due to antiseptics containing mercurials.”443 Skepticism about Thimerosal’s effectiveness and its potential damage to humans continued, especially in light of the numerous animal studies and human exposure cases mentioned previously in this document.

Starting in 1975, the FDA undertook a comprehensive review of safety and effectiveness of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines containing Thimerosal.444 A series of alarming studies that followed persuaded the agency to ban Thimerosal in topical medications. These studies included one funded by the US Veterans Administration (VA) and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) showing that Thimerosal at the concentration used in ophthalmic products caused toxic effects on human cornea cells that were grown outside the body in a lab.445 That study stated, “It is therefore concluded that ophthalmic solutions containing Thimerosal should not be used.”

As part of the review, in 1977, the Boston University Medical Center published a large-scale human epidemiological study of birth defects among more than 50,000 pregnancies. The authors found that

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