Friday, January 11, 2008

Grandmother believes MMR vaccine brought on grandson's autism

By Kevin Canessa Jr.Observer Editor

Debbie Wertalik is confident about a lot of things in her life. Perhaps the most stark and surreal notion she’s confident in surrounds a time in her young grandson Tyler’s life.

It was about six years ago. He was just 1 year old at the time. And it forever changed the way she looks at vaccine shots.“I was talking to an expert who suggested we go back to look at videos of Tyler from his first birthday,” she said. “So we looked at the video. He was running very well for a 1 year old. Then, we looked at a video from around Easter that same year. He was playing and having a good time. Next, we looked at a video from the June after that Easter. We had gone down the shore and he was going on rides.“Tyler was totally different. He had a blank stare on his face. He wasn’t the same grandson of just a couple of weeks earlier.”Wertalik says a month before she went down the shore with Tyler, her daughter Debbie, and other members of the family, her grandson got his first dose of the MMR vaccine — against measles, mumps and rubella.That one vaccine, she’s completely sure, triggered something in Tyler that had previously been unknown to her and the family: autism.It wouldn’t be until three or so years later that Wertalik and the family learned Tyler was an autistic child. Yet looking back, she believes the vaccine, which contained Mercury in it as a preservative, triggered the autism.“I firmly believe there is a predisposition in certain children for autism,” she said. “But in Tyler’s early years, there were absolutely no signs. Then, we looked at the videos. It couldn’t be clearer. At first, we couldn’t understand how it was possible. But then we realized there was an overload of Mercury. It was an obvious catalyst.”

A few years after Debbie’s daughter Tara had Tyler, she had another child, Bella. Like her brother, Bella, too, had a predisposition to being autistic. But there was one thing all involved were certain of this time around — there was no way on earth Bella was getting an MMR vaccine.“If she had gotten the shot, we might have lost her,” Debbie said. “That was the critical factor. There was no way it was going to happen.”Wertalik has, for years, been the director of an autism support group called Putting the Pieces Together. You’ve likely seen photos from her events in this newspapers — and press releases for the group’s athletic wing, the Special Angels. In a real way, she’s the greatest advocate in our readership area on autism-related issues. So it should come as no shock that she’s not overly thrilled with a recent decision by the state Health Commission to mandate flu shots — in addition to other vaccines — for school-age children.She says she’s tried, with no response, to speak directly with Gov. Jon S. Corzine, about this and other issues. The governor’s office has told her that even though Corzine is “her governor, he is not going to take” her phone calls.“He allows this proposal to be introduced, and it will cost a lot of money,” she said. “Yet he won’t talk about it. It’s infuriating.”Like Debbie, perhaps the nation’s most noted autism spokeswoman is Deirdre Imus, the wife of radio host Don Imus.Last week, when word of the flu-shot mandate came down, Mrs. Imus took to the airwaves and lambasted the governor numerous times — and she announced his office’s telephone number, encouraging outraged listeners to call him.“I spoke with Gov. Corzine, and he pledged he’d do what he could to make sure this didn’t happened,” Mrs. Imus said on the air. “And now this? Are you kidding me? What is he thinking? These shots contain Mercury and I don’t care what dissenting expert says — Mercury causes autism. This is just outrageous.”Wertalik and Mrs. Imus’ outrage stems from another simple notion, one the pharmaceutical companies don’t want the public to know apparently: that is, that the vaccines, whether for the flu, MMR or other diseases, can be packaged, singularly, without using Mercury as a preservative.It would cost more to obtain the doses — and it would cost the companies more because the doses have a shorter shelf life and have to be individually prepared.

Still, it is possible. Yet it’s not happening.“There are families fighting this who don’t realize the shots can be obtained without the harmful elements,” Wertalik said. “They can split up the dosages preservative free.”What’s worse, she says, is that even if a child is harmed by Mercury-laden immunizations, parents and families have little recourse.“In a homeland security bill a couple of years ago, they used what they call an ‘Omnibus Bill,’ where they take an issue that would never get passed otherwise, and package them into other bills to get them through,” she said. “In this case, a homeland security bill that Congress passed mandated the drug companies can’t be sued if there’s a bad reaction to vaccines containing Mercury and other harmful materials. It’s just senseless.”The specific bill she references could not be verified.Still, Wertalik advises new parents to be very careful about what vaccines they get for their children.“It may seem like you’re being a pain, but parents should definitely ask to look at the labels on the bottles of the vaccines,” she said. “While I’m in no position to recommend what any other parent should do, I do believe parents need to use strong judgment. In other words, if there are harmful materials in the bottles, back away. Wait until they’re older if you have to. I just say that if you’re dealing with an infant — no way they should be getting this much Mercury in their tiny bodies. They’re just not prepared and ready to be able to handle it.”What others are sayingIn addition to Wertalik, we also asked a sampling of local residents what they thought of the mandatory shots.

Here’s a sampling of what we found.

June Radamski lives in Belleville. She says she doesn’t like the mandatory flu-shot idea.“When I first heard of this, I was mortified,” she said. “I have two young children not in school yet. But there is no way I am allowing them to get flu shots before they go into pre-K. If it means I claim religious reasons to avoid it, that’s what I guess I’ll have to do.”Robert Spangler, of North Arlington, is on the same page as Radamski.“I don’t have kids, but even I don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots,” Spangler said. “Injecting Mercury into a human body — think of what I just said — would it make any sense to put any amount of a harmful substance into your body needlessly?”Raul Salazar, of Kearny, also agrees with Radamski and Spangler — to an extent.“I wouldn’t mind doing it for my kids if the shots didn’t have any substances in them,” Salazar said. “But I don’t think they’re mak ing them without.”Meanwhile, Sarah J. Attanasio, of Nutley, says she thinks the Mercury amounts are too small to be concerned.“From what I’ve heard, the Mercury has not too much danger,” Attanasio said. “I’d take the risk if I had kids. Thankfully, right now I don’t.”Miguel Reynoso, of Belleville, agrees.“I know my mother gets a flu shot every year, and it seems like they have worked. No flu for her,” Reynoso said. “So I don’t see why my sons can’t get the shots. No harm, no foul, right?”

Wertalik and Mrs. Imus’ outrage stems from another simple notion, one the pharmaceutical companies don’t want the public to know apparently: that is, that the vaccines, whether for the flu, MMR or other diseases, can be packaged, singularly, without using Mercury as a preservative.It would cost more to obtain the doses — and it would cost the companies more because the doses have a shorter shelf life and have to be individually prepared.Still, it is possible. Yet it’s not happening.“There are families fighting this who don’t realize the shots can be obtained without the harmful elements,” Wertalik said. “They can split up the dosages preservative free.”What’s worse, she says, is that even if a child is harmed by Mercury-laden immunizations, parents and families have little recourse.“In a homeland security bill a couple of years ago, they used what they call an ‘Omnibus Bill,’ where they take an issue that would never get passed otherwise, and package them into other bills to get them through,” she said. “In this case, a homeland security bill that Congress passed mandated the drug companies can’t be sued if there’s a bad reaction to vaccines containing Mercury and other harmful materials. It’s just senseless.”

The specific bill she references could not be verified.Still, Wertalik advises new parents to be very careful about what vaccines they get for their children.“It may seem like you’re being a pain, but parents should definitely ask to look at the labels on the bottles of the vaccines,” she said. “While I’m in no position to recommend what any other parent should do, I do believe parents need to use strong judgment. In other words, if there are harmful materials in the bottles, back away. Wait until they’re older if you have to. I just say that if you’re dealing with an infant — no way they should be getting this much Mercury in their tiny bodies. They’re just not prepared and ready to be able to handle it.”

What others are saying

In addition to Wertalik, we also asked a sampling of local residents what they thought of the mandatory shots. Here’s a sampling of what we found.June Radamski lives in Belleville. She says she doesn’t like the mandatory flu-shot idea.“When I first heard of this, I was mortified,” she said. “I have two young children not in school yet. But there is no way I am allowing them to get flu shots before they go into pre-K. If it means I claim religious reasons to avoid it, that’s what I guess I’ll have to do.”Robert Spangler, of North Arlington, is on the same page as Radamski.“I don’t have kids, but even I don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots,” Spangler said.

“Injecting Mercury into a human body — think of what I just said — would it make any sense to put any amount of a harmful substance into your body needlessly?”Raul Salazar, of Kearny, also agrees with Radamski and Spangler — to an extent.“I wouldn’t mind doing it for my kids if the shots didn’t have any substances in them,” Salazar said. “But I don’t think they’re mak ing them without.”Meanwhile, Sarah J. Attanasio, of Nutley, says she thinks the Mercury amounts are too small to be concerned.“From what I’ve heard, the Mercury has not too much danger,” Attanasio said. “I’d take the risk if I had kids. Thankfully, right now I don’t.”Miguel Reynoso, of Belleville, agrees.“I know my mother gets a flu shot every year, and it seems like they have worked. No flu for her,” Reynoso said. “So I don’t see why my sons can’t get the shots. No harm, no foul, right?”