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Kern JK, Geier DA, Deth RC, Sykes LK, Hooker BS, Love JM, Bjørklund G, Chaigneau CG, Haley BE, Geier MR. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Systematic Assessment of Research on Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mercury Reveals Conflicts of Interest and the Need for Transparency in Autism Research. Sci Eng Ethics 2017; 23:1689-1690. [PMID: 26507205 PMCID: PMC5705728 DOI: 10.1007/s11948-015-9713-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2015] [Accepted: 10/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Janet K. Kern
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., 14 Redgate Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA
| | - David A. Geier
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., 14 Redgate Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Geir Bjørklund
- Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Mo i Rana, Norway
| | | | | | - Mark R. Geier
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., 14 Redgate Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA
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Kern JK, Geier DA, Deth RC, Sykes LK, Hooker BS, Love JM, Bjørklund G, Chaigneau CG, Haley BE, Geier MR. Systematic Assessment of Research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Mercury Reveals Conflicts of Interest and the Need for Transparency in Autism Research. Sci Eng Ethics 2017; 23:1691-1718. [PMID: 29119411 PMCID: PMC5705731 DOI: 10.1007/s11948-017-9983-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Historically, entities with a vested interest in a product that critics have suggested is harmful have consistently used research to back their claims that the product is safe. Prominent examples are: tobacco, lead, bisphenol A, and atrazine. Research literature indicates that about 80-90% of studies with industry affiliation found no harm from the product, while only about 10-20% of studies without industry affiliation found no harm. In parallel to other historical debates, recent studies examining a possible relationship between mercury (Hg) exposure and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a similar dichotomy. Studies sponsored and supported by industry or entities with an apparent conflict of interest have most often shown no evidence of harm or no "consistent" evidence of harm, while studies without such affiliations report positive evidence of a Hg/autism association. The potentially causal relationship between Hg exposure and ASD differs from other toxic products since there is a broad coalition of entities for whom a conflict of interest arises. These include influential governmental public health entities, the pharmaceutical industry, and even the coal burning industry. This review includes a systematic literature search of original studies on the potential relationship between Hg and ASD from 1999 to August 2015, finding that of the studies with public health and/or industry affiliation, 86% reported no relationship between Hg and ASD. However, among studies without public health and/or industry affiliation, only 21% find no relationship between Hg and ASD. The discrepancy in these results suggests a bias indicative of a conflict of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet K. Kern
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, 14 Redgate Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA
| | - David A. Geier
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, 14 Redgate Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Geir Bjørklund
- Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Mo i Rana, Norway
| | | | | | - Mark R. Geier
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, 14 Redgate Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA
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Sykes LK, Geier DA, King PG, Kern JK, Haley BE, Chaigneau CG, Megson MN, Love JM, Reeves RE, Geier MR. Thimerosal as discrimination: vaccine disparity in the UN Minamata Convention on mercury. Indian J Med Ethics 2014; 11:206-18. [PMID: 25101548 DOI: 10.20529/ijme.2014.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
When addressing toxins, one unmistakable parallel exists between biology and politics: developing children and developing nations are those most vulnerable to toxic exposures. This disturbing parallel is the subject of this critical review, which examines the use and distribution of the mercury (Hg)-based compound, thimerosal, in vaccines. Developed in 1927, thimerosal is 49.55% Hg by weight and breaks down in the body into ethyl-Hg chloride, ethyl-Hg hydroxide and sodium thiosalicylate. Since the early 1930s, there has been evidence indicating that thimerosal poses a hazard to the health of human beings and is ineffective as an antimicrobial agent. While children in the developed and predominantly western nations receive doses of mostly no-thimerosal and reduced-thimerosal vaccines, children in the developing nations receive many doses of several unreduced thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs). Thus, thimerosal has continued to be a part of the global vaccine supply and its acceptability as a component of vaccine formulations remained unchallenged until 2010, when the United Nations (UN), through the UN Environment Programme, began negotiations to write the global, legally binding Minamata Convention on Hg. During the negotiations, TCVs were dropped from the list of Hg-containing products to be regulated. Consequently, a double standard in vaccine safety, which previously existed due to ignorance and economic reasons, has now been institutionalised as global policy. Ultimately, the Minamata Convention on Hg has sanctioned the inequitable distribution of thimerosal by specifically exempting TCVs from regulation, condoning a two-tier standard of vaccine safety: a predominantly no-thimerosal and reduced-thimerosal standard for developed nations and a predominantly thimerosal-containing one for developing nations. This disparity must now be evaluated urgently as a potential form of institutionalised discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David A Geier
- CoMeD, Inc, Silver Spring, MD; Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, MD United States
| | | | - Janet K Kern
- Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, MD United States
| | | | | | - Mary N Megson
- Pediatric and Adolescent Ability Center, Richmond, VA United States
| | | | | | - Mark R Geier
- CoMeD, Inc, Silver Spring, MD; Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, MD United States
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