Khorrami Pollard & Abir LLP has the ability to handle and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, claims against manufacturers and distributors of dangerous childhood vaccines that contained the preservative Thimerosal. Recent studies have confirmed that autism is often caused by these vaccines and in particular the ethyl-mercury preservative Thimerosal. Virtually all children in the United States have been subjected to these vaccines and this preservative through standard vaccination programs for very young children.

The link between autism and mercury poisoning is now conclusive. For many years, commentators have noted the significant correlation between symptoms of mercury poisoning and symptoms of autism. For decades, researchers have been concerned that the ethyl-mercury in Thimerosal may cause autism. For perhaps obvious reasons, the manufacturers and sellers of these deadly vaccines have failed to complete adequate and appropriate testing or studies to determine whether a link exists.

Within the last 5 years there has been a burgeoning body of scientific and medical evidence that autism is in fact caused by Thimerosal. Recently, Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, demanded a recall of all vaccines containing Thimerosal. After hearing the mounting evidence on the relationship between the vaccine and autism, Burton expressed his concern that at least 50 vaccines still contain Thimerosal: "Every day that mercury-containing vaccines remain on the market is another day putting 8,000 children at risk. Given that Thimerosal-free vaccines are available, and there is a known risk of mercury toxicity, to leave Thimerosal-containing vaccines on the market is unconscionable."

Congressman Burton has personal reasons to be concerned about the causes of autism - apparently he has a grandchild who suffers from autism. Virtually all of us have friends and loved ones faced by autism and the difficulties it produces. Many, many lives are affected by autism, and the new evidence and studies indicate that this is a diagnosis that could well have been prevented if the pharmaceutical companies had taken the proper course years ago.

Mercury Toxicity
Mercury is one of the few chemicals that is conclusively known to cause adverse health effects in humans. This is because the effects of Mercury on humans have been widely studied, in a variety of circumstances and populations. Mercury is dangerous if inhaled, if absorbed through the skin, or if it enters through any part of the body. It is a highly toxic element and the most volatile of the heavy metals.

Various Federal governmental agencies, and numerous States, including California, regard Mercury as a powerful carcinogen, and a reproductive and developmental toxin. Mercury is also poisonous to the human nervous system. Due to its significant documented reproductive and developmental effects, pregnant women and their developing fetuses, women of child-bearing age, and children under the age of 8 are most at risk for mercury-related health impacts. These health impacts include, for example, subtle effects arising from prenatal exposure such as delayed development and cognitive changes in children.

Mercury can cause a variety of symptoms including chronic inflammation of mouth and gums, personality change, nervousness, fever, or rash. Neurotoxicity symptoms associated with Mercury and Mercury Compounds include, but are not limited to, impaired vision, speech, hearing, and walking; sensory disturbances; incoordination of movements; nervous system damage very similar to congenital cerebral palsy; mental disturbances; psychomotor retardation; and, in some cases death. Mercury has also been linked to brain neuron degeneration. According to the United States Public Health Service, mercury poses the most direct danger to the brain and the kidneys. It impairs fetal development, preventing the brain and nervous system from developing normally. Children poisoned by mercury show lowered intelligence, impaired hearing and poor coordination and their verbal and motor skills may be delayed or otherwise, severely and permanently impaired.

Knowledge of Mercury's adverse health effects is nothing new. Human studies alone date back more than 60 years. Studies have correlated various ailments, symptoms, and effects with Mercury for decades. For example in the 1940's, Mercury was found to be the cause of Acrodynia. Furthermore, disasters in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s and in Iraq in 1971-1972 clearly demonstrated neurologic effects associated with ingestion of Mercury both in adults and in infants exposed in utero.

In workplace case studies, very low exposure to Mercury has been linked to neurologic and renal disorders. Studies have confirmed more subtle effects such as preclinical changes in kidney function and behavioral and cognitive changes associated with effects on the central nervous system. Chronic exposure can result in neuropsychiatric symptoms such as "mad hatter syndrome" or "erethism" and include tremor, anxiety, incapacitating shyness and irritability. Mercury is a neurological poison affecting primarily brain tissue. In adults, permanent brain damage is focal affecting the function of such areas as the cerebellum (ataxia) and the visual cortex (constricted visual fields). Methylmercury also at high doses can cause severe damage to the developing brain.

Even trace amounts of Mercury are known to be toxic to humans. In fact, various governmental and private entities have determined that exposures of less than 1 microgram per kilogram of body weight, per day, can have severe adverse effects. The mercury in just one fever thermometer is enough to contaminate more than 200 million gallons of water.