A Vancouver law firm has filed the first 2 lawsuits in British Columbia claiming there is a link between the vaccine preservative thimerosal and autism. It has also joined forces with US lawyers who are taking similar action.
The class-action suits have been filed on behalf of children born on or after 1980 who received vaccines containing thimerosal before age 2. Lawyer David Klein says a decision on certification of the lawsuits will take up to a year.
The suits are based on allegations that thimerosal, “which contains 50% ethylmercury, causes neurological damage in a subset of children.” It was used in Canadian childhood vaccines from the 1970s until about 2 years ago, says Dr. John Blatherwick, chief medical officer for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. It is now used only in influenza vaccines. He says thimerosal “has been a very good preservative over the years” and its mercury levels “were very small and very safe.”
Blatherwick, who does not give the lawsuits much chance of success, states flatly that a causal link with autism “has not been established.
“I don't think they will be able to find a credible scientist who will be able to show large studies where this [has been proved].” — Heather Kent, Vancouver