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Committee Hearings Highlight Allegations on Vaccine Safety |
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The Committee held four hearings on childhood immunizations in the 106th Congress. These hearings highlighted allegations regarding the safety of some vaccines and conflicts of interest in the vaccine approval process. In one hearing in April 2000, witnesses alleged that autism may be caused by the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, a theory that has been contradicted by several epidemiological studies. At the request of Mr. Waxman and Chairman Burton, HHS contracted with the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine to analyze all the available science on this theory. The IOM issued its report which found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Concerned that parents may be needlessly frightened about vaccine safety and as a result may stop vaccinating their children, Rep. Waxman wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times explaining that this remains an unproven hypothesis. Other allegations about vaccines made during the course of these hearings have never been proved as well. Rep. Waxman’s hearing statements explain the need for sound research into these questions while emphasizing that parents should not be unnecessarily scared from giving their children safe and effective vaccines against known, debilitating, and deadly diseases.
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