Bill shielding Lilly from suits catches Burton's ire

By Maureen Groppe

Gannett News Service

November 23, 2002

WASHINGTON -- He didn't mention the company by name, but Indiana Rep. Dan Burton complained Friday about a provision he and others unwittingly approved that shields home state drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. from lawsuits over a vaccine preservative.

It's rare for a lawmaker to go after a major employer in his district. But Burton has an interest closer to his heart. Burton's grandson has autism, which the congressman believes was caused by the mercury-based preservative Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly developed.

"I didn't know what autism was. Then my grandson got nine shots in one day," Burton said. "He's ruined for life."

Autism, a debilitating neurological condition, affects 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans and its incidence has increased at least 10 percent a year since the 1980s.

Lilly maintains that no causal link has been established between the preservative thimerosal and autism. A panel of medical experts, appointed by a group that advises the government on health issues, concluded last year that there is not enough evidence to show a link.

Lilly and other drugmakers are being sued by families who believe their children were harmed by the vaccine preservative.

A provision slipped into a homeland security bill passed this week would void those suits. Burton, and many other House members, say they voted for the bill not knowing about the vaccine provision.

The Senate also approved the bill, but promised to revisit the vaccine issue in January.

If the language is not changed, Burton said Lilly and other preservative producers would pay no penalty.

"The fact is, mercury in vaccines is not good. It's wrong," Burton said. "The language that was put in the bill, that gets them off scot-free."

Families first would have to seek recourse from a federal program funded through the vaccines' sale. Burton and others say the program is biased against families, and he is pushing separate legislation to change it.