August 11, 2005 journal, Evidence of Harm, mercury in vaccines and autism epidemic, a book is written and a medical controversy erupts in a major war for and against vaccines.

David Kirby's book reviews "Kirby follows the tug of war against the government health agencies and the parents and their supporters, Kirby does an admirable job of clarifying most of the scientific background but doesn't offer his own views on the debate-although he makes the unassailable point that American health agencies lagged in calculating the amount of mercury being injected in babies". The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. Kirby’s portrayal manages to make his protagonists seem far from crazy. He may have been deriding as dangerous anti-vaccination zealots, but Kirby sets his focus on mercury based vaccine preservative thimerosal against ‘modern science’s near religious faith in all things genetic. The battle rages on, and while Evidence of Harm offers no pro-spect of a truce, it does provide crystal clarity on an often misunderstood side of the arg-ument". The Washington post. "Evidence of Harm is a gripping investigation. Much like the 9/1-1 Commission report, it is an alarming page turner. Keep your eyes on California, where autism cases are closely tracked. If autism related diagnosis decline over the next year are two following the introduction of thimerosal-free vaccines, the finding will further fuel this simmering controversy. Newsday". <C:|Document~1> " one controversy looks likely to fester. Big Pharma would love to put it to rest, but the publication of a well re-searched book is likely to push it to the fore. It isn't a search to say big Pharma fortunes are tethered in part to the Amazon.com sales rank of Evidence of Harm. If a link is found, the potential liability makes asbestos litigation look like belonging to a small claims court. Whichever side the reader ends up believing, Evidence of Harm makes one thing clear: This is an issue that will not go away". -Financial Times. "Kirby delivers a well written story that weaves in startling facts and takes you on a roller coaster ride into homes and families devastated by autism. It tells tales of government bureaucracy and political cronyism that, if true, are appalling. It took me several weeks to read Evidence of Harm. Maybe it was the detail-filled narrative from the parents point of view that made me put the book down every so often and walk away. I shared their pain, their anger, their feeling of helplessness. –Broomberg News. “Perhaps, as evidence accumulates, the thimerosal theory may be validated. Perhaps not. Inquiry into the etiology and treatment of autism continues, though the seeming finality of the IOM report may stifle important research into environmental causes. Kirby’s book, as biased as it is, "prompts us to dig deeper into this vital issue. One can only hope that medical and lay readers alike will react to the book responsibly, with both skepticism and an open mind". The lanchet. An engrossing David and Goliath story in which the giant is an amalgamation of big government bureaucrats and pharmaceutical lobbyists. Walking the middle line, Kirby’s book remains one of the most thoroughly researched accounts of the thimerosal controversy thus far. Its accessible in its handling of medical topics and compelling in its recounting of the parents fight to ad- vance their agenda in the face of both political and scientific roadblocks". From Publishers Weekly, starred review. "A riveting new book that examines this controversial, but bio-logical plausible link, Evidence of Harm lines up the known evidence while telling the stories of a handful of determined parents forced to become their own detectives. You will get eye opening glimpses into the trenches where once normally developing kids slid into the shuttered world of autism and where their parents refuse to be bounced off-the-walls of seemingly impenetrable bureaucracies. Highly recommended. Knight Ridder News."