TESTIMONY TO THE ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEEOctober 13, 2009By: Sabeeha Rehman, FACHEPresident, National Autism Association – New York Metro Chapter

My name is Sabeeha Rehman. I am a grandmother of an 8 year old boy with autism.Omar was 3, and I was overseas, when my daughter-in-law sent me an email telling methat Omar had been diagnosed with autism. In that instant, our lives changed. We wereworking overseas. I am a healthcare executive, a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives; my husband is a physician. We dropped everything, and madeour way back to the States. I gave up my career of 25 years as a hospital administrator and decided to devote my life to my grandchild and to the world of autism. I co-foundedthe New York Metro chapter of the National Autism Association and I now devote mytime between running the chapter as its President, and being there for my son and mylovely daughter-in-law, and Omar.Omar had been doing fine. He was typical – growing beautifully, playing, laughing,hugging, being naughty – like any child. And then, something happened when he turned3. Something snapped – like the turning off of a switch. He stopped making eye contact,he stopped playing, he stopped talking, and he retreated into a world of isolation. Wecouldn’t reach him, we couldn’t touch him, we couldn’t even make him look at us. Whathappened? Something had to have triggered this. What was it?

We back-peddled. And we started unraveling the puzzle. I have since then talked tocountless mothers who had an identical experience as Omar’s, I have listened to their stories, and all roads have led to one trigger.You know where I am headed. In my capacity as President of the National Autism Association’s New York Metrochapter, I come before you, to bring to you the voices of the families who have a childlike Omar in their family, the voices of teachers, who are educating children like Omar,and the voices of the therapists, who are trying to heal children, like Omar.The New York Metro chapter is not opposed to vaccines. We are advocates of safevaccines - vaccines that are toxin-free, vaccines that are administered with appropriateintervals; we are opposed to the one-size-fits-all vaccine for children; and we advocatethe right of choice – the right for parents to opt out on the basis of philosophical andreligious grounds.I am here today to appeal to you on the grounds of safety – safe vaccines.Our first safety concern is the toxins in vaccines.It is an established fact that mercury is a powerful toxin. Yet, it has been used invaccines and our children have been injected with this toxin, over and over again.

Whereas it has now been removed from most vaccines, it is still being used in the fluvaccine. And yes, it is indeed being used in the H1N1 vaccine. Here are the facts:Sanofi-Pasteur vaccine – multi-dose vial: 25 micrograms of mercury per dose; negligiblein single dose prefilled syringe. It has 0.18 milligram of MSG per dose.CSL vaccine – multi dose vial: 24.5 micrograms of mercury per dose; negligible in singledose prefilled syringe.MedImmune – Nasal Spray single dose, none. Novartis vaccine – multi dose vial: 25 micrograms of mercury per dose.And even thesingle dose Prefilled syringe has mercury – upto 1 microgram per dose. The H1N1vaccine from Novartis being sold in Europe also contains Formaldehyde as preservativeand Squalene as an adjuvant.

Source: CDC MMWR: October 9, 2009. 58(39)1100-1101http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5839a3.htm#tab

The presence of mercury in the multi-dose vials renders these vaccines unsafe for humanconsumption. So, why don’t families opt for the single dose vial? Because, first, they arenot aware that they have this choice. Second, single dose vaccines are not available inlarge supplies, because they cost more. Do they know to ask for single-dose? And if they do, what happens when they are told by their doctor that he or she only has multi-dose – and the child better get it or risk getting the flu. Parents are going to do what thedoctor tells them to do.