A bill to ban mercury from vaccines administered to infants and pregnant women faces a key test today in the state Senate, where resistance by prominent physicians' groups appears to be weakening.
The bill by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) would make it illegal to administer to expectant mothers or children younger than 3 shots containing more than trace amounts of thimerosal, a mercury-laced preservative used in some vaccines to prevent bacterial growth. Approved last month in the state Assembly by a 49-22 vote, the ban would take effect in 2006.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing and vote this afternoon in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, amid signs that doctors' groups are wavering in their opposition.
The state chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians had opposed the bill on various grounds -- warning mainly that it could lead to vaccine shortages.
On Tuesday, the pediatrics group said it had switched to a neutral stance, based on Pavley's acceptance of modest amendments. Tom Riley, a lobbyist for the family physicians group, said Tuesday that it also was reassessing its stand.
The state Department of Finance is on record in opposition to the bill, on grounds it will cost the state extra to purchase thimerosal-free vaccine.
According to state health officials, the added cost would be about $40,000 per year.
Closely watched by federal health officials and the vaccine industry, the bill is advancing at a time of mounting concern over environmental exposures to mercury, a potent neurotoxin. It also comes amid scientific debate and legal battles over whether thimerosal in children's shots has contributed to a sharp rise in reported cases of autism and other neurological disorders.
Last month, experts from the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, declared that the evidence does not support a causal link between thimerosal and autism.
But a few studies have suggested there is a link. And Marie C. McCormick, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health who led the Institute of Medicine panel, said regardless of its findings it was wise "to reduce as much as possible exposure to mercury from all causes."
Proposed thimerosal bans are also pending in a few other states, and a weaker version of the Pavley bill was adopted in Iowa earlier this year. Legislation pending in Congress to eliminate thimerosal from vaccines has 13 Democratic and 10 Republican co-sponsors.
