Thimerosal

As some of you know, Kristie and I are expecting our first child, a baby girl (Abigail Morgan), in the middle of August. Now, I'm already freaking out because of the whole, 'Will I break her?' bit. Add to this the facts of Thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative in children's vaccines) may be responsible for the exponential growth of autism, attention deficit disorder, speech delays, and other childhood neurological disorders now epidemic in the United States. [link] (Boston Globe charges to look at archives)

I worked in a hospital pharmacy for 5 years so I asked my former boss (BBG) what he thought about this. Here is his response:

The dangers of Thimerosal are well documented but vaccine manufacturers have protection from litigation by the federal government. The reality is parents would rather expose their children to danger than endure the inconvenience of their child having the Measles or Chicken Pox. I have a wife that is primarily a stay at home mother so it is easy for me to forgo the aforementioned vaccines but a two income family that is reliant upon the dual income must consider a couple of weeks off work and the pain of watching your child suffer. Merck has removed Thimerosal from all of their children's vaccines and most manufacturers have followed suit. Glaxo Smith Kline still has Thimerosal in their pediatric Engerix-B, why we switched to Recombivax at DCH, and all of the INJECTABLE flu vaccines contain Thimerosal. Flu-mist, a live culture nasal vaccine, does not contain Thimerosal but you must limit contact with those at high risk and weakened immune systems. The FDA has a website that deals exclusively with Pediatric Vaccines and Thimerosal.

Has anyone else faced this choice?