THE CDC’S DEADLY SECRET: the Vaccine Mercury Poisoning of Our Children
In June 2000, fifty-two of the most powerful public health officials in the world gathered at a secluded Methodist retreat center in Norcross, Georgia. The location—Simpsonwood—was chosen for its isolation. The meeting was never announced. Photocopies were forbidden. Attendees were prohibited from leaving with any documentation.
What they discussed would have shattered public trust in the vaccine program forever—and they knew it. So they buried it.
The Explosive Discovery That Terrified Them
CDC epidemiologist Thomas Verstraeten analyzed the agency’s own Vaccine Safety Datalink, a massive database containing medical records of over 100,000 children. The findings were staggering: children who received mercury-containing vaccines faced a sevenfold increase in autism risk.
The Hepatitis B vaccine, administered at birth, was particularly implicated. According to leaked documents, the relative risk of autism from this shot was calculated at an astronomical 11.35—a 1,135 percent increase. For context, that is comparable to the lung cancer risk from smoking a pack of cigarettes daily for 20 years.
Verstraeten was blunt with the assembled officials:
“I was actually stunned by what I saw.”
The Cover-Up Begins
According to leaked transcripts from the Simpsonwood meeting, officials did not respond by planning to alert the public or remove thimerosal (organic mercury) from vaccines. Instead, they strategized about how to manage the damaging data.
Attendees discussed how manipulating the data could change the outcomes. By excluding certain groups or adjusting statistical methods, the alarming correlation could be made to disappear. And when the final results were published, that is exactly what happened—the sevenfold increase in autism had been adjusted away to show no significant risk.
The Data Disappeared
In a move that would later draw a scathing rebuke from the independent Institute of Medicine, the CDC lost or destroyed the original datasets from Verstraeten’s study.
The IOM panel advised the CDC to seek legal counsel, noting that the data had not been archived in a standard manner—meaning they were gone. Technicians were ordered to remove the files from CDC computers, place them on CD-ROMs, and send them to headquarters in Atlanta. Their current whereabouts remain unknown. This destruction violated the Federal Data Quality Act.
Now, nobody can replicate what Verstraeten and his colleagues did. The hallmark of good science—independent verification—was rendered impossible.
The Escalating Crisis
At the time of the Simpsonwood meeting, autism rates had already increased fifteenfold—from 1 in 2,500 children to 1 in 166. Today, that rate stands at approximately 1 in 31 children.
Yet when the IOM issued its final report in 2004, it concluded there was no causal relationship between thimerosal and autism—a conclusion based almost exclusively on epidemiological studies that critics argue were designed to examine whole populations, inevitably missing genetically susceptible subgroups.
What They Knew
The scientific evidence against mercury in vaccines accumulated for decades.
In 2000, the National Research Council found that prenatal and infant mercury exposure disrupts brain development by interfering with neuron division and migration.
In 2001, the National Academy of Medicine declared the link between thimerosal and neurological damage, including autism, biologically plausible.
In 2005, an FDA-commissioned NIH study found that ethylmercury penetrates the blood-brain barrier and converts in the brain twice as fast as methylmercury.
In 2017, a CDC study found that pregnant women receiving flu vaccines had a 7.7-fold higher miscarriage rate within 28 days. The CDC responded by issuing a gag order on that miscarriage study.
The Political Reality
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who obtained the Simpsonwood transcripts in 2005, characterized them starkly: “It’s horrific. It’s a nightmare. They looked at the science and said it’s 100 percent bulletproof. We are causing autism.”
In November 2025, newly appointed Health Secretary Kennedy personally instructed the CDC to revise its website, asserting that the claim vaccines do not cause autism was not evidence-based.
A Final Reckoning
In August 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officially banned thimerosal from all vaccines—a decision based on multiple studies showing ethylmercury is linked to miscarriage, autism, and neurodevelopmental disorders.
The ban ended twenty-five years of regulatory inaction, despite evidence showing that a single flu vaccine contained ethylmercury levels 25,000 times above EPA drinking water safety standards.
Just last week, before this recommendation was withdrawn, thimerosal-containing flu vaccines were being given to millions of Americans, including pregnant women and children, Kennedy stated. That is shocking.
Reference Section
Cited Sources
The BMJ, 2004. Thiomersal doesn’t cause developmental disorders. BMJ 329. Links to the original unpublished Verstraeten study from June 2000 and the Simpsonwood meeting transcripts. Key finding: The initial unpublished data found a positive, statistically significant correlation between thimerosal exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders, tics, language and speech delay, ADD, and unspecified developmental delay. The transcript reveals experts discussing how manipulating data changes outcomes.
The BMJ, 2004. David Kirby’s rapid response regarding Evidence of Harm. Key finding: The Institute of Medicine issued a scathing rebuke of the CDC for failing to properly archive the Verstraeten study datasets. The data was ordered removed from CDC computers, placed on CD-ROMs, and sent to Atlanta. Their current whereabouts are unknown. This violates the Federal Data Quality Act and prevented independent replication of the government’s work.
Family Doctor, August 2025. U.S. Bans Mercury in Vaccines. Key finding: In August 2025, HHS officially banned thimerosal as a vaccine preservative based on studies linking ethylmercury to miscarriage, autism, and brain damage. A single flu vaccine contained ethylmercury 25,000 times above EPA safety standards. The CDC issued a gag order on its own 2017 study showing a 7.7-fold miscarriage increase after flu vaccination. The 2001 National Academy of Medicine report found the thimerosal-autism link biologically plausible.
LinkedIn, David Williams, January 2025. RFK Jr.’s response to the Simpsonwood transcripts. Key finding: RFK Jr. obtained the Simpsonwood transcripts in 2005 and stated: It’s horrific. It’s a nightmare. They looked at the science and said it’s 100 percent bulletproof. We are causing autism.
The BMJ, 2004. Response discussing Simpsonwood meeting findings. Key finding: Confirms the Simpsonwood meeting discussed the initial raw findings of the Verstraeten study, which showed statistically significant correlations between thimerosal exposure and multiple neurodevelopmental disorders. The transcript reveals discussions of how excluding or including different groups could manipulate outcomes.
Additional Background Sources
Verstraeten Study, June 2000. Original unpublished data: VSD_VerstraetenJune2000.pdf, available via safeminds.org.
Simpsonwood Meeting Transcript. Full transcript of the June 7-8, 2000 meeting, available via safeminds.org.
Simpsonwood Overview. Pertinent bullet-point summary of the transcript, available via safeminds.org.
IOM Report, 2001. Found the thimerosal-autism link biologically plausible and recommended further investigation.
IOM Report, 2004. Concluded no causal relationship, based heavily on epidemiological studies with undisclosed industry ties.
NIH and FDA Study, 2005. Found ethylmercury penetrates the blood-brain barrier and converts in the brain twice as fast as methylmercury.
CDC Study, 2017. Found 7.7-fold miscarriage increase after flu vaccination. CDC issued a gag order on the study.