No Link between Polio Vaccine and Mesothelioma
A report published on October 22, 2002 by the U.S. Institute of Medicines of the National Academies confirms that inoculation with polio vaccine contaminated by simian virus-40 (SV-40) was highly unlikely to cause a range of cancers, including the asbestos cancer: mesothleioma. The "SV-40 defence" has been used by asbestos defendants attempting to escape liabilities for rising asbestos-related claims in the U.S. It is believed that between 1955-1963, 10-30% of the polio vaccine used on 10-30 million Americans was contaminated with SV-40. This new report confirms the vast majority of population studies which have found no cancer excess in recipients of the tainted vaccine.
More information on the report Immunization Safety Review: SV40 Contamination of Polio Vaccine and Cancer can be obtained from the press release on the website of the National Academies of Science - Institute of Medicine:
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf
The seventy-two page report (ISBN 0-309-08610-8) can be purchased via the internet at: http://www.nap.edu . Pre-publication the price of the report was listed as $18.00 ($14.40 with a web discount).
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October 28, 2002
