Liz Birt

Liz Birt 1956-2005

"Liz was a co-founder of the "Coalition for SafeMinds" and was an active board member of the organization. She also founded Medical Interventions for Autism, was a founding board member of the National Autism Association, co-founder and board member of A-Champ and helped with the development of Extreme Sports Camp in Aspen, Colorado. Liz was a principal author of Mercury in Medicine, the staff report released by the House Government Reform Committee in 2003 that for the first time brought together the background and evolving science concerning the toxicity of mercury used as a preservative especially in childhood vaccines."

"Liz started her career in health insurance and then decided to go to law school at the ripe old age of 32. Liz began researching the role of vaccines and autism in 1998 shortly after Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s first article was published in the Lancet. Liz started Medical Interventions for Autism, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to funding the possible link between inflammatory bowel disease, immune system disorders, viruses from vaccines and autism in 1999 shortly after her son, Matthew was treated at the Royal Free Hospital by Dr. Wakefield’s colleagues. In 2000 she helped found the advocacy group SafeMinds and as General Counsel obtained various important documents relating to the CDC’s knowledge of the dangers of Thimerosal. In 2001 she “retired” from the private practice of law to become a full time employee of the Committee on Government Reform under the Chairmanship of Rep. Dan Burton R-Ind.. Liz’s main function was to review thousands of pages of government and industry records, conduct interviews of key FDA and CDC employees and to write a report on this issue to Congress. She accomplished this in May of 2002 when the Committee’s staff report was released to Congress and the public entitled “Mercury in Medicine-Taking Unnecessary Risks”." [1]