A judge on Wednesday denied an advocacy group's bid to prevent the government from giving pregnant women flu vaccines with a preservative that contains mercury.

By NEDRA PICKLER (AP) –
7 hours ago

WASHINGTON — A judge on Wednesday denied an advocacy group's bid to prevent the government from giving pregnant women flu vaccines with a preservative that contains mercury.

Leaders of the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs say their effort took on a new urgency when a government advisory committee recently recommended that pregnant women be among the first people to get swine flu vaccinations when the vaccine becomes available this fall.

A small amount of the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal is in most influenza shots, including swine flu vaccines, but some are produced thimerosal-free. The coalition argued that pregnant women should only get the thimerosal-free version because of a risk that the mercury in the shot could poison a fetus and cause medical problems, including autism.

But U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled against the group's request for a preliminary injunction because he said the group couldn't prove that pregnant women they represent would get vaccines containing thimerosal.

Walton said he would consider further written arguments in the next month about whether the lawsuit can continue.

Thimerosal used to be used in a number of vaccines, but manufacturers began removing the preservative from all routine child vaccines in 2001 as a precaution. But numerous large studies have shown no link between thimerosal and autism, or other health problems.

• Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs: http://mercury-freedrugs.org/
• Background from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://tinyurl.com/konff8
  
  
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  MILLCREEK — The flu season isn't here yet, but an extensive, special series of exercises Wednesday tested the state's preparedness for a potential H1N1 pandemic.
  
  The southeast parking lot at St. Mark's Hospital was neatly marked off in bright yellow tape Wednesday morning and affixed with "Disaster drill in progress" signs.
  
  Emergency vehicles, tents and medical supplies were everywhere.
  
  An army of doctors, emergency personnel, police, chaplains and even morticians were at work — all wearing filter masks and other germ protection gear — screening and treating "actors," who were playing the role of patients.
  
  In the event of a worst-case public health emergency, such as an influenza pandemic, demand for treatment may eclipse the capacity of the state's health-care system.
  
  So, in order to ensure those who are most likely to benefit from medical care receive it, the Utah Department of Health has developed comprehensive guidelines for hospitals and ICUs.
  
  These triage guidelines were tested Wednesday morning at St. Mark's and the other five MountainStar Healthcare hospitals in Utah — Lake View Hospital in Bountiful, the Ogden Regional Medical Center, the Brigham City Community Hospital, Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem and Mountain View Hospital in Payson.
  
  MountainStar is the first health-care system to test what challenges the state triage guidelines would present when actually put into use in a hospital, and how effective they would be in ensuring health-care resources are used efficiently.
  
  It will take some time to gather the results from the six hospitals who participated in Wednesday's drill and the state's own test, to see how successful it was.
  
  During the drills, actors posing as patients were presented to the hospitals with varying symptoms. The medical staff at each hospital used the new guidelines to assist in making treatment decisions.
  
  Most surprising at the St. Mark's drill were two things. First, the actors, primarily students from Provo College and Salt Lake Community College, weren't just patients. They also portrayed drunk, out-of-control family members, drug addicts and other people who could pose unusual challenges to hospital staff.
  
  Second, there was a morgue and morticians "at work" in this drill, a rarity in most such emergency tests.
  
  "We want to make it as real as possible," Kate Moss Achilli, a spokeswoman for St. Mark's Hospital, said, explaining this is St. Mark's one big drill for the year that could also aid response in a future disaster of any type.
  
  Dr. Tom Kurrus, a St. Mark's physician, was also one of the actors, portraying someone ill with the flu. One tent featured "mothers," lined up carrying dolls representing babies being screened for the virus.
  
  To test its own response to the implementation of the state triage guidelines, the UDOH also conducted its own simulated activation of its Emergency Operations Center at the Cannon Health Building (288 N. 1460 West) during the MountainStar drill.
  
  State epidemiologist Dr. Robert Rolfs said he hoped this drill would provide some insight on where the guidelines work well and where we can make improvements.
  
  "While the guidelines are based on sound, evidence-based science, there's great value in exercising them in as close to a real-world setting as we can create in order to determine how well they will work," Rolfs said.
  
  The state triage guidelines were developed by the UDOH with input from local health departments and a workgroup comprised of representatives from Intermountain Healthcare, MountainStar Healthcare, University of Utah Health Care and the Utah Hospitals and Health Systems Association. The latter organization played a key role in the development of the new guidelines by facilitating the workgroup.
  
  In the event of a public health emergency declared by the governor, the guidelines would be implemented on a statewide level and would apply to all health-care professionals, clinics and facilities in the state.
  
  The complete state triage guidelines are available for review and public comment on the UDOH web site at www.pandemicflu.uta
  
  deseretnews.com