A new study that sustains the idea that autism does not develop in children vaccinated with thimerosal vaccines, due to be published in the February issue of Pediatrics, was released earlier on Wednesday, to put an end to the controversies surrounding the new ABC drama “Eli Stone”.

The opening episode of the series features a lawyer who manages to win a million-dollar case for a mother whose child developed autism pursuant to receiving a vaccine.

The vaccine in question contains thimerosal, a preservative made with mercury.

According to the Associated Press, the study was funded by the U. S. and examines the blood samples collected from 216 healthy babies from R. Gutierrez Children's Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which were collected before and after vaccination with the preservative thimerosal. The tests found that mercury levels in the blood were highest shortly after the vaccination, and after a few weeks the level of mercury lowered, said Dr. Michael Pichichero of the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., co-author of the study.

 "The amount found in the blood was about one-tenth of that predicted in that the late 1990s and the length of time it stays in the blood is one-tenth of that predicted," Pichichero said.

The stools samples collected from babies contained the highest mercury level after vaccination, but lowered more slowly than blood levels. The mercury level in urine samples was not significant.

Dr. Pichichero added: "The study supports the decision by the World Health Organization to continue to permit thimerosal to remain in vaccines for the world's children." He also recommended the thimerosal vaccine for being cheaper to produce and more accessible.

The director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Excellence in Autism Research, Dr. Minshew, gave a one hundred percent assurance to the American people that autism is not caused by vaccination, and strongly advised parents to have their children vaccinated. She also mentioned that this recent theory against vaccination may endanger children’s lives, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

The strongest evidence is that although thimerosal has been banned from most child vaccines in 2001, the cases of autism in children have continued to appear. "The weight of the evidence is so great that I don't think there is any room for dispute. I think the issue is done," said Dr. Minshew, who runs one of nine top autism research centers funded by the National Institutes of Health.