A group of parents in Georgia who claim their children developed autism from exposure to mercury in dental fillings and vaccines filed eleven lawsuits in an Atlanta court last week. Several major corporations and drug companies, including Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and the American Dental Association (ADA), were named as defendants in the suits.

Medical experts have linked mercury exposure to the development of autism in children. Dental amalgam fillings are typically about fifty percent mercury, while many vaccines, including those used for tetanus and hepatitis B, contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal.

Last month, a California couple filed a lawsuit against the ADA alleging dental fillings containing mercury contributed to their son's development of autism.