Something about a vaccine bill passed by the 2006 Legislature doesn't feel right: It's how it got passed.

New language restricting the use of a controversial preservative in vaccines was appended at the last moment to an unrelated bill. It was an idea that never got a hearing in the state Senate.

Aside from its serious procedural flaws, this well-meaning proposal may discourage people from getting needed vaccinations. This is the wrong way to change course in an essential public health program.

The issue concerns a controversial preservative in vaccines. The preservative, thimerosal, contains ethyl mercury.

And although there's been some anecdotal evidence of an association between thimerosal and autism, public health authorities at the national level have concluded they lack reliable evidence that the substance causes the developmental disorder.

Pharmaceutical companies are already phasing out the use of thimerosal and are moving toward new production methods that don't require such additives. But they're not at the point where enough vaccine can be mass-produced for flu as quickly as needed, so not everyone would get it.

The law attempts to head off these problems by allowing an exemption in cases of shortage and, for the next flu season, health emergencies such as a pandemic. But the ban becomes tighter in the 2007-2008 flu season, with no allowance for even trace amounts of the substance; the exemption for pandemics no longer appears.

Some of these flaws may be unintended, but that doesn't eliminate the problem. The fact remains that the original language in Senate Bill 2133, a measure dealing with human placentas, was replaced with a proposal for a Hawai'i Health Commission. The vaccine ban was then appended.

It's a shame that plans for a health commission, which would work toward the worthy goal of universal health coverage, were caught in this slapdash lawmaking.

Nevertheless, the governor should veto SB2133.