“We need to find out why so many highly vaccinated children are so sick.... .we didn’t [used to] see autistic children. Autism was so rare, most people had never heard of i.... .I don’t think I’ve scared anybody stupid. We do not tell people to vaccinate or not to vaccinate.... . I don’t think you can say good or bad, pro or against.... t’s a complex issue.” - Comments by Barbara Loe Fisher during the ABC Feb. 23, 2007 "20/20" John Stossel special
"My name is Michelle. I am a parent of two young boys and I have been actively researching vaccines for 3 years. I saw that segment on "20/20" regarding vaccines and I was appalled at the slanted spin they put on the vaccine safety issue. The only thing that Barbara Loe Fisher is guilty of is providing parents with the wealth of information regarding vaccine safety that the pharmaceutical companies, the FDA and the CDC conveniently leave out. Therefore, she is simply helping parents to make INFORMED decisions regarding vaccines, not scaring them into not getting vaccinated as John Stossel puts it. The pharmaceutical companies and the government do not want parents to be informed. They want them to remain ignorant and obedient. Therefore, Barbara Loe Fisher, who has saved countless numbers of children from death and injuries related to vaccines, was once again demonized by the pharmaceutical companies and the media and I am absolutely disgusted by this. I just want it to be known that there are infinite numbers of parents just like me who have an undying gratitude and support for Barbara Loe Fisher and the NVIC for their efforts to help parents make a truly informed decision about vaccines." - Email to NVIC on Feb. 24, 2007 at 9:55 a.m., among the many supportive emails and telephone calls NVIC has received since the "20/20" broadcast
"This was a very one sided story. If vaccines are so safe, then why does a portion of the cost of each vaccine ($0.75) given go into the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program set up by Congress and DHHS? The fund has about $2 billion, and has paid out about $1.5 billion to over 1800 families whose children were injured or killed by a vaccine. The fund was designed to shield vaccine manufacturers from expensive lawsuits. How can a news program do a story about the complex issue of vaccines, and not discuss this, or interview any parent who has had a child harmed or killed by vaccines? Very poor reporting." - Email to ABC "20/20" on Feb. 24 at 9:58 p.m., among the many emails ABC received since the "20/20" broadcast
ABC News Poll (as of 2/26/07) :
Yes, I am worried that some vaccinations could be harmful: 1,236
No, I believe the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any risks: 415
Total: 1,671
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
First, a heartfelt thank you to the many supportive emails and telephone calls mothers and fathers have made to the National Vaccine Information Center since the Feb. 23 ABC "20/20" broadcast from 9 to 11 p.m. EST. and about NVIC to ABC. I understand how upset many parents and grandparents are about the way that NVIC was portrayed and the misinformation about vaccine risks which was communicated during the segment.
Although I am disappointed by the superficial treatment of the subject of vaccine risks and the absence of a discussion about the violation of informed consent rights when it comes to mandatory vaccination laws, not to mention factual errors (the Institute of Medicine clearly DID confirm in 1994 that there is a causal relationship between DPT vaccine and permanent brain dysfunction), ABC at least acknowledged the national debate about vaccine safety. For that, we can thank John Stossel for his hyperactive, short sighted report.
My friends, this sacred cow is not going to be put back into the barn. It is out and running around the farm yard. And for every parent who watched "20/20" and believed that John Stossel and Paul Offit were right, there was a parent who became informed there was a controversy about vaccination and something to think about. Maybe some of them will check out www.NVIC.org and find out NVIC is simply trying to inform people about the risks and complications of diseases and vaccines in order to empower them to be able to speak intelligently with health care professionals and make a better educated vaccination decision for themselves or their children.
The truth about vaccine risks will shine bright and clear at the end of the day, no matter how many try to suppress or distort it. Adversity and challenge can serve to illuminate the truth.
Should Parents Worry About Vaccinating Their Children?
Fears of Vaccinations Rise, Diseases Reemerge
ABC News
February 22, 2007
By JOHN STOSSEL, KRISTINA KENDALL and PATRICK McMENAMIN
Click here for the URL:
Feb. 22, 2007— - When we worry, we worry the most about our children. Everyone wants to keep them safe.
When politicians want us to fall in line, they always talk about saving the children. And our feelings about kids have created very intense emotions about vaccines. Some people say vaccines are dangerous. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that they have "poisoned an entire generation of American children."
Kennedy has added his voice to the chorus of angry parents who are convinced that mercury in vaccines causes harm to children.
"It's causing IQ loss, mental retardation, speech delay, language delay, ADD, hyperactivity," he said.
Worrying About Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher, who heads the Vaccine Information Center, goes on television to alert parents about the dangers of vaccines.
On the "Today Show," she said, "We need to find out why so many of our highly vaccinated children are so sick."
The biggest worry today is autism. Before kids received so many vaccines, says Fisher, "you didn't see autistic children. Autism was so rare. Most people had never heard of it."
And the protestors blame the vaccines.
'Vaccines Don't Cause Autism'
Dr. Paul Offit is the chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He's also in the vaccine business. He developed and patented the rotavirus vaccine.
"I think that it's perfectly reasonable to be skeptical about anything you put into your body, including vaccines," said Offit. "And vaccines do have side effects. But vaccines don't cause autism."
Offit can say that with confidence because the National Academy of Sciences recently reviewed the science. They concluded that 19 major studies, tracking thousands of kids, all show no link between vaccines and autism.
"The question has been raised, it's been answered," said Offit. "Vaccines don't cause autism."
Then why are so many kids being diagnosed with autism? Because kids we once said had other conditions are now being called autistic.
As researchers from the March of Dimes put it, "improvements in detection and changes in diagnosis account for the observed increase in autism." Their data on autism rates in California showed that the increase in autism diagnoses almost exactly matched a decline in cases of retardation: autism prevalence increased by 9.1 cases per 10,000 children, while mental retardation dropped by 9.3 per 10,000.
"People that we once called quirky or geeky or nerdy are now called autistic," said Offit. "Because when you give that label of say, autistic spectrum disorder, you allow that child then to qualify for services which otherwise they wouldn't be qualified to get."
Not a New Concern
Two decades ago, "20/20" did a report which said that the whooping cough vaccine may lead to permanent neurological disorder and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Personal injury lawyer Allen McDowell said vaccine makers were victimizing kids, and more than 20 years later, he still says the vaccine makers put money before safety.
"There's no dispute about that. They were making so much money off the old vaccine they didn't really have any incentive to improve it."
McDowell made money too. The lawyer won lots of lawsuits.
"I made -- a good chunk of money," he said.
The vaccine makers did revise the whooping cough vaccine and the new version was approved by the FDA in 1991.
"The old (whooping cough) vaccine was probably our most reactogenic vaccine, which is to say that it had the highest rate of side effects," says Offit. "I mean, it could cause seizures with fever -- although it didn't cause epilepsy, meaning the permanent seizures --[but] it certainly could trigger seizures..... it caused pain and tenderness at the site of injection..... it caused floppy baby syndrome, a so-called 'hypo-tonic, hypo-response' syndrome. It caused persistent, inconsolable crying. And so, there was always an interest in trying to make that vaccine safer. But the science had to catch up to that."
Those serious side effects were temporary, not the permanent conditions for which lawyers often sued vaccine makers. In fact, comprehensive studies also reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences did not find that the old vaccine caused SIDS or permanent brain damage.
The Benefits of Vaccinations
Lost in this debate is the disease the vaccine prevents. Whooping cough racks a baby's body with violent fits of coughing. In its most extreme form, it kills. But after "20/20'"s vaccine report, many parents told their doctors, "I'm scared of your vaccine."
I asked Dr. Richard Saphir, my children's pediatrician, what he thought of that program.
"It was certainly alarmist," he said.
In fact, when my daughter Lauren got a fever after one of the vaccines, he decided not to give her the final shot, and a short time afterward, she got whooping cough.
Dr. Saphir said that the fact that I was a "20/20" correspondent made him even more anxious about giving my daughter the vaccine.
My daughter recovered from her whooping cough. She was surprised to hear that our reporting could confuse parents and influence doctors.
"Parents go in and force their physicians to agree to not give the vaccines even though the physicians say, you're making a stupid decision?" she asked. "Then you guys are doing a really bad thing."
Parent Suzanne Walther agrees. On internet sites, Walther read so many horror stories about vaccines, that so she postponed vaccinating her daughter, Mary Catherine.
"Some of the vaccine stories said that if I had my child vaccinated they were going to die of SIDS," she said. "I'm very protective of my children, I don't want to do something to them that might cause them harm."
But not vaccinating caused harm. Mary Catherine got very sick with spinal meningitis.
"Our pediatrician put us in an ambulance to go to Vanderbilt Hospital immediately," said Walther. "It is a deadly disease. There's a huge risk of deafness, blindness, it's very painful."
Resurgence of Old Diseases
Mary Catherine recovered, but she's one of many kids who are coming down with diseases doctors once thought were nearly eradicated, like mumps, measles, and whooping cough.
These diseases are coming back because pockets of frightened parents won't vaccinate their kids, some, after they search for information and end up on websites like Barbara Loe Fisher's. I asked Fisher about how sites like hers scare parents.
"You're really the vaccines' scare center. When you scare people stupid, and they don't get vaccinated, that spreads nasty diseases," I said.
"I don't think I've scared anybody stupid. We do not tell people to vaccinate or not vaccinate," she replied.
Fisher says she can't say whether vaccines are "good or bad."
"You can't say vaccines are good, vaccines haven't done more good than harm?" I asked?
"It's a complex issue," she said.
The Fear Factor
McDowell is now thinking about filing new lawsuits saying vaccine companies caused autism. I told him I thought he was an opportunistic hustler, preying on worried parents. McDowell disagreed.
"That's not the way I look at it. I look at it that I'm doing a service for the public in these immunizations."
He said of the whopping cough vaccine that, "if there hadn't been the litigation, they'd still be using the same old vaccine and causing a lot more serious problems."
Nonsense, says Offit. Lawyers didn't make the whooping cough vaccine better. "Science is always a process of evolution, and I think we had to get to the point in science where we could make the kind of purified products at commercial level that, that we couldn't do before," Offit said. The lawsuits "are a great example of just what can happen when, when lawyers go crazy.... I think there's a certain profiteering that comes with, with fear."
So I told McDowell I thought he was part of the Fear Industrial Complex, scaring people and making money off of it. After a long pause, he said, "True."
20/20
"I think parents are wondering why every time industry produces a vaccine it is automatically added to the mandatory list of vaccines for school entry." - Barbara Loe Fisher, ABC's Good Morning America, February 23, 2007
"Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about a new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer on the same day its manufacturer donated money to his campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Texas became the first state to require the vaccine against human papillomavirus earlier this month when Perry issued an executive order requiring it for girls entering sixth grade. Lawmakers are considering overriding the measure. A calendar for chief of staff Deirdre Delisi obtained under Texas' open records laws shows she met with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing" on Oct. 16. That same day, Merck & Co. (MRK)'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry and a total of $5,000 to eight state lawmakers. Perry spokesman Robert Black said the timing of the meeting and the donation was a coincidence. "There was no discussion of any kind of mandates," Black said." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press , February 21, 2007, Vaccine Meeting, Merck Donation Coincide
"Health officials have been cautiously watching for reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing side effect that has been associated with a few other vaccines. In the reporting period, there were three such cases. "Based on these numbers, it's not worrisome to us that there's any sort of association between the vaccine" and Guillain-Barre, Iskander said. Today, a Virginia-based advocacy group, the National Vaccine Information Center, which focuses on the risks of immunizations, put out a press release warning of Gardasil side effects. The group said health officials did not do enough research into whether the vaccine leads to harmful problems when combined with other shots. But Iskander said there's no evidence Gardasil is harmful in combination with other vaccines. The advocacy group also questioned a movement by some state legislatures to order the vaccine be given to all girls. "We just don't know enough to be mandating Gardasil for anyone, much less vulnerable 11- to 12-year-old girls entering puberty," said Barbara Loe Fisher, the organization's president, in a prepared statement. On Tuesday, Merck announced it was dropping its lobbying campaign to persuade states to make the cancer vaccine required for adolescent girls attending public school." - Mike Stobbe, Associated Press , February 21, 2007,
HPV Vaccine Won't Get New Warnings, Officials Say
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
This morning, ABC's "Good Morning America" aired a 7:15 a.m. segment on the controversy about the proposed HPV vaccine mandates, on which I appeared to state "I think parents are wondering why every time industry produces a vaccine it is automatically added to the mandatory list for school entry." Tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. EST the network will broadcast a special two-hour show featuring libertarian John Stossel and his view of how people perceive risks and whether the actions they take to minimize their perceived risks can have unintended consequences. I was interviewed for this show and, today, was informed by A-CHAMP in their Action Alert that the show is entitled "Scared Stiff: Worried in America" and that promotional copy for the show states "Stossel looks at the debate and concludes that activists and lawyers may be killing people by frightening the public about vaccines." In its Action Alert, A-CHAMP said that parents had already contacted ABC to register disapproval of "one-sided and inflammatory programming and promotion." I hope that the segment of this show about vaccine safety concerns of the public is not as one-sided and inflammatory as the promotional rhetoric suggests. If it is, then most likely the goal of the show was to shut down the vaccine safety and informed consent debate that has been taking place in the living rooms of families across America for the past two decades and has begun to be addressed in the public arena during the past two months. There is nothing that anyone can say or do on television or radio or in the pages of medical journals or newspapers which will erase the experience of hundreds of thousands of parents in America, who have witnessed their once healthy children regress physically, mentally and emotionally after receiving one or more government mandated vaccines. The truth about vaccine risks and the perception of those risks belongs to those who take the risk and are left to deal with the consequences: mothers and fathers in America and around the world. Children who are injured or die from vaccination are equally as important as children who are injured or die from infectious diseases. The hallmark of a humane society is to care about all human life and not consider some expendable in service to the rest. The National Vaccine Information Center is proud to stand for the right of citizens to have access to all information about the risks and complications of diseases and the risks and complications of vaccines and the right to make an informed, voluntary decision about which risk to take.
"Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about a new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer on the same day its manufacturer donated money to his campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Texas became the first state to require the vaccine against human papillomavirus earlier this month when Perry issued an executive order requiring it for girls entering sixth grade. Lawmakers are considering overriding the measure. A calendar for chief of staff Deirdre Delisi obtained under Texas' open records laws shows she met with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing" on Oct. 16. That same day, Merck & Co. (MRK)'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry and a total of $5,000 to eight state lawmakers. Perry spokesman Robert Black said the timing of the meeting and the donation was a coincidence. "There was no discussion of any kind of mandates," Black said." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press , February 21, 2007, Vaccine Meeting, Merck Donation Coincide
"Health officials have been cautiously watching for reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing side effect that has been associated with a few other vaccines. In the reporting period, there were three such cases. "Based on these numbers, it's not worrisome to us that there's any sort of association between the vaccine" and Guillain-Barre, Iskander said. Today, a Virginia-based advocacy group, the National Vaccine Information Center, which focuses on the risks of immunizations, put out a press release warning of Gardasil side effects. The group said health officials did not do enough research into whether the vaccine leads to harmful problems when combined with other shots. But Iskander said there's no evidence Gardasil is harmful in combination with other vaccines. The advocacy group also questioned a movement by some state legislatures to order the vaccine be given to all girls. "We just don't know enough to be mandating Gardasil for anyone, much less vulnerable 11- to 12-year-old girls entering puberty," said Barbara Loe Fisher, the organization's president, in a prepared statement. On Tuesday, Merck announced it was dropping its lobbying campaign to persuade states to make the cancer vaccine required for adolescent girls attending public school." - Mike Stobbe, Associated Press , February 21, 2007,
HPV Vaccine Won't Get New Warnings, Officials Say
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
This morning, ABC's "Good Morning America" aired a 7:15 a.m. segment on the controversy about the proposed HPV vaccine mandates, on which I appeared to state "I think parents are wondering why every time industry produces a vaccine it is automatically added to the mandatory list for school entry." Tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. EST the network will broadcast a special two-hour show featuring libertarian John Stossel and his view of how people perceive risks and whether the actions they take to minimize their perceived risks can have unintended consequences. I was interviewed for this show and, today, was informed by A-CHAMP in their Action Alert that the show is entitled "Scared Stiff: Worried in America" and that promotional copy for the show states "Stossel looks at the debate and concludes that activists and lawyers may be killing people by frightening the public about vaccines." In its Action Alert, A-CHAMP said that parents had already contacted ABC to register disapproval of "one-sided and inflammatory programming and promotion." I hope that the segment of this show about vaccine safety concerns of the public is not as one-sided and inflammatory as the promotional rhetoric suggests. If it is, then most likely the goal of the show was to shut down the vaccine safety and informed consent debate that has been taking place in the living rooms of families across America for the past two decades and has begun to be addressed in the public arena during the past two months. There is nothing that anyone can say or do on television or radio or in the pages of medical journals or newspapers which will erase the experience of hundreds of thousands of parents in America, who have witnessed their once healthy children regress physically, mentally and emotionally after receiving one or more government mandated vaccines. The truth about vaccine risks and the perception of those risks belongs to those who take the risk and are left to deal with the consequences: mothers and fathers in America and around the world. Children who are injured or die from vaccination are equally as important as children who are injured or die from infectious diseases. The hallmark of a humane society is to care about all human life and not consider some expendable in service to the rest. The National Vaccine Information Center is proud to stand for the right of citizens to have access to all information about the risks and complications of diseases and the risks and complications of vaccines and the right to make an informed, voluntary decision about which risk to take.
NVIC Releases GARDASIL Report - Merck Stops Mandate Push
"Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school. Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn't enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance, said Rick Haupt, director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccine division, in a telephone interview today....The vaccine is Merck's most important new product, capable of generating as much as $3 billion in annual sales, analysts have said. Revenue from Gardasil in the fourth quarter reached $155 million.... Starting in 2008, Texas girls ages 11 and 12 will be required to have the vaccine before entering sixth grade. The shots will cost the state $50 million the first year....A group called the National Vaccine Information Center said yesterday that its analysis of reports to U.S. regulators found cases of serious side effects to Gardasil. One was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system." - Shannon Pettypiece and Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News , February 20, 2007, Merck Stops Campaign to Mandate Gardasil Vaccine Use
"Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance....Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring that schoolgirls get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state, who may seek to pass a law of overturning the order. A group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, the National Vaccine Information Center, has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The group questions whether it was tested in enough young girls. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January show don't raise any red flags." - Linda Johnson, Associated Press February 20, 2007, Merck Suspends Lobbying for Cervical Cancer Vaccine Mandate
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
About 12 hours after PROVE president Dawn Richardson and scores of parents and doctors testified in the Texas state legislature, protesting the HPV vaccine mandate being imposed on 11 year old girls in that state by the Governor of Texas, Merck announced it was ending its aggressive lobbying campaign to get GARDASIL mandated in every state. Dawn used advance information provided to her by NVIC from the Report on VAERS and GARDASIL that NVIC released today (below) in her testimony, arguing that the vaccine had not been tested adequately for safety in little girls and was already causing too many reactions. The Texas legislature is in the process of building a bi-partisan coalition to pass legislation that will overturn Governor Rick Perry's Executive order mandating the vaccine for all sixth grade girls.
The backlash in Texas is also being felt in other states, as parents are letting legislators know they are tired of having every vaccine, which industry produces and the CDC recommends for universal use in all children, automatically mandated by the states for school entry. From now on, perhaps citizens and their elected officials will work together to more carefully evaluate the necessity for and safety and efficacy of new vaccines which those, who are operating and profiting from the mass vaccination system, lobby to have mandated.
With 56 doses of 16 vaccines recommended by the CDC for use by all children by age 12 and more than 3 dozen of those already mandated in most states, a careful examination of each new vaccine that industry markets is long overdue. The fact that many highly vaccinated children are suffering with chronic disease and disability, with 1 in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed and millions more asthmatic and diabetic, makes it even more important for the FDA and CDC to redouble their efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers to high standards for proof of safety for vaccines before they are licensed and recommended for universal use by all children.
After 25 years, the vaccine safety and informed consent movement led by parents of vaccine injured children has become a national voice for those who want truth, transparency and freedom of choice when it comes to making vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. Today, many more Americans are joining with NVIC and declaring: No forced vaccination. Not in America.
VACCINE SAFETY GROUP RELEASES GARDASIL REACTION REPORT
Calls on FDA and CDC to Warn Doctors and Parents to Report to VAERS
(Feb. 21) Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck’s GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
“Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria- acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine.”
According to NVIC’s report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck’s Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
“About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine,” said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. “Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence- based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor’s office after they get vaccinated.”
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown “strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types” but “tested positive for high risk HPV” in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be “the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination.” Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the “HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine.” There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth’s PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
“If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported,” said Fisher. “How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don’t know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty.”
For a copy of NVIC’s Report on VAERS and GARDASIL, references for this statement and information about how to report a vaccine reaction to VAERS, go to www.nvic.org.
"Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance....Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring that schoolgirls get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state, who may seek to pass a law of overturning the order. A group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, the National Vaccine Information Center, has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The group questions whether it was tested in enough young girls. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January show don't raise any red flags." - Linda Johnson, Associated Press February 20, 2007, Merck Suspends Lobbying for Cervical Cancer Vaccine Mandate
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
About 12 hours after PROVE president Dawn Richardson and scores of parents and doctors testified in the Texas state legislature, protesting the HPV vaccine mandate being imposed on 11 year old girls in that state by the Governor of Texas, Merck announced it was ending its aggressive lobbying campaign to get GARDASIL mandated in every state. Dawn used advance information provided to her by NVIC from the Report on VAERS and GARDASIL that NVIC released today (below) in her testimony, arguing that the vaccine had not been tested adequately for safety in little girls and was already causing too many reactions. The Texas legislature is in the process of building a bi-partisan coalition to pass legislation that will overturn Governor Rick Perry's Executive order mandating the vaccine for all sixth grade girls.
The backlash in Texas is also being felt in other states, as parents are letting legislators know they are tired of having every vaccine, which industry produces and the CDC recommends for universal use in all children, automatically mandated by the states for school entry. From now on, perhaps citizens and their elected officials will work together to more carefully evaluate the necessity for and safety and efficacy of new vaccines which those, who are operating and profiting from the mass vaccination system, lobby to have mandated.
With 56 doses of 16 vaccines recommended by the CDC for use by all children by age 12 and more than 3 dozen of those already mandated in most states, a careful examination of each new vaccine that industry markets is long overdue. The fact that many highly vaccinated children are suffering with chronic disease and disability, with 1 in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed and millions more asthmatic and diabetic, makes it even more important for the FDA and CDC to redouble their efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers to high standards for proof of safety for vaccines before they are licensed and recommended for universal use by all children.
After 25 years, the vaccine safety and informed consent movement led by parents of vaccine injured children has become a national voice for those who want truth, transparency and freedom of choice when it comes to making vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. Today, many more Americans are joining with NVIC and declaring: No forced vaccination. Not in America.
VACCINE SAFETY GROUP RELEASES GARDASIL REACTION REPORT
Calls on FDA and CDC to Warn Doctors and Parents to Report to VAERS
(Feb. 21) Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck’s GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
“Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria- acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine.”
According to NVIC’s report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck’s Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
“About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine,” said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. “Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence- based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor’s office after they get vaccinated.”
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown “strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types” but “tested positive for high risk HPV” in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be “the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination.” Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the “HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine.” There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth’s PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
“If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported,” said Fisher. “How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don’t know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty.”
For a copy of NVIC’s Report on VAERS and GARDASIL, references for this statement and information about how to report a vaccine reaction to VAERS, go to www.nvic.org.
NVIC on "Today Show, Rotavirus Vaccine Warning Has Been Sent
"This is about requiring 11-year old girls to get a vaccine that has not been proven safe for girls entering puberty. Merck only studied the vaccine in a few hundred 11 year old girls and followed them up for less than two years. And before we add one more vaccine to the more than 40 doses of vaccines we ask our kids to get before they can attend school, we need to find out why so many of our highly vaccinated children are sick - one in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed...We cannot be conducting a vaccine experiment on our little girls. This is not the way to cure cervical cancer. We have to do better science." - Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC President, "Today Show", February 13, 2007
Click Here to View the Today Show segment on HPV Vaccine
"The FDA's public health notification about the intussusception cases includes these recommendations: "Parents should contact their child's doctor immediately if the child has stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in their stool or change in their bowel movements, as these may be signs of intussusception. It is important to contact the child's doctor if there are any questions or if the child has any of these symptoms at any time after vaccination, even if it has been several weeks since the last vaccine dose." The FDA also asks that any cases of intussusception be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is run by the FDA and CDC." - Miranda Hitti, WebMd Medical News
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Yesterday, (2/13/07) I appeared on NBC's "The Today Show," where I debated NBC resident doctor Nancy Snyderman, M.D. and Texas legislator Jessica Farrar, who introduced a bill in Texas to require sixth grade girls to get HPV vaccine. This debate was a follow-up to the Feb. 5 debate between Rep. Farrar and PROVE president Dawn Richardson, which generated so much email and letters to NBC that they decided to follow-up. This was my fourth debate with physicians on the "Today Show" in the past 15 years, the last one being a decade ago with Johns Hopkin's Neal Halsey, M.D.
NBC was the network which broke the story, in 1982, about vaccine risks. Lea Thompson, a mother and consumer reporter for the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., produced an Emmy award winning documentary "DPT: Vaccine Roulette." That show served as the foundation for the vaccine safety and informed consent movement, which parents launched with the founding of a parent-led organization now known as the National Vaccine Information Center. The medical literature NBC reporter Thompson used to document DPT vaccine risks served as my foundation for co-authoring the book DPT: A Shot in the Dark published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1985. NBC deserves credit for allowing live debates to take place about vaccine safety over the years so the public can be better informed about the subject of vaccination.
After the "Today Show" ended yesterday and before I flew back to Washington, D.C., I ran into Merck's Rotateq vaccine co-patent holder, Paul Offit, M.D. in the lobby of another studio. I wonder if he knew that, by the end of the day, the FDA would issue a warning to parents to be on the lookout for their babies bowels collapsing after getting injected with the diarrhea vaccine he and other interested parties persuaded the CDC to recommend for use by all babies.
The FDA is asking doctors and parents to report cases of bowel blockage (intussusception) that babies suffer after getting Rotateq to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System(VAERS). The FDA should also be asking doctors and parents to report all serious health problems after little girls get injected with Merck's HPV Vaccine, GARDASIL.
Serious Bowel Problems Reported in 28 U.S. Babies After Getting RotaTeq Vaccine
WebMD Medical News
Published: February 13, 2007
by Miranda Hitti
Feb. 13, 2007 -- The FDA today announced that 28 U.S. babies reportedly developed a potentially deadly bowel problem after getting the RotaTeq vaccine. The babies developed intussusception, a serious and potentially life-threatening condition in which the intestine gets blocked or twisted.
Sixteen of the 28 babies required hospitalization and surgery. The other 12 needed enemas to reduce the intussusception. None died.
RotaTeq targets rotavirus, a leading cause of kids' diarrhea. The vaccine, approved by the FDA last year, is on the CDC's 2007 recommended child immunization schedule. It's given in three doses when babies are 2 to 6 months old.
It's not known whether RotaTeq caused the babies' intussusception. The number of reported cases is in line with expectations, says the FDA.
However, a different rotavirus vaccine, called RotaShield, was withdrawn from the market in 1999 after a rise in intussusception was noted after its use.
RotaTeq's label has been updated to reflect the intusssusception reports. But the vaccine's "dosage and administration schedule remains unchanged," says the FDA.
The FDA's Recommendations
The FDA's public health notification about the intussusception cases includes these recommendations:
"Parents should contact their child's doctor immediately if the child has stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in their stool or change in their bowel movements, as these may be signs of intussusception. It is important to contact the child's doctor if there are any questions or if the child has any of these symptoms at any time after vaccination, even if it has been several weeks since the last vaccine dose."
The FDA also asks that any cases of intussusception be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is run by the FDA and CDC.
For a copy of the vaccine reporting form, call 800- 822-7967 or go online to www.vaers.hhs.gov.
Reported Cases
The 28 cases of intussusception were reported between the FDA's approval of RotaTeq on Feb. 3, 2006 and Jan. 31, 2007.
RotaTeq's intussusception risk was studied in approximately 70,000 infants -- half of whom got the RotaTeq vaccine; the other half got a placebo -- before the FDA approved RotaTeq.
Those studies showed "no significant increased risk of intussusception," notes an FDA public health notice.
The FDA also says that "the number of intussusception cases reported to date after RotaTeq administration does not exceed the number expected," based on unpublished CDC data.
According to the FDA, about 3.5 million doses of RotaTeq had been distributed in the U.S. through Feb. 1, 2007, but not all of those doses have been administered.
The 28 intussusception cases were reported after the first, second, and third doses of the vaccine. The cases occurred within 73 days after getting any of those doses; roughly half of the cases happened within 21 days.
The FDA's Past Comments
When the FDA approved RotaTeq just over a year ago, the FDA's Jesse Goodman, MD, MPH, called data from the vaccine's preapproval studies "reassuring."
But Goodman, who directs the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, also said at the time that "people would need to consider that [the studies] are not conclusive that this side effect could not potentially occur" and that the FDA had put in place "an extremely aggressive program to try to get as much information about the vaccine in its early period of use as possible."
Further studies are being done to probe the risk of intussusception and other serious events with RotaTeq.
RotaTeq's maker, the drug company Merck, is conducting a postmarketing study of approximately 44,000 infants. The CDC is doing its own study of about 90,000 infants, says the FDA. Merck is a WebMD sponsor.
Merck's Comments
WebMD contacted Merck for the company's comments.
In a news release emailed to WebMD, Merck states that intussusception is "a naturally occurring event in infants" that is estimated to occur in approximately one in 2,000 infants during the first year of life.
"Cases of intussusception can occur when no vaccine has been given, and the cause is usually unknown," Merck states.
The news release also includes comments from Mark Feinberg, MD, PhD, vice president of policy, public health, and medical affairs for Merck Vaccines.
"It is common for post-marketing experience information with a vaccine to be reported to VAERS and for the prescribing information to be updated accordingly," Feinberg says, in the news release.
Feinberg says public health and patient safety are Merck's "highest priorities" and that Merck is "very confident" in the data supporting RotaTeq's safety profile from its preapproval study.
RotaShield, the vaccine that was withdrawn from the market in 1999, was made by the drug company Wyeth.
Wyeth is a WebMD sponsor.
Click Here to View the Today Show segment on HPV Vaccine
"The FDA's public health notification about the intussusception cases includes these recommendations: "Parents should contact their child's doctor immediately if the child has stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in their stool or change in their bowel movements, as these may be signs of intussusception. It is important to contact the child's doctor if there are any questions or if the child has any of these symptoms at any time after vaccination, even if it has been several weeks since the last vaccine dose." The FDA also asks that any cases of intussusception be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is run by the FDA and CDC." - Miranda Hitti, WebMd Medical News
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Yesterday, (2/13/07) I appeared on NBC's "The Today Show," where I debated NBC resident doctor Nancy Snyderman, M.D. and Texas legislator Jessica Farrar, who introduced a bill in Texas to require sixth grade girls to get HPV vaccine. This debate was a follow-up to the Feb. 5 debate between Rep. Farrar and PROVE president Dawn Richardson, which generated so much email and letters to NBC that they decided to follow-up. This was my fourth debate with physicians on the "Today Show" in the past 15 years, the last one being a decade ago with Johns Hopkin's Neal Halsey, M.D.
NBC was the network which broke the story, in 1982, about vaccine risks. Lea Thompson, a mother and consumer reporter for the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., produced an Emmy award winning documentary "DPT: Vaccine Roulette." That show served as the foundation for the vaccine safety and informed consent movement, which parents launched with the founding of a parent-led organization now known as the National Vaccine Information Center. The medical literature NBC reporter Thompson used to document DPT vaccine risks served as my foundation for co-authoring the book DPT: A Shot in the Dark published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1985. NBC deserves credit for allowing live debates to take place about vaccine safety over the years so the public can be better informed about the subject of vaccination.
After the "Today Show" ended yesterday and before I flew back to Washington, D.C., I ran into Merck's Rotateq vaccine co-patent holder, Paul Offit, M.D. in the lobby of another studio. I wonder if he knew that, by the end of the day, the FDA would issue a warning to parents to be on the lookout for their babies bowels collapsing after getting injected with the diarrhea vaccine he and other interested parties persuaded the CDC to recommend for use by all babies.
The FDA is asking doctors and parents to report cases of bowel blockage (intussusception) that babies suffer after getting Rotateq to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System(VAERS). The FDA should also be asking doctors and parents to report all serious health problems after little girls get injected with Merck's HPV Vaccine, GARDASIL.
Serious Bowel Problems Reported in 28 U.S. Babies After Getting RotaTeq Vaccine
WebMD Medical News
Published: February 13, 2007
by Miranda Hitti
Feb. 13, 2007 -- The FDA today announced that 28 U.S. babies reportedly developed a potentially deadly bowel problem after getting the RotaTeq vaccine. The babies developed intussusception, a serious and potentially life-threatening condition in which the intestine gets blocked or twisted.
Sixteen of the 28 babies required hospitalization and surgery. The other 12 needed enemas to reduce the intussusception. None died.
RotaTeq targets rotavirus, a leading cause of kids' diarrhea. The vaccine, approved by the FDA last year, is on the CDC's 2007 recommended child immunization schedule. It's given in three doses when babies are 2 to 6 months old.
It's not known whether RotaTeq caused the babies' intussusception. The number of reported cases is in line with expectations, says the FDA.
However, a different rotavirus vaccine, called RotaShield, was withdrawn from the market in 1999 after a rise in intussusception was noted after its use.
RotaTeq's label has been updated to reflect the intusssusception reports. But the vaccine's "dosage and administration schedule remains unchanged," says the FDA.
The FDA's Recommendations
The FDA's public health notification about the intussusception cases includes these recommendations:
"Parents should contact their child's doctor immediately if the child has stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in their stool or change in their bowel movements, as these may be signs of intussusception. It is important to contact the child's doctor if there are any questions or if the child has any of these symptoms at any time after vaccination, even if it has been several weeks since the last vaccine dose."
The FDA also asks that any cases of intussusception be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is run by the FDA and CDC.
For a copy of the vaccine reporting form, call 800- 822-7967 or go online to www.vaers.hhs.gov.
Reported Cases
The 28 cases of intussusception were reported between the FDA's approval of RotaTeq on Feb. 3, 2006 and Jan. 31, 2007.
RotaTeq's intussusception risk was studied in approximately 70,000 infants -- half of whom got the RotaTeq vaccine; the other half got a placebo -- before the FDA approved RotaTeq.
Those studies showed "no significant increased risk of intussusception," notes an FDA public health notice.
The FDA also says that "the number of intussusception cases reported to date after RotaTeq administration does not exceed the number expected," based on unpublished CDC data.
According to the FDA, about 3.5 million doses of RotaTeq had been distributed in the U.S. through Feb. 1, 2007, but not all of those doses have been administered.
The 28 intussusception cases were reported after the first, second, and third doses of the vaccine. The cases occurred within 73 days after getting any of those doses; roughly half of the cases happened within 21 days.
The FDA's Past Comments
When the FDA approved RotaTeq just over a year ago, the FDA's Jesse Goodman, MD, MPH, called data from the vaccine's preapproval studies "reassuring."
But Goodman, who directs the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, also said at the time that "people would need to consider that [the studies] are not conclusive that this side effect could not potentially occur" and that the FDA had put in place "an extremely aggressive program to try to get as much information about the vaccine in its early period of use as possible."
Further studies are being done to probe the risk of intussusception and other serious events with RotaTeq.
RotaTeq's maker, the drug company Merck, is conducting a postmarketing study of approximately 44,000 infants. The CDC is doing its own study of about 90,000 infants, says the FDA. Merck is a WebMD sponsor.
Merck's Comments
WebMD contacted Merck for the company's comments.
In a news release emailed to WebMD, Merck states that intussusception is "a naturally occurring event in infants" that is estimated to occur in approximately one in 2,000 infants during the first year of life.
"Cases of intussusception can occur when no vaccine has been given, and the cause is usually unknown," Merck states.
The news release also includes comments from Mark Feinberg, MD, PhD, vice president of policy, public health, and medical affairs for Merck Vaccines.
"It is common for post-marketing experience information with a vaccine to be reported to VAERS and for the prescribing information to be updated accordingly," Feinberg says, in the news release.
Feinberg says public health and patient safety are Merck's "highest priorities" and that Merck is "very confident" in the data supporting RotaTeq's safety profile from its preapproval study.
RotaShield, the vaccine that was withdrawn from the market in 1999, was made by the drug company Wyeth.
Wyeth is a WebMD sponsor.
HPV Vaccine Hotly Debated on Today Show
"There is no medical emergency in the state of Texas over cervical cancer. The emergency is in the board room of Merck because they've seen this [HPV vaccine mandate] measure fail in three states and they want to make sure this thing doesn't go down the tubes.......The product was only tested in 1200 little girls under the age of 16. That is not nearly enough information to base a policy that is going to affect hundreds of thousands of girls in the United States, perhaps possibly even millions...This is a very, very expensive vaccine. The amount of money it is going to take to vaccinate every single little girls at the age of 11 and do that every year - we don't know because the vaccine hasn't been followed up long enough to know that this is actually going to have an impact when these little girls are old enough to develop cervical cancer...." - Dawn Richardson, The Today Show, Feb. 5, 2007
"Legislation mandating the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescent schoolgirls is pending in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Those who advocate it are quick to note that parents can opt out of the program. But few can say exactly how many bureaucratic hoops a parent will have to jump through to do that. Besides, why should the onus be on the parents to figure out how not to be in a government-mandated program? In New Hampshire, parents opt in -- and the burden is on the government to show how the vaccine can benefit their children....So are New Hampshire residents somehow smarter and better able to develop effective public health programs? Are they more concerned about their children than the rest of us? Hardly. What they have that we do not is the right attitude. They take their state motto seriously: "Live Free or Die," while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves." - Courtland Milloy, Washington Post , January 24, 2007, Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
This morning (Feb. 5) on the NBC "Today Show," (see the video HPV Vaccine is mandatory in Texas) Dawn Richardson, the President of PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education) in Texas debated Texas Rep. Jessica Farrar (D) who supports the Executive Order issued by the Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, on Feb. 2 mandating that all sixth grade girls gets three doses of HPV vaccine in order to attend school. Dawn made the point that "the Governor has side stepped policy...there is no way for the people of this state to be able to add input and for the legislature to be able to debate and decide and this is just plain wrong."
Although Dawn was supposed to be only debating the legislator, she ended up also debating NBC doc Nancy Snyderman, who offered her opinion on the intelligence of state legislators when she qualified that she was speaking "as an American citizen" and proclaimed "I never feel better when legislators start arguing about the science. They haven't done a good job with stem cells and they haven't done a good job with basic science and I am not so sure they are going to do a better job with this...."
And therein lies the problem with medical doctors at Merck and medical doctors in state health departments and medical doctors at the CDC and many medical doctors in the U.S. occupying a position of authority (like on TV) : they just can't help telling other people what to do. And they get really, really mad if you don't do what they tell you to do - for your own good and everyone's else's good, of course. Their favorite tactic, when they really don't want you to understand the risks you are about to take with whatever they are telling you to do, is: "You don't understand. You couldn't possibly understand the complexities of this issue. I'll make the decision for you."
Well, Nancy, I've got news for you. The majority of us ordinary non-M.D. Americans believe in our right to fully participate in the creation of the laws which govern us by working through our elected officials, in this case, our state legislators. We don't believe in a medical aristocracy running the show. We actually believe our elected officials, like us, have a brain and can think through these tough issues like whether our pre-adolescent daughters ought to be injected with a vaccine that Merck only tested in a few thousand little girls or whether we should be paying higher health insurance premiums to spend $4 billion to prevent 3700 cervical cancer deaths in the U.S. that could be avoided if women just got pap smears and early treatment of pre-cancerous lesions. We don't think these issues have nearly as much to do about sex (that convenient red herring) as it does about this HPV vaccine's safety, necessity and cost.
The days when Moms (and legislators) bow down to medical doctors and drug companies and offer up their children to every new vaccine that comes down the pike are over. Faith without question rightly belongs in Cathedrals and Temples, but not in the halls of our state Capitols or Congress.
Parents all over America are standing up and shouting now: Show us the Science and Give us a Choice.
Just in time.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Published)
The Washington Post
February 1, 2007
Thanks to columnist Courtland Milloy for his courageous defense of the informed consent ethic, which includes allowing parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions for their children ["Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine," Metro section, Jan. 24]. Mr. Milloy makes the point that if the governed are to respect and have confidence in those who govern them, state officials must treat citizens with respect, rather than using coercion and intimidation to implement health policies.
In addition to the human papillomavirus vaccine, many vaccines are being developed for diseases that depart from the smallpox and polio model and are not transmissable in public settings. Vaccines have benefits as well as risks that are higher for some people because of genetic and other biological differences, as has been demonstrated by the more than $1 billion awarded to vaccine casualties under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Mr. Milloy has reminded us that the people of New Hampshire embrace a liberal informed-consent policy for vaccines that emphasizes education rather than prosecution because they are serious about "Live Free or Die," their state motto, "while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves."
His warning also challenges us to think about an important moral question: Should citizens be injected against their will with biological agents that can injure and kill for what the state has defined as the common good?
How we answer that question may well determine how we define freedom in America in the 21st century.
Barbara Loe Fisher
President
National Vaccine Information Center Vienna
"Legislation mandating the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescent schoolgirls is pending in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Those who advocate it are quick to note that parents can opt out of the program. But few can say exactly how many bureaucratic hoops a parent will have to jump through to do that. Besides, why should the onus be on the parents to figure out how not to be in a government-mandated program? In New Hampshire, parents opt in -- and the burden is on the government to show how the vaccine can benefit their children....So are New Hampshire residents somehow smarter and better able to develop effective public health programs? Are they more concerned about their children than the rest of us? Hardly. What they have that we do not is the right attitude. They take their state motto seriously: "Live Free or Die," while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves." - Courtland Milloy, Washington Post , January 24, 2007, Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
This morning (Feb. 5) on the NBC "Today Show," (see the video HPV Vaccine is mandatory in Texas) Dawn Richardson, the President of PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education) in Texas debated Texas Rep. Jessica Farrar (D) who supports the Executive Order issued by the Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, on Feb. 2 mandating that all sixth grade girls gets three doses of HPV vaccine in order to attend school. Dawn made the point that "the Governor has side stepped policy...there is no way for the people of this state to be able to add input and for the legislature to be able to debate and decide and this is just plain wrong."
Although Dawn was supposed to be only debating the legislator, she ended up also debating NBC doc Nancy Snyderman, who offered her opinion on the intelligence of state legislators when she qualified that she was speaking "as an American citizen" and proclaimed "I never feel better when legislators start arguing about the science. They haven't done a good job with stem cells and they haven't done a good job with basic science and I am not so sure they are going to do a better job with this...."
And therein lies the problem with medical doctors at Merck and medical doctors in state health departments and medical doctors at the CDC and many medical doctors in the U.S. occupying a position of authority (like on TV) : they just can't help telling other people what to do. And they get really, really mad if you don't do what they tell you to do - for your own good and everyone's else's good, of course. Their favorite tactic, when they really don't want you to understand the risks you are about to take with whatever they are telling you to do, is: "You don't understand. You couldn't possibly understand the complexities of this issue. I'll make the decision for you."
Well, Nancy, I've got news for you. The majority of us ordinary non-M.D. Americans believe in our right to fully participate in the creation of the laws which govern us by working through our elected officials, in this case, our state legislators. We don't believe in a medical aristocracy running the show. We actually believe our elected officials, like us, have a brain and can think through these tough issues like whether our pre-adolescent daughters ought to be injected with a vaccine that Merck only tested in a few thousand little girls or whether we should be paying higher health insurance premiums to spend $4 billion to prevent 3700 cervical cancer deaths in the U.S. that could be avoided if women just got pap smears and early treatment of pre-cancerous lesions. We don't think these issues have nearly as much to do about sex (that convenient red herring) as it does about this HPV vaccine's safety, necessity and cost.
The days when Moms (and legislators) bow down to medical doctors and drug companies and offer up their children to every new vaccine that comes down the pike are over. Faith without question rightly belongs in Cathedrals and Temples, but not in the halls of our state Capitols or Congress.
Parents all over America are standing up and shouting now: Show us the Science and Give us a Choice.
Just in time.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Published)
The Washington Post
February 1, 2007
Thanks to columnist Courtland Milloy for his courageous defense of the informed consent ethic, which includes allowing parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions for their children ["Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine," Metro section, Jan. 24]. Mr. Milloy makes the point that if the governed are to respect and have confidence in those who govern them, state officials must treat citizens with respect, rather than using coercion and intimidation to implement health policies.
In addition to the human papillomavirus vaccine, many vaccines are being developed for diseases that depart from the smallpox and polio model and are not transmissable in public settings. Vaccines have benefits as well as risks that are higher for some people because of genetic and other biological differences, as has been demonstrated by the more than $1 billion awarded to vaccine casualties under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Mr. Milloy has reminded us that the people of New Hampshire embrace a liberal informed-consent policy for vaccines that emphasizes education rather than prosecution because they are serious about "Live Free or Die," their state motto, "while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves."
His warning also challenges us to think about an important moral question: Should citizens be injected against their will with biological agents that can injure and kill for what the state has defined as the common good?
How we answer that question may well determine how we define freedom in America in the 21st century.
Barbara Loe Fisher
President
National Vaccine Information Center Vienna
CA: New Autism Cases At All Time High
"California is now averaging over 9 new cases of full syndrome autism entering California's DD system a day, seven days a week. 78% of the autism population in the system is under the age of 18, with 84% under the age of 22 years old. We currently have 1,223 more 3 to 5 year olds in the system then we have for ALL ages from 22 years old to 62 years old and beyond. 20 years ago in 1987 there were 2,273 persons with autism in California's system. Today, 20 years later, there are 32,809." - Rick Rollens, Co-founder M.I.N.D. Institute UC-Davis
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Rick Rollens, co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute at UC-Davis and longtime advocate for autism research, has been working with the California legislature since the late 1990's to analyze and report on autism incidence statistics in the state. The first report that California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) issued on autism increase statistics was in April 1999, when DDS reported a 273 percent increase between 1987 and 1998 in the numbers of new children with a professional diagnosis of autism. That groundbreaking report concluded that "the number of persons with autism grew markedly faster than the numbers of persons with other developmental disabilities and "compared to characteristics of 11 years ago, the present population of persons with autism are younger and have a greater chance of exhibiting no or milder forms of mental retardation."
Since that 1999 report, Rick has continued to report on autism diagnosis statistics coming out of the state of California. Yesterday, Rick released another update of how many children are being professionally diagnosed with full spectrum DSM IV autism and have been deemed eligible to receive DDS services. These numbers only represent those children with a full spectrum autism diagnosis and not those with Asperger's, developmental delays or other autism spectrum disorders.
The latest news from California is that during the calendar year of 2006, California added more new cases of autism to the DDS system than have ever been added to the system in any calendar year. The 3,385 full spectrum autism cases that were professionally diagnosed and added to the system in 2006 represent a 16 percent increase over calendar year 2005.
The autism epidemic in California is getting worse. It is an epidemic that is not just confined to California.The autism epidemic, which is part of the larger chronic disease and disability epidemic affecting so many of our children, perfectly coincides in the past two decades with the doubling of the number of doses of vaccines young children get in the first six years of life. In 1987, by age six children had received 23 doses of seven vaccines. Today, by age six children receive 48 doses of 14 vaccines at a time when their immune systems and brains are developing most rapidly.
Constant atypical manipulation of the immune system with lab-altered viral and bacterial vaccines containing many different additives may well be harming an expanding number of children, who are biologically vulnerable to vaccine-induced chronic inflammation and neuroimmune dysfunction. The tragedy of one-size-fits-all vaccine policies enforced by the law is that an unknown number of vulnerable children are being written off as expendable in the name of the "common good." How many of the growing numbers of autistic children are among the biologically vulnerable, who cannot handle the 48 doses of 14 vaccines the CDC and AAP tell doctors to give them?
Answering this question requires scientific investigation that goes far beyond the mercury hypothesis.
CALIFORNIA REPORTS RECORD AUTISM INCREASES
by Rick Rollens
According to information recently released by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) during calendar year 2006, California added 3,385 new cases of professionally diagnosed, full syndrome autism to it's developmental services system. This represents the most new cases ever added to the system in a one year period, and a 16% increase over calendar year 2005.
Also, DDS reports that an all time record number of new intakes came into the system during one quarter in the 38 year history of California's DD system during the fourth quarter of 2006 (October through December) when 956 new cases entered the system. The previous record was 846.
(Keep in mind, that all of the data reported by DDS, ONLY includes persons with professionally diagnosed full syndrome DSM IV autism, and DOES NOT include persons with PDD, NOS, Asperger's Syndrome or any other autism spectrum disorder.)
California is now averaging over 9 new cases of full syndrome autism entering California's DD system a day, seven days a week.
78% of the autism population in the system is under the age of 18, with 84% under the age of 22 years old.
We currently have 1,223 more 3 to 5 year olds in the system then we have for ALL ages from 22 years old to 62 years old and beyond.
20 years ago in 1987 there were 2,273 persons with autism in California's system. Today, 20 years later, there are 32,809.
By the end of 2002, 39% of all new intakes were full syndrome autism cases. Four years later at the end of 2006, autism now accounts for 64% of all new intakes. Therefore, today over 6 out of 10 persons entering California's DD system have full syndrome autism, and less then four persons entering the system have mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy COMBINED!
Below is a chart comparing the age distribution of the autism population for the four year period between 12/02 and 12/06 with percentage comparisons broken down by age group as the part of the whole for 12/02 and 12/06, and the percentage increase by age group between 12/02 and 12/06:
DECEMBER 2002
3-5 year olds 4039 * (20%)
6-9 year olds 5884 (29%)
10-13 year olds 3733 (18%)
14-17 year olds 1825 (9%)
18-21 year olds 1118 (5%)
22 to 62 and older 3762 (18%)
TOTAL: 20,377
DECEMBER 2006
3-5 year olds 6348 (19%) ** 36%
6-9 year olds 8782 (27%) 33%
10-13 year olds 6312 (19%) 41%
14-17 year olds 4108 (13%) 56%
18-21 year olds 2102 (6%) 47%
22 to 62 and older 5125 (16%) 27%
TOTAL: 32,809
* = % OF WHOLE FOR THAT YEAR
** = % INCREASE OVER FOUR YEARS
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Rick Rollens, co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute at UC-Davis and longtime advocate for autism research, has been working with the California legislature since the late 1990's to analyze and report on autism incidence statistics in the state. The first report that California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) issued on autism increase statistics was in April 1999, when DDS reported a 273 percent increase between 1987 and 1998 in the numbers of new children with a professional diagnosis of autism. That groundbreaking report concluded that "the number of persons with autism grew markedly faster than the numbers of persons with other developmental disabilities and "compared to characteristics of 11 years ago, the present population of persons with autism are younger and have a greater chance of exhibiting no or milder forms of mental retardation."
Since that 1999 report, Rick has continued to report on autism diagnosis statistics coming out of the state of California. Yesterday, Rick released another update of how many children are being professionally diagnosed with full spectrum DSM IV autism and have been deemed eligible to receive DDS services. These numbers only represent those children with a full spectrum autism diagnosis and not those with Asperger's, developmental delays or other autism spectrum disorders.
The latest news from California is that during the calendar year of 2006, California added more new cases of autism to the DDS system than have ever been added to the system in any calendar year. The 3,385 full spectrum autism cases that were professionally diagnosed and added to the system in 2006 represent a 16 percent increase over calendar year 2005.
The autism epidemic in California is getting worse. It is an epidemic that is not just confined to California.The autism epidemic, which is part of the larger chronic disease and disability epidemic affecting so many of our children, perfectly coincides in the past two decades with the doubling of the number of doses of vaccines young children get in the first six years of life. In 1987, by age six children had received 23 doses of seven vaccines. Today, by age six children receive 48 doses of 14 vaccines at a time when their immune systems and brains are developing most rapidly.
Constant atypical manipulation of the immune system with lab-altered viral and bacterial vaccines containing many different additives may well be harming an expanding number of children, who are biologically vulnerable to vaccine-induced chronic inflammation and neuroimmune dysfunction. The tragedy of one-size-fits-all vaccine policies enforced by the law is that an unknown number of vulnerable children are being written off as expendable in the name of the "common good." How many of the growing numbers of autistic children are among the biologically vulnerable, who cannot handle the 48 doses of 14 vaccines the CDC and AAP tell doctors to give them?
Answering this question requires scientific investigation that goes far beyond the mercury hypothesis.
CALIFORNIA REPORTS RECORD AUTISM INCREASES
by Rick Rollens
According to information recently released by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) during calendar year 2006, California added 3,385 new cases of professionally diagnosed, full syndrome autism to it's developmental services system. This represents the most new cases ever added to the system in a one year period, and a 16% increase over calendar year 2005.
Also, DDS reports that an all time record number of new intakes came into the system during one quarter in the 38 year history of California's DD system during the fourth quarter of 2006 (October through December) when 956 new cases entered the system. The previous record was 846.
(Keep in mind, that all of the data reported by DDS, ONLY includes persons with professionally diagnosed full syndrome DSM IV autism, and DOES NOT include persons with PDD, NOS, Asperger's Syndrome or any other autism spectrum disorder.)
California is now averaging over 9 new cases of full syndrome autism entering California's DD system a day, seven days a week.
78% of the autism population in the system is under the age of 18, with 84% under the age of 22 years old.
We currently have 1,223 more 3 to 5 year olds in the system then we have for ALL ages from 22 years old to 62 years old and beyond.
20 years ago in 1987 there were 2,273 persons with autism in California's system. Today, 20 years later, there are 32,809.
By the end of 2002, 39% of all new intakes were full syndrome autism cases. Four years later at the end of 2006, autism now accounts for 64% of all new intakes. Therefore, today over 6 out of 10 persons entering California's DD system have full syndrome autism, and less then four persons entering the system have mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy COMBINED!
Below is a chart comparing the age distribution of the autism population for the four year period between 12/02 and 12/06 with percentage comparisons broken down by age group as the part of the whole for 12/02 and 12/06, and the percentage increase by age group between 12/02 and 12/06:
DECEMBER 2002
3-5 year olds 4039 * (20%)
6-9 year olds 5884 (29%)
10-13 year olds 3733 (18%)
14-17 year olds 1825 (9%)
18-21 year olds 1118 (5%)
22 to 62 and older 3762 (18%)
TOTAL: 20,377
DECEMBER 2006
3-5 year olds 6348 (19%) ** 36%
6-9 year olds 8782 (27%) 33%
10-13 year olds 6312 (19%) 41%
14-17 year olds 4108 (13%) 56%
18-21 year olds 2102 (6%) 47%
22 to 62 and older 5125 (16%) 27%
TOTAL: 32,809
* = % OF WHOLE FOR THAT YEAR
** = % INCREASE OVER FOUR YEARS
Speaking Out Against HPV Mandates
"Legislation mandating the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescent schoolgirls is pending in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Those who advocate it are quick to note that parents can opt out of the program. But few can say exactly how many bureaucratic hoops a parent will have to jump through to do that. Besides, why should the onus be on the parents to figure out how not to be in a government-mandated program? In New Hampshire, parents opt in -- and the burden is on the government to show how the vaccine can benefit their children....So are New Hampshire residents somehow smarter and better able to develop effective public health programs? Are they more concerned about their children than the rest of us? Hardly. What they have that we do not is the right attitude. They take their state motto seriously: "Live Free or Die," while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves." - Courtland Milloy, Washington Post , January 24, 2007, Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine
"Medical ethics require that patients have autonomy in their medical decisions, with informed consent. They have a right to know what they have, what the prognosis is, what the proposed treatment is, what the alternatives are, and what the possible side effects are prior to any treatment. Indeed, a patient has a right to say no, even if by refusing treatment they might die. I as a medical professional cannot overrule their decisions. Here we are talking about forcing a person to undergo mandatory drug therapy (vaccination), when they have no disease, under the presumption that they might get a disease based on future poor behavior. This is medically unethical.....Questions remain. As the [HPV] vaccine may not be effective in the long term, will booster shots at $120 be required? What type of world is it when a large company basically can forcibly take money from our pockets?" - Joseph Desoto, Ph.D., Charleston Daily Mail , January 23, 2007, Commentary: Dr. Joseph DeSoto: Shouldn't Force HPV Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to two brave Americans, who have spoken up publicly for the informed consent ethic, which includes the right of parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination choices for their children. Each undoubtedly knew how much criticism and pressure might come as a consequence, but must have chosen to speak out, nevertheless, as a matter of conscience. They and all those who stand up for truth and freedom, despite the personal or professional risk, are following in the footsteps of those who came to America to escape persecution for their beliefs and fought to create a democracy that protects minorities from exploitation by the powerful.
As we are all witnessing, proposed HPV vaccine mandates are rolling through many state legislatures at warp speed. State and federal health officials (who are supposed to be legally prohibited from playing politics) and drug company lobbyists are in state Capitols pressuring politicians to make every little girl in America get injected with three doses of HPV vaccine before becoming sexually active or be denied the right to attend school. They are voting to mandate a vaccine for a disease which cannot be transmitted in school and which will cost the parents, the states and the nation billions to prevent a cancer, which can be almost 100 percent prevented through either abstinence, condom use or annual pap smears.
Citizens in every state, who want to be free to make vaccine choices in the future, should pick up the phone, get to a fax machine, send an email or get in the car and go visit their state representatives and senators and make their voices heard. There is only one mechanism in a democracy for getting vaccine laws passed, which support the right to voluntary, informed consent: vote for politicians who will vote for freedom or vote them out in the next election.
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
"Medical ethics require that patients have autonomy in their medical decisions, with informed consent. They have a right to know what they have, what the prognosis is, what the proposed treatment is, what the alternatives are, and what the possible side effects are prior to any treatment. Indeed, a patient has a right to say no, even if by refusing treatment they might die. I as a medical professional cannot overrule their decisions. Here we are talking about forcing a person to undergo mandatory drug therapy (vaccination), when they have no disease, under the presumption that they might get a disease based on future poor behavior. This is medically unethical.....Questions remain. As the [HPV] vaccine may not be effective in the long term, will booster shots at $120 be required? What type of world is it when a large company basically can forcibly take money from our pockets?" - Joseph Desoto, Ph.D., Charleston Daily Mail , January 23, 2007, Commentary: Dr. Joseph DeSoto: Shouldn't Force HPV Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to two brave Americans, who have spoken up publicly for the informed consent ethic, which includes the right of parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination choices for their children. Each undoubtedly knew how much criticism and pressure might come as a consequence, but must have chosen to speak out, nevertheless, as a matter of conscience. They and all those who stand up for truth and freedom, despite the personal or professional risk, are following in the footsteps of those who came to America to escape persecution for their beliefs and fought to create a democracy that protects minorities from exploitation by the powerful.
As we are all witnessing, proposed HPV vaccine mandates are rolling through many state legislatures at warp speed. State and federal health officials (who are supposed to be legally prohibited from playing politics) and drug company lobbyists are in state Capitols pressuring politicians to make every little girl in America get injected with three doses of HPV vaccine before becoming sexually active or be denied the right to attend school. They are voting to mandate a vaccine for a disease which cannot be transmitted in school and which will cost the parents, the states and the nation billions to prevent a cancer, which can be almost 100 percent prevented through either abstinence, condom use or annual pap smears.
Citizens in every state, who want to be free to make vaccine choices in the future, should pick up the phone, get to a fax machine, send an email or get in the car and go visit their state representatives and senators and make their voices heard. There is only one mechanism in a democracy for getting vaccine laws passed, which support the right to voluntary, informed consent: vote for politicians who will vote for freedom or vote them out in the next election.
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
Maryland Threatens Truancy for Unvaccinated Kids
"[Maryland] Officials say they are working with the health department to make sure the remaining students are vaccinated so they may return to school. "If they stay out of school for too many days, it becomes an issue of truancy," Mowen said. Officials have said they might use the court system to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated. Hanlin said before that option is explored officials are "trying to find out what the road blocks are" to being vaccinated." - by Erin Cunningham, The Hagerstown Morning Herald, Maryland, January 23, 2007, Deadline for Vaccinations Passes; School Closed To Some
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
If you want to take a peek at what the future holds for those parents, who do not comply with federal health policies turned into state laws that require children to be injected with dozens of vaccines or be denied an education, just look at the recent strong arm tactics being used in Maryland. For failure to get chickenpox and/or hepatitis B vaccinations, state health and education officials have teamed up to use coercion and intimidation to force vaccination with the threat that the pre-teens will be barred from school and then they and their parents charged with truancy for disobeying state vaccine laws.
Economic and social barriers to vaccine access, which can include inadequate information or limited access to public health clinics, are sometimes factors when students have not received all state mandated vaccines. However, other factors may include (1) personal or family history of adverse reactions to vaccinations; (2) illness at the time of vaccination; (3) personal or family history of immune or neurological disease, which may place the child at increased risk for a vaccine adverse responses; (4) religious or conscientious belief objection to vaccination; or (5) wholistic health care preferences within the family that do not include vaccination.
How many of the children and their parents being hunted down in Maryland by needle wielding state officials are at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions? How many of these children being rounded up and given multiple vaccinations will suffer shock, convulsions, arthritis, asthma, GBS or other signs of vaccine-induced brain and immune system dysfunction shortly after vaccination? How many of these adverse responses to vaccination will be written off as a "coincidence" by health and school officials refusing to take responsibility for what they have done? And how many of the healthy partially or completely unvaccinated children come from families, whose parents have chosen to keep their children healthy with preventive health strategies that do not include drug and vaccine use?
Although citizens should have unimpeded access to vaccines they choose to us, they should also have the freedom to choose preventive health care alternatives to vaccines. Americans living in every state should look to their own vaccine laws and consider the following: If the state can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biologicals of unknown toxicity today, will there be any limit on what individual freedoms the state can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow?
Maryland officials are forcing hepatitis B and chickenpox vaccinations today. How many more will they be forcing on kids tomorrow?
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
If you want to take a peek at what the future holds for those parents, who do not comply with federal health policies turned into state laws that require children to be injected with dozens of vaccines or be denied an education, just look at the recent strong arm tactics being used in Maryland. For failure to get chickenpox and/or hepatitis B vaccinations, state health and education officials have teamed up to use coercion and intimidation to force vaccination with the threat that the pre-teens will be barred from school and then they and their parents charged with truancy for disobeying state vaccine laws.
Economic and social barriers to vaccine access, which can include inadequate information or limited access to public health clinics, are sometimes factors when students have not received all state mandated vaccines. However, other factors may include (1) personal or family history of adverse reactions to vaccinations; (2) illness at the time of vaccination; (3) personal or family history of immune or neurological disease, which may place the child at increased risk for a vaccine adverse responses; (4) religious or conscientious belief objection to vaccination; or (5) wholistic health care preferences within the family that do not include vaccination.
How many of the children and their parents being hunted down in Maryland by needle wielding state officials are at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions? How many of these children being rounded up and given multiple vaccinations will suffer shock, convulsions, arthritis, asthma, GBS or other signs of vaccine-induced brain and immune system dysfunction shortly after vaccination? How many of these adverse responses to vaccination will be written off as a "coincidence" by health and school officials refusing to take responsibility for what they have done? And how many of the healthy partially or completely unvaccinated children come from families, whose parents have chosen to keep their children healthy with preventive health strategies that do not include drug and vaccine use?
Although citizens should have unimpeded access to vaccines they choose to us, they should also have the freedom to choose preventive health care alternatives to vaccines. Americans living in every state should look to their own vaccine laws and consider the following: If the state can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biologicals of unknown toxicity today, will there be any limit on what individual freedoms the state can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow?
Maryland officials are forcing hepatitis B and chickenpox vaccinations today. How many more will they be forcing on kids tomorrow?
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
A Call to End Vaccine Exemptions
"Some would argue that philosophical exemptions are a necessary pop-off valve for a society that requires children to be injected with biological agents for the common good. But as anti- vaccine activists continue to push for easy philosophical exemptions, more and more children will suffer and occasionally die from vaccine-preventable diseases. When it comes to issues of public health and safety, we invariably have laws. Many of these laws are strictly enforced and immutable. We don't allow philosophical exemptions to restraining young children in car seats, to smoking in restaurants or to stopping at stop signs. And the notion of requiring vaccines for school entry, while it seems to tear at the very heart of a country founded on the basis of individual rights and freedoms, saves lives. Given the increasing number of states allowing philosophical exemptions to vaccines, at some point we will be forced to decide whether it is our inalienable right to catch and transmit potentially fatal infections." - Paul Offit, The Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2007, Fatal Exemption
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Drug company consultant, rotavirus vaccine patent holder and vaccine policymaker Paul Offit is calling for an end to exemptions to vaccination unless approved by a medical doctor or government health official. He argues that the unvaccinated place themselves and others at risk for catching and transmitting infectious diseases and, therefore, government should force citizens to purchase and use vaccines without exception. Although Offit admits this authoritarian approach to disease control “tears at the very heart of a country founded on the basis of individual rights and freedoms,” he takes out the sword and urges the slicing begin.
An argument can be made on scientific grounds that the voluntarily vaccinated should have nothing to fear from the voluntarily unvaccinated if vaccines protect individuals from contracting infectious diseases. However, a more compelling argument can be made for the human right to informed consent to medical procedures, such as vaccination, which carry a risk of injury or death. This is particularly relevant when mass vaccination policies do not identify individuals, who are biologically vulnerable to vaccine-induced serious health problems, as has been demonstrated by the more than $1 billion already awarded to vaccine victims under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Offit’s flawed analogy comparing no-exception vaccine laws with no-exception laws requiring citizens to buckle a baby in a car seat, to refrain from lighting up in a restaurant and to put on the brakes at stop signs, fails to appreciate that obeying those laws do not require individuals to risk their health or their lives. Even the military draft in times of war allows exemptions for religious and conscientious belief reasons.
Offit and other pro-forced vaccination proponents have various motivations for their totalitarian stance. However, what appears to unite them is a disdain for the intelligence of the average American and an uncontrollable desire to tell other people what to do.
Elitism is alive and well in America and it haunts the corridors of major academic and medical institutions, where those who practice it receive lots of tangible encouragement and support from industry and government. The average American struggling to be free to make informed, independent choices about health care, including vaccination, is being manipulated by elitists seeking to limit both the information and choices available.
The first step to breaking the chains that bind us to elitists in control of health policy is to understand what they believe and want. Paul Offit is making that clear.
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Drug company consultant, rotavirus vaccine patent holder and vaccine policymaker Paul Offit is calling for an end to exemptions to vaccination unless approved by a medical doctor or government health official. He argues that the unvaccinated place themselves and others at risk for catching and transmitting infectious diseases and, therefore, government should force citizens to purchase and use vaccines without exception. Although Offit admits this authoritarian approach to disease control “tears at the very heart of a country founded on the basis of individual rights and freedoms,” he takes out the sword and urges the slicing begin.
An argument can be made on scientific grounds that the voluntarily vaccinated should have nothing to fear from the voluntarily unvaccinated if vaccines protect individuals from contracting infectious diseases. However, a more compelling argument can be made for the human right to informed consent to medical procedures, such as vaccination, which carry a risk of injury or death. This is particularly relevant when mass vaccination policies do not identify individuals, who are biologically vulnerable to vaccine-induced serious health problems, as has been demonstrated by the more than $1 billion already awarded to vaccine victims under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Offit’s flawed analogy comparing no-exception vaccine laws with no-exception laws requiring citizens to buckle a baby in a car seat, to refrain from lighting up in a restaurant and to put on the brakes at stop signs, fails to appreciate that obeying those laws do not require individuals to risk their health or their lives. Even the military draft in times of war allows exemptions for religious and conscientious belief reasons.
Offit and other pro-forced vaccination proponents have various motivations for their totalitarian stance. However, what appears to unite them is a disdain for the intelligence of the average American and an uncontrollable desire to tell other people what to do.
Elitism is alive and well in America and it haunts the corridors of major academic and medical institutions, where those who practice it receive lots of tangible encouragement and support from industry and government. The average American struggling to be free to make informed, independent choices about health care, including vaccination, is being manipulated by elitists seeking to limit both the information and choices available.
The first step to breaking the chains that bind us to elitists in control of health policy is to understand what they believe and want. Paul Offit is making that clear.
Lilly Attacks Internet Free Speech
"It is a messy plot that pits Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant at the center of several articles in The New York Times suggesting that the company tried to hide or play down the health risks of its leading antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, and lawyers representing various individuals, organizations and Web sites - all arguing that their online speech has been gagged. The case has attracted the attention of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the venerable digital rights group based in San Francisco, and one of its lawyers, Fred von Lohmann, who is now representing an anonymous Internet user caught up in the legal fracas. "One of the core missions of the foundation's 16-year history has been to establish that when you go online, you take with you all the same civil rights you had with you in prior media," said von Lohmann. "But of course, you need to fight for that principle." - Tom Zeller, Jr., The New York Times, January 15, 2007, Documents Borne by Winds of Free Speech
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
We have seen it coming for a long time. Wealthy and politically influential pharmaceutical corporations, which market reactive drugs and vaccines, want to shut down free speech on the internet so they can hide the dangers of their products from the public. Right now, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is in federal court trying to prevent non- profit health advocacy groups from posting documents on their websites which suggest that Lilly hid or downplayed the dangerous side effects of the antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, from doctors and patients.
Lilly convinced a federal judge in New York to issue an injunction prohibiting the Alliance for Human Research Protection (www.ahrp.org) headed by Vera Hassner Sharav, as well as MindFreedom International, and their websites from posting Lilly documents detailing Zyprexa risks. The websites were not only barred from posting the company documents but also barred from even directing browsers to other websites that contained the documents.
Lilly is trying to set a legal precedent that the information communicated on the internet by private citizens and advocacy websites based in the U.S. should be exempt from freedom of speech protections guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, which have historically protected freedom of the press in the U.S. Apparently Lilly would like to pave the way for corporations (and perhaps government agencies?) with something to hide to prevent citizens from talking about what they know on the internet.
The internet, which has become an international forum for free speech and information uncensored by multinational corporations and government agencies, is under attack by those who want to keep the people in the dark, compliant and easily manipulated. Will U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinsten, who is being lobbied by Lilly, put the first nail in the coffin of the last frontier for free speech?
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
We have seen it coming for a long time. Wealthy and politically influential pharmaceutical corporations, which market reactive drugs and vaccines, want to shut down free speech on the internet so they can hide the dangers of their products from the public. Right now, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is in federal court trying to prevent non- profit health advocacy groups from posting documents on their websites which suggest that Lilly hid or downplayed the dangerous side effects of the antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, from doctors and patients.
Lilly convinced a federal judge in New York to issue an injunction prohibiting the Alliance for Human Research Protection (www.ahrp.org) headed by Vera Hassner Sharav, as well as MindFreedom International, and their websites from posting Lilly documents detailing Zyprexa risks. The websites were not only barred from posting the company documents but also barred from even directing browsers to other websites that contained the documents.
Lilly is trying to set a legal precedent that the information communicated on the internet by private citizens and advocacy websites based in the U.S. should be exempt from freedom of speech protections guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, which have historically protected freedom of the press in the U.S. Apparently Lilly would like to pave the way for corporations (and perhaps government agencies?) with something to hide to prevent citizens from talking about what they know on the internet.
The internet, which has become an international forum for free speech and information uncensored by multinational corporations and government agencies, is under attack by those who want to keep the people in the dark, compliant and easily manipulated. Will U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinsten, who is being lobbied by Lilly, put the first nail in the coffin of the last frontier for free speech?
Using Religion to Promote Flu Vaccine
"Although it is too early to say what the effect would be in humans, an initial course of two or three shots [of universal type A influenza vaccine] could provide long-lasting immunity, topped up with booster shots given every five to ten years. Dr Ashley Birkett, of Acambis, said: "It wouldn't be that one shot protects for life but you would need fewer doses over your lifetime." In addition, the jabs could be produced in vast quantities and stockpiled ahead of a flu pandemic - or even given to people in advance....it may also be possible to create a similar jab against influenza B, which causes a milder form of winter flu....Professor John Oxford, Britain's leading flu expert, said the development of a universal vaccine was the "holy grail" of flu research. He added: "If you get a M2 vaccine which protects against the whole caboodle in the same vaccine, the possibilities are huge." - Fiona MacRae, The Daily Mail, UK, December 28. 2006
The Vaccine To Cure Every Strain of Flu
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Medical scientists masquerading as saints are once again invoking a familiar religious symbol to describe a new vaccine they are creating. The term "the Holy Grail," which refers to the chalice Christ drank from at the Last Supper, has been used frequently in the past by vaccinologists creating vaccines they want the people to purchase and use on a mass basis. This time scientists working for drug companies in Great Britain and Switzerland are referring to a "universal" vaccine they say will banish type A influenza infection from the earth - and prepare the way for a similar universal type B influenza vaccine.
The assumption that preventing humans from ever experiencing type A (or type B) influenza will result in superior long term health is not based on scientific evidence. Like a religious belief, that assumption is based on faith. It is no wonder the vaccinologists are using religious symbols to describe their new vaccines. They have forgotten who they are. Or perhaps they just want people to believe they - and their creations - are holy.
Experiencing infectious disease, including influenza, has been part of the human condition since man has walked the earth. Why do vaccinologists insist on assuming that the human immune system is incapable of dealing with that experience? Or benefiting from it? Where is the evidence that it is good to never, ever get the flu? Or that "universal" vaccines will not put pressure on microorganisms to mutate into vaccine-resistant strains?
Those who use religious terms to describe the vaccines they want people to believe in and buy may well be asking mankind to use the product based on faith, not scientific evidence.
The Vaccine To Cure Every Strain of Flu
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Medical scientists masquerading as saints are once again invoking a familiar religious symbol to describe a new vaccine they are creating. The term "the Holy Grail," which refers to the chalice Christ drank from at the Last Supper, has been used frequently in the past by vaccinologists creating vaccines they want the people to purchase and use on a mass basis. This time scientists working for drug companies in Great Britain and Switzerland are referring to a "universal" vaccine they say will banish type A influenza infection from the earth - and prepare the way for a similar universal type B influenza vaccine.
The assumption that preventing humans from ever experiencing type A (or type B) influenza will result in superior long term health is not based on scientific evidence. Like a religious belief, that assumption is based on faith. It is no wonder the vaccinologists are using religious symbols to describe their new vaccines. They have forgotten who they are. Or perhaps they just want people to believe they - and their creations - are holy.
Experiencing infectious disease, including influenza, has been part of the human condition since man has walked the earth. Why do vaccinologists insist on assuming that the human immune system is incapable of dealing with that experience? Or benefiting from it? Where is the evidence that it is good to never, ever get the flu? Or that "universal" vaccines will not put pressure on microorganisms to mutate into vaccine-resistant strains?
Those who use religious terms to describe the vaccines they want people to believe in and buy may well be asking mankind to use the product based on faith, not scientific evidence.
Gates Money Polluting
"The Gates Foundation has poured $218 million into polio and measles immunization and research worldwide, including in the Niger Delta. At the same time that it is paying for inoculations to protect health, it has invested $423 million in Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Total of France — the companies responsible for most of the flares blanketing the delta with pollution, beyond anything permitted in the United States or Europe. A sampling of the Gates Foundation's largest investments between $100 million and $1 billion: Abbott Laboratories, Archer Daniels Midland, British Petroleum, Canadian National Railway, Exxon Mobil, Freddie Mac, French Government, Japanese Government, Merck, Schering Plough, Tyco International, Waste Management.....Indeed, local leaders blame oil developments for fostering some of the very afflictions that the foundation combats." - Charles Piller, Edmund Sanders, Robyn Dixon, Seattle Times, January 7, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has more than $60 billion at its disposal - an amount higher than the gross domestic products of 70 percent of the world's nations - is reportedly financially backing corporations which pollute the same areas of Africa that are targeted for vaccines made by companies that Gates also funds. A report in the LA Times points out that:
"Oil bore holes fill with stagnant water, which is ideal for mosquitoes that spread malaria, one of the diseases the foundation is fighting. Investigators for Dr. Nonyenim Solomon Enyidah, health commissioner for Rivers State, where Ebocha is, cite an oil spill clogging rivers as a cause of cholera, another scourge the foundation is battling. The bright, sooty gas flares — which contain toxic byproducts such as benzene, mercury and chromium — lower immunity, Enyidah said, and make children more susceptible to polio and measles — the diseases that the Gates Foundation has helped to inoculate against.
There have been suggestions in the past that most of the diseases affecting modern man have been caused by negligent multinational corporations seeking high profits and doctors and scientists, who mistakenly believe they are helping people by encouraging the use of many toxic drugs and vaccines marketed by multi-national corporations. Sadly, Africa appears to be a place where this is occurring and the poorest people are suffering the most. They are being exploited twice: first by being sickened by manufactured toxins which poison their bodies; and again when that sickness is used to justify purchase and use of many vaccines to theoretically prevent the manmade illnesses.
Ironically, the clueless average American is also helping to exploit the children of Africa and other underdeveloped countries: the more mandated vaccines which Americans are forced to use and pay high prices for, the wealthier the drug companies making vaccines get. The vaccine manufacturers use the high profits they make off of American vaccine mandates to sell the stuff to poor countries like Africa at a reduced rate.
And so the little children are exploited and suffer, American and African alike, and will continue to suffer until Americans stand up and stop the vicious cycle.
"No forced vaccination. Not in America."
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has more than $60 billion at its disposal - an amount higher than the gross domestic products of 70 percent of the world's nations - is reportedly financially backing corporations which pollute the same areas of Africa that are targeted for vaccines made by companies that Gates also funds. A report in the LA Times points out that:
"Oil bore holes fill with stagnant water, which is ideal for mosquitoes that spread malaria, one of the diseases the foundation is fighting. Investigators for Dr. Nonyenim Solomon Enyidah, health commissioner for Rivers State, where Ebocha is, cite an oil spill clogging rivers as a cause of cholera, another scourge the foundation is battling. The bright, sooty gas flares — which contain toxic byproducts such as benzene, mercury and chromium — lower immunity, Enyidah said, and make children more susceptible to polio and measles — the diseases that the Gates Foundation has helped to inoculate against.
There have been suggestions in the past that most of the diseases affecting modern man have been caused by negligent multinational corporations seeking high profits and doctors and scientists, who mistakenly believe they are helping people by encouraging the use of many toxic drugs and vaccines marketed by multi-national corporations. Sadly, Africa appears to be a place where this is occurring and the poorest people are suffering the most. They are being exploited twice: first by being sickened by manufactured toxins which poison their bodies; and again when that sickness is used to justify purchase and use of many vaccines to theoretically prevent the manmade illnesses.
Ironically, the clueless average American is also helping to exploit the children of Africa and other underdeveloped countries: the more mandated vaccines which Americans are forced to use and pay high prices for, the wealthier the drug companies making vaccines get. The vaccine manufacturers use the high profits they make off of American vaccine mandates to sell the stuff to poor countries like Africa at a reduced rate.
And so the little children are exploited and suffer, American and African alike, and will continue to suffer until Americans stand up and stop the vicious cycle.
"No forced vaccination. Not in America."
Michigan Kills HPV Mandate
"The [HPV} vaccine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in girls as young 9 and up to 26. A government advisory panel recommends that the vaccine be administered before girls become sexually active. However, no sixth-grade girl should be sexually active. Admittedly, probably some kids at this age are. Hopefully a minority of the girls. Why force the vaccine on all youngsters that age? Again, the decision to get the shot should be left up to the parents, who we would suggest urge abstinence at such a young age.....This vaccination is a parental and family decision. It belongs in the house and not the state House." - Dec. 27, 2006 EDITORIAL, The Oakland Press (Michigan)
"The legislation [to mandate HPV vaccine], sponsored by Sen. Bev Hammerstron (R-Temperance) passed 36-1 in the [Michigan] Senate back on Sept. 20. The legislation included an amendment that allowed parents to opt out if so desired. However, there continued to be strong opposition to the bill in the House. The basis of the opposition was that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had only approved the vaccine in June of this year, and there are claims that some individuals have had negative reactions to the vaccine. What's more, the virus is spread through sexual contact, and some view the idea of presenting the vaccine to girls in schools as a subtle signal that they're expected to be sexually active." - Legislative Update from Sue Waltman, founder, MOM (Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines).
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
During the past few months, Michigan parents took the time and made the effort to educate Michigan state legislators about the potential risks of HPV vaccine and the inappropriate attempt by those trying to persuade politicians to mandate the vaccine for all sixth grade girls. The vaccine education effort was spearheaded by Michigan Opposting Mandatory Vaccination (MOM) headed by Sue Waltman, who has been a longtime informed consent advocate working in Michigan to defend parents' right to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions.
When state legislators have full and accurate information about the benefits and risks of new vaccines that state health officials and drug companies want to mandate supplied by citizens who will be affected by those mandates, legislators often make different choices than if they only hear from drug company and physician organization lobbyists, who profit from vaccine mandates. It is extremely important for citizens in every state to understand that they CAN affect the choices their legislators make with regard to new vaccine mandates IF they stand up and make their voices heard.
Congratulations to MOM and the other parents and activist citizens in Michigan who cared enough about protecting their informed consent rights to fight for them.
"The legislation [to mandate HPV vaccine], sponsored by Sen. Bev Hammerstron (R-Temperance) passed 36-1 in the [Michigan] Senate back on Sept. 20. The legislation included an amendment that allowed parents to opt out if so desired. However, there continued to be strong opposition to the bill in the House. The basis of the opposition was that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had only approved the vaccine in June of this year, and there are claims that some individuals have had negative reactions to the vaccine. What's more, the virus is spread through sexual contact, and some view the idea of presenting the vaccine to girls in schools as a subtle signal that they're expected to be sexually active." - Legislative Update from Sue Waltman, founder, MOM (Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines).
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
During the past few months, Michigan parents took the time and made the effort to educate Michigan state legislators about the potential risks of HPV vaccine and the inappropriate attempt by those trying to persuade politicians to mandate the vaccine for all sixth grade girls. The vaccine education effort was spearheaded by Michigan Opposting Mandatory Vaccination (MOM) headed by Sue Waltman, who has been a longtime informed consent advocate working in Michigan to defend parents' right to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions.
When state legislators have full and accurate information about the benefits and risks of new vaccines that state health officials and drug companies want to mandate supplied by citizens who will be affected by those mandates, legislators often make different choices than if they only hear from drug company and physician organization lobbyists, who profit from vaccine mandates. It is extremely important for citizens in every state to understand that they CAN affect the choices their legislators make with regard to new vaccine mandates IF they stand up and make their voices heard.
Congratulations to MOM and the other parents and activist citizens in Michigan who cared enough about protecting their informed consent rights to fight for them.
Forced Anthrax Vaccine Crippling Soldiers
"The Pentagon is reviving its mandatory anthrax vaccinations despite allegations that the shots have contributed to as many as 23 deaths and sickened hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of soldiers....The Pentagon has been rocked by criticism that it has failed to adequately track whether the shots have caused diseases. Indeed, as occurred with Francis, many soldiers are injected with several vaccines on the same day, making it harder to identify the cause of illnesses....Col. Randall Anderson, who runs the Military Vaccine Agency, said the Pentagon believes health risks from the anthrax vaccine "are equal to those of other vaccines" that cause illnesses in only a tiny percentage of those vaccinated.....Numerous public health experts believe BioThrax causes a range of problems, particularly among women and people prone to autoimmune diseases. They list Guillain-Barre, which can kill or paralyze; other neurological disorders; diabetes; arthritis; chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic muscle and joint pain; respiratory ailments; vision problems; memory loss, and depression....The afflicted soldiers blame their government...." McClatchy Newspapers, December 22, 2006
Mandatory Anthrax Vaccines Raise Concern
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The M.D./Ph.D. government health officials employed by the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services continue to try to cover-up the casualties of anthrax vaccinations forced on U.S. soldiers. The young military recruits, who enlist in America's all-volunteer military forces, are among the strongest and healthiest members of society. Far too many are pushed into poor health after being injected with multiple vaccines, including the notoriously reactive anthrax vaccine, after they become soldiers.Meryl Nass, M.D., Medical Director for NVIC's Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project (MBVP), has treated more than 500 seriously ill men and women, whose health problems began shortly after being injected with anthrax vaccination during military service. She has been in contact with many hundreds more who have reported permanent brain and immune system dysfunction. Whether in a civilian or military setting, government health officials continue to cover-up, deny and minimize the casualties of vaccination. For more information about anthrax vaccine and other military vaccines, go to www.military-biodefensevaccines.org
"No forced vaccination. Not in America. "
Mandatory Anthrax Vaccines Raise Concern
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The M.D./Ph.D. government health officials employed by the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services continue to try to cover-up the casualties of anthrax vaccinations forced on U.S. soldiers. The young military recruits, who enlist in America's all-volunteer military forces, are among the strongest and healthiest members of society. Far too many are pushed into poor health after being injected with multiple vaccines, including the notoriously reactive anthrax vaccine, after they become soldiers.Meryl Nass, M.D., Medical Director for NVIC's Military and Biodefense Vaccine Project (MBVP), has treated more than 500 seriously ill men and women, whose health problems began shortly after being injected with anthrax vaccination during military service. She has been in contact with many hundreds more who have reported permanent brain and immune system dysfunction. Whether in a civilian or military setting, government health officials continue to cover-up, deny and minimize the casualties of vaccination. For more information about anthrax vaccine and other military vaccines, go to www.military-biodefensevaccines.org
"No forced vaccination. Not in America. "
HIV (AIDS) Vaccine for Newborns
"Last week, Prof Francis Mmiro, the lead investigator, said the baby [HIV] vaccine trial has been successful so far, adding that he hoped the [HIV] vaccine will be added to the many given to babies at birth and thereafter like polio, tetanus, hepatitis B and measles. Preliminary results are expected by mid 2007 in the two-and-and-half-year study."
Esther Nakkazi, Nationmedia.com, The East African, December 25, 2006
Uganda Offers HIV Vaccine Trials for Babies
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
There are different HIV (AIDS) vaccines in various stages of clinical trials in the U.S. and other countries. In the past, evaluations of the toxicity of experimental HIV (AIDS) vaccines were conducted in adults at high risk for HIV infection, such as IV drug abusers and those with multiple sexual partners. However, children have now become the preferred testing ground for experimental HIV (AIDS) vaccines and will be the eventual target for routine vaccination.
Newborn infants in Africa are now being enrolled in clinical trials. In the U.S., future HIV vaccine trials will involve pre-adolescents and babies.
A worldwide mass vaccination infrastructure is being created by governments in partnership with multinational pharmaceutical companies, the World Health Organization and private donors such as Bill Gates and the Catholic Church. During the next decade, an international campaign to vaccinate every man, woman and child with HIV (AIDS) vaccine will begin and societal sanctions, including denial of an education and health care, may well be levied against citizens in America and other developed countries who refuse the HIV (AIDS) vaccine.
What many people do not realize is that the financing of world vaccination campaigns are dependent upon forcing the citizens of wealthy nations to purchase and use vaccines in order to finance the supply of those same vaccines to underdeveloped countries at a reduced rate. For example, hepatitis B disease is prevalent in Asia and Africa but has never been in the U.S.; and HPV associated cervical cancer occurs at a high rate in underdeveloped countries without routine pap smear screening but cervical cancer is at an all time low in the U.S.. Still, American children are forced to get hepatitis B vaccine or be denied an education and the CDC has told told doctors that pre-adolescent American girls must get HPV vaccine.
In 1996, HIV vaccine developer Stanley Plotkin, M.D., of Pasteur Merieux Pharmaceuticals (who is a co-patent holder on rubella and rotavirus vaccines) explained why mandatory vaccination in rich countries like the U.S. help deliver vaccines to Third World markets:
"The keystone of the [global mass vaccination] system is that the research costs [of drug companies] are recouped in North America and Europe and the vaccines are sold in the developing world at much, much lower margins...the relatively high rate of childhood vaccination seen lately in most parts of the world is the result of that system," explained Plotkin.
One-size-fits-all forced vaccination policies target the genetically vulnerable for injury and death and violate the human right to informed consent to medical risk-taking. The casualties of mass vaccination policies are never acknowledged or counted in the cost benefit analyses drug companies and public health officials publish. This will be especially true when the CDC announces every child in America must be injected with just a little bit of the HIV (AIDS) virus.
"No forced vaccination. Not in America. "
Esther Nakkazi, Nationmedia.com, The East African, December 25, 2006
Uganda Offers HIV Vaccine Trials for Babies
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
There are different HIV (AIDS) vaccines in various stages of clinical trials in the U.S. and other countries. In the past, evaluations of the toxicity of experimental HIV (AIDS) vaccines were conducted in adults at high risk for HIV infection, such as IV drug abusers and those with multiple sexual partners. However, children have now become the preferred testing ground for experimental HIV (AIDS) vaccines and will be the eventual target for routine vaccination.
Newborn infants in Africa are now being enrolled in clinical trials. In the U.S., future HIV vaccine trials will involve pre-adolescents and babies.
A worldwide mass vaccination infrastructure is being created by governments in partnership with multinational pharmaceutical companies, the World Health Organization and private donors such as Bill Gates and the Catholic Church. During the next decade, an international campaign to vaccinate every man, woman and child with HIV (AIDS) vaccine will begin and societal sanctions, including denial of an education and health care, may well be levied against citizens in America and other developed countries who refuse the HIV (AIDS) vaccine.
What many people do not realize is that the financing of world vaccination campaigns are dependent upon forcing the citizens of wealthy nations to purchase and use vaccines in order to finance the supply of those same vaccines to underdeveloped countries at a reduced rate. For example, hepatitis B disease is prevalent in Asia and Africa but has never been in the U.S.; and HPV associated cervical cancer occurs at a high rate in underdeveloped countries without routine pap smear screening but cervical cancer is at an all time low in the U.S.. Still, American children are forced to get hepatitis B vaccine or be denied an education and the CDC has told told doctors that pre-adolescent American girls must get HPV vaccine.
In 1996, HIV vaccine developer Stanley Plotkin, M.D., of Pasteur Merieux Pharmaceuticals (who is a co-patent holder on rubella and rotavirus vaccines) explained why mandatory vaccination in rich countries like the U.S. help deliver vaccines to Third World markets:
"The keystone of the [global mass vaccination] system is that the research costs [of drug companies] are recouped in North America and Europe and the vaccines are sold in the developing world at much, much lower margins...the relatively high rate of childhood vaccination seen lately in most parts of the world is the result of that system," explained Plotkin.
One-size-fits-all forced vaccination policies target the genetically vulnerable for injury and death and violate the human right to informed consent to medical risk-taking. The casualties of mass vaccination policies are never acknowledged or counted in the cost benefit analyses drug companies and public health officials publish. This will be especially true when the CDC announces every child in America must be injected with just a little bit of the HIV (AIDS) virus.
"No forced vaccination. Not in America. "
Lowering Standards for Vaccines and Drugs
"The pharmaceutical industry is getting bad press. Recent books by Marcia Angell, the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, and Jerome Kassirer, another former editor of the journal, have harshly condemned the industry for recklessness, insensitivity and all-consuming greed.....critics like Angell and Kassirer are absolutely wrong to portray the nation's big drug companies as heartless, avaricious behemoths that act in whatever manner they choose and always get their way. The truth is, the pharmaceutical industry is too heavily regulated. Its big problem today is not that it's free to run roughshod over the needs of consumers, but that it operates in a hostile and excessive regulatory environment that frustrates sound business decision- making and keeps down pharmaceutical company share prices in the stock market......- Attorney and pharmaecutical industry consultant Richard A. Epstein, LA Times, December 22, 2006
The Myth of the Big Bad Drug Companies
They're not greedy, they're over-regulated. The result is fewer pills to cure our ills.
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The power and influence of the pharmaceutical industry in American health care is profound. Attorneys, such as Richard Epstein, and medical doctors inside and outside of government who profit from their association with the pharmaceutical industry, often call for less stringent regulation of drugs and vaccines. They want to do away with almost all government requirements that vaccines and drugs be proven safe and effective and they oppose strict guidelines preventing federally employed scientists and medical doctors from taking money from drug companies.
It is dangerous when medical doctors and public health officials use loosely regulated vaccines (and drugs such as anti-depressants and cancer treatments) on citizens while simultaneously enjoying immunity from accountability in a court of law when those prescribed vaccines and drugs injure and kill. Since September 11, 2001, there has been an assault by drug company lobbyists on government regulations and informed consent rights when it comes to the consumer's right to have full information about the risks of vaccines and drugs and make voluntary decisions about using them. The result of this assault on the informed consent ethic has been to endanger the lives of all Americans who seek medical care.
"Buyer Beware' is an old motto that is truer now than it has ever been when it comes to health care in America.
The Myth of the Big Bad Drug Companies
They're not greedy, they're over-regulated. The result is fewer pills to cure our ills.
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The power and influence of the pharmaceutical industry in American health care is profound. Attorneys, such as Richard Epstein, and medical doctors inside and outside of government who profit from their association with the pharmaceutical industry, often call for less stringent regulation of drugs and vaccines. They want to do away with almost all government requirements that vaccines and drugs be proven safe and effective and they oppose strict guidelines preventing federally employed scientists and medical doctors from taking money from drug companies.
It is dangerous when medical doctors and public health officials use loosely regulated vaccines (and drugs such as anti-depressants and cancer treatments) on citizens while simultaneously enjoying immunity from accountability in a court of law when those prescribed vaccines and drugs injure and kill. Since September 11, 2001, there has been an assault by drug company lobbyists on government regulations and informed consent rights when it comes to the consumer's right to have full information about the risks of vaccines and drugs and make voluntary decisions about using them. The result of this assault on the informed consent ethic has been to endanger the lives of all Americans who seek medical care.
"Buyer Beware' is an old motto that is truer now than it has ever been when it comes to health care in America.
Aluminum, Neuron Death and Anthrax Vaccine
Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice.
Neuromolecular Medicine, February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1
Petrik MS, Wong MC, Tabata RC, Garry RF, Shaw CA. Department of Ophthalmology and Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
"Whereas many environmental factors have been linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny. Among the vaccine's potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene..... Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%) and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord....The findings suggest a possible role for the aluminum adjuvant in some neurological features associated with GWI and possibly an additional role for the combination of adjuvants." - Petrik, Wong, Tabata, Garry & Shaw, Neuromolecular Medicine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Aluminum is a metal which is neurotoxic when it accesses the nervous system and it also has an affinity for the bones, lung and liver. It can make the blood brain barrier more permeable and cross it, leading to neuron death and chronic inflammation of the brain.
Aluminum is used as an adjuvant in many vaccines, including the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) targeting pre-adolescent girls. Childhood vaccines contain from 170 mcg to 625 mcg of aluminum per dose. Children receiving multiple vaccines on one day (pneumococcal, DTaP, hepatitis B, hepatitis A) could receive as much as 1250 mcg of aluminum.
Symptoms of aluminum poisoning include personality changes, progressive speech disorder, stuttering, tremors, seizures, abnormal EEG, psychosis and dementia. Elevated levels of aluminum have been found in the brains of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, who have symptoms including memory lapses, mood disturbances, agitation, aggression, disturbed sleep, confusion and depression.
There have never been any long term human studies evaluating the pathological changes in brain and immune function resulting from repeatedly injecting aluminum into children and adults.
Neuromolecular Medicine, February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1
Petrik MS, Wong MC, Tabata RC, Garry RF, Shaw CA. Department of Ophthalmology and Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
"Whereas many environmental factors have been linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny. Among the vaccine's potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene..... Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%) and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord....The findings suggest a possible role for the aluminum adjuvant in some neurological features associated with GWI and possibly an additional role for the combination of adjuvants." - Petrik, Wong, Tabata, Garry & Shaw, Neuromolecular Medicine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Aluminum is a metal which is neurotoxic when it accesses the nervous system and it also has an affinity for the bones, lung and liver. It can make the blood brain barrier more permeable and cross it, leading to neuron death and chronic inflammation of the brain.
Aluminum is used as an adjuvant in many vaccines, including the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) targeting pre-adolescent girls. Childhood vaccines contain from 170 mcg to 625 mcg of aluminum per dose. Children receiving multiple vaccines on one day (pneumococcal, DTaP, hepatitis B, hepatitis A) could receive as much as 1250 mcg of aluminum.
Symptoms of aluminum poisoning include personality changes, progressive speech disorder, stuttering, tremors, seizures, abnormal EEG, psychosis and dementia. Elevated levels of aluminum have been found in the brains of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, who have symptoms including memory lapses, mood disturbances, agitation, aggression, disturbed sleep, confusion and depression.
There have never been any long term human studies evaluating the pathological changes in brain and immune function resulting from repeatedly injecting aluminum into children and adults.
Flu Vaccine Glut - Nobody Wants It
“I sent out a blast fax to 700 physicians in the Youngstown area offering to give it away if they just come pick it up,” said Mr. Stefanak, the health commissioner of Mahoning County, Ohio, which includes Youngstown. So far, he said, there have been few takers..........While experts say an excess is better than a shortage, too large a surplus could hamper the government’s goal of steadily increasing the production and use of flu vaccines. Because makers, distributors, doctors and health departments lose money from vaccine they cannot sell to patients, they may be discouraged from making or ordering as much in coming years — potentially leading to future shortages." - Andrew Pollack, The Ledger, December 16, 2006
After Shortage, Flu Vaccine in Unused
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
What part of "no thanks" do CDC officials and drug company execs not understand when it comes to most Americans refusing to get a flu shot every year? Despite all the hype about how 36,000 Americans die every year from influenza and 200,000 more are hospitalized, it is hard to find somebody who knows anybody who was hospitalized or died from infection with one of the three influenza viruses contained in the flu vaccine. Yet, those figures keep getting bandied about by public health officials, who steadfastly refuse to produce the hard scientific evidence to back up their numbers.
In light of the fact that only 20 percent of all flu-like illness in any given flu season is actually influenza, inquiring minds want to know the truth and are asking for proof that backs up the rhetoric. So far, the flu vaccine studies published in the medical literature fail to give credence to any of the inflated influenza mortality figures the CDC is using to try to scare the people.
Guaranteeing Drug Company Profits - Unable to frighten Americans into getting an annual flu shot, public health officials have taken to playing the sympathy card. On behalf of drug companies, they are pleading for the people to roll up their sleeves, dig deep into their pockets and shell out some bucks for the flu shot to guarantee the drug companies big profits. It doesn't look good on drug company stockholder proft/loss statements when unused surplus vaccine has to be dumped after the flu season is over. No, wait! Now public health officials are saying that there is no such thing as the beginning and ending of a flu season: the flu is actually a killer all year round so everybody should get vaccinated all year round!
Exercising the Immune System - It wasn't so very long ago when the flu vaccine was only recommended for those at very high risk for suffering serious complications from influenza infection, such as the elderly or those already seriously ill. The majority of healthy young Americans accepted getting the flu every couple of years as a part of life. It was a great excuse to take a few days off from school or work and stay in bed with plenty of kleenex, Vicks vapor rub, OJ, chicken noodle soup and a good book. Then, after experiencing the sore throat, chills, fever and other symptoms of acute inflammation that are part of a robust immune system exercise, often recovery from influenza was followed by an extended period of good health. And when that same strain of influenza came around again, there was either no re-infection (immunity) or fewer and milder symptoms of illness.
Superior Natural Immunity - Experience with type A and type B influenza infection has another bonus: immunological memory that could help resist the ravages of a nastier version of type A or type B influenza that comes around someday. Flu vaccine only provides temporary immunity. So pandemic flu planners are counting on the superior, longer lasting immunity of those Americans, who have actually recovered from influenza infection, because drug companies won't be able to produce pandemic flu vaccine fast enough to provide doses for everyone for up to a year after the pandemic begins.
If public health officials are depending upon Americans with qualitatively superior cell mediated immunity to influenza, which can only be obtained from recovering from the flu the old fashioned way, to limit morbidity and mortality from a future pandemic flu - then why are they insisting that every American get annual flu vaccinations from birth?
Dealing with the Flu - These days, many Americans are taking steps to deal with influenza or flu-like illnesses by enhancing the functioning of the immune system through diet, exercise and other positive lifestyle and health care changes. And if they do get the flu, they are taking a common sense approach. To prevent and treat influenza or flu-like illness that does not involve a fever over 103 F, pneumonia or serious complications which may require special medical intervention, here are a few non-toxic suggestions:
1. Wash your hands frequently.
2. Avoid close contact with those who are sick.
3. If you are sick, avoid close contact with those who are well.
4. Cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze.
5. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water.
6. Get adequate sleep.
7. Eat a healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals, especially foods containing vitamin C (such as citrus fruits) and vitamins A and D (such as cod liver oil) and spend a few minutes a day in sunlight to help your body make and store vitamin D.
8. Exercise regularly when you are well.
9. Lower stress.
10. Consider including holistic alternatives in your wellness or healing plan, such as chiropractic adjustments, homeopathic and naturopathic remedies, acupuncture and other health care options.
There is little indication that CDC officials are going to stop asking Americans to roll up their sleeves and guarantee drug companies flu vaccine profits. There is also little indication that Americans are paying much attention to that request. In the wings: most likely a CDC and drug industry plan to try to get politicians to mandate the stuff.
"No forced vaccination. Not in America."
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
What part of "no thanks" do CDC officials and drug company execs not understand when it comes to most Americans refusing to get a flu shot every year? Despite all the hype about how 36,000 Americans die every year from influenza and 200,000 more are hospitalized, it is hard to find somebody who knows anybody who was hospitalized or died from infection with one of the three influenza viruses contained in the flu vaccine. Yet, those figures keep getting bandied about by public health officials, who steadfastly refuse to produce the hard scientific evidence to back up their numbers.
In light of the fact that only 20 percent of all flu-like illness in any given flu season is actually influenza, inquiring minds want to know the truth and are asking for proof that backs up the rhetoric. So far, the flu vaccine studies published in the medical literature fail to give credence to any of the inflated influenza mortality figures the CDC is using to try to scare the people.
Guaranteeing Drug Company Profits - Unable to frighten Americans into getting an annual flu shot, public health officials have taken to playing the sympathy card. On behalf of drug companies, they are pleading for the people to roll up their sleeves, dig deep into their pockets and shell out some bucks for the flu shot to guarantee the drug companies big profits. It doesn't look good on drug company stockholder proft/loss statements when unused surplus vaccine has to be dumped after the flu season is over. No, wait! Now public health officials are saying that there is no such thing as the beginning and ending of a flu season: the flu is actually a killer all year round so everybody should get vaccinated all year round!
Exercising the Immune System - It wasn't so very long ago when the flu vaccine was only recommended for those at very high risk for suffering serious complications from influenza infection, such as the elderly or those already seriously ill. The majority of healthy young Americans accepted getting the flu every couple of years as a part of life. It was a great excuse to take a few days off from school or work and stay in bed with plenty of kleenex, Vicks vapor rub, OJ, chicken noodle soup and a good book. Then, after experiencing the sore throat, chills, fever and other symptoms of acute inflammation that are part of a robust immune system exercise, often recovery from influenza was followed by an extended period of good health. And when that same strain of influenza came around again, there was either no re-infection (immunity) or fewer and milder symptoms of illness.
Superior Natural Immunity - Experience with type A and type B influenza infection has another bonus: immunological memory that could help resist the ravages of a nastier version of type A or type B influenza that comes around someday. Flu vaccine only provides temporary immunity. So pandemic flu planners are counting on the superior, longer lasting immunity of those Americans, who have actually recovered from influenza infection, because drug companies won't be able to produce pandemic flu vaccine fast enough to provide doses for everyone for up to a year after the pandemic begins.
If public health officials are depending upon Americans with qualitatively superior cell mediated immunity to influenza, which can only be obtained from recovering from the flu the old fashioned way, to limit morbidity and mortality from a future pandemic flu - then why are they insisting that every American get annual flu vaccinations from birth?
Dealing with the Flu - These days, many Americans are taking steps to deal with influenza or flu-like illnesses by enhancing the functioning of the immune system through diet, exercise and other positive lifestyle and health care changes. And if they do get the flu, they are taking a common sense approach. To prevent and treat influenza or flu-like illness that does not involve a fever over 103 F, pneumonia or serious complications which may require special medical intervention, here are a few non-toxic suggestions:
1. Wash your hands frequently.
2. Avoid close contact with those who are sick.
3. If you are sick, avoid close contact with those who are well.
4. Cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze.
5. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water.
6. Get adequate sleep.
7. Eat a healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals, especially foods containing vitamin C (such as citrus fruits) and vitamins A and D (such as cod liver oil) and spend a few minutes a day in sunlight to help your body make and store vitamin D.
8. Exercise regularly when you are well.
9. Lower stress.
10. Consider including holistic alternatives in your wellness or healing plan, such as chiropractic adjustments, homeopathic and naturopathic remedies, acupuncture and other health care options.
There is little indication that CDC officials are going to stop asking Americans to roll up their sleeves and guarantee drug companies flu vaccine profits. There is also little indication that Americans are paying much attention to that request. In the wings: most likely a CDC and drug industry plan to try to get politicians to mandate the stuff.
"No forced vaccination. Not in America."
Senate Votes for Secret Vaccine Agency
"Highlights of BARDA include the creation of a new position within the Department of Health and Human Services that would be solely responsible for the oversight of vaccine production and decide what medications would be distributed. Barbara Loe Fisher, the president of the National Vaccine Information Center, has been an outspoken critic of the bill. She was unaware that the bill had been passed by the Senate last night but said she's worried about the effects "secret vaccine production" could have on the American public. "This is an extremely dangerous precedent that is being set," she said." - Mary Shaffrey, Winston Salem Journal, December 6, 2006
Senate Approves Burr's Bioterrorism Bill
Critics warn about the effects of 'secret vaccine production
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
It is almost a done deal. The Senate has voted and the House will soon vote on a bill to create BARDA, a new and very powerful agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that will partner with drug companies to make experimental vaccines and drugs. The actions of the agency and the way these experimental drugs and vaccines are made, what they will contain, and how reactive they are, will be hidden from the public. Under the guise of "protecting national security," citizens will be prevented through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from being able to obtain information about most of what BARDA is doing.
In the future, when the Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a public health "emergency" under Bioshield and other federal and state legislation passed since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans could be quarantined and forced to use experimental drugs and vaccines and have no recourse to the civil justice system if they are injured by them. Congress has already given complete liability protection to drug companies and those who order citizens to take drugs and vaccines during a declared public health "emergency."
The individual appointed to head BARDA will be one of the most powerful individuals in the U.S.. Congress has already given the Secretary of Health and Human Services, also a political appointee, unprecedented power. The militarization of the civilian public health system with unchecked power residing in the hands of unelected government health officials, who have no accountability to or oversight by the public, is a serious threat to freedom and public safety.
For more information about the possible consequences of the Bioshield laws and the pending BARDA legislation, go to www.nvic.org homepage ("Liability Shield Given to Pharma") and read NVIC's letter to Senate staffer Col. Robert Kadlec, M.D.
The House vote to approve BARDA could take place before this Friday, Dec. 8. If you want to let your Congressperson know how you feel about BARDA, call him or her at 202-224-3121. Go to www.house.gov to find information about your Congressperson.
Senate Approves Burr's Bioterrorism Bill
Critics warn about the effects of 'secret vaccine production
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
It is almost a done deal. The Senate has voted and the House will soon vote on a bill to create BARDA, a new and very powerful agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that will partner with drug companies to make experimental vaccines and drugs. The actions of the agency and the way these experimental drugs and vaccines are made, what they will contain, and how reactive they are, will be hidden from the public. Under the guise of "protecting national security," citizens will be prevented through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from being able to obtain information about most of what BARDA is doing.
In the future, when the Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a public health "emergency" under Bioshield and other federal and state legislation passed since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans could be quarantined and forced to use experimental drugs and vaccines and have no recourse to the civil justice system if they are injured by them. Congress has already given complete liability protection to drug companies and those who order citizens to take drugs and vaccines during a declared public health "emergency."
The individual appointed to head BARDA will be one of the most powerful individuals in the U.S.. Congress has already given the Secretary of Health and Human Services, also a political appointee, unprecedented power. The militarization of the civilian public health system with unchecked power residing in the hands of unelected government health officials, who have no accountability to or oversight by the public, is a serious threat to freedom and public safety.
For more information about the possible consequences of the Bioshield laws and the pending BARDA legislation, go to www.nvic.org homepage ("Liability Shield Given to Pharma") and read NVIC's letter to Senate staffer Col. Robert Kadlec, M.D.
The House vote to approve BARDA could take place before this Friday, Dec. 8. If you want to let your Congressperson know how you feel about BARDA, call him or her at 202-224-3121. Go to www.house.gov to find information about your Congressperson.
UK Pays Millions for Vaccine Injuries
One Northern Ireland family who believe their son died as a result of a vaccine said the 25 children who have been compensated are only a fraction of the children who had been affected. Anne Coulter found her 15-year-old son Christopher dead in bed ten days after receiving the measles and rubella (MR) vaccine at school in 1994....."My requests for information about Christopher's death have been blocked at every turn by the Government," Mrs Coulter said."Christopher was an active, healthy boy who had enormous energy and was head chorister at St Anne's Cathedral," she explained. Seven days before Christmas, she found her previously healthy son dead." - Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, UK , December 4, 2006
£2m Payout Over Children Disabled by Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Parents in every country of the world continue to take healthy, bright children of all ages to pediatrician's offices and public health clinics to get vaccinated and then, tragically, watch their children die or be left brain injured. After a child is killed or injured by a vaccine or combination of vaccinations, almost always government health officials deny and cover up what really happened. They are more anxious to reassure the public with a lie than to honestly acknowledge the truth about vaccine risks and take action to minimize them. It is no wonder that parents have become mistrustful of those operating a mass vaccination system more concerned about protecting the status quo than protecting the lives of innocent children who have no voice and, often, have no choice.
£2m Payout Over Children Disabled by Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Parents in every country of the world continue to take healthy, bright children of all ages to pediatrician's offices and public health clinics to get vaccinated and then, tragically, watch their children die or be left brain injured. After a child is killed or injured by a vaccine or combination of vaccinations, almost always government health officials deny and cover up what really happened. They are more anxious to reassure the public with a lie than to honestly acknowledge the truth about vaccine risks and take action to minimize them. It is no wonder that parents have become mistrustful of those operating a mass vaccination system more concerned about protecting the status quo than protecting the lives of innocent children who have no voice and, often, have no choice.
DTaP Injured Son
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
On May 31, 2003, Jackson Presley Diamond was born to Chaney and Lee Diamond, of Chicago. A healthy 9 pound boy at birth, his Mom nursed him for eight months and she said "he slept well, ate well, grew well, never cried too much." Jackson met all his developmental milestones during the first 18 months of his life, and he loved to dance, pretend to talk on the phone and have his parents read his favorite books to him. Jackson was an energetic, high functioning toddler right up until Dec. 8, 2004, the day he went to his pediatrician's office for a well- child check-up and got vaccinated.
Within 24 hours of his vaccinations, which included the DTaP shot, Jackson suffered a collapse/shock and stopped breathing. Brain inflammation and seizures followed. During his hospitalization, doctors denied the vaccinations he received were responsible. His mother said: "Every time we would see a new doctor, we would make sure they knew about the vaccinations Jackson had the day before. When we would ask each doctor if they thought it could be a reaction to the vaccinations, they would dismiss the idea very quickly without a second thought. 'Vaccination reactions don't happen this way' one of them told us. " A reaction would happen weeks after, not the day after."
Jackson's parents encountered a typical response by doctors who are not taught in medical school how to recognize a vaccine reaction. Unfortunately, because most medical doctors have been misled by the rhetoric of CDC and AAP officials denying the reality of vaccine induced brain and immune system injury, out of ignorance many doctors end up misleading parents whose children have suffered vaccine injury. Therefore, many parents do not know why their children regressed physically, mentally and emotionally after vaccination until they do their own research and become educated about the risks and complications of vaccines.
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 makes it clear that brain inflammation, which occurs within 72 hours of DTaP, DTP, DTP-Hib vaccination, is presumed to be caused by vaccination when no other cause can be found. Jackson's collapse/shock and brain inflammation, which ended in serious brain injury, fits the classic post-DPT and post-DTaP vaccine reaction profile. In the absence of another credible scientific explanation, Jackson is presumed to be vaccine damaged.
Although the acellular pertussis vaccine in the DTaP shot causes fewer cases of brain inflammation than the DPT shot, the pertussis toxin in the acellular pertussis portion of DTaP still has the capacity to cause brain injury just like Jackson suffered within 24 hours of vaccination. For more information about DPT and DTaP vaccine reactions, go to www.nvic.org
Lee Diamond, Jackson's father and the drummer for the Douglass Kings and Replica Republic has helped to organize a concert benefit in Chicago Dec. 29-30, 2006 for the Jackson Presley Diamond Fund, the National Vaccine Information Center, Physicians for a National Health Program, Children's Neurobiological Solutions Foundation and Easter Seals. For more information about Jackson's vaccine reaction as well as this special event, go to www.jacksonpresleydiamond.com
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