FDA Panel Approves Rotarix Safety 11-1
Consumer Member Vicky Debold Votes "NO" on Proof of Safety by GSK
by Barbara Loe Fisher
NVIC's Director of Patient Safety, Vicky Debold, Ph.D, RN, who is the consumer voting member on the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, cast the sole dissenting "NO" vote when the Committee was asked whether GlaxoSmithKline's pre-licensure clinical trials had proved that rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) is safe to give to infants. The FDA Panel voted unanimously that GSK had proven effectiveness but voted 11-1 on the safety question.
Debold noted that there were more deaths among the healthy infants who received Rotarix compared to those who received a placebo. She pointed out that the clinical trials did not inlude premature, sick and otherwise biologically compromised infants and asked "What is going to happen when this vaccine is given to children in the real world?" An FDA staff report analyzing GSK data revealed a statistically significant increase in deaths related to pneumonia among infants who got Rotarix versus the placebo.
Rotarix vaccine will directly compete with Merck's Rotateq vaccine for market share. Rotateq, a genetically engineered hybrid live virus vaccine containing human and bovine strains, has been associated with bowel blockage (intussusception). Bowel blockage does not appear to be a problem for live virus Rotarix, which contains genetically engineered human rotavirus strains, although serious adverse events associated with the new vaccine have included not only pneumonia and death but also bronchitis and convulsions.
"GlaxoSmithKline Plc's infant vaccine to prevent diarrhea caused by the rotavirus appears safe and effective, based on available data, U.S. advisers said on Wednesday.........In a briefing prepared for the meeting, FDA staff had noted a statistically significant increase in deaths related to pneumonia compared with placebo in Glaxo's largest trial. The panel was unanimous the vaccine appeared effective and voted 11-1 that it appeared safe.....Vicky Debold, patient safety director at the National Vaccine Information Center, was the sole panel member to vote that the data does not support the vaccine's safety. She noted the infants studied were all healthy and asked: "What happens when this vaccine is given to children in the real world?" - Kim Dixon, Reuters, (February 20, 2008)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7324731
"Steven Rosenthal, an FDA medical officer who presented the agency's review of the vaccine, said there was a higher rate of pneumonia-related deaths and convulsions among vaccinated infants in one of the main studies. The overall death rate from any cause, however, was similar between infants given the vaccine and those in placebo groups. In total there were 118 deaths among all infants in the studies with 19 pneumonia related-deaths among those receiving the vaccine and 10 among those not receiving it. He said if Rotarix is approved in the U.S., Glaxo would conduct a post-marketing study of the vaccine to monitor for potential side effects such as pneumonia, convulsions and intussusceptions. In briefing documents prepared for Wednesday's meeting, an FDA staff review said it wasn't clear what role, if any, the vaccine played in the risk, while Glaxo officials said there didn't appear to be any link to the vaccine. Clare Kahn, Glaxo's North American vice president of regulatory affairs, said, "The risk-benefit ratio is favorable for the intended population." One panel member voted against the vaccine on safety grounds. Vicky Debold, a nurse and the panel's consumer representative, said she was concerned about not just the pneumonia-related deaths but the overall death rate." - Jennifer Corbbett Dooren, Wall Street Journal, (February 20, 2008)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120354110915280781.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Flu Vaccine Misses Flu Strains.....Again
by Barbara Loe Fisher
Every year, officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) look into a crystal ball and try to figure out which strains of Type A and Type B influenza will be prevalent in the U.S.. Sometimes they guess right and sometimes they guess wrong. This year, they guessed wrong as more than half of the influenza virus strains circulating in the U.S. right now are Type A and B strains that are not covered in this year's influenza vaccine.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0850501820080208?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&sp=true
In a typical flu season, only 20 percent of all flu-like illness is actually influenza. In 2003-2004 a mini-epidemic of a more severe type of influzenza caused by the A/Fujian strain occurred around the world, including the U.S. In spring of 2003, federal health agencies and the pharmaceutical industry knew the genetically mutated type A flu was emerging out of Asia and causing significant complications, including death, but chose not to include it in the 2003/2004 flu vaccine formula after the WHO voted to stay with strains that had been included in the previous year's formulation (A/Panama, A/Caledonia and B/Hong Kong). Without informing the public that the flu vaccine did not contain the strain of flu causing severe flu that season, the CDC heavily publicized child flu deaths in the fall of 2003 and Americans stood in long lines that fall and winter to get flu vaccine, which caused a vaccine shortage and subsequent CDC-recommended rationing of flu vaccine supplies. (http://www.nvic.org/History/Newsletters/%203770Reaction.pdf). The FDA stated that "between October 2003 and early January 2004, the deaths of 93 children younger than 18 had been reported to the CDC, according to preliminary data" and eventually the CDC would state that 152 flu related deaths occurred in children younger than 18 that year.
This year, the CDC is wisely admitting that this year's influenza vaccine does not match the circulating strains and is advising common sense strategies for prevention and management of flu, such as hand-washing.
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20080208/flu-vaccine-most-flu-bugs-dont-match?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Those who are suffering with an especially nasty bout with the flu this year can take comfort in the fact that natural experience with type A or type B influenza will produce immunological memory that will help minimize the risk of a severe case of that same strain of influenza when it circulates in the future. In fact, pandemic flu planners are counting on the superior, longer lasting cell mediated immunity of those Americans, who have actually recovered from influenza infection in the past, 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.
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.
Every year, officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) look into a crystal ball and try to figure out which strains of Type A and Type B influenza will be prevalent in the U.S.. Sometimes they guess right and sometimes they guess wrong. This year, they guessed wrong as more than half of the influenza virus strains circulating in the U.S. right now are Type A and B strains that are not covered in this year's influenza vaccine.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0850501820080208?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&sp=true
In a typical flu season, only 20 percent of all flu-like illness is actually influenza. In 2003-2004 a mini-epidemic of a more severe type of influzenza caused by the A/Fujian strain occurred around the world, including the U.S. In spring of 2003, federal health agencies and the pharmaceutical industry knew the genetically mutated type A flu was emerging out of Asia and causing significant complications, including death, but chose not to include it in the 2003/2004 flu vaccine formula after the WHO voted to stay with strains that had been included in the previous year's formulation (A/Panama, A/Caledonia and B/Hong Kong). Without informing the public that the flu vaccine did not contain the strain of flu causing severe flu that season, the CDC heavily publicized child flu deaths in the fall of 2003 and Americans stood in long lines that fall and winter to get flu vaccine, which caused a vaccine shortage and subsequent CDC-recommended rationing of flu vaccine supplies. (http://www.nvic.org/History/Newsletters/%203770Reaction.pdf). The FDA stated that "between October 2003 and early January 2004, the deaths of 93 children younger than 18 had been reported to the CDC, according to preliminary data" and eventually the CDC would state that 152 flu related deaths occurred in children younger than 18 that year.
This year, the CDC is wisely admitting that this year's influenza vaccine does not match the circulating strains and is advising common sense strategies for prevention and management of flu, such as hand-washing.
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20080208/flu-vaccine-most-flu-bugs-dont-match?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Those who are suffering with an especially nasty bout with the flu this year can take comfort in the fact that natural experience with type A or type B influenza will produce immunological memory that will help minimize the risk of a severe case of that same strain of influenza when it circulates in the future. In fact, pandemic flu planners are counting on the superior, longer lasting cell mediated immunity of those Americans, who have actually recovered from influenza infection in the past, 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.
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.
"Vaccines & Infant Death (SBS)
“Vaccines & Infant Death (SBS): Pediatrician Speaks Out on NVIC’s The Doctor’s Corner
by Barbara Loe Fisher
The Doctor’s Corner, sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center, is a new internet forum at www.NVIC.org for pediatricians to publish referenced articles and analyses evaluating vaccine risks. Today, F. Edward Yazbak, M.D., FAAP, has published an analysis, “Multiple Vaccinations and Shaken Baby Syndrome,” that reviews the relationship between administration of multiple vaccines to infants who die and parents are subsequently charged with “Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
Dr. Yazbak provides a review of death reports of infants 6 months of age or younger to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). He describes individual case histories and the history of vaccine deaths which are misdiagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and discusses vaccine deaths which may be misdiagnosed as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
When an infant dies after vaccination, often pediatricians are reluctant to consider the possibility that the vaccine(s) recently given to keep the child well have killed the child. In 1985, Dr. Coulter and I described the misdiagnosis as SIDS of infant deaths, which have occurred within 24 to 72 hours after DPT vaccination, in our book, A Shot in the Dark. The fact that coroners often misdiagnose vaccine deaths as SIDS is further evidenced by compensation awards made in the U.S. Court of Claims to parents whose babies died within hours of DPT vaccination but the coroner initially diagnosed the death as “SIDS.”
Dr. Yazbak’s article about the misdiagnosis of vaccine deaths as “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and the subsequent persecution and imprisonment of parents, whose babies died after vaccination, is an important one. No parent, who commits the crime of shaking a baby to death should be held unaccountable.
However, it is well known that vaccines can cause brain inflammation and catastrophic brain damage in some children. Until all of the biological mechanisms for vaccine injury and death are fully understood and described in the scientific literature, parents should be given the benefit of the doubt when babies die after vaccination.
To read Dr. Yazbak's article, click here.
by Barbara Loe Fisher
The Doctor’s Corner, sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center, is a new internet forum at www.NVIC.org for pediatricians to publish referenced articles and analyses evaluating vaccine risks. Today, F. Edward Yazbak, M.D., FAAP, has published an analysis, “Multiple Vaccinations and Shaken Baby Syndrome,” that reviews the relationship between administration of multiple vaccines to infants who die and parents are subsequently charged with “Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
Dr. Yazbak provides a review of death reports of infants 6 months of age or younger to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). He describes individual case histories and the history of vaccine deaths which are misdiagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and discusses vaccine deaths which may be misdiagnosed as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
When an infant dies after vaccination, often pediatricians are reluctant to consider the possibility that the vaccine(s) recently given to keep the child well have killed the child. In 1985, Dr. Coulter and I described the misdiagnosis as SIDS of infant deaths, which have occurred within 24 to 72 hours after DPT vaccination, in our book, A Shot in the Dark. The fact that coroners often misdiagnose vaccine deaths as SIDS is further evidenced by compensation awards made in the U.S. Court of Claims to parents whose babies died within hours of DPT vaccination but the coroner initially diagnosed the death as “SIDS.”
Dr. Yazbak’s article about the misdiagnosis of vaccine deaths as “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and the subsequent persecution and imprisonment of parents, whose babies died after vaccination, is an important one. No parent, who commits the crime of shaking a baby to death should be held unaccountable.
However, it is well known that vaccines can cause brain inflammation and catastrophic brain damage in some children. Until all of the biological mechanisms for vaccine injury and death are fully understood and described in the scientific literature, parents should be given the benefit of the doubt when babies die after vaccination.
To read Dr. Yazbak's article, click here.
Mercury Study Released Early to Help AAP Bash ABC
by Barbara Loe Fisher
The AAP leadership is just not going to give up insisting that it is a very, very good thing to inject mercury into infants and children. They are going to twist themselves into pretzels trying to defend the indefensible premise that a known neurotoxin belongs in childhood vaccines, as evidenced by today's early release of a methodologically questionable "study" by Michael Pichichero, M.D. purporting to exonerate the mercury-based vaccine preservative, thimerosal, from any responsibility for children developing vaccine- associated autism. http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=510116&categoryid=40
The study, originally scheduled to be published Feb. 4 in the AAP journal, Pediatrics, was released "early" in an effort to blunt the impact of tonight's broadcast of a fictional drama on ABC-TV that highlights the ordeal of a family whose son developed autism after receiving mercury-containing vaccines.
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2008/01/30/hscout612206.html
Here is what all the fuss is about (for today at least): Pichichero claims his study of about 200 babies and children, who were injected with vaccines containing ethyl mercury (thimerosal), showed that measurable mercury levels in the blood of the children were gone within 3.7 days. This, says Pichichero, is much quicker than the average 44 days it takes for methyl mercury (found in fish) to be undetectable in the blood. Ergo, he says, exposure to thimerosal does not cause brain damage or autism!
Not so fast, says Thomsas Brubacher, M.D., a scientist who studies the biological effects of ethyl mercury on primates. "Just because it came out of the blood doesn't mean it is excreted from the body. It could have gone to the brain. In primates, you actually get more mercury in the brain after exposure to ethyl mercury than with methyl mercury - it has an easier time crossing the blood brain barrier."
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/2008 0130/vaccine-mercury-leaves-blood-fast
Now, whether you think that all or part of the autism epidemic has been caused by children getting too many mercury containing vaccines or whether you think that a subset of children suffering with autism have been affected by mercury containing vaccines or you believe mercury containing vaccines do not play any role at all in the autism epidemic:
MERCURY IN ANY FORM DOES NOT BELONG IN VACCINES OR ANY OTHER PRODUCT CONSUMED BY HUMANS.
News Flash for the AAP and pediatricians everywhere: there is no mother on this planet who would, willingly, ask you to inject her baby with mercury. It does not matter if ethyl mercury has been "proven" or "not proven" to be the cause of the autism epidemic. It is simple from a parent's perspective:
WHEN IN DOUBT, TAKE IT OUT.
The AAP leadership and doctors inside and outside of government, who have become apologists for unsafe vaccines and one-size-fits-all vaccine policies, are dancing like clowns as they threaten freedom of the press and attempt to cover-up vaccine injuries and deaths not only potentially caused by thimerosal - but also potentially caused by many other biological mechanisms involved in vaccine induced brain and immune system dysfunction, including autism. The dance would be almost comical if their stubborn defense of mercury in vaccines did not reveal so much more about a cavalier disregard for scientific truth and human life.
***********************************************************
"The latest chapter in the debate over whether childhood vaccines can cause autism was written Wednesday with release of a study that showed the controversial mercury-containing preservative thimerosal is rapidly excreted from babies' bodies and can't build up to toxic levels....."Though it's reassuring to affirm that these immunizations have always been safe, our findings really have greater implications for world health," Pichichero said. "Replacing the thimerosal in vaccines globally would put these vaccines beyond what the world community could afford for its children." The study findings were to be released Monday in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics. But they were released early by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is requesting that the ABC network cancel the premiere episode of a new show Thursday dealing with the thimerosal-autism controversy...... Still, at least one vaccine critic worries that inoculations are making children prone to autism, a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, communication problems, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. And if it's not thimerosal, then it must be some other vaccine-related interaction, said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center. "There are many biological mechanisms involved in vaccine-induced brain and immune system changes that could quite well lead to autism," she said. "Mercury doesn't belong in any product," Fisher added. "Mercury doesn't belong in vaccines whether it's proven or not proven that mercury is a problem in vaccines." - Forbes (HealthDay News) January 30, 2008
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2008/01/30/hscout612206.html
"One of the few researchers who studies the effects of ethyl mercury is Thomas Burbacher, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and director of the infant primate research lab at the National Primate Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle. Burbacher's studies of ethyl mercury and thimerosal in primates are cited by both sides of the thimerosal debate. Burbacher says that just because ethyl mercury is gone from an infant's blood soon after it receives a dose of thimerosal -- a half-life of just 3.7 days in the Pichichero study -- doesn't mean it's gone from the body. "Just because it came out of the blood doesn't mean it is excreted from the body. It could have gone to the brain," Burbacher tells WebMD. "In primates, you actually get more mercury in the brain after exposure to ethyl mercury than with methyl mercury -- it has an easier time crossing the blood-brain barrier." Sallie Bernard is co-founder and executive director of SafeMinds, an organization that advocates "sensible action for ending mercury-induced neurological disorders." Bernard says the Pichichero study is valuable because it makes it clear that the body handles ethyl mercury very differently from the way it handles methyl mercury. "That is why we need real safety studies to look at the effects of ethyl mercury," Bernard tells WebMD. "We need not look at blood levels and excretion times, but at what goes on in the brain and what any ethyl mercury-induced changes in the brain are doing to children." - Daniel DeNoon, Web MD (January 30, 2008) http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/2008 0130/vaccine-mercury-leaves-blood-fast
The AAP leadership is just not going to give up insisting that it is a very, very good thing to inject mercury into infants and children. They are going to twist themselves into pretzels trying to defend the indefensible premise that a known neurotoxin belongs in childhood vaccines, as evidenced by today's early release of a methodologically questionable "study" by Michael Pichichero, M.D. purporting to exonerate the mercury-based vaccine preservative, thimerosal, from any responsibility for children developing vaccine- associated autism. http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=510116&categoryid=40
The study, originally scheduled to be published Feb. 4 in the AAP journal, Pediatrics, was released "early" in an effort to blunt the impact of tonight's broadcast of a fictional drama on ABC-TV that highlights the ordeal of a family whose son developed autism after receiving mercury-containing vaccines.
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2008/01/30/hscout612206.html
Here is what all the fuss is about (for today at least): Pichichero claims his study of about 200 babies and children, who were injected with vaccines containing ethyl mercury (thimerosal), showed that measurable mercury levels in the blood of the children were gone within 3.7 days. This, says Pichichero, is much quicker than the average 44 days it takes for methyl mercury (found in fish) to be undetectable in the blood. Ergo, he says, exposure to thimerosal does not cause brain damage or autism!
Not so fast, says Thomsas Brubacher, M.D., a scientist who studies the biological effects of ethyl mercury on primates. "Just because it came out of the blood doesn't mean it is excreted from the body. It could have gone to the brain. In primates, you actually get more mercury in the brain after exposure to ethyl mercury than with methyl mercury - it has an easier time crossing the blood brain barrier."
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/2008 0130/vaccine-mercury-leaves-blood-fast
Now, whether you think that all or part of the autism epidemic has been caused by children getting too many mercury containing vaccines or whether you think that a subset of children suffering with autism have been affected by mercury containing vaccines or you believe mercury containing vaccines do not play any role at all in the autism epidemic:
MERCURY IN ANY FORM DOES NOT BELONG IN VACCINES OR ANY OTHER PRODUCT CONSUMED BY HUMANS.
News Flash for the AAP and pediatricians everywhere: there is no mother on this planet who would, willingly, ask you to inject her baby with mercury. It does not matter if ethyl mercury has been "proven" or "not proven" to be the cause of the autism epidemic. It is simple from a parent's perspective:
WHEN IN DOUBT, TAKE IT OUT.
The AAP leadership and doctors inside and outside of government, who have become apologists for unsafe vaccines and one-size-fits-all vaccine policies, are dancing like clowns as they threaten freedom of the press and attempt to cover-up vaccine injuries and deaths not only potentially caused by thimerosal - but also potentially caused by many other biological mechanisms involved in vaccine induced brain and immune system dysfunction, including autism. The dance would be almost comical if their stubborn defense of mercury in vaccines did not reveal so much more about a cavalier disregard for scientific truth and human life.
***********************************************************
"The latest chapter in the debate over whether childhood vaccines can cause autism was written Wednesday with release of a study that showed the controversial mercury-containing preservative thimerosal is rapidly excreted from babies' bodies and can't build up to toxic levels....."Though it's reassuring to affirm that these immunizations have always been safe, our findings really have greater implications for world health," Pichichero said. "Replacing the thimerosal in vaccines globally would put these vaccines beyond what the world community could afford for its children." The study findings were to be released Monday in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics. But they were released early by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is requesting that the ABC network cancel the premiere episode of a new show Thursday dealing with the thimerosal-autism controversy...... Still, at least one vaccine critic worries that inoculations are making children prone to autism, a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, communication problems, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. And if it's not thimerosal, then it must be some other vaccine-related interaction, said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center. "There are many biological mechanisms involved in vaccine-induced brain and immune system changes that could quite well lead to autism," she said. "Mercury doesn't belong in any product," Fisher added. "Mercury doesn't belong in vaccines whether it's proven or not proven that mercury is a problem in vaccines." - Forbes (HealthDay News) January 30, 2008
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2008/01/30/hscout612206.html
"One of the few researchers who studies the effects of ethyl mercury is Thomas Burbacher, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and director of the infant primate research lab at the National Primate Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle. Burbacher's studies of ethyl mercury and thimerosal in primates are cited by both sides of the thimerosal debate. Burbacher says that just because ethyl mercury is gone from an infant's blood soon after it receives a dose of thimerosal -- a half-life of just 3.7 days in the Pichichero study -- doesn't mean it's gone from the body. "Just because it came out of the blood doesn't mean it is excreted from the body. It could have gone to the brain," Burbacher tells WebMD. "In primates, you actually get more mercury in the brain after exposure to ethyl mercury than with methyl mercury -- it has an easier time crossing the blood-brain barrier." Sallie Bernard is co-founder and executive director of SafeMinds, an organization that advocates "sensible action for ending mercury-induced neurological disorders." Bernard says the Pichichero study is valuable because it makes it clear that the body handles ethyl mercury very differently from the way it handles methyl mercury. "That is why we need real safety studies to look at the effects of ethyl mercury," Bernard tells WebMD. "We need not look at blood levels and excretion times, but at what goes on in the brain and what any ethyl mercury-induced changes in the brain are doing to children." - Daniel DeNoon, Web MD (January 30, 2008) http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/2008 0130/vaccine-mercury-leaves-blood-fast
U.S. Doctors Club ABC-TV Show on Autism & Vaccines
by Barbara Loe Fisher
I sighed with recognition when I learned that the leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had written a letter and issued a press release on Jan. 25 calling on ABC-TV to cancel tomorrow's premiere episode of a fictional drama about a family whose child regresses into autism after vaccination. On the same day, the American Medical Association (AMA) called on ABC to "mitigate the harm this episode may do" such as re-writing the script.
The CDC-funded Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) also piled on ABC-TV, urging doctors to put pressure on the network to cancel the broadcast while seven former directors of the CDC maintained in a Jan. 29 March of Dimes press release that "The implication that vaccinations cause autism is irresponsible and counter productive."
This latest coordinated attempt by physician leaders of America's medical establishment to muzzle the media's exploration of vaccine risk issues that have been making headlines for nearly three decades is reminiscent of the coordinated denials of vaccine risks by these same physician leaders in April 1982 when NBC-TV broadcast the documentary "DPT: Vaccine Roulette." It was a landmark documentary which earned television journalist Lea Thompson an Emmy and initiated a public dialogue that would change the course of medical history.
In 1982, when the NBC-TV documentary exposed the dangers of DPT vaccine, physician leaders in the AAP, AMA, CDC and other medical organizations joined together to discredit Thompson and everyone associated with the broadcast. An article in the July 1982 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) labeled the NBC-TV documentary "biased, histrionic and inaccurate" and even "amoral and psychopathic."
William Foege, M.D., then director of the CDC and one of the seven former CDC directors who endorsed the March of Dimes press release now criticizing ABC-TV for airing a fictional episode about vaccines and autism, in 1982 declared that the NBC- TV report about DPT vaccine risks was "an unbalanced view - bias, in my view, and inaccuracies to carry its destructive message.....not an example of responsible journalism."
In 1983, a year after the documentary aired, reporter Thompson explained "The AAP put out the word the day we did our story that the story was inaccurate and not to worry. When a reporter calls a local doctor or hospital or medical center, he speaks to doctors who have been told by the AAP and AMA not to worry. To my knowledge, pediatricians in this country have heard absolutely nothing from the AAP on DPT since then." (quoted in DPT: A Shot in the Dark)
Three years later, the U.S. Congress would acknowledge the reality of DPT and other vaccine brain injury and death by passing the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. This societal acknowledgement was followed by the publishing, in 1991 and 1994, of four reports by the Institute of Medicine that DPT vaccine can cause brain inflammation and permanent brain damage and that other childhood vaccines can cause varying degrees of brain and immune system dysfunction, as well as death. In 1996, after parents of vaccine injured children had lobbied industry and government for 14 years, the FDA licensed a purified DTaP vaccine for babies.
To the credit of the owners and management of ABC-TV, the network has so far refused to cancel the premiere episode of Eli Stone that features a family struggling with issues familiar to parents whose children regress into autism after vaccination. Since 1982, Americans have depended on members of the Fourth Estate to illuminate for the public the scientific, medical, economic, political, social and ethical issues involved in the vaccine safety and informed consent debate. Hopefully, ABC-TV and all print and broadcast media outlets will hold the line against this latest threat to freedom of thought and expression by a medical community determined to silence people crying out for recognition and help for their vaccine injured children.
Parents deserve more from the pediatricians and doctors, who they entrust with their children's lives, than denials, hostility and disrespect. They deserve to have their questions about vaccination answered honestly; their concerns about vaccine risks taken seriously; and their children treated with the same compassion that doctors would treat their own children. They expect that, when their children regress after vaccination into poor health, pediatricians will leave no stone unturned, including exploring the possibility that vaccine(s) played a role in their child's development of autism, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, intestinal bowel disorders and many other kinds of brain and immune system dysfunction.
Mothers and fathers expect that - whether or not mercury preservatives in vaccines have or have not been "proven" to be the cause of the autism epidemic - that pediatricians and all doctors would instinctively adhere to the "First do no harm" precautionary principle and support the immediate removal of a known neurotoxin from vaccines they inject into babies. Parents do not expect doctors to collectively stick their heads in the sand and turn away from their responsibility to find out why the biggest epidemic of chronic disease and disability among children in the history of our nation is associated with the more than doubling of the numbers of vaccines doctors give to them in the first few years of life.
In 1983, when pediatrician leaders of the AAP Redbook Committee met with co-founders of the National Vaccine Information Center to discuss DPT vaccine brain injuries, I begged them to take seriously the reports by parents that their children were regressing physically, mentally and emotionally after vaccination so that steps could be taken to minimize the risks. I warned them that "a system that will not bend will break."
In 2008, after 26 years of waiting for pediatricians to open their eyes and realize that leaders in the AAP, AMA, and CDC have betrayed their trust by denying the truth about vaccine risks, parents are taking matters into their own hands. If the mass vaccination system breaks, the blame can be put squarely at the feet of doctors who have waited too long to stand up and say "The lie stops here and now with me."
ABC-TV CONTACT INFORMATION:
Nicole Nichols
Senior Vice President of Entertainment Communications for "Eli Stone"
Email: Nicole.Nichols@abc.com
Phone: (818) 460-5267
Charissa Gilmore
Vice President of Media Relations for "Eli Stone"
Email: Charissa.Gilmore@abc.com
Phone: (818) 460-7950
"ABC said on Monday it would include a disclaimer about the plot line of the debut episode of the drama "Eli Stone," which links childhood vaccines to autism, and direct viewers to a government Web site that discredits such a link. The decision follows a call by the American Academy of Pediatrics for ABC to cancel the opening episode of "Eli Stone," which is scheduled to be broadcast at 10 p.m. Thursday." - Edward Wyatt, New York Times (January 29, 2008)
I sighed with recognition when I learned that the leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had written a letter and issued a press release on Jan. 25 calling on ABC-TV to cancel tomorrow's premiere episode of a fictional drama about a family whose child regresses into autism after vaccination. On the same day, the American Medical Association (AMA) called on ABC to "mitigate the harm this episode may do" such as re-writing the script.
The CDC-funded Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) also piled on ABC-TV, urging doctors to put pressure on the network to cancel the broadcast while seven former directors of the CDC maintained in a Jan. 29 March of Dimes press release that "The implication that vaccinations cause autism is irresponsible and counter productive."
This latest coordinated attempt by physician leaders of America's medical establishment to muzzle the media's exploration of vaccine risk issues that have been making headlines for nearly three decades is reminiscent of the coordinated denials of vaccine risks by these same physician leaders in April 1982 when NBC-TV broadcast the documentary "DPT: Vaccine Roulette." It was a landmark documentary which earned television journalist Lea Thompson an Emmy and initiated a public dialogue that would change the course of medical history.
In 1982, when the NBC-TV documentary exposed the dangers of DPT vaccine, physician leaders in the AAP, AMA, CDC and other medical organizations joined together to discredit Thompson and everyone associated with the broadcast. An article in the July 1982 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) labeled the NBC-TV documentary "biased, histrionic and inaccurate" and even "amoral and psychopathic."
William Foege, M.D., then director of the CDC and one of the seven former CDC directors who endorsed the March of Dimes press release now criticizing ABC-TV for airing a fictional episode about vaccines and autism, in 1982 declared that the NBC- TV report about DPT vaccine risks was "an unbalanced view - bias, in my view, and inaccuracies to carry its destructive message.....not an example of responsible journalism."
In 1983, a year after the documentary aired, reporter Thompson explained "The AAP put out the word the day we did our story that the story was inaccurate and not to worry. When a reporter calls a local doctor or hospital or medical center, he speaks to doctors who have been told by the AAP and AMA not to worry. To my knowledge, pediatricians in this country have heard absolutely nothing from the AAP on DPT since then." (quoted in DPT: A Shot in the Dark)
Three years later, the U.S. Congress would acknowledge the reality of DPT and other vaccine brain injury and death by passing the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. This societal acknowledgement was followed by the publishing, in 1991 and 1994, of four reports by the Institute of Medicine that DPT vaccine can cause brain inflammation and permanent brain damage and that other childhood vaccines can cause varying degrees of brain and immune system dysfunction, as well as death. In 1996, after parents of vaccine injured children had lobbied industry and government for 14 years, the FDA licensed a purified DTaP vaccine for babies.
To the credit of the owners and management of ABC-TV, the network has so far refused to cancel the premiere episode of Eli Stone that features a family struggling with issues familiar to parents whose children regress into autism after vaccination. Since 1982, Americans have depended on members of the Fourth Estate to illuminate for the public the scientific, medical, economic, political, social and ethical issues involved in the vaccine safety and informed consent debate. Hopefully, ABC-TV and all print and broadcast media outlets will hold the line against this latest threat to freedom of thought and expression by a medical community determined to silence people crying out for recognition and help for their vaccine injured children.
Parents deserve more from the pediatricians and doctors, who they entrust with their children's lives, than denials, hostility and disrespect. They deserve to have their questions about vaccination answered honestly; their concerns about vaccine risks taken seriously; and their children treated with the same compassion that doctors would treat their own children. They expect that, when their children regress after vaccination into poor health, pediatricians will leave no stone unturned, including exploring the possibility that vaccine(s) played a role in their child's development of autism, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, intestinal bowel disorders and many other kinds of brain and immune system dysfunction.
Mothers and fathers expect that - whether or not mercury preservatives in vaccines have or have not been "proven" to be the cause of the autism epidemic - that pediatricians and all doctors would instinctively adhere to the "First do no harm" precautionary principle and support the immediate removal of a known neurotoxin from vaccines they inject into babies. Parents do not expect doctors to collectively stick their heads in the sand and turn away from their responsibility to find out why the biggest epidemic of chronic disease and disability among children in the history of our nation is associated with the more than doubling of the numbers of vaccines doctors give to them in the first few years of life.
In 1983, when pediatrician leaders of the AAP Redbook Committee met with co-founders of the National Vaccine Information Center to discuss DPT vaccine brain injuries, I begged them to take seriously the reports by parents that their children were regressing physically, mentally and emotionally after vaccination so that steps could be taken to minimize the risks. I warned them that "a system that will not bend will break."
In 2008, after 26 years of waiting for pediatricians to open their eyes and realize that leaders in the AAP, AMA, and CDC have betrayed their trust by denying the truth about vaccine risks, parents are taking matters into their own hands. If the mass vaccination system breaks, the blame can be put squarely at the feet of doctors who have waited too long to stand up and say "The lie stops here and now with me."
ABC-TV CONTACT INFORMATION:
Nicole Nichols
Senior Vice President of Entertainment Communications for "Eli Stone"
Email: Nicole.Nichols@abc.com
Phone: (818) 460-5267
Charissa Gilmore
Vice President of Media Relations for "Eli Stone"
Email: Charissa.Gilmore@abc.com
Phone: (818) 460-7950
"ABC said on Monday it would include a disclaimer about the plot line of the debut episode of the drama "Eli Stone," which links childhood vaccines to autism, and direct viewers to a government Web site that discredits such a link. The decision follows a call by the American Academy of Pediatrics for ABC to cancel the opening episode of "Eli Stone," which is scheduled to be broadcast at 10 p.m. Thursday." - Edward Wyatt, New York Times (January 29, 2008)
Virginia House Votes to Delay HPV Vaccine Mandate
by Barbara Loe Fisher
On Jan. 15, a House health subcommittee in the Virginia legislature voted 13-9 along party lines to approve legislation introduced by Delegate Bob Marshall (R) to delay until the fall of 2010 implementation of a new HPV vaccine mandate approved by the legislature and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) last year. Governor Kaine disagreed with the move to push back the date because he said that parents can "opt-out" of giving the vaccine to their daughters for any reason. It is anticipated that the bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate deadline for implementation will face stronger opposition in the Senate.
The bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate in Virginia was supported by parent groups concerned about rushing an HPV vaccine mandate when serious adverse events following administration of Merck's GARDASIL to young girls continue to be reported. Since GARDASIL was licensed in 2006, serious health problems reported to VAERS and NVIC include sudden loss of consciousness, seizures/convulsions, head injuries and fractures, Guillain Barre syndrome, joint swelling, blood disorders, abnormal cervical smears, spontaneous abortions and other adverse outcomes following receipt of GARDASIL.
http://www.nvic.org/Diseases/HPV/HP VHOME.htm
Parents opposed to the Virginia HPV vaccine mandate also question whether most parents will be informed there is an "opt-out" provision which does not require filing a medical or religious exemption and whether the bureaucratic process for "opting-out" will be easy or complicated. There have been no clear guidelines issued for how the "opt-out" process will work.
The Virginia legislature stands alone as the only state government to mandate GARDASIL vaccine. Every other state has rejected proposed mandates aggressively pushed by Merck last year. Major medical organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the American Medical Association, have declined HPV vaccine mandates in favor of legislation encouraging parent/child education about HPV infection and the vaccine, as well as cost reimbursement for those families who want their daughters to get vaccinated voluntarily.
An American Cancer Society official was quoted as saying "It is one thing to endorse the use of a vaccine against cervical cancer, but altogether another thing to require children to get it."
In the 1970's, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that doctors give children 23 doses of 7 vaccines (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio) and most state legislatures mandated 4 or 5 of them for school entry. With the addition of 3 doses of HPV vaccine for girls, by 2008, CDC recommendations directed doctors to give children 56 doses of 16 vaccines (girls) or 53 doses of 15 vaccines (boys).
Most states in America currently mandate about 10 of the federally recommended vaccines (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, HIB, hepatitis B, chickenpox) for school attendance. Some states are also instituting daycare and school mandates for pneumococcal, meningococcal, hepatitis A and influenza vaccines.
The New Jersey health department, under rule making authority handed over by the state legislature, recently imposed new pneumococcal and influenza vaccine mandates on children attending daycare as well as meningococcal and Tdap vaccine requirements for children attending middle school. New Jersey becomes the first state to mandate influenza vaccine and also the state with the highest number of mandated vaccinations for children: 35 doses of 13 vaccines.
The more vaccines state governments mandate, the greater the potential for a backlash from parents weary of their children being made pincushions by federal health officials who automatically recommend for universal use every vaccine the pharmaceutical industry creates for children. HPV vaccine - whether marketed by Merck or GlaxoSmithKline - should not be mandated. The ACA spokesperson is right: it is one thing to make HPV vaccine available for those voluntarily choosing to use it. It is quite another matter to force HPV vaccine on a child under threat of exclusion from school, particularly without the voluntary, informed consent of the child's parents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Legislation passed by a House committee would stall Virginia's unique requirement that girls be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, to fall 2010, instead of fall 2009.....Gov. Tim Kaine said yesterday that he didn't think it should be pushed back because of the opt-out clause, but that he won't stand in the way if that is what legislators want. "It is available and yet no one is required for any reason to get it," Mr. Kaine said. "Since it really is an opt-in, I don't know that we need to push it back." Several national medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support giving the vaccine to girls but have not endorsed mandates. "It is one thing to endorse the use of a vaccine against cervical cancer, but altogether another to require children to get it," said Robert A. Smith, director of cancer screening for the American Cancer Society. Mr. Smith and others said it would have been better for Virginia to promote education on the vaccine and for funding to ensure availability for those who want it, rather than require it. " - Dena Potter, Associated Press, January 16, 2008
On Jan. 15, a House health subcommittee in the Virginia legislature voted 13-9 along party lines to approve legislation introduced by Delegate Bob Marshall (R) to delay until the fall of 2010 implementation of a new HPV vaccine mandate approved by the legislature and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) last year. Governor Kaine disagreed with the move to push back the date because he said that parents can "opt-out" of giving the vaccine to their daughters for any reason. It is anticipated that the bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate deadline for implementation will face stronger opposition in the Senate.
The bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate in Virginia was supported by parent groups concerned about rushing an HPV vaccine mandate when serious adverse events following administration of Merck's GARDASIL to young girls continue to be reported. Since GARDASIL was licensed in 2006, serious health problems reported to VAERS and NVIC include sudden loss of consciousness, seizures/convulsions, head injuries and fractures, Guillain Barre syndrome, joint swelling, blood disorders, abnormal cervical smears, spontaneous abortions and other adverse outcomes following receipt of GARDASIL.
http://www.nvic.org/Diseases/HPV/HP VHOME.htm
Parents opposed to the Virginia HPV vaccine mandate also question whether most parents will be informed there is an "opt-out" provision which does not require filing a medical or religious exemption and whether the bureaucratic process for "opting-out" will be easy or complicated. There have been no clear guidelines issued for how the "opt-out" process will work.
The Virginia legislature stands alone as the only state government to mandate GARDASIL vaccine. Every other state has rejected proposed mandates aggressively pushed by Merck last year. Major medical organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the American Medical Association, have declined HPV vaccine mandates in favor of legislation encouraging parent/child education about HPV infection and the vaccine, as well as cost reimbursement for those families who want their daughters to get vaccinated voluntarily.
An American Cancer Society official was quoted as saying "It is one thing to endorse the use of a vaccine against cervical cancer, but altogether another thing to require children to get it."
In the 1970's, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that doctors give children 23 doses of 7 vaccines (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio) and most state legislatures mandated 4 or 5 of them for school entry. With the addition of 3 doses of HPV vaccine for girls, by 2008, CDC recommendations directed doctors to give children 56 doses of 16 vaccines (girls) or 53 doses of 15 vaccines (boys).
Most states in America currently mandate about 10 of the federally recommended vaccines (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, HIB, hepatitis B, chickenpox) for school attendance. Some states are also instituting daycare and school mandates for pneumococcal, meningococcal, hepatitis A and influenza vaccines.
The New Jersey health department, under rule making authority handed over by the state legislature, recently imposed new pneumococcal and influenza vaccine mandates on children attending daycare as well as meningococcal and Tdap vaccine requirements for children attending middle school. New Jersey becomes the first state to mandate influenza vaccine and also the state with the highest number of mandated vaccinations for children: 35 doses of 13 vaccines.
The more vaccines state governments mandate, the greater the potential for a backlash from parents weary of their children being made pincushions by federal health officials who automatically recommend for universal use every vaccine the pharmaceutical industry creates for children. HPV vaccine - whether marketed by Merck or GlaxoSmithKline - should not be mandated. The ACA spokesperson is right: it is one thing to make HPV vaccine available for those voluntarily choosing to use it. It is quite another matter to force HPV vaccine on a child under threat of exclusion from school, particularly without the voluntary, informed consent of the child's parents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Legislation passed by a House committee would stall Virginia's unique requirement that girls be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, to fall 2010, instead of fall 2009.....Gov. Tim Kaine said yesterday that he didn't think it should be pushed back because of the opt-out clause, but that he won't stand in the way if that is what legislators want. "It is available and yet no one is required for any reason to get it," Mr. Kaine said. "Since it really is an opt-in, I don't know that we need to push it back." Several national medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support giving the vaccine to girls but have not endorsed mandates. "It is one thing to endorse the use of a vaccine against cervical cancer, but altogether another to require children to get it," said Robert A. Smith, director of cancer screening for the American Cancer Society. Mr. Smith and others said it would have been better for Virginia to promote education on the vaccine and for funding to ensure availability for those who want it, rather than require it. " - Dena Potter, Associated Press, January 16, 2008
Action on Virginia "Opt-Out" GARDASIL Mandate
by Barbara Loe Fisher
Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall has introduced a bill in the Virginia state legislature which would repeal a law passed by the General Assembly last year requiring sixth grade girls to get three doses of HPV vaccine (HB 89) by October 2008. Governor Kane has indicated he will not support a repeal of the mandate. Delegate Marshall has also authored a bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate implementation until 2011 (HB 188).
The health subcommittee of the Virginia House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee will hear HB 89 and HB 188 this afternoon (Monday, Jan. 14). It is a possibility that the full Committee might hear the bills at a later date if they are not passed out of subcommittee.
If you are a Virginia resident and would like to contact health subcommittee members (all of whom sit on the full Committee) and make your views known, following is contact information for committee members:
Chairman, Delegate John O'Bannon deljobannon@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1073
Delegate Jeff Frederick deljfrederick@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1052
Delegate David Nutter deldnutter@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1007
Delegate Chris Peace delcpeace@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1097
Delegate Ward Armstrong delwarmstrong@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1010
Delegate Algie Howell delahowell@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1090
Delegate Lionell Spruill dellspruill@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1077
Virginia state Senator Ken Cuccinelli is working on similar legislation in the state Senate and it is important that the Senate legislation be compatible with HB 89 and HB 188. You can contact Senator Cuccinelli's office at:
EveMarie@cuccinelli.com and district37@sov.state.va.us
Virginia Governor Tim Kane signed the HPV vaccine mandate into law last year after it was revised to include an "opt-out" provision that did not require parents to claim medical or religious reasons for the "opt-out." Merck's GARDASIL vaccine is the only HPV vaccine on the market and Merck lobbied aggressively in Texas, California, New York and more than 20 states in early 2007 to push through HPV vaccine mandates. Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) issued an Executive Order in early 2007 to try to force GARDASIL to be given to sixth graders in Texas but the Texas legislature rebelled and later passed legislation over-riding the Executive Order.
Virginia and New Jersey were the only two states to vote for an HPV vaccine mandate for pre-adolescent girls and both states modified the mandate to include an "opt-out" provision.
Merck's GARDASIL has been associated with collapse episodes, seizures, Guillain Barre syndrome and other serious health problems among young girls and women since the vaccine was licensed in mid-2006. During 2007, the National Vaccine Information Center published three analyses of GARDASIL adverse events being reported to VAERS, which indicated that GARDASIL is far more reactive than methodologically flawed pre-licensure clinical trials revealed. http://www.nvic.org/Diseases/HPV/HPVHOME.htm
A quick review of GARDASIL adverse health outcomes, which Virginia girls and young women aged 5 to 26 suffered and were reported to VAERS, revealed reports of loss of consciousness, seizures/convulsions, head injuries and fractures, joint swelling, blood disorders (ITP), abnormal cervical smears, spontaneous abortions, and medical errors (5 year old given wrong vaccine). The VAERS reports also included events labeled as life threatening or causing disability.
The NVIC staff continues to receive reports from parents of young girls, as well as young adult women, living in many different states that indicate GARDASIL is causing atypical fainting/sudden collapse within several hours of vaccination, as well as other neurological events. Many of these health problems following GARDASIL are being written off as "coincidental" by nurses and physicians without any evidence the health problem would have occurred if the vaccine had not been administered.
If you would like to work in the state of Virginia on educating Virginia state legislators about vaccine safety and informed consent issues, contact NVIC at NVICinfo@gmail.com
Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall has introduced a bill in the Virginia state legislature which would repeal a law passed by the General Assembly last year requiring sixth grade girls to get three doses of HPV vaccine (HB 89) by October 2008. Governor Kane has indicated he will not support a repeal of the mandate. Delegate Marshall has also authored a bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate implementation until 2011 (HB 188).
The health subcommittee of the Virginia House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee will hear HB 89 and HB 188 this afternoon (Monday, Jan. 14). It is a possibility that the full Committee might hear the bills at a later date if they are not passed out of subcommittee.
If you are a Virginia resident and would like to contact health subcommittee members (all of whom sit on the full Committee) and make your views known, following is contact information for committee members:
Chairman, Delegate John O'Bannon deljobannon@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1073
Delegate Jeff Frederick deljfrederick@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1052
Delegate David Nutter deldnutter@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1007
Delegate Chris Peace delcpeace@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1097
Delegate Ward Armstrong delwarmstrong@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1010
Delegate Algie Howell delahowell@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1090
Delegate Lionell Spruill dellspruill@house.state.va.us (804) 698-1077
Virginia state Senator Ken Cuccinelli is working on similar legislation in the state Senate and it is important that the Senate legislation be compatible with HB 89 and HB 188. You can contact Senator Cuccinelli's office at:
EveMarie@cuccinelli.com and district37@sov.state.va.us
Virginia Governor Tim Kane signed the HPV vaccine mandate into law last year after it was revised to include an "opt-out" provision that did not require parents to claim medical or religious reasons for the "opt-out." Merck's GARDASIL vaccine is the only HPV vaccine on the market and Merck lobbied aggressively in Texas, California, New York and more than 20 states in early 2007 to push through HPV vaccine mandates. Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) issued an Executive Order in early 2007 to try to force GARDASIL to be given to sixth graders in Texas but the Texas legislature rebelled and later passed legislation over-riding the Executive Order.
Virginia and New Jersey were the only two states to vote for an HPV vaccine mandate for pre-adolescent girls and both states modified the mandate to include an "opt-out" provision.
Merck's GARDASIL has been associated with collapse episodes, seizures, Guillain Barre syndrome and other serious health problems among young girls and women since the vaccine was licensed in mid-2006. During 2007, the National Vaccine Information Center published three analyses of GARDASIL adverse events being reported to VAERS, which indicated that GARDASIL is far more reactive than methodologically flawed pre-licensure clinical trials revealed. http://www.nvic.org/Diseases/HPV/HPVHOME.htm
A quick review of GARDASIL adverse health outcomes, which Virginia girls and young women aged 5 to 26 suffered and were reported to VAERS, revealed reports of loss of consciousness, seizures/convulsions, head injuries and fractures, joint swelling, blood disorders (ITP), abnormal cervical smears, spontaneous abortions, and medical errors (5 year old given wrong vaccine). The VAERS reports also included events labeled as life threatening or causing disability.
The NVIC staff continues to receive reports from parents of young girls, as well as young adult women, living in many different states that indicate GARDASIL is causing atypical fainting/sudden collapse within several hours of vaccination, as well as other neurological events. Many of these health problems following GARDASIL are being written off as "coincidental" by nurses and physicians without any evidence the health problem would have occurred if the vaccine had not been administered.
If you would like to work in the state of Virginia on educating Virginia state legislators about vaccine safety and informed consent issues, contact NVIC at NVICinfo@gmail.com
Fomboning Autism Increases in California
by Barbara Loe Fisher
The Canadian child psychiatrist, who helps out drug companies and US vaccine policymakers by testifying in civil court and in the D.C. Court of Claims to deny vaccine injured autistic children compensation for their injuries, got it wrong again. Endorsing the conclusions of an ecologic analysis by California public health officials of California DDS data from 1995 to 2007 published Jan. 7 in the Archives of General Psychiatry which stated that “The DDS data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to thimerosal during childhood is a primary cause of autism,” Fombonne declares “Parents of autistic children should be reassured that autism in their child did not occur through immunizations. Their autistic children, and their siblings, should be normally vaccinated…” http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-autism8jan08,0,3935663.story?coll=la-home-local
Apparently unhappy that children with vaccine associated autism have been healed through use of alternative therapies that do not rely on expensive prescription drugs and visits to child psychiatrists, Fombonne goes on to add that “as there is no evidence of mercury poisoning in autism, they [parents of autistic children] should avoid ineffective and dangerous “treatments” such as chelation therapy for their children.” He points an accusing finger at “powerful advocacy groups” that have lobbied “decision makers to influence decisions about which autism research to fund and even how to conduct it.” He ridicules “best-selling writers, journalists and politicians” who are “unaware of scientific studies, or worse, doubtful of their results” and have been “drawn to embrace conspiracy theories that portrayed vaccine manufacturers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as public enemies.”
Fombonne also attacks vaccine victim lawyers for trying to help parents of vaccine injured autistic children obtain compensation for their vaccine injuries under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act created by Congress and condemns the constitutional right to a jury trial as “the viscous US legal process allowing for fermentation of misconceptions.” Finally, in a pathetic attempt to mimic an earlier attempt in 2004 by a misguided Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee to shut down all scientific investigation into vaccine-associated regressive autism, the psychiatrist laments “How many more negative study results are required for the belief [in vaccine induced autism] to go away, and how much more spending of public funds on this issue could even be justified?”
Rick Rollens, co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute – UC Davis, and the man most responsible for putting the autism epidemic on the map in the late 1990’s, said it best: “Although this study by California's vaccine establishment clearly sustains the fact that California is in the midst of a growing autism epidemic and that California's system of reporting professionally diagnosed cases of full syndrome autism is the gold standard in the country, the conclusions in the study are flawed and premature, and does nothing to exonerate vaccines, particularly mercury containing vaccines, as a cause of California's autism epidemic….. If by 2009-2010 there has not been ANY change in the rate of increase of new cases of autism entering California's developmental services system, then we can scratch mercury in vaccines off our list of agents contained in vaccines as a cause, and; then begin concentrating on the numerous other poisons and toxic agents in vaccines such as aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG, live viruses, etc., and most importantly, the interaction of these and other toxic agents contained in the 34 doses of vaccines children receive from birth to two years old today.”
As usual, it is not the M.D. or Ph.D. “experts” but parents of vaccine injured children, who understand the bigger picture involving accumulating clinical evidence that many children are regressing and becoming chronically ill after receiving both mercury-containing and non-mercury containing vaccines. Parents know well that this one study cannot negate the fact that the medical establishment has refused to conduct the methodologically sound basic science research into the biological effects on immune and brain function of injecting infants and children with multiple vaccines containing many potentially toxic ingredients, including mercury.
Over the years, many parents of vaccine injured children have reminded public health authorities of their duty to protect the lives of all children, including those who are at high risk of becoming vaccine injured. The contentious debate about vaccine-associated autism and whether or not mercury has played a major role in the development of regressive autism in record numbers of children since 1991 will not be over until at least 2010. Even then, it will be complicated by the continued use of thimerosal containing vaccines, such as influenza vaccine, that may be affecting a smaller but significant subset of children. Whatever the truth turns out to be with regard to how big or small a role thimerosal has had in creating an autism epidemic, the more than doubling of the numbers of vaccines children are given during the past quarter century, is a questionable national public health policy that is definitely not off the hook.
Science is not a static enterprise but a dynamic one. Unlike Fombonne, the authors of this latest study at least acknowledged that “the hypothesis that a modifiable risk factor, such as thimerosal exposure, is a major cause of autism offers the hope for prevention through reduced exposure. Although our analysis of DDS data shows an increased in autism in California despite the removal of thimerosal from most vaccines, we support the continued quest for the timely discovery of modifiable risk factors for autism and related conditions. Continuing evaluation of the trends in the prevalence of autism for children born in recent years is warranted to confirm our findings.”
Those maintaining that autism is simply a matter of genetics rather than a matter of genetic diversity dependent upon potentially modifiable environmental triggers will not be happy with that statement. It is an acknowledgement, however small, by California public health officials that development of regressive autism may well be about more than DNA.
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“The estimated prevalence of autism for children at each year of age from 3 to 12 years increased throughout the study period. The estimated prevalence of DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism increased for each quarter from January 1995 through March 2007. Since 2004, the absolute increase and the rate of increase in DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism were higher than those in DDS clients of the same ages with any eligible condition including autism….The DDS data do not show any recent decrease in autism in California despite the exclusion of more than trace levels of thimerosal from nearly all childhood vaccines. The DDS data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to thimerosal during childhood is a primary cause of autism.” – Robert Schechter and Judith Grether, Archives of General Psychiatry (January 2008)
“Although the mercury burden in vaccines has been reduced over the years, we know that even very small amounts of mercury can cause serious, life altering neurological damage. California's ban on mercury containing vaccines for pregnant women and children under three did not take effect until December 2006. Today, those children born after the ban took effect are between 4 months old and one year of age. California's developmental services reporting system DOES NOT include children under the age of three years old.” – Rick Rollens
“Steve M. Edelson, an experimental psychologist who is director of the Autism Research Institute, a nonprofit organization in San Diego, said the study, along with evidence from previous research, argued against thimerosal as the major culprit in autism. But, he added, it still does not rule out all blame. Edelson said such large-scale analysis could overlook smaller groups of children, who for whatever reasons have a particular vulnerability to mercury. He said more solid evidence can only come from laboratory studies, such as postmortem analyses of the brains of autistic children.” - Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times (Jan. 7, 2008)
“Shih said the study methods are "robust," adding that the authors appeared to address limitations of earlier studies. However, he said, the research "doesn't address the possibility that there might be a subpopulation who might be particularly vulnerable to a vaccine with thimerosal." If just 1 percent to 2 percent of children were especially sensitive to the effect of thimerosal, the study wouldn't be able to pick it up, he said. Schechter agreed, saying it was true that the research didn't address whether thimerosal might cause problems in a small number of cases. As for a possible link between vaccines and autism, Shih said, "the jury is still out," especially considering that children are exposed to a large number of vaccines before age 2. And he added, "Some people in the community feel that they might lead to immune problems that could either exacerbate or lead to autism. All this is purely hypothetical, but this is an area where we need to continue to do more research." – Randy Dotinga, U.S. News & World Report (Jan. 7, 2008)
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/65/1/19
ABSTRACT
Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California’s Developmental Services System
Mercury in Retrograde
Robert Schechter, M.D., Msc; Judith K. Grether, PhD
Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2008;65(1):19-24
Context Previous analyses of autism client data reported to the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) have been interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that autism is caused by exposure to the preservative thimerosal, which contains ethylmercury. The exclusion of thimerosal from childhood vaccines in the United States was accelerated from 1999 to 2001. The Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine has recommended surveillance of trends in autism as exposure to thimerosal during early childhood has decreased.
Objective To determine whether trends in DDS autism client data support the hypothesis that thimerosal exposure is a primary cause of autism.
Design, Setting, and Patients Study of time trends in the prevalence by age and birth cohort of children with autism who were active status clients of the DDS from January 1, 1995, through March 31, 2007.
Main Outcome Measure Prevalence of autism among children with active status in the DDS.
Results The estimated prevalence of autism for children at each year of age from 3 to 12 years increased throughout the study period. The estimated prevalence of DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism increased for each quarter from January 1995 through March 2007. Since 2004, the absolute increase and the rate of increase in DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism were higher than those in DDS clients of the same ages with any eligible condition including autism.
Conclusions The DDS data do not show any recent decrease in autism in California despite the exclusion of more than trace levels of thimerosal from nearly all childhood vaccines. The DDS data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to thimerosal during childhood is a primary cause of autism.
------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT BY RICK ROLLENS, Co-Founder, M.I.N.D. Institute – UC Davis
“Although this study by California's vaccine establishment clearly sustains the fact that California is in the midst of a growing autism epidemic and that California's system of reporting professionally diagnosed cases of full syndrome autism is the gold standard in the country, the conclusions in the study are flawed and premature, and does nothing to exonerate vaccines, particularly mercury containing vaccines, as a cause of California's autism epidemic.
Although the mercury burden in vaccines has been reduced over the years, we know that even very small amounts of mercury can cause serious, life altering neurological damage. California's ban on mercury containing vaccines for pregnant women and children under three did not take effect until December 2006.
Today, those children born after the ban took effect are between 4 months old and one year of age. California's developmental services reporting system DOES NOT include children under the age of three years old.
It will not be clear what impact California's law banning mercury in vaccines has had on the rate of new cases of autism until at least 2009-2010 and later. Historically, the majority of children with autism enter California's developmental services system between the ages of 3+ and 9 years old.
If by 2009-2010 there has not been ANY change in the rate of increase of new cases of autism entering California's developmental services system, then we can scratch mercury in vaccines off our list of agents contained in vaccines as a cause, and; then begin concentrating on the numerous other poisons and toxic agents in vaccines such as aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG, live viruses, etc., and most importantly, the interaction of these and other toxic agents contained in the 34 doses of vaccines children receive from birth to two years old today.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Study challenges drug's role in autism
by Jia-Rui Chong
Los Angeles Times
January 7, 2008
The prevalence of autism in California children continued to rise after many vaccine manufacturers started to remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in 1999, suggesting that the chemical was not a primary cause of the disorder, according to a study released Monday.
The analysis found that from 2004 to 2007, when exposure to thimerosal dropped significantly for 3- to 5-year-olds, the rate continued to increase in that group from 3.0 to 4.1 per 1,000 children.
"If mercury exposure in vaccines was a major cause of autism, then the number of ... affected kids should have diminished once they were no longer exposed to thimerosal," said Dr. Robert Schechter, lead author of the study and a medical officer at the state Department of Public Health. "That is not what we found."
The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, is the latest in a series that has investigated the connection between thimerosal and autism. The majority have found no association.
But the latest findings failed to convince some parents and advocacy groups that have long blamed mercury, a neurotoxin, for the disorder.
"This study presents a greatly over-simplified explanation of a very complex problem," said Claire Bothwell, chairwoman of the board at the National Autism Association, which works on behalf of families with autism. "Rising numbers do not confirm that thimerosal never had a role."
Autism is a severe developmental disorder in which children seem isolated from the world around them. There is a broad spectrum of symptoms, marked by poor language skills and an inability to handle social relations.
Over the past two decades, the number of cases has boomed for still-unexplained reasons. Psychiatrists estimated that 20 years ago there were 0.2 to 0.5 cases for every 1,000 children. In 2007, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there were 6.6 cases per 1,000 schoolchildren, based on a study of 8-year-olds.
The latest study was based on data from the California Department of Developmental Services, which provides services to about 36,000 people with autism and has one of the country's best reporting systems.
The researchers looked at all reported cases in the state starting with children born in 1989. They found the number of cases per 1,000 children has been steadily increasing from that point to March 2007, the end point of the study.
In a commentary accompanying the study in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, Dr. Eric Fombonne called the data "a clear and unambiguous test."
"Parents of autistic children should be reassured that autism in their child did not occur through immunizations," wrote Fombonne, a psychiatrist at Montreal Children's Hospital who was not involved in this study.
Fombonne has provided advice to vaccine manufacturers in the past but has received no research funding from them, he said.
Steve M. Edelson, an experimental psychologist who is director of the Autism Research Institute, a nonprofit organization in San Diego, said the study, along with evidence from previous research, argued against thimerosal as the major culprit in autism.
But, he added, it still does not rule out all blame. Edelson said such large-scale analysis could overlook smaller groups of children, who for whatever reasons have a particular vulnerability to mercury. He said more solid evidence can only come from laboratory studies, such as postmortem analyses of the brains of autistic children.
The National Autism Association criticized the study, saying that some children still might be exposed to mercury through either flu shots or trace amounts in other vaccines. The group also said that some vaccines containing thimerosal had expiration dates as late as 2005 and might have been used up to that point.
------------------------------------------------------
Study Casts Doubt on Vaccine-Autism Link
Research adds to growing body of evidence that finds no connection between the two
by Randy Dotinga
U.S. News & World Report
January 7, 2008
(HealthDay News) -- Adding to a growing body of evidence that rejects the idea that immunizations boost autism rates, a new study finds no proof that incidences of the disorder dropped after makers of most childhood vaccines stopped using a mercury-based preservative in their products.
Researchers found that autism rates in California continued to rise over the past several years, even though the preservative -- known as thimerosal -- had vanished from almost all vaccines by 2001.
The study makes clear that "thimerosal cannot be the major cause of autism in California," said its lead author, Dr. Robert Schechter, medical officer with the Immunization Branch of the California Department of Public Health.
Another expert called the study limited and said it did not prove that vaccines have no connection to autism.
Still, the new research "adds to the body of existing evidence in which there is no causal connection that demonstrates thimerosal is a primary cause" of autism, said Andy Shih, vice president of scientific affairs for Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization.
Thimerosal, a preservative once used in contact lens solutions, was frequently a component of childhood vaccines until around 2000. Today, it's still used in flu vaccines recommended for infants, but researchers think children are still exposed to much less thimerosal than in the past.
In recent years, some parents have blamed their children's autism on the preservative, which is derived from mercury; others have accused the parents of creating public panic and threatening the health of children by casting a bad light on routine immunizations.
One government study released in 2007 claimed that thimerosal exposure in the first seven months of life didn't appear to affect the brain function of children aged 7 to 10, although there was some evidence -- perhaps the result of chance -- that connected thimerosal to later development of physical tics. Even earlier, an Institute of Medicine report released in 2004 found no evidence supporting a link between thimerosal and autism.
In the new study, published in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers from the California Department of Public Health examined statistics about children in the state from 1995 through March 2007.
The prevalence of autism among kids aged 3 to 12 grew each year, the researchers discovered after looking at numbers compiled by a state agency that provides services to children with the disorder.
For example, the prevalence among kids born in 1993 was three in 10,000 when they were checked in 1996, compared to 13 per 10,000 among those born in 2003 and checked in 2006.
The highest rate -- 4.5 cases per 1,000 births -- came among 6-year-olds in 2006 who were born in 2000.
The study authors pointed out that autism rates among kids aged 3 to 5 continued to grow for each birth year after 1999, even though thimerosal use dropped.
Shih said the study methods are "robust," adding that the authors appeared to address limitations of earlier studies. However, he said, the research "doesn't address the possibility that there might be a subpopulation who might be particularly vulnerable to a vaccine with thimerosal."
If just 1 percent to 2 percent of children were especially sensitive to the effect of thimerosal, the study wouldn't be able to pick it up, he said.
Schechter agreed, saying it was true that the research didn't address whether thimerosal might cause problems in a small number of cases.
As for a possible link between vaccines and autism, Shih said, "the jury is still out," especially considering that children are exposed to a large number of vaccines before age 2.
And he added, "Some people in the community feel that they might lead to immune problems that could either exacerbate or lead to autism. All this is purely hypothetical, but this is an area where we need to continue to do more research."
The Canadian child psychiatrist, who helps out drug companies and US vaccine policymakers by testifying in civil court and in the D.C. Court of Claims to deny vaccine injured autistic children compensation for their injuries, got it wrong again. Endorsing the conclusions of an ecologic analysis by California public health officials of California DDS data from 1995 to 2007 published Jan. 7 in the Archives of General Psychiatry which stated that “The DDS data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to thimerosal during childhood is a primary cause of autism,” Fombonne declares “Parents of autistic children should be reassured that autism in their child did not occur through immunizations. Their autistic children, and their siblings, should be normally vaccinated…” http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-autism8jan08,0,3935663.story?coll=la-home-local
Apparently unhappy that children with vaccine associated autism have been healed through use of alternative therapies that do not rely on expensive prescription drugs and visits to child psychiatrists, Fombonne goes on to add that “as there is no evidence of mercury poisoning in autism, they [parents of autistic children] should avoid ineffective and dangerous “treatments” such as chelation therapy for their children.” He points an accusing finger at “powerful advocacy groups” that have lobbied “decision makers to influence decisions about which autism research to fund and even how to conduct it.” He ridicules “best-selling writers, journalists and politicians” who are “unaware of scientific studies, or worse, doubtful of their results” and have been “drawn to embrace conspiracy theories that portrayed vaccine manufacturers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as public enemies.”
Fombonne also attacks vaccine victim lawyers for trying to help parents of vaccine injured autistic children obtain compensation for their vaccine injuries under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act created by Congress and condemns the constitutional right to a jury trial as “the viscous US legal process allowing for fermentation of misconceptions.” Finally, in a pathetic attempt to mimic an earlier attempt in 2004 by a misguided Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee to shut down all scientific investigation into vaccine-associated regressive autism, the psychiatrist laments “How many more negative study results are required for the belief [in vaccine induced autism] to go away, and how much more spending of public funds on this issue could even be justified?”
Rick Rollens, co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute – UC Davis, and the man most responsible for putting the autism epidemic on the map in the late 1990’s, said it best: “Although this study by California's vaccine establishment clearly sustains the fact that California is in the midst of a growing autism epidemic and that California's system of reporting professionally diagnosed cases of full syndrome autism is the gold standard in the country, the conclusions in the study are flawed and premature, and does nothing to exonerate vaccines, particularly mercury containing vaccines, as a cause of California's autism epidemic….. If by 2009-2010 there has not been ANY change in the rate of increase of new cases of autism entering California's developmental services system, then we can scratch mercury in vaccines off our list of agents contained in vaccines as a cause, and; then begin concentrating on the numerous other poisons and toxic agents in vaccines such as aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG, live viruses, etc., and most importantly, the interaction of these and other toxic agents contained in the 34 doses of vaccines children receive from birth to two years old today.”
As usual, it is not the M.D. or Ph.D. “experts” but parents of vaccine injured children, who understand the bigger picture involving accumulating clinical evidence that many children are regressing and becoming chronically ill after receiving both mercury-containing and non-mercury containing vaccines. Parents know well that this one study cannot negate the fact that the medical establishment has refused to conduct the methodologically sound basic science research into the biological effects on immune and brain function of injecting infants and children with multiple vaccines containing many potentially toxic ingredients, including mercury.
Over the years, many parents of vaccine injured children have reminded public health authorities of their duty to protect the lives of all children, including those who are at high risk of becoming vaccine injured. The contentious debate about vaccine-associated autism and whether or not mercury has played a major role in the development of regressive autism in record numbers of children since 1991 will not be over until at least 2010. Even then, it will be complicated by the continued use of thimerosal containing vaccines, such as influenza vaccine, that may be affecting a smaller but significant subset of children. Whatever the truth turns out to be with regard to how big or small a role thimerosal has had in creating an autism epidemic, the more than doubling of the numbers of vaccines children are given during the past quarter century, is a questionable national public health policy that is definitely not off the hook.
Science is not a static enterprise but a dynamic one. Unlike Fombonne, the authors of this latest study at least acknowledged that “the hypothesis that a modifiable risk factor, such as thimerosal exposure, is a major cause of autism offers the hope for prevention through reduced exposure. Although our analysis of DDS data shows an increased in autism in California despite the removal of thimerosal from most vaccines, we support the continued quest for the timely discovery of modifiable risk factors for autism and related conditions. Continuing evaluation of the trends in the prevalence of autism for children born in recent years is warranted to confirm our findings.”
Those maintaining that autism is simply a matter of genetics rather than a matter of genetic diversity dependent upon potentially modifiable environmental triggers will not be happy with that statement. It is an acknowledgement, however small, by California public health officials that development of regressive autism may well be about more than DNA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The estimated prevalence of autism for children at each year of age from 3 to 12 years increased throughout the study period. The estimated prevalence of DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism increased for each quarter from January 1995 through March 2007. Since 2004, the absolute increase and the rate of increase in DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism were higher than those in DDS clients of the same ages with any eligible condition including autism….The DDS data do not show any recent decrease in autism in California despite the exclusion of more than trace levels of thimerosal from nearly all childhood vaccines. The DDS data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to thimerosal during childhood is a primary cause of autism.” – Robert Schechter and Judith Grether, Archives of General Psychiatry (January 2008)
“Although the mercury burden in vaccines has been reduced over the years, we know that even very small amounts of mercury can cause serious, life altering neurological damage. California's ban on mercury containing vaccines for pregnant women and children under three did not take effect until December 2006. Today, those children born after the ban took effect are between 4 months old and one year of age. California's developmental services reporting system DOES NOT include children under the age of three years old.” – Rick Rollens
“Steve M. Edelson, an experimental psychologist who is director of the Autism Research Institute, a nonprofit organization in San Diego, said the study, along with evidence from previous research, argued against thimerosal as the major culprit in autism. But, he added, it still does not rule out all blame. Edelson said such large-scale analysis could overlook smaller groups of children, who for whatever reasons have a particular vulnerability to mercury. He said more solid evidence can only come from laboratory studies, such as postmortem analyses of the brains of autistic children.” - Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times (Jan. 7, 2008)
“Shih said the study methods are "robust," adding that the authors appeared to address limitations of earlier studies. However, he said, the research "doesn't address the possibility that there might be a subpopulation who might be particularly vulnerable to a vaccine with thimerosal." If just 1 percent to 2 percent of children were especially sensitive to the effect of thimerosal, the study wouldn't be able to pick it up, he said. Schechter agreed, saying it was true that the research didn't address whether thimerosal might cause problems in a small number of cases. As for a possible link between vaccines and autism, Shih said, "the jury is still out," especially considering that children are exposed to a large number of vaccines before age 2. And he added, "Some people in the community feel that they might lead to immune problems that could either exacerbate or lead to autism. All this is purely hypothetical, but this is an area where we need to continue to do more research." – Randy Dotinga, U.S. News & World Report (Jan. 7, 2008)
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/65/1/19
ABSTRACT
Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California’s Developmental Services System
Mercury in Retrograde
Robert Schechter, M.D., Msc; Judith K. Grether, PhD
Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2008;65(1):19-24
Context Previous analyses of autism client data reported to the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) have been interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that autism is caused by exposure to the preservative thimerosal, which contains ethylmercury. The exclusion of thimerosal from childhood vaccines in the United States was accelerated from 1999 to 2001. The Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine has recommended surveillance of trends in autism as exposure to thimerosal during early childhood has decreased.
Objective To determine whether trends in DDS autism client data support the hypothesis that thimerosal exposure is a primary cause of autism.
Design, Setting, and Patients Study of time trends in the prevalence by age and birth cohort of children with autism who were active status clients of the DDS from January 1, 1995, through March 31, 2007.
Main Outcome Measure Prevalence of autism among children with active status in the DDS.
Results The estimated prevalence of autism for children at each year of age from 3 to 12 years increased throughout the study period. The estimated prevalence of DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism increased for each quarter from January 1995 through March 2007. Since 2004, the absolute increase and the rate of increase in DDS clients aged 3 to 5 years with autism were higher than those in DDS clients of the same ages with any eligible condition including autism.
Conclusions The DDS data do not show any recent decrease in autism in California despite the exclusion of more than trace levels of thimerosal from nearly all childhood vaccines. The DDS data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to thimerosal during childhood is a primary cause of autism.
------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT BY RICK ROLLENS, Co-Founder, M.I.N.D. Institute – UC Davis
“Although this study by California's vaccine establishment clearly sustains the fact that California is in the midst of a growing autism epidemic and that California's system of reporting professionally diagnosed cases of full syndrome autism is the gold standard in the country, the conclusions in the study are flawed and premature, and does nothing to exonerate vaccines, particularly mercury containing vaccines, as a cause of California's autism epidemic.
Although the mercury burden in vaccines has been reduced over the years, we know that even very small amounts of mercury can cause serious, life altering neurological damage. California's ban on mercury containing vaccines for pregnant women and children under three did not take effect until December 2006.
Today, those children born after the ban took effect are between 4 months old and one year of age. California's developmental services reporting system DOES NOT include children under the age of three years old.
It will not be clear what impact California's law banning mercury in vaccines has had on the rate of new cases of autism until at least 2009-2010 and later. Historically, the majority of children with autism enter California's developmental services system between the ages of 3+ and 9 years old.
If by 2009-2010 there has not been ANY change in the rate of increase of new cases of autism entering California's developmental services system, then we can scratch mercury in vaccines off our list of agents contained in vaccines as a cause, and; then begin concentrating on the numerous other poisons and toxic agents in vaccines such as aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG, live viruses, etc., and most importantly, the interaction of these and other toxic agents contained in the 34 doses of vaccines children receive from birth to two years old today.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Study challenges drug's role in autism
by Jia-Rui Chong
Los Angeles Times
January 7, 2008
The prevalence of autism in California children continued to rise after many vaccine manufacturers started to remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in 1999, suggesting that the chemical was not a primary cause of the disorder, according to a study released Monday.
The analysis found that from 2004 to 2007, when exposure to thimerosal dropped significantly for 3- to 5-year-olds, the rate continued to increase in that group from 3.0 to 4.1 per 1,000 children.
"If mercury exposure in vaccines was a major cause of autism, then the number of ... affected kids should have diminished once they were no longer exposed to thimerosal," said Dr. Robert Schechter, lead author of the study and a medical officer at the state Department of Public Health. "That is not what we found."
The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, is the latest in a series that has investigated the connection between thimerosal and autism. The majority have found no association.
But the latest findings failed to convince some parents and advocacy groups that have long blamed mercury, a neurotoxin, for the disorder.
"This study presents a greatly over-simplified explanation of a very complex problem," said Claire Bothwell, chairwoman of the board at the National Autism Association, which works on behalf of families with autism. "Rising numbers do not confirm that thimerosal never had a role."
Autism is a severe developmental disorder in which children seem isolated from the world around them. There is a broad spectrum of symptoms, marked by poor language skills and an inability to handle social relations.
Over the past two decades, the number of cases has boomed for still-unexplained reasons. Psychiatrists estimated that 20 years ago there were 0.2 to 0.5 cases for every 1,000 children. In 2007, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there were 6.6 cases per 1,000 schoolchildren, based on a study of 8-year-olds.
The latest study was based on data from the California Department of Developmental Services, which provides services to about 36,000 people with autism and has one of the country's best reporting systems.
The researchers looked at all reported cases in the state starting with children born in 1989. They found the number of cases per 1,000 children has been steadily increasing from that point to March 2007, the end point of the study.
In a commentary accompanying the study in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, Dr. Eric Fombonne called the data "a clear and unambiguous test."
"Parents of autistic children should be reassured that autism in their child did not occur through immunizations," wrote Fombonne, a psychiatrist at Montreal Children's Hospital who was not involved in this study.
Fombonne has provided advice to vaccine manufacturers in the past but has received no research funding from them, he said.
Steve M. Edelson, an experimental psychologist who is director of the Autism Research Institute, a nonprofit organization in San Diego, said the study, along with evidence from previous research, argued against thimerosal as the major culprit in autism.
But, he added, it still does not rule out all blame. Edelson said such large-scale analysis could overlook smaller groups of children, who for whatever reasons have a particular vulnerability to mercury. He said more solid evidence can only come from laboratory studies, such as postmortem analyses of the brains of autistic children.
The National Autism Association criticized the study, saying that some children still might be exposed to mercury through either flu shots or trace amounts in other vaccines. The group also said that some vaccines containing thimerosal had expiration dates as late as 2005 and might have been used up to that point.
------------------------------------------------------
Study Casts Doubt on Vaccine-Autism Link
Research adds to growing body of evidence that finds no connection between the two
by Randy Dotinga
U.S. News & World Report
January 7, 2008
(HealthDay News) -- Adding to a growing body of evidence that rejects the idea that immunizations boost autism rates, a new study finds no proof that incidences of the disorder dropped after makers of most childhood vaccines stopped using a mercury-based preservative in their products.
Researchers found that autism rates in California continued to rise over the past several years, even though the preservative -- known as thimerosal -- had vanished from almost all vaccines by 2001.
The study makes clear that "thimerosal cannot be the major cause of autism in California," said its lead author, Dr. Robert Schechter, medical officer with the Immunization Branch of the California Department of Public Health.
Another expert called the study limited and said it did not prove that vaccines have no connection to autism.
Still, the new research "adds to the body of existing evidence in which there is no causal connection that demonstrates thimerosal is a primary cause" of autism, said Andy Shih, vice president of scientific affairs for Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization.
Thimerosal, a preservative once used in contact lens solutions, was frequently a component of childhood vaccines until around 2000. Today, it's still used in flu vaccines recommended for infants, but researchers think children are still exposed to much less thimerosal than in the past.
In recent years, some parents have blamed their children's autism on the preservative, which is derived from mercury; others have accused the parents of creating public panic and threatening the health of children by casting a bad light on routine immunizations.
One government study released in 2007 claimed that thimerosal exposure in the first seven months of life didn't appear to affect the brain function of children aged 7 to 10, although there was some evidence -- perhaps the result of chance -- that connected thimerosal to later development of physical tics. Even earlier, an Institute of Medicine report released in 2004 found no evidence supporting a link between thimerosal and autism.
In the new study, published in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers from the California Department of Public Health examined statistics about children in the state from 1995 through March 2007.
The prevalence of autism among kids aged 3 to 12 grew each year, the researchers discovered after looking at numbers compiled by a state agency that provides services to children with the disorder.
For example, the prevalence among kids born in 1993 was three in 10,000 when they were checked in 1996, compared to 13 per 10,000 among those born in 2003 and checked in 2006.
The highest rate -- 4.5 cases per 1,000 births -- came among 6-year-olds in 2006 who were born in 2000.
The study authors pointed out that autism rates among kids aged 3 to 5 continued to grow for each birth year after 1999, even though thimerosal use dropped.
Shih said the study methods are "robust," adding that the authors appeared to address limitations of earlier studies. However, he said, the research "doesn't address the possibility that there might be a subpopulation who might be particularly vulnerable to a vaccine with thimerosal."
If just 1 percent to 2 percent of children were especially sensitive to the effect of thimerosal, the study wouldn't be able to pick it up, he said.
Schechter agreed, saying it was true that the research didn't address whether thimerosal might cause problems in a small number of cases.
As for a possible link between vaccines and autism, Shih said, "the jury is still out," especially considering that children are exposed to a large number of vaccines before age 2.
And he added, "Some people in the community feel that they might lead to immune problems that could either exacerbate or lead to autism. All this is purely hypothetical, but this is an area where we need to continue to do more research."
Vaccine Police At Work in New York
by Barbara Loe Fisher
We are only a few days into the New Year and, already, there is another situation brewing where a militant approach is being taken by state education and health officials threatening parents that their children will be suspended from school for failure to get vaccinated. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, more than 100 middle school students in Bellport, NY could be suspended from school if they do not show proof that have gotten a Tdap booster shot and chicken pox vaccine, according to a Suffolk County Health Department official. Reportedly, a mobile medical unit is scheduled to come to the school on Monday to inject students who don't show proof they have gotten the vaccines.
Last November, the Vaccine Police in Maryland brought out the dogs at a Prince Georges County Courthouse to supervise lines of parents, who had been ordered under threat of jail time and fines to show up with their children to get the children injected with chicken pox and hepatitis B vaccines. That mass round-up generated national news.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/1 1/17/maryland.vaccines/#cnnSTCVideo
Maryland education and health officials said that the parents had not responded to letters informing them that they were being charged under state truancy laws because their children had not been attending school after being suspended for failing to show proof of vaccination. But many of the parents said they never received the letters or the schools failed to keep proper records and lost the paperwork showing their children had gotten all the required vaccines. According to parents who exited the Maryland Courthouse in November with their children, there was no medical screening of the children getting shots and no information about how to monitor for vaccine reactions.
http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/search?q=police+with+dogs
It appears that the militant approach to enforcing vaccine use is becoming very fashionable among state education and health officials, who are using it whether there is a disease outbreak or not. The only way for the people to counteract the nasty impulse of government officials to flex their muscles (sometimes with the help of dogs and guns) is to let government and elected officials know that intimidation, coercion and other strong-arm tactics are not an acceptable form of persuasion in America when it comes to vaccination.
The right to informed consent to use of any pharmaceutical product, including vaccines, becomes a human right when that pharmaceutical product can injure or kill. Defending the human right to informed consent to vaccine use is worth standing up for in every state.
The parents in New York are being threatened that their children will be suspended for failure to get a Tdap booster or chicken pox vaccine today. But tomorrow, these parents could well be summoned to a New York County Courthouse with their children under the threat of jail time and fines like the parents in Maryland were in November.
Parents should be given full information about the benefits and risks of Tdap and chicken pox vaccines and full information about the right to file a medical or religious exemption to vaccination in accordance with New York laws. Hopefully, the mobile unit medical personnel scheduled to vaccinate the children on-site at schools on Monday will screen the children for personal and medical histories and previous vaccine reactions, especially to the "P" part of the Tdap shot.
The pertussis (whooping cough) portion of the DPT, DTaP and Tdap vaccines has long been associated with neurological reactions such as brain inflammation, convulsions, shock/collapse, and high pitched screaming. Children who have had serious reactions to previous vaccinations containing pertussis vaccine could have more serious reactions if more pertussis vaccine is given. The same warnings, precautions and contraindications which apply to DPT, DTaP, DT or TD vaccines, apply to receipt of Tdap vaccine:
· moderate or severe illness on day of vaccination
· anaphylaxis (shock) or life threatening allergic reaction after previous doses of DPT, DtaP, DT or TD vaccine
· encephalopathy (coma, decreased level of consciousness, prolonged seizure) within 7 days of administration of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· evolving central nervous system (CNS) disorder, uncontrolled epilepsy, progressive encephalopathy
· Seizures with or without fever within 72 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· temperature over 105 F. within 48 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· collapse or shock-like state within 48 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· uncontrollable crying lasting more than 3 hours within 48 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of vaccination
· Serious Arthus-type hypersensitivity reaction after previous receipt of a tetanus containing vaccine
· serious latex allergy
· severe swelling or severe pain after previous doses of any vaccine containing tetanus, diphtheria or pertussis vaccine
Link to CDC information on contraindications to vaccination:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/should-not-vacc.htm
Links to product manufacturer inserts for Tdap and chicken pox vaccines:
http://www.vaccineshoppe.com/US_PDF/ADACEL%20_2022396%20_6.06.pdf
http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_boostrix.pdf
An autism advocacy organization, A-CHAMP (Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning), has issued an Action Alert advising New York citizens to call Suffolk County and state education officials to express concern. http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/?alertid=10740641
New York residents concerned about the right to make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination should contact their elected representatives and make their voices heard. All elected officials in America at the state and federal level should be made aware that militant enforcement of public health policy which requires pharmaceutical product use, including forced vaccine use, violates the ethical principle of informed consent and will not be tolerated.
We are only a few days into the New Year and, already, there is another situation brewing where a militant approach is being taken by state education and health officials threatening parents that their children will be suspended from school for failure to get vaccinated. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, more than 100 middle school students in Bellport, NY could be suspended from school if they do not show proof that have gotten a Tdap booster shot and chicken pox vaccine, according to a Suffolk County Health Department official. Reportedly, a mobile medical unit is scheduled to come to the school on Monday to inject students who don't show proof they have gotten the vaccines.
Last November, the Vaccine Police in Maryland brought out the dogs at a Prince Georges County Courthouse to supervise lines of parents, who had been ordered under threat of jail time and fines to show up with their children to get the children injected with chicken pox and hepatitis B vaccines. That mass round-up generated national news.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/1 1/17/maryland.vaccines/#cnnSTCVideo
Maryland education and health officials said that the parents had not responded to letters informing them that they were being charged under state truancy laws because their children had not been attending school after being suspended for failing to show proof of vaccination. But many of the parents said they never received the letters or the schools failed to keep proper records and lost the paperwork showing their children had gotten all the required vaccines. According to parents who exited the Maryland Courthouse in November with their children, there was no medical screening of the children getting shots and no information about how to monitor for vaccine reactions.
http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/search?q=police+with+dogs
It appears that the militant approach to enforcing vaccine use is becoming very fashionable among state education and health officials, who are using it whether there is a disease outbreak or not. The only way for the people to counteract the nasty impulse of government officials to flex their muscles (sometimes with the help of dogs and guns) is to let government and elected officials know that intimidation, coercion and other strong-arm tactics are not an acceptable form of persuasion in America when it comes to vaccination.
The right to informed consent to use of any pharmaceutical product, including vaccines, becomes a human right when that pharmaceutical product can injure or kill. Defending the human right to informed consent to vaccine use is worth standing up for in every state.
The parents in New York are being threatened that their children will be suspended for failure to get a Tdap booster or chicken pox vaccine today. But tomorrow, these parents could well be summoned to a New York County Courthouse with their children under the threat of jail time and fines like the parents in Maryland were in November.
Parents should be given full information about the benefits and risks of Tdap and chicken pox vaccines and full information about the right to file a medical or religious exemption to vaccination in accordance with New York laws. Hopefully, the mobile unit medical personnel scheduled to vaccinate the children on-site at schools on Monday will screen the children for personal and medical histories and previous vaccine reactions, especially to the "P" part of the Tdap shot.
The pertussis (whooping cough) portion of the DPT, DTaP and Tdap vaccines has long been associated with neurological reactions such as brain inflammation, convulsions, shock/collapse, and high pitched screaming. Children who have had serious reactions to previous vaccinations containing pertussis vaccine could have more serious reactions if more pertussis vaccine is given. The same warnings, precautions and contraindications which apply to DPT, DTaP, DT or TD vaccines, apply to receipt of Tdap vaccine:
· moderate or severe illness on day of vaccination
· anaphylaxis (shock) or life threatening allergic reaction after previous doses of DPT, DtaP, DT or TD vaccine
· encephalopathy (coma, decreased level of consciousness, prolonged seizure) within 7 days of administration of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· evolving central nervous system (CNS) disorder, uncontrolled epilepsy, progressive encephalopathy
· Seizures with or without fever within 72 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· temperature over 105 F. within 48 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· collapse or shock-like state within 48 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· uncontrollable crying lasting more than 3 hours within 48 hours of a previous dose of pertussis containing vaccine
· Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of vaccination
· Serious Arthus-type hypersensitivity reaction after previous receipt of a tetanus containing vaccine
· serious latex allergy
· severe swelling or severe pain after previous doses of any vaccine containing tetanus, diphtheria or pertussis vaccine
Link to CDC information on contraindications to vaccination:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/should-not-vacc.htm
Links to product manufacturer inserts for Tdap and chicken pox vaccines:
http://www.vaccineshoppe.com/US_PDF/ADACEL%20_2022396%20_6.06.pdf
http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_boostrix.pdf
An autism advocacy organization, A-CHAMP (Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning), has issued an Action Alert advising New York citizens to call Suffolk County and state education officials to express concern. http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/?alertid=10740641
New York residents concerned about the right to make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination should contact their elected representatives and make their voices heard. All elected officials in America at the state and federal level should be made aware that militant enforcement of public health policy which requires pharmaceutical product use, including forced vaccine use, violates the ethical principle of informed consent and will not be tolerated.
One Less? Evaluating the High Cost of GARDASIL
by Barbara Loe Fisher
To view a TV news story on the HPV Vaccine controversy, click here.
The debate about whether all young girls should routinely be vaccinated with HPV vaccine continues to be a big topic of discussion in homes and doctors' offices around the country. At the same time, reports of serious reactions to Merck's HPV vaccine, GARDASIL, continue to pile up. Last month, a young 15 year old soccer player and star athlete in Kansas almost died within three hours of being injected with GARDASIL. In September, a 12 year old Florida girl who played softball and ran cross country suddenly collapsed shortly after getting a shot of GARDASIL and became paralyzed. Twenty-eight American women, who were pregnant when they were injected with GARDASIL vaccine, have miscarried their babies.
Last year at this time, Merck was giving marching orders to lobbyists and teaming up with politicians to ram school mandates for 11 year old girls to get injected with three doses of its new and very expensive HPV Vaccine, GARDASIL. Never mind that GARDASIL had only been studied in less than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure clinical trials and was not tested for safety in combination with other vaccines like meningococcal and TdaP vaccines routinely given to pre-adolescents today.
Merck failed to make the case that the only opposition to the proposed mandates was coming from parents who did not want their pre-teen daughters to get a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease because of religious beliefs and moral convictions. NVIC argued that, beyond the moral and parental rights issues, there was a legitimate case to be made that GARDASIL should not be mandated because of outstanding product safety issues. At the end of the day, parents across the nation made it made it clear that they did not want three doses of a poorly tested vaccine for a sexually transmitted infection that cannot be acquired in the school setting to be added to school mandates that already include dozens of doses of vaccines.
The proposed HPV vaccine mandates failed in all the states in 2007 but that did not prevent GARDASIL from becoming a blockbuster new product for Merck and it does not mean that Merck and pro-forced vaccination proponents will not try again in 2008 to get laws passed requiring its use. One Wall Street guru has predicted the $300 million Merck made this year will grow to more than $4 billion. In fact, brisk GARDASIL sales was one reason why, despite the $4.85 billion the drug maker had to pay for patients injured by painkiller Vioxx, the company turned a profit in 2007.
NVIC issued three reports in 2007 analyzing GARDASIL reaction reports being filed in the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) by nurses, doctors and patients. To date, the FDA VAERS data reveal that more than 4,000 GARDASIL adverse events have been reported to VAERS through October 2007. Descriptions of these vaccine reaction reports can be viewed and VAERS database searches made on NVIC's website.
(Click here and here to access the GARDASIL reaction reports directly)
On August 15, 2007, NVIC wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control accompanied by a detailed NVIC analysis of increased GBS and other serious adverse event reports in VAERS that have occurred when GARDASIL is given at the same time with meningococcal vaccine (Menactra) asking the CDC to issue an advisory to doctors and parents to be cautious when administering GARDASIL with Menactra. The CDC quickly dismissed the significance of the increased risk of injecting GARDASIL simultaneously with Menactra and refused to alert anyone to the potential increased risk.
Now a new study, which was funded by Kaiser (CDC's research partner) and authored by researchers with financial ties to vaccine manufacturers, has been published in a medical journal in a pro-active pre-damage, damage control attempt to dismiss the serious autoimmune and other negative health outcomes following HPV vaccination as "a coincidence." Because teenagers and adult women can talk (while babies cannot), those who are in the business of hyping HPV vaccination for profit and power know they will have a much bigger problem covering up the brain and immune system damage that occurs when healthy girls and women are injected with HPV vaccine. Just like Merck tried to make opposition to HPV vaccine mandates all about sex, so public health officials and doctors promoting HPV vaccination are going to try to sweep HPV vaccine reactions under the carpet using the unscientific but convenient "coincidence" defense.
Lost in all the hype for young girls to be "One Less" is discussion of the basic facts about HPV infection in America :
* The majority of women clear the HPV virus from their bodies naturally but women with risk factors, such as HIV infection, smoking, long-time use of oral contraceptives, and co-infection with herpes simplex virus or chlamydia, are at higher risk for chronic HPV infection.
* Between 1955 and 1992, cervical cancer deaths in American women dropped by 74 percent due to routine pap smears.
* There are about 9,800 new cases of cervical cancer annually diagnosed in the U.S., which represents .007 percent out of the approximately 1,372,000 new cancer cases of all types diagnosed.
* There are about 3,700 deaths in mostly older American women annually attributed to HPV-related cervical cancer, which is about .006 percent of the approximately 570,000 cancer deaths that occur in the U.S.
* Most cervical pre-cancers develop slowly, so nearly all cervical cancers can be prevented with regular pap smear screening and prompt treatment.
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"We already are asking our children to get more than 50 doses of vaccines by age twelve!" says the National Vaccine Information Center's Barbara Loe Fisher. If you have a daughter, there maybe one more vaccine on the list. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have introduced legislation requiring girls, as young as eleven, to get the vaccine that could prevent the Human Papillomavirus. "As a mother you kind of want to wrap your child in bubble wrap and just protect them from anything you can." Janet Riessman says protecting her daughter, Sage, from the virus which can cause cervical cancer was an easy decision. "For me it was all prevention." But some parents and even healthcare advocates have questions about safety. Barbara Loe Fisher tells dvmMoms.com, "It was only studied on less than 1,200 girls under the age of 16." This HPV vaccine has been on the market for little over a year. There have already been more than 4,000 reported adverse reactions and at least three people have died. The FDA and the CDC say these numbers may not tell the full story. And they claim most reactions have been minor. "The 4,000 adverse events that have been reported could be just the tip of the iceberg," says Loe Fisher. She says half of those reactions were serious enough to send girls to the emergency room. She's concerned about making the HPV vaccine mandatory." - Lesli Foster, WUSA-TV , November 28, 2007
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"A Lawrence couple is furious over a new government-approved vaccine designed to prevent a type of cancer. They say it almost killed their daughter and significantly altered her life. 15-year-old Marissa Omon is an athlete. The daughter of a Nigerian soccer player she played basketball, volleyball and track, until now. Surgeons put a defibrillator inside her chest Monday night fearing her heart could stop at any moment. "HPV [vaccine] cost my daughter. It almost cost her her life," said Edem Omon. Edem Omon is convinced his healthy, athletic teenage daughter Miranda almost died because of a vaccine doctors gave her to prevent cervical cancer....Edem said he reluctantly allowed a doctor to give her the HPV vaccine. "He convinced me the drug was safe," said Edem. Less than three hours later, while practicing basketball at Free State High School, Miranda suddenly collapsed. Her heart stopped. Paramedics needed a defibrillator to revive her. Miranda was rushed to Children's Mercy where she spent several days unable to walk or talk. Doctors ran a battery of tests, CT scans, x-rays and biopsies. They could find no explanation for Miranda's sudden heart problem. They say they do not believe the HPV vaccine has anything to do with it." Larry Seward, KSHB-TV, November 13, 2007
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"Christina Bell says she had seen ads for the vaccine so after consulting with her doctor she agreed to have her 12-year-old daughter, Brittany vaccinated. Two months ago the Florida girl suddenly collapsed. Her mother says Brittany used to play softball and run cross country. Now she can't feel her legs. Kelley Dougherty of Merck tells IB News that paralysis is not one of the recognized side effects of Gardasil use and is not even on the warning label." - Jane Akre, Injuryboard.com, November 14, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Since June 2006, when the HPV vaccine Gardasil was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, there have been 28 reported cases in which pregnant women miscarried after receiving the vaccine. Nonetheless, based on the clinical trials done prior to approval of the drug - which indicated that miscarriages among pregnant women given Gardasil were statistically consistent with miscarriages among women given placebos and in the general population - the FDA remains convinced the vaccine is safe and is not further investigating its effect on pregnant women. In May, a 24-year-old woman suffered a miscarriage, which an investigator in a report issued to the federal government said, "may have been caused by Gardasil because the patient received the injection within 30 days of the pregnancy." In July, a 17-year-old girl from Texas was unaware she was pregnant when she got her second dose of Gardasil. She miscarried, but the cause of the miscarriage hasn't been determined, according to a report. The reasons for two other miscarriages this year in Florida - one by a 16-year-old and another by a 24-year-old both - are undetermined, according to reports. But it is known that both women had Gardasil vaccinations shortly before the miscarriages." - Fred Lukas, CNS News.com, December 6, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Concerns about supposed adverse effects of vaccines seem to occur regularly. Usually the evidence for the adverse effect leading to the scare derives from some case reports rather than from trials or carefully conducted comparative studies. Spontaneous reports of suspected adverse drug reactions, including those to vaccines, remain an important source of new information for monitoring the safety of medicines. However, suspicion about an event does not demonstrate causality. Many suspected adverse drug reactions are simply coincident in time with administration of the drug or vaccine. During the next few years, there will be vaccines introduced to groups of people who have not traditionally been vaccinated. Pandemic flu vaccine may be given to age groups who have not been, in large scale, recipients of vaccines. The human papilloma virus (HPV) disease burden and the outstanding efficacy profile of the novel HPV vaccines are such that these vaccines are currently being implemented or considered for implementation in many industrialized countries......We are concerned that the large-scale implementation of HPV vaccines in industrialized countries could reactivate the vaccine-safety debates linking vaccination to autoimmune diseases. This could possibly represent a major issue for the sustainability of HPV immunization programs in industrialized countries, and consequently for their implementation in developing countries where they are most needed...." - Claire-Anne Siegrist, MD et al., Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2008;26(11):979-984 (Subscription required)
PLAY THE VIDEO - WUSA -9, WASHINGTON DC
Merck Recalls HIB Vaccine: Contamination Risk
by Barbara Loe Fisher
In what appears to be a pattern involving vaccine quality control production problems, on Dec. 12, 2007 Merck & Co. announced that it was recalling 13 Lots containing 1.2 million doses of HIB vaccine (PedvaxHIB and the combination COMVAX containing HIB and hepatitis B vaccines) for possible contamination with the common bacterium called Bacillus cereus (B. cereus). The microorganism makes spores that causes diarrhea and vomiting from eating contaminated foods (also known as food poisoning). Reportedly, a piece of equipment in Merck's West Point, PA manufacturing facility failed a sterility test and the bacterium was identified.
The CDC recommends that infants receive HIB vaccine at two, four and 12-15 months. The 13 lots of HIB containing vaccines began to be distributed in April 2007 and had expiration dates of 2009 and 2010. The FDA has released a list of the HIB vaccine Lot numbers.
At a 5 p.m. Dec. 12 press teleconference, CDC officials reportedly said that there is no proof the 13 Lots of HIB vaccine suspected of being contaminated are, in fact, contaminated. However, they added that if some HIB Lots are contaminated with B. cereus bacteria, then healthy children could experience skin irritation around the site of the injection and children with weakened immune systems could suffer more serious health problems within a week of vaccination In a media advisory, the CDC indicated that a transcript of the press teleconference would be made available.
This is not the first time that Merck has had a quality control problem in its vaccine manufacturing plants. In August 2001, Merck temporarily suspended operations in one of its facilities manufacturing MMR and Varicella (chicken pox) vaccines to address issues raised by FDA inspectors during a plant inspection and to make modifications to its facility. According to the 2002 GAO report, the time it took to make plant modifications and difficulties in meeting FDA manufacturing requirements contributed to shortages of MMR and varicella vaccines between the end of 2001 and summer of 2002.
Almost all of the vaccine shortages that the U.S. has experienced in the past two decades have been due to vaccine manufacturer production and government regulation compliance problems, even though vaccine patent-holders and those advocating mandatory use of all vaccines licensed for children have attempted blame vaccine injury lawsuits for vaccine shortages.
Merck, which produces about half of the 14 million doses of HIB vaccine administered to American babies, will be unable to supply HIB vaccine to the U.S. for at least nine months according to Merck officials. French pharmaceutical giant, Sanofi-Aventis, is reported to be considering ramping up production of its HIB vaccine to fill in the U.S. HIB supply gap.
In the meantime, parents who have recently gotten their infants vaccinated with HIB vaccine are left to wonder if their babies will get sick because they got a vaccine contaminated with bacteria. Only time will tell. All suspected HIB vaccine reactions should be immediately reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS).
NVIC has maintained a Vaccine Reaction Registry since 1982. You can report a vaccine reaction, injury or death or to post a vaccine reaction report that will be available to the public on the International Memorial for Vaccine Victims, go to http://www.vaccinememorial.org
In what appears to be a pattern involving vaccine quality control production problems, on Dec. 12, 2007 Merck & Co. announced that it was recalling 13 Lots containing 1.2 million doses of HIB vaccine (PedvaxHIB and the combination COMVAX containing HIB and hepatitis B vaccines) for possible contamination with the common bacterium called Bacillus cereus (B. cereus). The microorganism makes spores that causes diarrhea and vomiting from eating contaminated foods (also known as food poisoning). Reportedly, a piece of equipment in Merck's West Point, PA manufacturing facility failed a sterility test and the bacterium was identified.
The CDC recommends that infants receive HIB vaccine at two, four and 12-15 months. The 13 lots of HIB containing vaccines began to be distributed in April 2007 and had expiration dates of 2009 and 2010. The FDA has released a list of the HIB vaccine Lot numbers.
At a 5 p.m. Dec. 12 press teleconference, CDC officials reportedly said that there is no proof the 13 Lots of HIB vaccine suspected of being contaminated are, in fact, contaminated. However, they added that if some HIB Lots are contaminated with B. cereus bacteria, then healthy children could experience skin irritation around the site of the injection and children with weakened immune systems could suffer more serious health problems within a week of vaccination In a media advisory, the CDC indicated that a transcript of the press teleconference would be made available.
This is not the first time that Merck has had a quality control problem in its vaccine manufacturing plants. In August 2001, Merck temporarily suspended operations in one of its facilities manufacturing MMR and Varicella (chicken pox) vaccines to address issues raised by FDA inspectors during a plant inspection and to make modifications to its facility. According to the 2002 GAO report, the time it took to make plant modifications and difficulties in meeting FDA manufacturing requirements contributed to shortages of MMR and varicella vaccines between the end of 2001 and summer of 2002.
Almost all of the vaccine shortages that the U.S. has experienced in the past two decades have been due to vaccine manufacturer production and government regulation compliance problems, even though vaccine patent-holders and those advocating mandatory use of all vaccines licensed for children have attempted blame vaccine injury lawsuits for vaccine shortages.
Merck, which produces about half of the 14 million doses of HIB vaccine administered to American babies, will be unable to supply HIB vaccine to the U.S. for at least nine months according to Merck officials. French pharmaceutical giant, Sanofi-Aventis, is reported to be considering ramping up production of its HIB vaccine to fill in the U.S. HIB supply gap.
In the meantime, parents who have recently gotten their infants vaccinated with HIB vaccine are left to wonder if their babies will get sick because they got a vaccine contaminated with bacteria. Only time will tell. All suspected HIB vaccine reactions should be immediately reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS).
NVIC has maintained a Vaccine Reaction Registry since 1982. You can report a vaccine reaction, injury or death or to post a vaccine reaction report that will be available to the public on the International Memorial for Vaccine Victims, go to http://www.vaccinememorial.org
Sticking It To Children in New Jersey
by Barbara Loe Fisher
It wasn't like any of the parents, who showed up in Trenton on Dec. 10, 2007 to witness members of the New Jersey Public Health Council vote on a new vaccine mandates proposed by state health department officials, were surprised by the thumbs-up 7-2-2 vote by political appointee members of the Council. For the past two decades every time state health department officials have pushed to require children to get another new vaccine to attend school, the new vaccine has been automatically added to state vaccine mandates under rule making authority held by state health officials and without a vote by the people. Hoping to set precedent for other states to follow suit, this time New Jersey officials are ramming through mandates that will ban babies and toddlers from daycare or pre-school without two doses of influenza vaccine and three doses of pneumococcal vaccine while sixth graders will have to show proof by Sept. 1, 2008 that they have gotten a dose of TdaP and meningococcal vaccine.
New Jersey is about to become the first state to make children get flu shots despite a lack of scientific evidence that influenza vaccine is very effective in preventing Type A or Type B influenza in children.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7574/912
If NJ Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs and NJ Governor Joe Corzine approve the new requirements written by health department officials, then New Jersey will lead the nation in vaccine mandates by forcing children to get 35 doses of 13 vaccines.
Federal and state health officials refuse to publish credible scientific evidence that demonstrates it is necessary or healthy to force children to get so many vaccinations by sixth grade. They also continue to deny that the doubling of the numbers of vaccines mandated for child use over the past quarter century has contributed to the dramatic increase in chronic disease and disability among American children during that same time period. Today, 1 American child in 6 is learning disabled; 1 in 9 has asthma; 1 in 94- 150 develops autism; 1 in 450 is diabetic. New Jersey is reported to have the highest autism rate in the nation: 1 child in 94 living in New Jersey develops autism.
http://www.northjersey.com/page.phpqstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDczNzMy
Sue Collins, co-founder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (NJAICV at www.NJAICV.com) and longtime leader of a grassroots effort to institute conscientious belief exemption to vaccination in New Jersey, said that many parents oppose the new vaccine mandates: "We deserve a choice, not a mandate. It's our right to decide what toxic substances we inject into our children," she said. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/1 1/nyregion/11vaccine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New Jersey Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R- Westwood), who is the sponsor of a bill to insert conscientious belief exemption into New Jersey vaccine laws, told the Council "Children of this state are assaulted with shot after shot before they go to school," she said. "Don't force it on those who have these objections. This is America. What's happened to our freedom?"
http://www.northjersey.com/page.phpqstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MjMyMjk0JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==
The National Vaccine Information Center joins with NJAICV and other organizations representing parents and children opposing the new vaccine mandates and supporting the addition of conscientious belief exemption to vaccine laws in New Jersey, including Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning (A-CHAMP), Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), Autism One, Autism Research Institute, Children Having Everybody Upset About Shots (C.H.E.R.U.B.S), Generation Rescue, Holistic Moms Network, National Autism Association (NAA), Network Organization for Vaccine Awareness and Choice (NOVAC), Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), Taper Safely, Unlocking Autism (UA), and US Autism and Aspergers Association (USAAA). Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD, Inc.) supports replacing all state vaccine mandates with "opt-in" laws and SafeMinds opposes continued use of mercury in vaccines.
The fate of the new vaccine mandates proposed by the NJ state health department now rests with the retiring Commissioner of Health, Fred Jacobs, appointed by Governor Joe Corzine and the Governor himself. Fred Jacobs is expected to rule on the new mandates by Dec. 18 and can be contacted at http://www.state.nj.us/health/commiss/contact.shtml. Governor Corzine can be contacted at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
In addition, New Jersey residents who are interested in contacting their state Assemblyperson or Senator about the need to secure a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination, can find out how to do that at
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp . To help other parents work in New Jersey on this issue, contact NJAICV's Sue Collins at www.NJAICV.com (See copy of NJ Conscientious Belief Exemption bill below). To find out more about how to educate members of your community about vaccination and the right to informed consent to vaccination, go to NVIC's website at www.nvic.org or contact NVIC at NVICinfo@gmail.com
It wasn't like any of the parents, who showed up in Trenton on Dec. 10, 2007 to witness members of the New Jersey Public Health Council vote on a new vaccine mandates proposed by state health department officials, were surprised by the thumbs-up 7-2-2 vote by political appointee members of the Council. For the past two decades every time state health department officials have pushed to require children to get another new vaccine to attend school, the new vaccine has been automatically added to state vaccine mandates under rule making authority held by state health officials and without a vote by the people. Hoping to set precedent for other states to follow suit, this time New Jersey officials are ramming through mandates that will ban babies and toddlers from daycare or pre-school without two doses of influenza vaccine and three doses of pneumococcal vaccine while sixth graders will have to show proof by Sept. 1, 2008 that they have gotten a dose of TdaP and meningococcal vaccine.
New Jersey is about to become the first state to make children get flu shots despite a lack of scientific evidence that influenza vaccine is very effective in preventing Type A or Type B influenza in children.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7574/912
If NJ Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs and NJ Governor Joe Corzine approve the new requirements written by health department officials, then New Jersey will lead the nation in vaccine mandates by forcing children to get 35 doses of 13 vaccines.
Federal and state health officials refuse to publish credible scientific evidence that demonstrates it is necessary or healthy to force children to get so many vaccinations by sixth grade. They also continue to deny that the doubling of the numbers of vaccines mandated for child use over the past quarter century has contributed to the dramatic increase in chronic disease and disability among American children during that same time period. Today, 1 American child in 6 is learning disabled; 1 in 9 has asthma; 1 in 94- 150 develops autism; 1 in 450 is diabetic. New Jersey is reported to have the highest autism rate in the nation: 1 child in 94 living in New Jersey develops autism.
http://www.northjersey.com/page.phpqstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDczNzMy
Sue Collins, co-founder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (NJAICV at www.NJAICV.com) and longtime leader of a grassroots effort to institute conscientious belief exemption to vaccination in New Jersey, said that many parents oppose the new vaccine mandates: "We deserve a choice, not a mandate. It's our right to decide what toxic substances we inject into our children," she said. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/1 1/nyregion/11vaccine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New Jersey Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R- Westwood), who is the sponsor of a bill to insert conscientious belief exemption into New Jersey vaccine laws, told the Council "Children of this state are assaulted with shot after shot before they go to school," she said. "Don't force it on those who have these objections. This is America. What's happened to our freedom?"
http://www.northjersey.com/page.phpqstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MjMyMjk0JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==
The National Vaccine Information Center joins with NJAICV and other organizations representing parents and children opposing the new vaccine mandates and supporting the addition of conscientious belief exemption to vaccine laws in New Jersey, including Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning (A-CHAMP), Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), Autism One, Autism Research Institute, Children Having Everybody Upset About Shots (C.H.E.R.U.B.S), Generation Rescue, Holistic Moms Network, National Autism Association (NAA), Network Organization for Vaccine Awareness and Choice (NOVAC), Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), Taper Safely, Unlocking Autism (UA), and US Autism and Aspergers Association (USAAA). Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD, Inc.) supports replacing all state vaccine mandates with "opt-in" laws and SafeMinds opposes continued use of mercury in vaccines.
The fate of the new vaccine mandates proposed by the NJ state health department now rests with the retiring Commissioner of Health, Fred Jacobs, appointed by Governor Joe Corzine and the Governor himself. Fred Jacobs is expected to rule on the new mandates by Dec. 18 and can be contacted at http://www.state.nj.us/health/commiss/contact.shtml. Governor Corzine can be contacted at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
In addition, New Jersey residents who are interested in contacting their state Assemblyperson or Senator about the need to secure a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination, can find out how to do that at
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp . To help other parents work in New Jersey on this issue, contact NJAICV's Sue Collins at www.NJAICV.com (See copy of NJ Conscientious Belief Exemption bill below). To find out more about how to educate members of your community about vaccination and the right to informed consent to vaccination, go to NVIC's website at www.nvic.org or contact NVIC at NVICinfo@gmail.com
NJ Health Council Votes Dec. 10 On New Vaccine Mandates
by Barbara Loe Fisher
The New Jersey Public Health Council is scheduled to meet on Monday, December 10, 2007 at 11 a.m. to vote on whether to approve adoption of rules written by the New Jersey Department of Health that would require children to get three doses of pneumoccocal vaccine and two doses of influenza vaccine to attend daycare or pre-school and one dose each of tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (TdaP) and meningococcal vaccine to attend sixth grade. If the Council votes to approve the new mandates sought by state public health officials, the mandates will apply to all children entering daycare or school on September 1, 2008.
The NJ Public Health Council meeting will be held on Dec. 10 at 11 a.m in the Auditorium (1st Floor) of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Market and Warren Streets, Trenton, New Jersey. New Jersey would become the first state to require influenza vaccine for daycare and pre-school and the first state to require meningococcal vaccine for sixth graders if the new mandates are approved by the Council. The additional nine doses of vaccines would be added to 26 doses of vaccines (diphtheria (4), tetanus (4), pertussis (4), HIB (3), measles (2), mumps (1), rubella (1), polio (3), hepatitis B (3), chicken pox (1)) the State already requires for daycare or school, bringing the total to 35 doses of 13 mandated vaccines.
The NJ Department of Health has the power under rule making authority given to the agency by the NJ state legislature to mandate new vaccines after holding public hearings and taking public comments. A public hearing was held on these proposed new vaccine mandates on Jan. 26, 2007 and the public comment period ended on Feb. 16. 2007. A 125 page summary of the public hearing and public comments received by the health department reveals that the majority of the 103 comments from the public opposed the new vaccine mandates.
http://nj.gov/health/commis s/bc/documents/phc_final_adoption_857_4.pdf
Supporters of the mandates included state public health and education officials, the American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, which markets three of the new vaccines that would be required (TdaP, influenza and meningococcal vaccines), among others. In a memo from retiring NJ Commissioner of Health, Fred Jacobs, M.D., J.D. to Herbert Yardley, Chair of the NJ Public Health Council, Jacobs notes that "Some parents rights groups, vaccine critics, autism advocacy organizations and alternative medicine practitioners will likely continue to oppose existing requirements, these recently adopted new vaccine requirements, and future immunization requirements as they have since the mid-1980's....There is increasing resistance from the public on new state vaccine mandates and a demand for more informed parental choice in vaccinations for children...."
http://nj.gov/health/com miss/bc/documents/phc_memo_adoption_857_4.pdf
Exemptions to vaccination in New Jersey include a medical exemption that must be written by a medical doctor or a religious exemption, which requires citizens to write a letter explaining how vaccination "conflicts with the pupil's exercise of bona fide religious tenets or practices." The law makes it clear that a "general philosophical or moral objection" to receiving one or more vaccines "shall not be sufficient for an exemption on religious grounds." The law further states that "religious affiliated schools or child care centers shall have the authority to withhold or grant a religious exemption" for students attending their schools "without challenge by any secular health authority." http://www.nvic.org/state- site/NewJersey.htm
The citizens of New Jersey have not had an opportunity to vote, through their elected representatives, on whether they want their children to be required to be injected with nine more doses of vaccines or be denied an education. The power to add or remove vaccine mandates currently resides entirely in the hands of employees of the NJ Health Department and members of the NJ Public Health Council.
NJ Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs can be contacted at
http://www.state.nj.us/health/commiss/contact.shtml
NJ Public Health Council Chair, Herbert Yardley, who is also the Health Officer for Sussex County, can be contacted at hyardley@sussex.nj.us
The Governor of New Jersey, Joe Corzine, can be reached at
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
If you want to change the way new vaccines are mandated in your state and/or support the addition of conscientious belief exemption to state vaccine laws, you must work with the state legislators you have elected to represent you. If you are a resident of New Jersey and want to let your state legislators know how you feel about nine more doses of vaccines being added to vaccine mandates, go to
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch. asp
The National Vaccine Information Center has been working in New Jersey and many states as well as nationally since 1982 to educate citizens and their elected representatives about the need to institute vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the U.S. mass vaccination system. Some states have formed local groups, such as the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (www.NJAICV.org) headed by co-founder Sue Collins.
The National Vaccine Information Center stands with other parent organizations such as ACHAMP, Generation Rescue, TACA, NAA, Holistic Moms Network and others in opposing new vaccine mandates for children in New Jersey and supports the addition of conscientious belief exemption to vaccination in New Jersey and all states. If you are interested in working to educate citizens in your community and state about vaccination and the need for informed consent protections in your state laws, contact NVIC at NVICinfo@gmail.com
To report a vaccine reaction, go to www.NVIC.org
and to post a vaccine reaction report on NVIC's International Memorial for Vaccine Victims, go www.vaccinememorial.org
The New Jersey Public Health Council is scheduled to meet on Monday, December 10, 2007 at 11 a.m. to vote on whether to approve adoption of rules written by the New Jersey Department of Health that would require children to get three doses of pneumoccocal vaccine and two doses of influenza vaccine to attend daycare or pre-school and one dose each of tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (TdaP) and meningococcal vaccine to attend sixth grade. If the Council votes to approve the new mandates sought by state public health officials, the mandates will apply to all children entering daycare or school on September 1, 2008.
The NJ Public Health Council meeting will be held on Dec. 10 at 11 a.m in the Auditorium (1st Floor) of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Market and Warren Streets, Trenton, New Jersey. New Jersey would become the first state to require influenza vaccine for daycare and pre-school and the first state to require meningococcal vaccine for sixth graders if the new mandates are approved by the Council. The additional nine doses of vaccines would be added to 26 doses of vaccines (diphtheria (4), tetanus (4), pertussis (4), HIB (3), measles (2), mumps (1), rubella (1), polio (3), hepatitis B (3), chicken pox (1)) the State already requires for daycare or school, bringing the total to 35 doses of 13 mandated vaccines.
The NJ Department of Health has the power under rule making authority given to the agency by the NJ state legislature to mandate new vaccines after holding public hearings and taking public comments. A public hearing was held on these proposed new vaccine mandates on Jan. 26, 2007 and the public comment period ended on Feb. 16. 2007. A 125 page summary of the public hearing and public comments received by the health department reveals that the majority of the 103 comments from the public opposed the new vaccine mandates.
http://nj.gov/health/commis s/bc/documents/phc_final_adoption_857_4.pdf
Supporters of the mandates included state public health and education officials, the American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, which markets three of the new vaccines that would be required (TdaP, influenza and meningococcal vaccines), among others. In a memo from retiring NJ Commissioner of Health, Fred Jacobs, M.D., J.D. to Herbert Yardley, Chair of the NJ Public Health Council, Jacobs notes that "Some parents rights groups, vaccine critics, autism advocacy organizations and alternative medicine practitioners will likely continue to oppose existing requirements, these recently adopted new vaccine requirements, and future immunization requirements as they have since the mid-1980's....There is increasing resistance from the public on new state vaccine mandates and a demand for more informed parental choice in vaccinations for children...."
http://nj.gov/health/com miss/bc/documents/phc_memo_adoption_857_4.pdf
Exemptions to vaccination in New Jersey include a medical exemption that must be written by a medical doctor or a religious exemption, which requires citizens to write a letter explaining how vaccination "conflicts with the pupil's exercise of bona fide religious tenets or practices." The law makes it clear that a "general philosophical or moral objection" to receiving one or more vaccines "shall not be sufficient for an exemption on religious grounds." The law further states that "religious affiliated schools or child care centers shall have the authority to withhold or grant a religious exemption" for students attending their schools "without challenge by any secular health authority." http://www.nvic.org/state- site/NewJersey.htm
The citizens of New Jersey have not had an opportunity to vote, through their elected representatives, on whether they want their children to be required to be injected with nine more doses of vaccines or be denied an education. The power to add or remove vaccine mandates currently resides entirely in the hands of employees of the NJ Health Department and members of the NJ Public Health Council.
NJ Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs can be contacted at
http://www.state.nj.us/health/commiss/contact.shtml
NJ Public Health Council Chair, Herbert Yardley, who is also the Health Officer for Sussex County, can be contacted at hyardley@sussex.nj.us
The Governor of New Jersey, Joe Corzine, can be reached at
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
If you want to change the way new vaccines are mandated in your state and/or support the addition of conscientious belief exemption to state vaccine laws, you must work with the state legislators you have elected to represent you. If you are a resident of New Jersey and want to let your state legislators know how you feel about nine more doses of vaccines being added to vaccine mandates, go to
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch. asp
The National Vaccine Information Center has been working in New Jersey and many states as well as nationally since 1982 to educate citizens and their elected representatives about the need to institute vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the U.S. mass vaccination system. Some states have formed local groups, such as the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (www.NJAICV.org) headed by co-founder Sue Collins.
The National Vaccine Information Center stands with other parent organizations such as ACHAMP, Generation Rescue, TACA, NAA, Holistic Moms Network and others in opposing new vaccine mandates for children in New Jersey and supports the addition of conscientious belief exemption to vaccination in New Jersey and all states. If you are interested in working to educate citizens in your community and state about vaccination and the need for informed consent protections in your state laws, contact NVIC at NVICinfo@gmail.com
To report a vaccine reaction, go to www.NVIC.org
and to post a vaccine reaction report on NVIC's International Memorial for Vaccine Victims, go www.vaccinememorial.org
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