Politics, Profits & Pandemic Fear Mongering

by Barbara Loe Fisher

Are you grabbing your face mask, stocking up on food and Tamiflu, locking your doors and keeping your TV tuned to the news to find out just how bad the "swine flu pandemic" really is going to get? While Americans are being scared to death, few are noticing how much of their tax money politicians are giving to drug companies and government health officials to grease the skids to create more experimental flu vaccines and drugs and more effective ways to quarantine or force their mass use whenever a "public health emergency" is declared in the future.

Call me cynical but not clueless. The bird's eye view I have had for the past 27 years at the National Vaccine Information Center has taught me one thing: the global alliance between Big Pharma and Big Public Health is a prescription for disaster that could extend far beyond a bout with the flu.

The international drama playing out right now before our eyes is an example of how citizens around the world can be easily manipulated by doctors and politicians engaging in fear mongering in the name of disease control to forward agendas that have more to do with ideology, power and corporate profits than health. When the U.S. Director of Homeland Security is the government official doing the talking rather than the U.S. Director of the Centers for Disease Control, put a copy of the U.S. Constitution in your pocket and take a look at federal and state legislation passed since September 11, 2001 to understand which civil rights you don't have anymore when government health officials declare a "public health emergency."

But before we take a look at the threat to civil liberties that pandemic fear mongering poses, let's take a look at how creation of a global human market for influenza vaccines works. It is a blueprint for Successful Marketing 101 (or perhaps it is all just a coincidence).

In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an international call for all nations to do whatever it takes to increase public appetite and demand for annual influenza shots as the main strategy to prepare for an influenza pandemic. In April 2007, the WHO used money donated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to fund the creation of influenza vaccine manufacturing plants in Mexico and other countries one week after the FDA gave Sanofi Pasteur a license to produce an experimental bird flu (H5N1) vaccine. Sanofi Pasteur is just one of many drug companies the U.S. government has given millions of dollars to for the creation of bird flu vaccines.

On February 19, 2009, the FDA's Vaccines & Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) discussed whether to give approval for the testing of experimental bird flu vaccine on American infants. VRBPAC consumer member, also NVIC's Director of Patient Safety Vicky Debold,PhD, warned that testing of an experimental pandemic bird flu vaccine on infants in the absence of a real epidemic and without assurances that unapproved novel oil based (squalene) adjuvants (AS03, MF59) are safe, could pose unacceptable risks in terms of inducing severe immune dysfunction.

On February 27, 2009 it was confirmed that an influenza vaccine maker, Baxter International, had released a mixture of seasonal influenza viruses mixed with unlabeled live bird flu viruses to facilities in Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Slovenia. Baxter, which is waiting for a license to manufacturer bird flu vaccine, explained it was an "accident" and that no harm was done.

On April 23, 2009, the world heard the first news reports about a mysterious pig (H1N1) and bird (H5N1)and human hybrid influenza virus that was making people sick near a Mexican pig farm. By April 30, the WHO had issued a Phase 5 "Alert" warning that the world was facing an imminent pandemic influenza epidemic on the strength of several hundred cases of "swine" flu and less than 10 confirmed deaths.

The pandemic flu panic that has an especially strong grip on people living in Mexico and the U.S., thanks to the governments of both countries declaring a "public health emergency," has been a good thing for pharmaceutical companies in the pandemic flu business. Wall Street revealed that the pandemic scare sent stock prices soaring for drug companies making anti-viral drugs, rapid flu diagnosis tests and influenza vaccines. Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax, Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, BioCryst, and Vical are among the drug companies likely to benefit from the world pandemic panic.

In all the chaos that has Americans running to drug stores to buy face masks, closing schools to wipe desks down with rubbing alcohol and avoiding public transportation, there is action being taken behind the scenes by politicians and government health officials to prepare the way for implementation of future quarantine and mass vaccination of citizens with experimental vaccines and drugs that have by- passed normal FDA regulations for demonstrating purity and potency of pharmaceutical products. A "public health emergency" has become an excuse to grease the skids and rush to market experimental drugs and vaccines that are not subject to product liability in the civil courts.

The creation of this pharmaceutical company stockholder dream scenario and simultaneous erosion of civil liberties in the name of disease control began in earnest in 21st century America after the tragic events on September 11, 2001. In a time defined by shock, fear, anger and deep sadness, Congress reacted quickly and passed the Homeland Security Act while CDC officials pulled out model state legislation (Model State Emergency Health Powers Act) that gave sweeping new powers to public health officials to use the militia, if necessary, to quarantine citizens and force them to use experimental drugs and vaccines after the U.S. Secretary of Health declares a "public health emergency."

The stampede in 2001/2002 to re-write long standing public health laws in this country was fueled by reports that terrorists were in possession of weaponized smallpox and anthrax, a fear that was fostered by U.S. government officials and New York Times journalists reporting Iraq had secret stockpiles of weaponized smallpox and anthrax. This myth played a role in public support for the U.S.-Iraq War and persuaded Congress to pass Bioshield and pandemic influenza vaccine legislation that gave billions of dollars to vaccine manufacturers, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to create experimental bioeterrorism and pandemic flu vaccines while protecting drug companies and doctors from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths that will occur.

The mandated, mass use of multiple vaccines has become big business in the last quarter century since the U.S. Congress passed a law in 1986 shielding vaccine makers and doctors from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths and the numbers of vaccines recommended by the federal health officials for American children multiplied from 23 doses of 7 vaccines to 48 doses of 14 vaccines from birth to age six. For older children and adults, there are several dozen more federally recommended or state mandated vaccinations.

All of this liability protection and government vaccine mandating has been a boon for vaccine profit- making and public health agency empire building. In 1986, four drug companies made and sold vaccines in America and, by 2007, after corporate mergers and acquisitions there were six drug company giants making and selling vaccines in the U.S. Today, there are more drug companies seeking to enter the lucrative multi- billion dollar U.S. vaccine market as financial predictions for global profits from the worldwide vaccine business by 2010 have climbed to more than $20B.

A true global influenza pandemic that could take out projected millions of people is something all nations should prepare for using reasonable strategies to ensure the public health and safety. However, it is a matter of legitimate debate as to whether the primary strategy being urged by the WHO, pharmaceutical companies and government health agencies around the world - ramping up production and use of seasonal influenza vaccine and fast tracking the creation and human testing of influenza vaccines using novel but potentially risky adjuvants and cell substrates - is the way to effectively deal with public health or a future influenza pandemic.

Certainly, the loss of the human right to bodily integrity and informed consent to taking pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines that may pose serious health risks is not justified in the name of controlling pandemic influenza or any other infectious disease outbreak. Politicians should not bow to additional pressure from vaccine manufacturers and public health officials to by-pass normal FDA standards in proving safety and efficacy of pandemic flu vaccines and their components for the purpose of rushing them to market in response to the pandemic panic that has been created. The swine flu debacle of 1976 should have taught Congress that lesson.

A rational perspective that reduces pandemic fear and includes common sense advice for staying healthy in every season is being offered by holistic health doctors, such as Joseph Mercola, D.O. and physician Congressman Ron Paul, M.D. The next time you turn on the TV or the radio or search the internet for the latest news on the flu pandemic, take a deep breath and consider all the natural ways to stay healthy and resist influenza or any illness : washing your hands; eating nutritious food; drinking plenty of water; getting enough exercise, rest and sunshine, and lowering stress - which includes not walking around filled with fear, anxiety and dread.

16 comments:

shrewsburydc said...

Thanks, Barbara. I have experienced first hand the swine flu hysteria. I was going to Cancun next week with some girlfriends and my children's school informed me that if I did, the children would not be allowed to attend school for 7 days after my return. This is completely out of control.

Aaron Russell said...

Thankyou. The editors of all the papers now feel they must give us the play by play on an hourly basis, complete with statistics of the Flu cases. Soon this will fade as the new NEWS rolls on in; forget Iraq, forget Afghanistan, forget Healthcare, forget ... that's Old News. We want the newest NEWS!

David Goldenberg said...

Barb--just completely thorough and to the point, as usual!!
Here's what my dad emailed me from Boca Raton:

"That is the best written treatise of any--It's so true---how the gov't treats us like sheep and the power the drug co's have.
They are running out of face masks (which are worthless!)
They can't make a vaccine for at least 4-5 months-after we're
all probably dead from the pandemic."

J. Ruth Kelly said...

My son came home the other day with a public health alert concerning Swine Flu. I was livid. This one is infiltrating every layer of our culture. His comment? "They want to vaccinate us against being alive." And what they do is more harm than good. I feel so helpless against this tide of stupidity! We need more rights.

Praeeo said...

Great information. The public needs to be reminded (constantly).

Anonymous said...

I believe you just head the facts exactly as they are!

John H said...

Barbara-

Great report. As usual loaded with facts and always complete with a solution.

It's time to have a laugh at all of this fear mongering...
I think you will enjoy this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbt_PuVAVTU

Anonymous said...

Someone made comment on your blog on Swine flu.

"I'll call her clueless. She is conflating the reactions from the WHO and federal public health agencies with those of the media and local health agencies. Even though she may have some good points to make, they get lost in the conspiracy-mongering.

Pandemic designations are based upon the distribution of an outbreak, not the severity and health agencies would be called 'irresponsible' or 'unprepared' if their response was impotent. So damned if they do and damned if they don't"

Suze said...

Excellent, EXCELLENT post!!! I am an RN who has no doubt whatsoever that drug company profits come before patients in too many cases. I have seen the wining and dining of docs firsthand. I can't imagine what goes on at thigher levels.
As for "Anonymous" above, yes, there IS a conspiracy. Believe it. Or not - go get your kool-aid, I mean, flu shot. ;-)

Sue Keller said...

Barbara, you're a voice in the wilderness. I've long been an admirer of yours and want to thank you for this piece. I've been dreading the thought of getting an H1N1 flu shot (with the attendant thimerosal preservative) and this firms my resolve to use my common sense when a flu shot becomes available.

Anecdotally, my mom, now 95, has never had flu shots due to an egg protein allergy. She has sometimes gotten the flu but never a severe case. Certainly, she has good genetics, but all her nurses's training - hand washing, keeping hands away from her face, staying out of crowds during flu season, getting enough rest, and good nutrition - must play a part as well.

jruthkelly said...

Anon on your "conspiracy-mongering" comment, it's not that simple. It IS a conspiracy fueled by a greed that risks personal freedom and health. Read Barbara's words here: "In all the chaos that has Americans running to drug stores to buy face masks, closing schools to wipe desks down with rubbing alcohol and avoiding public transportation, there is action being taken behind the scenes by politicians and government health officials to prepare the way for implementation of future quarantine and mass vaccination of citizens with experimental vaccines and drugs that have by- passed normal FDA regulations for demonstrating purity and potency of pharmaceutical products. A "public health emergency" has become an excuse to grease the skids and rush to market experimental drugs and vaccines that are not subject to product liability in the civil courts."

So many layers...some are damned if they do, damned if they don't but the basic integrity of choosing what you have put in your body is threatened by these selective public health "emergency" manuevers. What next will be "mandatory?" How do you boil a frog?

If there's something truly unique and deadly about the swine flu, they need to prove it and say so and then they need to take their own level of concern shown here for something so ridiulously typical (flu!) into their decisions to allow vaccinations whose health impact are far-reaching and deadly. They strain a gnat and ask the rest of us to swallow the camel. Nothing doing...

Fran said...

I'm 44 years old. When I was in second grade, I woke up with my face on the cold, dirty cafeteria floor after receiving a TB test. Not a single teacher there knew I passed out. I received the TB test again in middle school. A similar reaction happened to me. I almost passed out. The third time I got the TB test I was 19 years old moving to Puerto Rico. My reaction was so bad I thought I was going to die. My arm went completely limp. I couldn't drive. I started vomiting and then went into convulsions. I will NEVER have myself injected with foreign viruses and bacteria ever again! A few months after receiving the vaccines required to move to Puerto Rico, which included typhoid began my journey fighting off chronic urticaria (hives). I suffered for over 15 years. I then discovered through the help of the pH Miracle and a fecal test that I had too much bad bacteria in my body. Thanks to alkalizing, my flora is stable now. I did vaccinate my kids who are 21 and 23 now. God had me have my kids early during the time when vaccines were not as bad but I'm getting ready to adopt an infant and the idea of vaccinating weighs very heavy on my soul. My gut instinct is telling me to not vaccinate.

John H said...

Fran, better go with your gut.

If the kid gets a 'virus' it a.) has to pass through the body's defenses before ever becoming a problem and, b.) it will ONLY be A virus and not a cocktail of heavy metals, RNA / DNA strands, chemical adjuncts on top of mixing itself up with a number of other lab created 'franken-viruses' injected into the blood stream for that child to have to deal with.

Anonymous said...

H1N1 is killing people all over the world and right here in America. It is a dangerous virus to all who have health issues and if you are pregnant.

40% of all deaths are in perfectly healthy adults.

The vaccine is made the same way seasonal vaccine is made. I take it every year and i am going to take this one once it is tested.

Close the schools now before it spreads into the wider communities and takes our pregnant women and at risk kids and adults.

lawrence said...

Hello Barbara, You are spot on with your analisis in your writing. How can we trust these people? Baxter pharmaceuticals who have a plant in,, hmmmmm "Mexico" have been chosen by WHO to lead the efforts in finding a vaccine cure for H1N1.

Never heard of Baxter? With little more than a slap on the wrist, Baxter sent vaccines contaminated with deadly live H5N1 avian flu virus to 18 countries before someone caught the mistake and the vaccine got injected thousands of people.

Baxter just missed creating its own pandemic by mixing deadly H5N1virus with a mix of H3N2 seasonal flu viruses, or did they? By possibly creating the pandemic, maybe Baxter already has the cure and that is why WHO has deemed them the appropriate pharmaceutical company to lead the way for a swine flu vaccine.

Baxter was also responsible for the mislabeled, recalled doses of Heparin. Baxter recalled one lot of a product that hospitals use to treat burn victims and patients in shock after a test found a rare form of HIV in the plasma used to make the product. HIV-2 in a plasma! http://www.aegis.org/news/ct/2001/CT010716.html

These new "deadly viruses" that we are all supposed to be in fear of are bogus BUT they are nothing to the real pain that will be caused to the people by taking their forced unsafe, unproven vaccinations.

The HIV/AIDS senario is no different. When it was sent out to the gay community as a new Hepatitus b vaccine it too was contaminated with the HIV virus and this was the start of the gay plague and of course world depopulation, A similair vaccine was sent to Africa to cure chicken pox but it too was infected with the deadly HIV virus. The problem is we are not dying quick enough for the Eugenists.

New medicines that are able to cure such viruses will never be allowed to see the light of day once this new power really takes hold. An all out GLOBAL ban on "silver type health products" is being aggressively pushed by the FDA to ban them as pesticides. Silver has been proven and used successfully for many 100`s of years and now that it can be used at nano level its benefits now are apparantly...unequalled!!

I am running a Silver experiment currently on myself www.living-with-hiv.co.uk I started this experiment on 1st sept 2009 to show that cure exists for hiv/aids. This same cure is said kill many many viruses including the swine flu...So cures are available NOW for many ills using silver type theraphy but it is only a matter of time until that this saviour to us.. the human race.. becomes classed as a pesticide and it will be banned from the shelves by the new world order that OBAMA is ushering in to kill us all. God help us all lawrence

Anonymous said...

Barbara,
First and foremost I feel for your loss. I have also learned that the current H1N1 vaccination program ( which is in itself a shame) has a much higher purpose. The corralling of children and forced vaccination by employers and others is for the specific intent to "kill-off" citizens so that the elite rich (Rockefeller's and others) can make the world populous surfs. This is a strong statement and I understand completely if this is your thought. However, I have definitive proof of my statement, and believe me when I say that it is the last thing I want to believe as a U.S. citizen.

If you want further information, please email me at fred.sturman@sbcglobal.net.

Thank you, and again, what you have said I totally believe and I prove everything I say before I say it.

Fred Sturman
fred.sturman@sbcglobal.net

P.S. If you wish, please email me and I will be glad to talk with you on the phone. The word MUST get out!!!