Another Interesting Health Site
02/13/07
Categories: Medical Orthodoxy, Food Politics, Cancer Politics, Science/STS, Pharmaceutical Toxicity, Scientific Fraud & Research Corruption, Iatrogeny Misc.
A partial mirror of an Advanced Scientific Health research guide.
Please click title link to external site for a fully formatted .pdf of this research guide.
1993—2003: Medical mistakes took 7.8 million lives
Organized medicine killed more Americans in last decade than all U.S. wars combined -by The Idaho Observer
The most comprehensive report on the state of U.S. healthcare ever conducted shows that organized medicine has killed 7,841,360 Americans in the last 10 years. “Our estimated 10-year total of 7.8 million iatrogenic [doctor-induced] deaths is more than all the casualties from all the wars fought by the U.S. throughout its entire history,” commented the Nutrition Institute of America (NIA), in its report, “Death By Medicine” (Oct., 2003).
The concept of the report was prompted by the fact that, while conventional medicine kills hundreds of thousands of Americans each year, government regulators attempt to ban and restrict the use of vitamins and herbs that kill no one.
Incidentally, the report, which resulted from the compilation and analysis of 94 U.S. hospitals and hundreds of medical journal articles, determined that medical error causes an astounding 783,936 deaths per year (and growing). “It is evident that the American medical system is itself the leading cause of death and injury in the U.S.,” the authors observed.
The purpose of the report was to memorialize the total failure of the American medical system and to “provide the basis for competent and compassionate medical professionals to recognize the inadequacies
of today’s system and at least attempt to institute meaningful reforms,” wrote the editors of Life Extension magazine.
CLICK THE FOLLOWING FOR THE REST OF THE STORY:
http://www.consumercide.com/blog/index.php?title=another_interesting_health_site&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
ALL FAMILIES SHOULD BE CONCERNED
"Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school. Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn't enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance, said Rick Haupt, director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccine division, in a telephone interview today....The vaccine is Merck's most important new product, capable of generating as much as $3 billion in annual sales, analysts have said. Revenue from Gardasil in the fourth quarter reached $155 million.... Starting in 2008, Texas girls ages 11 and 12 will be required to have the vaccine before entering sixth grade. The shots will cost the state $50 million the first year....A group called the National Vaccine Information Center said yesterday that its analysis of reports to U.S. regulators found cases of serious side effects to Gardasil. One was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system." - Shannon Pettypiece and Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News
"Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance....Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring that schoolgirls get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state, who may seek to pass a law of overturning the order. A group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, the National Vaccine Information Center, has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The group questions whether it was tested in enough young girls. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January show don't raise any red flags." - Linda Johnson, Associated Press
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
About 12 hours after PROVE president Dawn Richardson and scores of parents and doctors testified in the Texas state legislature, protesting the HPV vaccine mandate being imposed on 11 year old girls in that state by the Governor of Texas, Merck announced it was ending its aggressive lobbying campaign to get GARDASIL mandated in every state. Dawn used advance information provided to her by NVIC from the Report on VAERS and GARDASIL that NVIC released today (below) in her testimony, arguing that the vaccine had not been tested adequately for safety in little girls and was already causing too many reactions. The Texas legislature is in the process of building a bi-partisan coalition to pass legislation that will overturn Governor Rick Perry's Executive order mandating the vaccine for all sixth grade girls.
The backlash in Texas is also being felt in other states, as parents are letting legislators know they are tired of having every vaccine, which industry produces and the CDC recommends for universal use in all children, automatically mandated by the states for school entry. From now on, perhaps citizens and their elected officials will work together to more carefully evaluate the necessity for and safety and efficacy of new vaccines which those, who are operating and profiting from the mass vaccination system, lobby to have mandated.
With 56 doses of 16 vaccines recommended by the CDC for use by all children by age 12 and more than 3 dozen of those already mandated in most states, a careful examination of each new vaccine that industry markets is long overdue. The fact that many highly vaccinated children are suffering with chronic disease and disability, with 1 in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed and millions more asthmatic and diabetic, makes it even more important for the FDA and CDC to redouble their efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers to high standards for proof of safety for vaccines before they are licensed and recommended for universal use by all children.
After 25 years, the vaccine safety and informed consent movement led by parents of vaccine injured children has become a national voice for those who want truth, transparency and freedom of choice when it comes to making vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. Today, many more Americans are joining with NVIC and declaring: No forced vaccination. Not in America.
CLICK HERE FOR CANCER PREVENTION
"Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school. Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn't enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance, said Rick Haupt, director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccine division, in a telephone interview today....The vaccine is Merck's most important new product, capable of generating as much as $3 billion in annual sales, analysts have said. Revenue from Gardasil in the fourth quarter reached $155 million.... Starting in 2008, Texas girls ages 11 and 12 will be required to have the vaccine before entering sixth grade. The shots will cost the state $50 million the first year....A group called the National Vaccine Information Center said yesterday that its analysis of reports to U.S. regulators found cases of serious side effects to Gardasil. One was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system." - Shannon Pettypiece and Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News
"Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance....Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring that schoolgirls get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state, who may seek to pass a law of overturning the order. A group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, the National Vaccine Information Center, has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The group questions whether it was tested in enough young girls. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January show don't raise any red flags." - Linda Johnson, Associated Press
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
About 12 hours after PROVE president Dawn Richardson and scores of parents and doctors testified in the Texas state legislature, protesting the HPV vaccine mandate being imposed on 11 year old girls in that state by the Governor of Texas, Merck announced it was ending its aggressive lobbying campaign to get GARDASIL mandated in every state. Dawn used advance information provided to her by NVIC from the Report on VAERS and GARDASIL that NVIC released today (below) in her testimony, arguing that the vaccine had not been tested adequately for safety in little girls and was already causing too many reactions. The Texas legislature is in the process of building a bi-partisan coalition to pass legislation that will overturn Governor Rick Perry's Executive order mandating the vaccine for all sixth grade girls.
The backlash in Texas is also being felt in other states, as parents are letting legislators know they are tired of having every vaccine, which industry produces and the CDC recommends for universal use in all children, automatically mandated by the states for school entry. From now on, perhaps citizens and their elected officials will work together to more carefully evaluate the necessity for and safety and efficacy of new vaccines which those, who are operating and profiting from the mass vaccination system, lobby to have mandated.
With 56 doses of 16 vaccines recommended by the CDC for use by all children by age 12 and more than 3 dozen of those already mandated in most states, a careful examination of each new vaccine that industry markets is long overdue. The fact that many highly vaccinated children are suffering with chronic disease and disability, with 1 in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed and millions more asthmatic and diabetic, makes it even more important for the FDA and CDC to redouble their efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers to high standards for proof of safety for vaccines before they are licensed and recommended for universal use by all children.
After 25 years, the vaccine safety and informed consent movement led by parents of vaccine injured children has become a national voice for those who want truth, transparency and freedom of choice when it comes to making vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. Today, many more Americans are joining with NVIC and declaring: No forced vaccination. Not in America.
CLICK HERE FOR CANCER PREVENTION
VACCINE SAFETY GROUP RELEASES GARDASIL REACTION REPORT
Calls on FDA and CDC to Warn Doctors and Parents to Report to VAERS
PRNewswire
(Feb. 21) Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck’s GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
“Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria- acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine.”
According to NVIC’s report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck’s Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
“About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine,” said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. “Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence- based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor’s office after they get vaccinated.”
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown “strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types” but “tested positive for high risk HPV” in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be “the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination.” Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the “HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine.” There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth’s PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
“If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported,” said Fisher. “How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don’t know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty.”
For a copy of NVIC’s Report on VAERS and GARDASIL, references for this statement and information about how to report a vaccine reaction to VAERS, go to www.nvic.org.
More on Cancer: CLICK HERE
Calls on FDA and CDC to Warn Doctors and Parents to Report to VAERS
PRNewswire
(Feb. 21) Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck’s GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
“Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria- acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine.”
According to NVIC’s report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck’s Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
“About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine,” said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. “Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence- based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor’s office after they get vaccinated.”
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown “strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types” but “tested positive for high risk HPV” in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be “the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination.” Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the “HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine.” There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth’s PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
“If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported,” said Fisher. “How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don’t know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty.”
For a copy of NVIC’s Report on VAERS and GARDASIL, references for this statement and information about how to report a vaccine reaction to VAERS, go to www.nvic.org.
More on Cancer: CLICK HERE
Merck Stops Campaign to Mandate Gardasil Vaccine Use
Bloomberg News
Feb. 20, 2007
by Shannon Pettypiece and Angela Zimm
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school.
Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn't enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance, said Rick Haupt, director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccine division, in a telephone interview today.
Texas this month became the first state, among about 20 considering legislation, to require school- aged girls to get the shot. Merck began its campaign for the vaccine among state lawmakers even before it was approved in June 2006. The company, which is based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, decided to stop lobbying states because the focus had shifted to the campaign rather than to preventing cervical cancer, Haupt said.
``Merck's early push was not the way to go,'' said Larry Pickering, executive secretary of the advisory committee on immunization practices for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. ``We want to convince people to use the vaccine because of its benefits.''
``Immediately implementing school laws is not optimal,'' Pickering said in a telephone interview today. ``We need to gather more data and reevaluate to see whether this kind of approach is necessary.''
$3 Billion Potential
The vaccine is Merck's most important new product, capable of generating as much as $3 billion in annual sales, analysts have said. Revenue from Gardasil in the fourth quarter reached $155 million.
``Many support vaccine use broadly, but don't think this is the right time to engage in a school requirement,'' Haupt said. Merck will continue to lobby to get states to pay for the vaccine through programs for the uninsured and poor, he said.
Merck's Gardasil is the first approved vaccine against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. The virus is common: about half of all sexually active men and women are infected with it at some point of their lives, according to the CDC. Gardasil is administered in three doses costing $120 each.
Groups such as the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family oppose making the shot mandatory and say parents should make the decision for their girls. Other groups have also questioned the need for making the vaccine mandatory because HPV isn't spread by casual contact like the germs that cause measles or polio.
``The mechanism of transmission of HPV is different and people feel school laws are not needed,'' Pickering said.
In the U.S., where Pap smear screening to detect cervical cancer is widespread, about 14,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and 3,900 die from it. Of cancers affecting mainly females, only breast cancer strikes more women globally than cervical cancer.
Sixth Grade
Starting in 2008, Texas girls ages 11 and 12 will be required to have the vaccine before entering sixth grade. The shots will cost the state $50 million the first year.
The Texas order allows parents to opt out of the mandatory vaccinations ``for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs.'' The order directs the state health agency to provide opt-out request forms on line.
A group called the National Vaccine Information Center said yesterday that its analysis of reports to U.S. regulators found cases of serious side effects to Gardasil. One was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Shannon Pettypiece in New York at
spettypiece@bloomberg.net
Angela Zimm in Boston at
azimm@bloomberg.net
For Cancer Information CLICK HERE
Bloomberg News
Feb. 20, 2007
by Shannon Pettypiece and Angela Zimm
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school.
Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn't enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance, said Rick Haupt, director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccine division, in a telephone interview today.
Texas this month became the first state, among about 20 considering legislation, to require school- aged girls to get the shot. Merck began its campaign for the vaccine among state lawmakers even before it was approved in June 2006. The company, which is based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, decided to stop lobbying states because the focus had shifted to the campaign rather than to preventing cervical cancer, Haupt said.
``Merck's early push was not the way to go,'' said Larry Pickering, executive secretary of the advisory committee on immunization practices for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. ``We want to convince people to use the vaccine because of its benefits.''
``Immediately implementing school laws is not optimal,'' Pickering said in a telephone interview today. ``We need to gather more data and reevaluate to see whether this kind of approach is necessary.''
$3 Billion Potential
The vaccine is Merck's most important new product, capable of generating as much as $3 billion in annual sales, analysts have said. Revenue from Gardasil in the fourth quarter reached $155 million.
``Many support vaccine use broadly, but don't think this is the right time to engage in a school requirement,'' Haupt said. Merck will continue to lobby to get states to pay for the vaccine through programs for the uninsured and poor, he said.
Merck's Gardasil is the first approved vaccine against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. The virus is common: about half of all sexually active men and women are infected with it at some point of their lives, according to the CDC. Gardasil is administered in three doses costing $120 each.
Groups such as the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family oppose making the shot mandatory and say parents should make the decision for their girls. Other groups have also questioned the need for making the vaccine mandatory because HPV isn't spread by casual contact like the germs that cause measles or polio.
``The mechanism of transmission of HPV is different and people feel school laws are not needed,'' Pickering said.
In the U.S., where Pap smear screening to detect cervical cancer is widespread, about 14,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and 3,900 die from it. Of cancers affecting mainly females, only breast cancer strikes more women globally than cervical cancer.
Sixth Grade
Starting in 2008, Texas girls ages 11 and 12 will be required to have the vaccine before entering sixth grade. The shots will cost the state $50 million the first year.
The Texas order allows parents to opt out of the mandatory vaccinations ``for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs.'' The order directs the state health agency to provide opt-out request forms on line.
A group called the National Vaccine Information Center said yesterday that its analysis of reports to U.S. regulators found cases of serious side effects to Gardasil. One was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Shannon Pettypiece in New York at
spettypiece@bloomberg.net
Angela Zimm in Boston at
azimm@bloomberg.net
For Cancer Information CLICK HERE
Merck suspends lobbying for cervical cancer vaccine mandate
Star-Telegram
Associated Press
February 20, 2007
LINDA A. JOHNSON
TRENTON, N.J. - Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance.
The drug maker, which announced the change Tuesday, had been criticized for quietly funding the campaign, via a third party, to require 11- and 12-year- old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school.
Some had objected because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted disease, human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer. Vaccines mandated for school attendance usually are for diseases easily spread through casual contact, such as measles and mumps.
"Our goal is about cervical cancer prevention and we want to reach as many females as possible with Gardasil," Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck's medical director for vaccines, told The Associated Press.
"We're concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts," Haupt said, adding the company will continue providing information about the vaccine if requested by government officials.
Merck launched Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, in June. It protects against the two virus strains causing 90 percent of cervical cancer and two strains that cause most genital warts.
Sales totaled $235 million through the end of 2006, according to Merck.
Last month, the AP reported that Merck was channeling money for its state-mandate campaign through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators across the country.
Conservative groups opposed the campaign, saying it would encourage premarital sex, and parents' rights groups said it interfered with their control over their children.
Even two of the prominent medical groups that supported broad use of the vaccine, the American Academy of Pediatricians and the American Academy of Family Practitioners, questioned Merck's timing, Haupt said Tuesday.
"They, along with some other folks in the public health community, believe there needs to be more time," he said, to ensure government funding for the vaccine for uninsured girls is in place and that families and government officials have enough information about it.
Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring Texas girls entering the sixth grade as of 2008 get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state.
Perry defended his order on Tuesday, a day after House lawmakers in Austin held a lengthy hearing on the issue but failed to act on a bill to override the order.
Dr. Anne Francis, who chairs an American Academy of Pediatrics committee that advocates for better insurer reimbursement on vaccines, called Merck's change of heart "a good move for the public."
"I believe that their timing was a little bit premature," she said, "so soon after (Gardasil's) release, before we have a picture of whether there are going to be any untoward side effects."
Given that the country has been "burned" by some drugs whose serious side effects emerged only after they were in wide use, including Merck's withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, Francis said, it would be better to wait awhile before mandating Gardasil usage.
She said she also was concerned about requiring a vaccine for a disease that is not communicable and so does not have a big public health impact. While doctors expect Gardasil to have a huge effect in poor countries where women do not get Pap smears, in this country those tests limit the incidence of cervical cancer to about 9,710 new cases and 3,700 deaths each year.
The National Vaccine Information Center has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The center, a group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, questions whether the vaccine was tested in enough young girls.
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January don't raise any red flags.
The vaccine also is controversial because of its price - $360 for the three doses required over a six- month stretch. Because of that cost and what pediatricians and gynecologists say is inadequate reimbursement by insurers, many are choosing not to stock the vaccine or requiring surcharges to administer it, increasing the cost for many families and making the vaccine hard to come by.
Merck shares were down in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange, falling 35 cents to $44.15 after rising 22 cents in regular trading to close at $44.50.
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MORE INFORMATION AT: Vaccination Page
Star-Telegram
Associated Press
February 20, 2007
LINDA A. JOHNSON
TRENTON, N.J. - Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance.
The drug maker, which announced the change Tuesday, had been criticized for quietly funding the campaign, via a third party, to require 11- and 12-year- old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school.
Some had objected because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted disease, human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer. Vaccines mandated for school attendance usually are for diseases easily spread through casual contact, such as measles and mumps.
"Our goal is about cervical cancer prevention and we want to reach as many females as possible with Gardasil," Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck's medical director for vaccines, told The Associated Press.
"We're concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts," Haupt said, adding the company will continue providing information about the vaccine if requested by government officials.
Merck launched Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, in June. It protects against the two virus strains causing 90 percent of cervical cancer and two strains that cause most genital warts.
Sales totaled $235 million through the end of 2006, according to Merck.
Last month, the AP reported that Merck was channeling money for its state-mandate campaign through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators across the country.
Conservative groups opposed the campaign, saying it would encourage premarital sex, and parents' rights groups said it interfered with their control over their children.
Even two of the prominent medical groups that supported broad use of the vaccine, the American Academy of Pediatricians and the American Academy of Family Practitioners, questioned Merck's timing, Haupt said Tuesday.
"They, along with some other folks in the public health community, believe there needs to be more time," he said, to ensure government funding for the vaccine for uninsured girls is in place and that families and government officials have enough information about it.
Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring Texas girls entering the sixth grade as of 2008 get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state.
Perry defended his order on Tuesday, a day after House lawmakers in Austin held a lengthy hearing on the issue but failed to act on a bill to override the order.
Dr. Anne Francis, who chairs an American Academy of Pediatrics committee that advocates for better insurer reimbursement on vaccines, called Merck's change of heart "a good move for the public."
"I believe that their timing was a little bit premature," she said, "so soon after (Gardasil's) release, before we have a picture of whether there are going to be any untoward side effects."
Given that the country has been "burned" by some drugs whose serious side effects emerged only after they were in wide use, including Merck's withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, Francis said, it would be better to wait awhile before mandating Gardasil usage.
She said she also was concerned about requiring a vaccine for a disease that is not communicable and so does not have a big public health impact. While doctors expect Gardasil to have a huge effect in poor countries where women do not get Pap smears, in this country those tests limit the incidence of cervical cancer to about 9,710 new cases and 3,700 deaths each year.
The National Vaccine Information Center has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The center, a group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, questions whether the vaccine was tested in enough young girls.
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January don't raise any red flags.
The vaccine also is controversial because of its price - $360 for the three doses required over a six- month stretch. Because of that cost and what pediatricians and gynecologists say is inadequate reimbursement by insurers, many are choosing not to stock the vaccine or requiring surcharges to administer it, increasing the cost for many families and making the vaccine hard to come by.
Merck shares were down in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange, falling 35 cents to $44.15 after rising 22 cents in regular trading to close at $44.50.
*************************************************************
MORE INFORMATION AT: Vaccination Page
Vaccines are NOT SAFE.
Dr. James R. Shannon, former director of the National institute of
health declared, "the only safe vaccine is one that is never used."
Cowpox vaccine was believed able to immunize people against smallpox.
At the time this vaccine was introduced, there was already a decline
in the number of cases of smallpox. Japan introduced compulsory
vaccination in 1872. In 1892 there were 165,774 cases of smallpox with
29,979 deaths despite the vaccination program. A stringent compulsory
smallpox vaccine program, which prosecuted those refusing the vaccine,
was instituted in England in 1867. Within 4 years 97.5 % of persons
between 2 and 50 had been vaccinated. The following year England
experienced the worst smallpox epidemic[1] in its history with 44,840
deaths. Between 1871 and 1880 the incidence of smallpox escalated from
28 to 46 per 100,000. The smallpox vaccine does not work.
Much of the success attributed to vaccination programs may actually
have been due to improvement in public health related to water quality
and sanitation, less crowded living conditions, better nutrition, and
higher standards of living. Typically the incidence of a disease was
clearly declining before the vaccine for that disease was introduced.
In England the incidence of polio had decreased by 82 % before the
polio vaccine was introduced in 1956.
In the early 1900s an astute Indiana physician, Dr. W.B. Clarke,
stated "Cancer was practically unknown until compulsory vaccination
with cowpox vaccine began to be introduced. I have had to deal with
two hundred cases of cancer, and I never saw a case of cancer in an
un-vaccinated [2] person."
There is a widely held belief that vaccines should not be criticized
because the public might refuse to take them. This is valid only if
the benefits exceed the known risks of the vaccines.
Do Vaccines Actually Prevent Disease?
This important question does not appear to have ever been adequately
studied. Vaccines are enormously profitable for drug companies and
recent legislation in the U.S. has exempted lawsuits against
pharmaceutical firms in the event of adverse reactions to vaccines
which are very common. In 1975 Germany stopped requiring pertussis
(whooping cough) vaccination. Today less than 10 % of German children
are vaccinated against pertussis. The number of cases of pertussis has
steadily decreased[3] even though far fewer children are receiving
pertussis vaccine.
Measles outbreaks have occurred in schools with vaccination rates over
98 % in all parts of the U.S. including areas that had reported no
cases of measles for years. As measles immunization rates rise to high
levels measles becomes a disease seen only in vaccinated persons. An
outbreak of measles occurred in a school where 100 % of the children
had been vaccinated. Measles mortality rates had declined by 97 % in
England before measles vaccination was instituted.
In 1986 there were 1300 cases of pertussis in Kansas and 90 % of these
cases occurred in children who had been adequately vaccinated. Similar
vaccine failures have been reported from Nova Scotia where pertussis
continues to be occurring despite universal vaccination. Pertussis
remains endemic[4] in the Netherlands where for more than 20 years 96
% of children have received 3 pertussis shots by age 12 months.
After institution of diphtheria vaccination in England and Wales in
1894 the number of deaths from diphtheria rose by 20 % in the
subsequent 15 years. Germany had compulsory vaccination in 1939. The
rate of diphtheria spiraled to 150,000 cases that year whereas, Norway
which did not have compulsory vaccination, had only 50 cases of
diphtheria the same year.
The continued presence of these infectious diseases in children who
have received vaccines proves that life long immunity which follows
natural infection does not occur in persons receiving vaccines. The
injection process places the viral particles into the blood without
providing any clear way to eliminate these foreign substances.
Why Do Vaccines Fail To Protect Against Diseases?
Walene James, author of Immunization: the Reality Behind The Myth,
states that the full[5] inflammatory response is necessary to create
real immunity. Prior to the introduction of measles and mumps vaccines
children got measles and mumps and in the great majority of cases
these diseases were benign. Vaccines "trick" the body so it does not
mount a complete inflammatory response to the injected virus.
Vaccines and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS
The incidence of Sudden Infant Death syndrome SIDS has grown from .55
per 1000 live births in 1953 to 12.8 per 1000 in 1992 in Olmstead
County, Minnesota. The peak incidence for SIDS is age 2 to 4 months
the exact time most vaccines are being given to children. 85 % of
cases of SIDS occur in the first 6 months of infancy. The increase in
SIDS as a percentage of total infant deaths has risen from 2.5 per
1000 in 1953 to 17.9 per 1000 in 1992. This rise in SIDS deaths has
occurred during a period when nearly every childhood disease was
declining due to improved sanitation and medical progress except SIDS.
These deaths from SIDS did increase during a period when the number of
vaccines given a child was steadily rising to 36 per child.
Dr. W. Torch was able to document 12 deaths in infants which appeared
within 3½ and 19 hours of a DPT immunization. He later reported 11 new
cases of SIDS death and one near miss which had occurred within 24
hours of a DPT injection. When he studied 70 cases of SIDS two thirds
of these victims[6] had been vaccinated from one half day to 3 weeks
prior to their deaths. None of these deaths was attributed to
vaccines. Vaccines are a sacred cow and nothing against them appears
in the mass media because they are so profitable to pharmaceutical firms.
There is valid reason to think that not only are vaccines worthless in
preventing disease they are counterproductive because they injure the
immune system permitting cancer, auto-immune diseases and SIDS to
cause much disability and death.
Are Vaccines Sterile?
Dr. Robert Strecker claimed that the department of defense DOD was
given $10,000,000 in 1969 to create the AIDS virus to be used as a
population-reducing[7] weapon against blacks. By use of the Freedom of
Information Act Dr. Strecker was able to learn that the DOD secured
funds from Congress to perform studies on immune destroying agents for
germ warfare.
Once produced, the vaccine was given in two locations. Smallpox
vaccine containing HIV was given to 100,000,000 Africans in 1977. Over
2000 young white homosexual males in New York City were given
Hepatitis B vaccine that contained HIV virus in 1978. This vaccine was
given at New York City Blood Center. The Hepatitis B vaccine
containing the HIV virus was also administered to homosexual males in
San Francisco, Los Angeles, St.Louis, Houston and Chicago in 1978 and
1979. U.S. Public Health epidemiology studies have disclosed that
these same 6 cities had the highest incidence of AIDS, Aids related
Complex (ARC) and deaths rates from HIV, when compared to other U.S.
cities.
When a new virus is introduced into a community. It takes 20 years for
the number of cases to double. If the fabricated story that green
monkey bites of pygmies led to the HIV epidemic, the alleged monkey
bites in the 1940s should have produced a peak in the incidence of HIV
in the 1960s at which time HIV was non existent in Africa. The World
Health Organization (WHO) began a African smallpox vaccination
campaign in 1977 that targeted urban population centers and avoided
pygmies. If the green monkey bites of pygmies truly caused the HIV
epidemic the incidence of HIV in pygmies should have been higher than
in urban citizens. However, the opposite was true.
In 1954 Dr. Bernice Eddy (bacteriologist) discovered live monkey
viruses in supposedly sterile inactivated polio vaccine[8] developed
by Dr. Jonas Salk. This discovery was not well received at the NIH and
Dr. Eddy was demoted. Later Dr. Eddy, working with Sarah Stewart,
discovered SE polyoma virus. This virus was quite important because it
caused cancer in every animal receiving it. Yellow fever vaccine had
previously been found to contain avian (bird) leukemia virus. Later
Dr. Hilleman isolated SV 40 virus from both the Salk and Sabin polio
vaccines. There were 40 different viruses[9] in these polio vaccines
they were trying to eradicate. They were never able to get rid of
these viruses ontaminating the polio vaccines. The SV 40 virus causes
malignancies. It has now been identified in 43 % of cases of
non-Hodgekin lymphoma[10] , 36 % of brain tumors[11] , 18 % of healthy
blood samples, and 22 % of healthy semen samples, mesothiolomas and
other malignancies. By the time of this discovery SV 40 had already
been injected into 10,000,000 people in Salk vaccine. Gastric
digestion inactivtes some of SV 40 in Sabin vaccine. However, the
isolation of strains of Sabin polio vaccine from all 38 cases of
Guillan Barre Syndrome[12] GBS in Brazil suggests that significant
numbers of persons are able to be infected from this vaccine. All 38
of these patients had received Sabin polio vaccine months to years
before the onset of GBS. The incidence of non-Hodgekin lymphoma
has"mysteriouly" doubled since the 1970s.
Dr. John Martin, Professor of Pathology at the Univ. of Southern
California, was employed by the Viral Oncology Branch of the Bureau of
Biologics (FDA) from 1976 to 1980. While employed there he identified
foreign DNA in the live polio vaccine Orimune Lederle that suggested
serious vaccine contamination. He warned his supervisors about this
problem and was told to discontinue his work as it was outside the
scope of testing required for polio vaccine.
Later Dr. Martin learned that all eleven of the African green monkeys
used to grow the Lederle polio virus Orimune had grown simian
cytomegalovirus from kidney cell cultures. Lederle was aware of this
viral contamination as their Cytomegaloviral Contamination Plan[13]
clearly showed in 1972. The Bureau of Biologics decided not to pursue
the matter so production of infected polio vaccine continued.
In 1955 Dr. Martin identified unique cell destroying viruses termed
stealth viruses in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. These
viruses lacked genes that would enable the immune system to recognize
them. Thus they were protected by the body's failure to develop
antiviral antibodies. In March of 1995, Dr. Martin learned that some
of these stealth viruses had originated from African green monkey
simian cytomegalovirus of a type known to infect man.
The Lederle vaccine experience suggests that the higher-ups are not
concerned about sloppy and dangerous preparation of vaccines. Animal
cross infection is a huge unsolved current problem for all vaccine
manufacturing. If this vaccine production sounds like an unbelievable
mess to you, you are right.
The influential Club of Rome has a position paper in which they state
that the world population is too large and needs to be reduced by 90
%. This means that 6 billion people must be reduced to 500 to 600
million. Obviously, creating famines and genocidal wars such as
wrecked havoc in Africa, and loosing new laboratory-created diseases
(HIV, Ebola, Marburg[14] , and probably West Nile virus and SARS) can
help reduce the population. Other elitist groups (Trilaterals,
Bildenbergers) have expressed similar concerns about excess people on
planet Earth.
The company that was projected to produce the new smallpox vaccine in
the U.S. was in serious trouble in England because of unsatisfactory
quality of operations before setting up their facility in the U.S. Why
would their performance here be any better than it was in England?
If there are important powerful groups of people that are determined
to reduce the world population, what could be a more diabolically
clever way to eliminate people than to inject them with a
cancer-causing vaccine? The person receiving the injection would never
suspect that the vaccine taken 10 to 15 years earlier had caused the
cancer to appear.
Other Dangers From Vaccines
In the March 4, 1977 issue of Science Jonas and Darrell Salk warn,
"Live virus vaccines against influenza or poliomyelitis may in each
instance produce the disease it intended to prevent. The live virus
against measles and mumps may produce such side effects as
encephalitis (brain damage).
The swine flu vaccine was administered to the American public even
though there had never been a case of swine flu identified in a human.
Farmers refused to use the vaccine because it killed too many animals.
Within a few months of use in humans this vaccine caused many cases of
serious nerve injury (Guillan Barre syndrome).
An article in the Washington Post on Jan. 26, 1988 mentioned that all
cases of polio since 1979 had been caused by the polio vaccine with no
known cases of polio from a wild strain since 1979. This might have
created a perfect situation to discontinue the vaccine, but the
vaccine is still given. Vaccines are a wonderful source of profits
with no risks to the drug companies since vaccine injuries are now
recompensed by the government.
The steady escalation in the number of vaccines administered has been
followed by an identical rise in the incidence of auto-immune diseases
(rheumatoid arthritis, subacute lupus erythematosus, psoriasis,
multiple sclerosis, asthma) seen in children. While there is a genetic
transmission of some of these diseases many are probably due to the
injury from foreign protein particles, mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde
and other toxic agents injected in vaccines.
In 1999, the rotavirus vaccine was recommended by the Center for
Disease Control for all infants. When this vaccine program was
instituted several infants died and many had life endangering bowel
obstructions. Prelicensure trials[15] of the rotavirus vaccine had
demonstrated an increased incidence of intussusception 30 times
greater than normal but the vaccine was released anyway without
special warnings to practitioners to be on the lookout for bowel
problems. Children's vaccines are often not studied for toxicity
possibly because such study might eliminate them from being used.
A large study from Australia showed that the risk of developing
encephalitis from the pertussis vaccine was 5 times greater than the
risk of developing encephalitis by contacting pertussis by natural
methods.
Naturally acquired immunity by illness evolves by spread of a virus
from the respiratory tract to the liver, thymus, spleen, and bone
marrow. When symptoms begin, the entire immune response has been
mobilized to repel the invading virus. This complex immune system
response creates antibodies that confer life long immunity against
that invading virus and prepares the child to respond promptly to an
infection by the same virus in the future.
Vaccination, in contrast, results in the persisting of live virus or
other foreign antigens within the cells of the body, a situation that
may provoke auto-immune reactions as the body attempts to destroy its
own infected cells. There is no surprise that the incidence of
auto-immune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, subacute lupus
erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, asthma, psoriasis) has risen
sharply in this era of multiple vaccine immunization.
Vaccine Induced Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Dr. John Classen has published 29 articles on vaccine-induced[16]
diabetes. At least 8 of 10 children with Type 1 (insulin needing)
diabetes have this disease as a result of vaccination. These children
may have avoided measles, mumps, and whooping cough but they have
received something far worse: an illness that shortens life expectancy
by 10 to 15 years and results in a life requiring constant medical care.
Dr. Classen has shown in Finland, the introduction of hemophilus type
b vaccine caused three times as many cases of type 1 diabetes as the
number of deaths and brain damage from hemophilus influenza type b it
might have prevented.
In New Zealand, the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in children rose by
61 % after an aggressive vaccine program against hepatitis B.. This
same program has been started in the U.S.A. so we can now look forward
to many cases of Type 1 diabetes in children. Similar rises in Type 1
diabetes have been seen in England, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark after
immunization programs against Hepatitis B.
Toxic Substances Are Needed To Make Vaccines.
Vaccines contain many toxic substances that are needed to prevent the
vaccines from becoming infected or to improve the performance of the
vaccine. Among these substances are mercury, formaldehyde and
aluminum.[17]
In the past 10 years, the number of autistic children has risen from
between 200 and 500 percent in every state in the U.S. This sharp rise
in autism followed the introduction of measles, mumps and rubella
vaccine in 1975.
Representative Dan Burton's healthy grandson was given injections for
9 diseases in one day. These injections were instantly followed by
autism. These injections contain a preservative of mercury called
thimerosal. The boy received 41 times the amount of mercury which is
capable of harm to the body. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can injure
the brain and nervous system. And tragically, it did.
In the United States the number of compulsory vaccine injections has
increased from 10 to 36 in the last 25 years. During this period,
there has been a simultaneous increase in the number of children
suffering learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. Some
of these childhood disabilities are related to intrauterine cerebral
damage from maternal cocaine use, but probably vaccines cause many of
the others.
Many vaccines contain aluminum. A new disease called macrophagic
myofasciitis causes pain in muscles, bones and joints. All persons
with this disease have received aluminum containing vaccines. Deposits
of aluminum are able to remain as an irritant in tissues and disturb
the immune and nervous system for a lifetime.
Nearly all vaccines contain aluminum and mercury. These metals appear
to play an important role in the etiology of Alzheimer's Disease. An
expert at the 1997 International Vaccine Conference related that a
person who takes 5 or more annual flu vaccine shots has increased the
likelihood of developing Alzheimer's Disease by a factor of 10 over
the person who has had 2 or fewer flu shots.
When we take vaccines we are playing a modern version of Russian
Roulette. We not only get exposed to aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde
and foreign cell proteins but we may get simian virus 40 and other
dangerous viruses which can cause cancer, leukemia and other severe
health problems because the vaccine pool is contaminated due to
careless animal isolation techniques. Congress has protected the
manufacturers from lawsuits, so dangerous vaccines simply increase
profits at no risk to the drug companies.
U.S. children aged 2 months began receiving hepatitis B vaccine in
December 2000.No peer-reviewed studies of the safety of hepatitis B in
this age bracket had been done. Over 36,000 adverse reactions with 440
deaths were soon reported but the true incidence is much higher as
reporting is voluntary so only approximately 10 % of adverse reactions
get reported. This means that about 5000 infants are dying annually
from the hepatitis B vaccine. The CDC's Chief of Epidemiology admits
that the frequency of serious reactions to hepatitis B vaccine is 10
times higher than other vaccines. Hepatitis B is transmitted sexually
and by contaminated blood, so the incidence of this disease must be
near zero in this age bracket. A vaccine expert, Dr. Philip Incao,
states that "the conclusion is obvious that the risks[18] of hepatitis
B vaccination far outweigh the benefits. Once a vaccine is mandated
the vaccine manufacturer is no longer liable for adverse reactions.
Dr. W.B. Clarke's important observation that cancer was not found in
unvaccinated individuals demands an explanation and one now appears
forthcoming. All vaccines given over a short period of time to an
immature immune system deplete the thymus gland (the primary gland
involved in immune reactions) of irreplaceable immature immune cells.
Each of these cells could have multiplied and developed into an army
of valuable cells to combat infection and growth of abnormal cells.
When these immune cells have been used up, permanent immunity may not
appear. The Arthur Research Foundation in Tucson, Arizona estimates
that up to 60 % of our immune system may be exhausted[19] by multiple
mass vaccines (36 are now required for children). Only 10 % of immune
cells are permanently lost when a child is permitted to develop
natural immunity from disease. There needs to be grave concern about
these immune system injuring vaccinations! Could the persons who
approve these mass vaccinations know that they are impairing the
health of these children, many of whom are being doomed to requiring
much medical care in the future?
Compelling evidence is available that the development of the immune
system after contracting the usual childhood diseases matures and
renders it capable to fight infection and malignant cells in the future.
The use of multiple vaccines, which prevents natural immunity,
promotes the development of allergies and asthma. A New Zealand study
disclosed that 23 % of vaccinated children develop asthma , as
compared to zero in unvaccinated children.
Cancer was a very rare illness in the 1890's. This evidence about
immune system injury from vaccinating affords a plausible explanation
for Dr. Clarke's finding that only vaccinated individuals got cancer.
Some radical adverse change in health occurred in the early 1900s to
permit cancer to explode and vaccinating appears to be the reason.
Vaccines are an unnatural phenomena. My guess is that if enough
persons said no to immunizations there would be a striking improvement
in general health with nature back in the immunizing business instead
of man. Having a child vaccinated should be a choice not a
requirement. Medical and religious exemptions are permitted by most
states.
When governmental policies require vaccinations before children enter
schools coercion has overruled the lack of evidence of vaccine
efficacy and safety. There is no proof that vaccines work and they are
never studied for safety before release. My opinion is that there is
overwhelming evidence that vaccines are dangerous and the only reason
for their existence is to increase profits of pharmaceutical firms.
If you are forced to immunize your children so they can enter school,
obtain a notarized statement from the director of the facility that
they will accept full financial responsibility for any adverse
reaction from the vaccine. Since there is at least a 2 percent risk of
a serious adverse reaction they may be smart enough to permit your
child to escape a dangerous procedure. Recent legislation passed by
Congress gives the government the power to imprison persons refusing
to take vaccines (smallpox, anthrax, etc). This would be troublesome
to enforce if large numbers of citizens declined to be vaccinated at
the same time.
Footnotes:
1 Null Gary Vaccination: An Analysis of the Health Risks- Part
Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients Dec. 2003 pg 78
2 Mullins Eustace Murder by Injection pg 132 The National Council for
Medical Research, P. O. Box 1105, Staunton, Virginia 24401
3 Gary Null Interview with Dr. Dean Black April 7, 1995
4 de Melker HE, et al Pertussis in the Netherlands: an outbreak
despite high levels of immunization with whole-cell vaccine Emerging
Infectious Diseases 1997; 3(2): 175-8 Centers for Disease Control
5 Gary Null Interview with Walene James, April 6, 1995
6 Torch WS Diptheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) immunizations: a
potential cause of the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) Neurology
1982; 32-4 A169 abstract.
7 Collin Jonathan The Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients 1988
abstracted in Horowitz L. Emerging Viruses Aids & Ebola pg 1-5
8 Harris RJ et al Contaminant viruses in two live vaccines produced in
chick cells.J Hyg (London) 1966 Mar:64(1) : 1-7
9 Horowitz Leonard G. Emerging Viruses AIDS & Ebola pg 484
10 Vilchez RA et al Association between simian virus 40 and
non-Hodgekin lymphoma Lancet 2002 Mar 9;359(9309):817-823
11 Bu X A study of simian virus 40 infection and its origin in human
brain tumors Zhonghu Liu Xing Bing Xue Zhi 2000 Feb;21 (1):19-21
12 Friedrich F. et al temporal association between the isolation of
Sabin-related poliovirus vaccine strains and the Guillan-Barre
syndrome Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 1996 Jan-Feb; 38(1):55-8
13 Horowitz Leonard Emerging Viruses: Aids and Ebola pg 492
14 Horowitz Leonard G Emerging Viruses: Aids & Ebola pg 378-88
Tetrahedron Inc. Suite 147, 206 North 4th Ave. Sandpoint, Idaho 83864
1-888-508-4787 tetra@tetrahedron.org
15 Null, Gary Vaccination: An Anatysis of the health risks-Part 3
Townsend letter for doctors & patients Dec. 2003 pg 78
16 Classen, JB et al. Association between type 1 diabetes and Hib
vaccine BMJ 1999; 319:1133
17 Brain 9/01
18 Incao, philip M.D. Letter to representative Dale Van Vyven, Ohio
House of Representatives March 1, 1999 provided to www.garynull.com by
The Natural Immunity Information Network
19 Rowen Robert Your first consultation with Dr. Rowen pg 20
"
*SOURCE:
http://beinformed.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/why-you-should-avoid-taking-vaccines/
Dr. James R. Shannon, former director of the National institute of
health declared, "the only safe vaccine is one that is never used."
Cowpox vaccine was believed able to immunize people against smallpox.
At the time this vaccine was introduced, there was already a decline
in the number of cases of smallpox. Japan introduced compulsory
vaccination in 1872. In 1892 there were 165,774 cases of smallpox with
29,979 deaths despite the vaccination program. A stringent compulsory
smallpox vaccine program, which prosecuted those refusing the vaccine,
was instituted in England in 1867. Within 4 years 97.5 % of persons
between 2 and 50 had been vaccinated. The following year England
experienced the worst smallpox epidemic[1] in its history with 44,840
deaths. Between 1871 and 1880 the incidence of smallpox escalated from
28 to 46 per 100,000. The smallpox vaccine does not work.
Much of the success attributed to vaccination programs may actually
have been due to improvement in public health related to water quality
and sanitation, less crowded living conditions, better nutrition, and
higher standards of living. Typically the incidence of a disease was
clearly declining before the vaccine for that disease was introduced.
In England the incidence of polio had decreased by 82 % before the
polio vaccine was introduced in 1956.
In the early 1900s an astute Indiana physician, Dr. W.B. Clarke,
stated "Cancer was practically unknown until compulsory vaccination
with cowpox vaccine began to be introduced. I have had to deal with
two hundred cases of cancer, and I never saw a case of cancer in an
un-vaccinated [2] person."
There is a widely held belief that vaccines should not be criticized
because the public might refuse to take them. This is valid only if
the benefits exceed the known risks of the vaccines.
Do Vaccines Actually Prevent Disease?
This important question does not appear to have ever been adequately
studied. Vaccines are enormously profitable for drug companies and
recent legislation in the U.S. has exempted lawsuits against
pharmaceutical firms in the event of adverse reactions to vaccines
which are very common. In 1975 Germany stopped requiring pertussis
(whooping cough) vaccination. Today less than 10 % of German children
are vaccinated against pertussis. The number of cases of pertussis has
steadily decreased[3] even though far fewer children are receiving
pertussis vaccine.
Measles outbreaks have occurred in schools with vaccination rates over
98 % in all parts of the U.S. including areas that had reported no
cases of measles for years. As measles immunization rates rise to high
levels measles becomes a disease seen only in vaccinated persons. An
outbreak of measles occurred in a school where 100 % of the children
had been vaccinated. Measles mortality rates had declined by 97 % in
England before measles vaccination was instituted.
In 1986 there were 1300 cases of pertussis in Kansas and 90 % of these
cases occurred in children who had been adequately vaccinated. Similar
vaccine failures have been reported from Nova Scotia where pertussis
continues to be occurring despite universal vaccination. Pertussis
remains endemic[4] in the Netherlands where for more than 20 years 96
% of children have received 3 pertussis shots by age 12 months.
After institution of diphtheria vaccination in England and Wales in
1894 the number of deaths from diphtheria rose by 20 % in the
subsequent 15 years. Germany had compulsory vaccination in 1939. The
rate of diphtheria spiraled to 150,000 cases that year whereas, Norway
which did not have compulsory vaccination, had only 50 cases of
diphtheria the same year.
The continued presence of these infectious diseases in children who
have received vaccines proves that life long immunity which follows
natural infection does not occur in persons receiving vaccines. The
injection process places the viral particles into the blood without
providing any clear way to eliminate these foreign substances.
Why Do Vaccines Fail To Protect Against Diseases?
Walene James, author of Immunization: the Reality Behind The Myth,
states that the full[5] inflammatory response is necessary to create
real immunity. Prior to the introduction of measles and mumps vaccines
children got measles and mumps and in the great majority of cases
these diseases were benign. Vaccines "trick" the body so it does not
mount a complete inflammatory response to the injected virus.
Vaccines and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS
The incidence of Sudden Infant Death syndrome SIDS has grown from .55
per 1000 live births in 1953 to 12.8 per 1000 in 1992 in Olmstead
County, Minnesota. The peak incidence for SIDS is age 2 to 4 months
the exact time most vaccines are being given to children. 85 % of
cases of SIDS occur in the first 6 months of infancy. The increase in
SIDS as a percentage of total infant deaths has risen from 2.5 per
1000 in 1953 to 17.9 per 1000 in 1992. This rise in SIDS deaths has
occurred during a period when nearly every childhood disease was
declining due to improved sanitation and medical progress except SIDS.
These deaths from SIDS did increase during a period when the number of
vaccines given a child was steadily rising to 36 per child.
Dr. W. Torch was able to document 12 deaths in infants which appeared
within 3½ and 19 hours of a DPT immunization. He later reported 11 new
cases of SIDS death and one near miss which had occurred within 24
hours of a DPT injection. When he studied 70 cases of SIDS two thirds
of these victims[6] had been vaccinated from one half day to 3 weeks
prior to their deaths. None of these deaths was attributed to
vaccines. Vaccines are a sacred cow and nothing against them appears
in the mass media because they are so profitable to pharmaceutical firms.
There is valid reason to think that not only are vaccines worthless in
preventing disease they are counterproductive because they injure the
immune system permitting cancer, auto-immune diseases and SIDS to
cause much disability and death.
Are Vaccines Sterile?
Dr. Robert Strecker claimed that the department of defense DOD was
given $10,000,000 in 1969 to create the AIDS virus to be used as a
population-reducing[7] weapon against blacks. By use of the Freedom of
Information Act Dr. Strecker was able to learn that the DOD secured
funds from Congress to perform studies on immune destroying agents for
germ warfare.
Once produced, the vaccine was given in two locations. Smallpox
vaccine containing HIV was given to 100,000,000 Africans in 1977. Over
2000 young white homosexual males in New York City were given
Hepatitis B vaccine that contained HIV virus in 1978. This vaccine was
given at New York City Blood Center. The Hepatitis B vaccine
containing the HIV virus was also administered to homosexual males in
San Francisco, Los Angeles, St.Louis, Houston and Chicago in 1978 and
1979. U.S. Public Health epidemiology studies have disclosed that
these same 6 cities had the highest incidence of AIDS, Aids related
Complex (ARC) and deaths rates from HIV, when compared to other U.S.
cities.
When a new virus is introduced into a community. It takes 20 years for
the number of cases to double. If the fabricated story that green
monkey bites of pygmies led to the HIV epidemic, the alleged monkey
bites in the 1940s should have produced a peak in the incidence of HIV
in the 1960s at which time HIV was non existent in Africa. The World
Health Organization (WHO) began a African smallpox vaccination
campaign in 1977 that targeted urban population centers and avoided
pygmies. If the green monkey bites of pygmies truly caused the HIV
epidemic the incidence of HIV in pygmies should have been higher than
in urban citizens. However, the opposite was true.
In 1954 Dr. Bernice Eddy (bacteriologist) discovered live monkey
viruses in supposedly sterile inactivated polio vaccine[8] developed
by Dr. Jonas Salk. This discovery was not well received at the NIH and
Dr. Eddy was demoted. Later Dr. Eddy, working with Sarah Stewart,
discovered SE polyoma virus. This virus was quite important because it
caused cancer in every animal receiving it. Yellow fever vaccine had
previously been found to contain avian (bird) leukemia virus. Later
Dr. Hilleman isolated SV 40 virus from both the Salk and Sabin polio
vaccines. There were 40 different viruses[9] in these polio vaccines
they were trying to eradicate. They were never able to get rid of
these viruses ontaminating the polio vaccines. The SV 40 virus causes
malignancies. It has now been identified in 43 % of cases of
non-Hodgekin lymphoma[10] , 36 % of brain tumors[11] , 18 % of healthy
blood samples, and 22 % of healthy semen samples, mesothiolomas and
other malignancies. By the time of this discovery SV 40 had already
been injected into 10,000,000 people in Salk vaccine. Gastric
digestion inactivtes some of SV 40 in Sabin vaccine. However, the
isolation of strains of Sabin polio vaccine from all 38 cases of
Guillan Barre Syndrome[12] GBS in Brazil suggests that significant
numbers of persons are able to be infected from this vaccine. All 38
of these patients had received Sabin polio vaccine months to years
before the onset of GBS. The incidence of non-Hodgekin lymphoma
has"mysteriouly" doubled since the 1970s.
Dr. John Martin, Professor of Pathology at the Univ. of Southern
California, was employed by the Viral Oncology Branch of the Bureau of
Biologics (FDA) from 1976 to 1980. While employed there he identified
foreign DNA in the live polio vaccine Orimune Lederle that suggested
serious vaccine contamination. He warned his supervisors about this
problem and was told to discontinue his work as it was outside the
scope of testing required for polio vaccine.
Later Dr. Martin learned that all eleven of the African green monkeys
used to grow the Lederle polio virus Orimune had grown simian
cytomegalovirus from kidney cell cultures. Lederle was aware of this
viral contamination as their Cytomegaloviral Contamination Plan[13]
clearly showed in 1972. The Bureau of Biologics decided not to pursue
the matter so production of infected polio vaccine continued.
In 1955 Dr. Martin identified unique cell destroying viruses termed
stealth viruses in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. These
viruses lacked genes that would enable the immune system to recognize
them. Thus they were protected by the body's failure to develop
antiviral antibodies. In March of 1995, Dr. Martin learned that some
of these stealth viruses had originated from African green monkey
simian cytomegalovirus of a type known to infect man.
The Lederle vaccine experience suggests that the higher-ups are not
concerned about sloppy and dangerous preparation of vaccines. Animal
cross infection is a huge unsolved current problem for all vaccine
manufacturing. If this vaccine production sounds like an unbelievable
mess to you, you are right.
The influential Club of Rome has a position paper in which they state
that the world population is too large and needs to be reduced by 90
%. This means that 6 billion people must be reduced to 500 to 600
million. Obviously, creating famines and genocidal wars such as
wrecked havoc in Africa, and loosing new laboratory-created diseases
(HIV, Ebola, Marburg[14] , and probably West Nile virus and SARS) can
help reduce the population. Other elitist groups (Trilaterals,
Bildenbergers) have expressed similar concerns about excess people on
planet Earth.
The company that was projected to produce the new smallpox vaccine in
the U.S. was in serious trouble in England because of unsatisfactory
quality of operations before setting up their facility in the U.S. Why
would their performance here be any better than it was in England?
If there are important powerful groups of people that are determined
to reduce the world population, what could be a more diabolically
clever way to eliminate people than to inject them with a
cancer-causing vaccine? The person receiving the injection would never
suspect that the vaccine taken 10 to 15 years earlier had caused the
cancer to appear.
Other Dangers From Vaccines
In the March 4, 1977 issue of Science Jonas and Darrell Salk warn,
"Live virus vaccines against influenza or poliomyelitis may in each
instance produce the disease it intended to prevent. The live virus
against measles and mumps may produce such side effects as
encephalitis (brain damage).
The swine flu vaccine was administered to the American public even
though there had never been a case of swine flu identified in a human.
Farmers refused to use the vaccine because it killed too many animals.
Within a few months of use in humans this vaccine caused many cases of
serious nerve injury (Guillan Barre syndrome).
An article in the Washington Post on Jan. 26, 1988 mentioned that all
cases of polio since 1979 had been caused by the polio vaccine with no
known cases of polio from a wild strain since 1979. This might have
created a perfect situation to discontinue the vaccine, but the
vaccine is still given. Vaccines are a wonderful source of profits
with no risks to the drug companies since vaccine injuries are now
recompensed by the government.
The steady escalation in the number of vaccines administered has been
followed by an identical rise in the incidence of auto-immune diseases
(rheumatoid arthritis, subacute lupus erythematosus, psoriasis,
multiple sclerosis, asthma) seen in children. While there is a genetic
transmission of some of these diseases many are probably due to the
injury from foreign protein particles, mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde
and other toxic agents injected in vaccines.
In 1999, the rotavirus vaccine was recommended by the Center for
Disease Control for all infants. When this vaccine program was
instituted several infants died and many had life endangering bowel
obstructions. Prelicensure trials[15] of the rotavirus vaccine had
demonstrated an increased incidence of intussusception 30 times
greater than normal but the vaccine was released anyway without
special warnings to practitioners to be on the lookout for bowel
problems. Children's vaccines are often not studied for toxicity
possibly because such study might eliminate them from being used.
A large study from Australia showed that the risk of developing
encephalitis from the pertussis vaccine was 5 times greater than the
risk of developing encephalitis by contacting pertussis by natural
methods.
Naturally acquired immunity by illness evolves by spread of a virus
from the respiratory tract to the liver, thymus, spleen, and bone
marrow. When symptoms begin, the entire immune response has been
mobilized to repel the invading virus. This complex immune system
response creates antibodies that confer life long immunity against
that invading virus and prepares the child to respond promptly to an
infection by the same virus in the future.
Vaccination, in contrast, results in the persisting of live virus or
other foreign antigens within the cells of the body, a situation that
may provoke auto-immune reactions as the body attempts to destroy its
own infected cells. There is no surprise that the incidence of
auto-immune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, subacute lupus
erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, asthma, psoriasis) has risen
sharply in this era of multiple vaccine immunization.
Vaccine Induced Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Dr. John Classen has published 29 articles on vaccine-induced[16]
diabetes. At least 8 of 10 children with Type 1 (insulin needing)
diabetes have this disease as a result of vaccination. These children
may have avoided measles, mumps, and whooping cough but they have
received something far worse: an illness that shortens life expectancy
by 10 to 15 years and results in a life requiring constant medical care.
Dr. Classen has shown in Finland, the introduction of hemophilus type
b vaccine caused three times as many cases of type 1 diabetes as the
number of deaths and brain damage from hemophilus influenza type b it
might have prevented.
In New Zealand, the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in children rose by
61 % after an aggressive vaccine program against hepatitis B.. This
same program has been started in the U.S.A. so we can now look forward
to many cases of Type 1 diabetes in children. Similar rises in Type 1
diabetes have been seen in England, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark after
immunization programs against Hepatitis B.
Toxic Substances Are Needed To Make Vaccines.
Vaccines contain many toxic substances that are needed to prevent the
vaccines from becoming infected or to improve the performance of the
vaccine. Among these substances are mercury, formaldehyde and
aluminum.[17]
In the past 10 years, the number of autistic children has risen from
between 200 and 500 percent in every state in the U.S. This sharp rise
in autism followed the introduction of measles, mumps and rubella
vaccine in 1975.
Representative Dan Burton's healthy grandson was given injections for
9 diseases in one day. These injections were instantly followed by
autism. These injections contain a preservative of mercury called
thimerosal. The boy received 41 times the amount of mercury which is
capable of harm to the body. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can injure
the brain and nervous system. And tragically, it did.
In the United States the number of compulsory vaccine injections has
increased from 10 to 36 in the last 25 years. During this period,
there has been a simultaneous increase in the number of children
suffering learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. Some
of these childhood disabilities are related to intrauterine cerebral
damage from maternal cocaine use, but probably vaccines cause many of
the others.
Many vaccines contain aluminum. A new disease called macrophagic
myofasciitis causes pain in muscles, bones and joints. All persons
with this disease have received aluminum containing vaccines. Deposits
of aluminum are able to remain as an irritant in tissues and disturb
the immune and nervous system for a lifetime.
Nearly all vaccines contain aluminum and mercury. These metals appear
to play an important role in the etiology of Alzheimer's Disease. An
expert at the 1997 International Vaccine Conference related that a
person who takes 5 or more annual flu vaccine shots has increased the
likelihood of developing Alzheimer's Disease by a factor of 10 over
the person who has had 2 or fewer flu shots.
When we take vaccines we are playing a modern version of Russian
Roulette. We not only get exposed to aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde
and foreign cell proteins but we may get simian virus 40 and other
dangerous viruses which can cause cancer, leukemia and other severe
health problems because the vaccine pool is contaminated due to
careless animal isolation techniques. Congress has protected the
manufacturers from lawsuits, so dangerous vaccines simply increase
profits at no risk to the drug companies.
U.S. children aged 2 months began receiving hepatitis B vaccine in
December 2000.No peer-reviewed studies of the safety of hepatitis B in
this age bracket had been done. Over 36,000 adverse reactions with 440
deaths were soon reported but the true incidence is much higher as
reporting is voluntary so only approximately 10 % of adverse reactions
get reported. This means that about 5000 infants are dying annually
from the hepatitis B vaccine. The CDC's Chief of Epidemiology admits
that the frequency of serious reactions to hepatitis B vaccine is 10
times higher than other vaccines. Hepatitis B is transmitted sexually
and by contaminated blood, so the incidence of this disease must be
near zero in this age bracket. A vaccine expert, Dr. Philip Incao,
states that "the conclusion is obvious that the risks[18] of hepatitis
B vaccination far outweigh the benefits. Once a vaccine is mandated
the vaccine manufacturer is no longer liable for adverse reactions.
Dr. W.B. Clarke's important observation that cancer was not found in
unvaccinated individuals demands an explanation and one now appears
forthcoming. All vaccines given over a short period of time to an
immature immune system deplete the thymus gland (the primary gland
involved in immune reactions) of irreplaceable immature immune cells.
Each of these cells could have multiplied and developed into an army
of valuable cells to combat infection and growth of abnormal cells.
When these immune cells have been used up, permanent immunity may not
appear. The Arthur Research Foundation in Tucson, Arizona estimates
that up to 60 % of our immune system may be exhausted[19] by multiple
mass vaccines (36 are now required for children). Only 10 % of immune
cells are permanently lost when a child is permitted to develop
natural immunity from disease. There needs to be grave concern about
these immune system injuring vaccinations! Could the persons who
approve these mass vaccinations know that they are impairing the
health of these children, many of whom are being doomed to requiring
much medical care in the future?
Compelling evidence is available that the development of the immune
system after contracting the usual childhood diseases matures and
renders it capable to fight infection and malignant cells in the future.
The use of multiple vaccines, which prevents natural immunity,
promotes the development of allergies and asthma. A New Zealand study
disclosed that 23 % of vaccinated children develop asthma , as
compared to zero in unvaccinated children.
Cancer was a very rare illness in the 1890's. This evidence about
immune system injury from vaccinating affords a plausible explanation
for Dr. Clarke's finding that only vaccinated individuals got cancer.
Some radical adverse change in health occurred in the early 1900s to
permit cancer to explode and vaccinating appears to be the reason.
Vaccines are an unnatural phenomena. My guess is that if enough
persons said no to immunizations there would be a striking improvement
in general health with nature back in the immunizing business instead
of man. Having a child vaccinated should be a choice not a
requirement. Medical and religious exemptions are permitted by most
states.
When governmental policies require vaccinations before children enter
schools coercion has overruled the lack of evidence of vaccine
efficacy and safety. There is no proof that vaccines work and they are
never studied for safety before release. My opinion is that there is
overwhelming evidence that vaccines are dangerous and the only reason
for their existence is to increase profits of pharmaceutical firms.
If you are forced to immunize your children so they can enter school,
obtain a notarized statement from the director of the facility that
they will accept full financial responsibility for any adverse
reaction from the vaccine. Since there is at least a 2 percent risk of
a serious adverse reaction they may be smart enough to permit your
child to escape a dangerous procedure. Recent legislation passed by
Congress gives the government the power to imprison persons refusing
to take vaccines (smallpox, anthrax, etc). This would be troublesome
to enforce if large numbers of citizens declined to be vaccinated at
the same time.
Footnotes:
1 Null Gary Vaccination: An Analysis of the Health Risks- Part
Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients Dec. 2003 pg 78
2 Mullins Eustace Murder by Injection pg 132 The National Council for
Medical Research, P. O. Box 1105, Staunton, Virginia 24401
3 Gary Null Interview with Dr. Dean Black April 7, 1995
4 de Melker HE, et al Pertussis in the Netherlands: an outbreak
despite high levels of immunization with whole-cell vaccine Emerging
Infectious Diseases 1997; 3(2): 175-8 Centers for Disease Control
5 Gary Null Interview with Walene James, April 6, 1995
6 Torch WS Diptheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) immunizations: a
potential cause of the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) Neurology
1982; 32-4 A169 abstract.
7 Collin Jonathan The Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients 1988
abstracted in Horowitz L. Emerging Viruses Aids & Ebola pg 1-5
8 Harris RJ et al Contaminant viruses in two live vaccines produced in
chick cells.J Hyg (London) 1966 Mar:64(1) : 1-7
9 Horowitz Leonard G. Emerging Viruses AIDS & Ebola pg 484
10 Vilchez RA et al Association between simian virus 40 and
non-Hodgekin lymphoma Lancet 2002 Mar 9;359(9309):817-823
11 Bu X A study of simian virus 40 infection and its origin in human
brain tumors Zhonghu Liu Xing Bing Xue Zhi 2000 Feb;21 (1):19-21
12 Friedrich F. et al temporal association between the isolation of
Sabin-related poliovirus vaccine strains and the Guillan-Barre
syndrome Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 1996 Jan-Feb; 38(1):55-8
13 Horowitz Leonard Emerging Viruses: Aids and Ebola pg 492
14 Horowitz Leonard G Emerging Viruses: Aids & Ebola pg 378-88
Tetrahedron Inc. Suite 147, 206 North 4th Ave. Sandpoint, Idaho 83864
1-888-508-4787 tetra@tetrahedron.org
15 Null, Gary Vaccination: An Anatysis of the health risks-Part 3
Townsend letter for doctors & patients Dec. 2003 pg 78
16 Classen, JB et al. Association between type 1 diabetes and Hib
vaccine BMJ 1999; 319:1133
17 Brain 9/01
18 Incao, philip M.D. Letter to representative Dale Van Vyven, Ohio
House of Representatives March 1, 1999 provided to www.garynull.com by
The Natural Immunity Information Network
19 Rowen Robert Your first consultation with Dr. Rowen pg 20
"
*SOURCE:
http://beinformed.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/why-you-should-avoid-taking-vaccines/
Friday, February 23, 2007
Is Merck Really Backing Off?
"Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc. announced this week that it
will no longer lobby state governments for mandatory vaccination of
school-age girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) strains that cause
cervical cancer. Previously, Merck had been lobbying legislators to
require the administration of its three-stage vaccine Gardasil, which
received FDA approval in June.
What you need to know - Conventional View
• Gardasil claims to protect against strains of HPV believed to cause
most cases of cervical cancer, an estimated 7,000 per year. It costs
$360 for a series of three shots.
• Merck spokespeople said the company will no longer lobby for such
laws due to the controversy sparked by such behavior. Critics have
charged that the company was motivated more by profit than by health
concerns. Merck was shown to have financial ties to a former top
official in Texas Governor Rick Perry's administration. Governor Perry
issued an executive order to require mandatory vaccinations with
Merck's product, bypassing the Texas state legislature. This
connection was explored in a CounterThink cartoon fictionally
depicting Texas Governor Perry fictionally accepting a bribe from
Merck (see link below)
• Texas recently became the first state to require vaccination of
school-age girls with Gardasil, but other states are debating similar
requirements. Mandatory vaccination bills have passed in both the
Virginia House and Senate, but the governor has not yet indicated if
he will approve such a law.
• The American Cancer Society and American Academy of Pediatrics have
recommended that girls be vaccinated with Gardasil. They have declined
to endorse mandatory vaccination, in part because of the newness of
the drug. Both associations maintain strong financial ties to
pharmaceutical companies.
What you need to know - Alternative View
Statements and opinions by Mike Adams
• This decision by Merck to back off its lobbying efforts over the HPV
vaccination represent a small victory for health freedom advocates. It
shows the power of independent media and passionate individuals to
overcome corruption and medical tyranny in the United States.
• Although Merck has announced it will stop publicly lobbying states
to pass mandatory vaccine measures, it is my experience that drug
companies continue to operate under the table, away from public view,
to accomplish their profit goals. I do not believe Merck will abandon
this profit opportunity, even though they may seek to create the
public impression that they are walking away from it.
• Our CounterThink cartoon on this topic was our most popular cartoon
ever published, and has been widely circulated across the 'net. It
exposed the financial corruption and exploitation of young girls by
drug companies seeking profits. Click here to see the cartoon.
Bottom line
• Merck claims it will no longer engage in lobbying for mandatory HPV
vaccination. "
*SOURCE:http://www.newstarget.com/021640.html
More Info on Cancer: Cancer Page
"Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc. announced this week that it
will no longer lobby state governments for mandatory vaccination of
school-age girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) strains that cause
cervical cancer. Previously, Merck had been lobbying legislators to
require the administration of its three-stage vaccine Gardasil, which
received FDA approval in June.
What you need to know - Conventional View
• Gardasil claims to protect against strains of HPV believed to cause
most cases of cervical cancer, an estimated 7,000 per year. It costs
$360 for a series of three shots.
• Merck spokespeople said the company will no longer lobby for such
laws due to the controversy sparked by such behavior. Critics have
charged that the company was motivated more by profit than by health
concerns. Merck was shown to have financial ties to a former top
official in Texas Governor Rick Perry's administration. Governor Perry
issued an executive order to require mandatory vaccinations with
Merck's product, bypassing the Texas state legislature. This
connection was explored in a CounterThink cartoon fictionally
depicting Texas Governor Perry fictionally accepting a bribe from
Merck (see link below)
• Texas recently became the first state to require vaccination of
school-age girls with Gardasil, but other states are debating similar
requirements. Mandatory vaccination bills have passed in both the
Virginia House and Senate, but the governor has not yet indicated if
he will approve such a law.
• The American Cancer Society and American Academy of Pediatrics have
recommended that girls be vaccinated with Gardasil. They have declined
to endorse mandatory vaccination, in part because of the newness of
the drug. Both associations maintain strong financial ties to
pharmaceutical companies.
What you need to know - Alternative View
Statements and opinions by Mike Adams
• This decision by Merck to back off its lobbying efforts over the HPV
vaccination represent a small victory for health freedom advocates. It
shows the power of independent media and passionate individuals to
overcome corruption and medical tyranny in the United States.
• Although Merck has announced it will stop publicly lobbying states
to pass mandatory vaccine measures, it is my experience that drug
companies continue to operate under the table, away from public view,
to accomplish their profit goals. I do not believe Merck will abandon
this profit opportunity, even though they may seek to create the
public impression that they are walking away from it.
• Our CounterThink cartoon on this topic was our most popular cartoon
ever published, and has been widely circulated across the 'net. It
exposed the financial corruption and exploitation of young girls by
drug companies seeking profits. Click here to see the cartoon.
Bottom line
• Merck claims it will no longer engage in lobbying for mandatory HPV
vaccination. "
*SOURCE:http://www.newstarget.com/021640.html
More Info on Cancer: Cancer Page
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Texas governor orders anti-cancer vaccine for schoolgirls
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas: Bypassing state lawmakers, Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed an order Friday making Texas the first U.S. state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
By issuing an executive order, Perry apparently sidesteps opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents' rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way parents raise their children.
Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade in school — generally, girls ages 11 and 12 — will have to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.
"The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," Perry said in announcing the order.
Full Story: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/america/NA-GEN-US-Cervical-Cancer.php
Find Out Why this is UNNECESSARY: CLICK HERE
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas: Bypassing state lawmakers, Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed an order Friday making Texas the first U.S. state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
By issuing an executive order, Perry apparently sidesteps opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents' rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way parents raise their children.
Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade in school — generally, girls ages 11 and 12 — will have to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.
"The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," Perry said in announcing the order.
Full Story: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/america/NA-GEN-US-Cervical-Cancer.php
Find Out Why this is UNNECESSARY: CLICK HERE
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer
Dr. Otto Warburg
Lecture delivered to Nobel Laureates on June 30, 1966
at Lindau, Lake Constance, Germany
There are prime and secondary causes of diseases. For example, the prime cause of the plague is the plague bacillus, but secondary causes of the plague are filth, rats, and the fleas that transfer the plague bacillus from rats to man. By the prime cause of a disease, I mean one that is found in every case of the disease.
Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. Almost anything can cause cancer. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. The prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen (oxidation of sugar) in normal body cells by fermentation of sugar.
All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes. From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between normal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarcely picture a greater difference. Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals, is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by the energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms, namely the fermentation of sugar.
In every case, during the cancer development, the oxygen respiration always falls, fermentation appears, and the highly differentiated cells are transformed into fermenting anaerobes, which have lost all their body functions and retain only the now useless property of growth and replication. Thus, when respiration disappears, life does not disappear, but the meaning of life disappears, and what remains are growing machines that destroy the body in which they grow.
All carcinogens impair respiration directly or indirectly by deranging capillary circulation, a statement that is proven by the fact that no cancer cell exists without exhibiting impaired respiration. Of course, respiration cannot be repaired if it is impaired at the same time by a carcinogen.
To prevent cancer it is therefore proposed first to keep the speed of the blood stream so high that the venous blood still contains sufficient oxygen; second, to keep high the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood; third, to add always to the food, even of healthy people, the active groups of the respiratory enzymes; and to increase the doses of these groups, if a precancerous state has already developed. If at the same time exogenous carcinogens are excluded rigorously, then much of the endogenous cancer may be prevented today.
These proposals are in no way utopian. On the contrary, they may be realized by everybody, everywhere, at any hour. Unlike the prevention of many other diseases, the prevention of cancer requires no government help, and not much money.
Many experts agree that one could prevent about 80% of all cancers in man, if one could keep away the known carcinogens from the normal body cells. But how can the remaining 20%, the so-called spontaneous cancers, be prevented? It is indisputable that all cancer could be prevented if the respiration of body cells were kept intact.
Nobody today can say that one does not know what the prime cause of cancer is. On the contrary, there is no disease whose prime cause is better known, so that today ignorance is no longer an excuse for avoiding measures for prevention. That the prevention of cancer will come there is no doubt. But how long prevention will be avoided depends on how long the prophets of agnosticism will succeed in inhibiting the application of scientific knowledge in the cancer field. In the meantime, millions of men and women must die of cancer unnecessarily.
CLICK HERE for MORE ON CANCER
Dr. Otto Warburg
Lecture delivered to Nobel Laureates on June 30, 1966
at Lindau, Lake Constance, Germany
There are prime and secondary causes of diseases. For example, the prime cause of the plague is the plague bacillus, but secondary causes of the plague are filth, rats, and the fleas that transfer the plague bacillus from rats to man. By the prime cause of a disease, I mean one that is found in every case of the disease.
Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. Almost anything can cause cancer. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. The prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen (oxidation of sugar) in normal body cells by fermentation of sugar.
All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes. From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between normal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarcely picture a greater difference. Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals, is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by the energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms, namely the fermentation of sugar.
In every case, during the cancer development, the oxygen respiration always falls, fermentation appears, and the highly differentiated cells are transformed into fermenting anaerobes, which have lost all their body functions and retain only the now useless property of growth and replication. Thus, when respiration disappears, life does not disappear, but the meaning of life disappears, and what remains are growing machines that destroy the body in which they grow.
All carcinogens impair respiration directly or indirectly by deranging capillary circulation, a statement that is proven by the fact that no cancer cell exists without exhibiting impaired respiration. Of course, respiration cannot be repaired if it is impaired at the same time by a carcinogen.
To prevent cancer it is therefore proposed first to keep the speed of the blood stream so high that the venous blood still contains sufficient oxygen; second, to keep high the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood; third, to add always to the food, even of healthy people, the active groups of the respiratory enzymes; and to increase the doses of these groups, if a precancerous state has already developed. If at the same time exogenous carcinogens are excluded rigorously, then much of the endogenous cancer may be prevented today.
These proposals are in no way utopian. On the contrary, they may be realized by everybody, everywhere, at any hour. Unlike the prevention of many other diseases, the prevention of cancer requires no government help, and not much money.
Many experts agree that one could prevent about 80% of all cancers in man, if one could keep away the known carcinogens from the normal body cells. But how can the remaining 20%, the so-called spontaneous cancers, be prevented? It is indisputable that all cancer could be prevented if the respiration of body cells were kept intact.
Nobody today can say that one does not know what the prime cause of cancer is. On the contrary, there is no disease whose prime cause is better known, so that today ignorance is no longer an excuse for avoiding measures for prevention. That the prevention of cancer will come there is no doubt. But how long prevention will be avoided depends on how long the prophets of agnosticism will succeed in inhibiting the application of scientific knowledge in the cancer field. In the meantime, millions of men and women must die of cancer unnecessarily.
CLICK HERE for MORE ON CANCER
Every Clinician Deserves an Un-Sales Rep
When I was practicing primary care, each year it got tougher to stay on top of the medical literature. But I had unlimited access to dozens of attractive, articulate people who came right to my office, at my convenience, to "update" me on topics like "modern concepts in hypertension" or "how to lower your patients' cholesterol." Some brought me lunch while they taught me; others offered to provide the education at a Red Sox game. The material they provided was user-friendly, accessible, engaging, and clinically relevant. But the only reason these "detail men or detail women" did this was to increase the sales of products of the drug companies each of them worked for, and the data they presented were carefully selected to accomplish just that goal. I wished that someone would come to my office and give me user-friendly drug information that was more neutral, not designed primarily to push products.
To address that unmet need, my colleagues and I created the concept of "academic detailing." We trained pharmacists to visit doctors in their offices to offer concise, clinically relevant overviews of various therapeutic categories. The only goal was to provide unbiased, commercial-free data about optimal care.[1] Sometimes they even brought lunch.
The original program was funded by a federal grant, but today similar programs are in operation in several countries.[2] In Australia, the government pays for a nationwide program that covers 60% of the country's primary care doctors. We've recently begun a program in Pennsylvania funded by that state; our reviews and teaching materials are freely available to all at www.RxFacts.org.[3] We all benefit if doctors have access to even-handed, non-product-driven drug information. Such programs can improve appropriate prescribing, and over time should even be able to save more than they cost, while helping us make smarter prescribing choices for our patients.
That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Jerry Avorn, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Sign Up now for a free monthly email that brings you the top features from MedGenMed.
Posted 01/19/2007
Jerry Avorn, MD
Readers are encouraged to respond to the author at javorn@partners.org or to George Lundberg, MD, Editor of MedGenMed, for the editor's eyes only or for possible publication via email: glundberg@medscape.net
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/549759?src=mp
When I was practicing primary care, each year it got tougher to stay on top of the medical literature. But I had unlimited access to dozens of attractive, articulate people who came right to my office, at my convenience, to "update" me on topics like "modern concepts in hypertension" or "how to lower your patients' cholesterol." Some brought me lunch while they taught me; others offered to provide the education at a Red Sox game. The material they provided was user-friendly, accessible, engaging, and clinically relevant. But the only reason these "detail men or detail women" did this was to increase the sales of products of the drug companies each of them worked for, and the data they presented were carefully selected to accomplish just that goal. I wished that someone would come to my office and give me user-friendly drug information that was more neutral, not designed primarily to push products.
To address that unmet need, my colleagues and I created the concept of "academic detailing." We trained pharmacists to visit doctors in their offices to offer concise, clinically relevant overviews of various therapeutic categories. The only goal was to provide unbiased, commercial-free data about optimal care.[1] Sometimes they even brought lunch.
The original program was funded by a federal grant, but today similar programs are in operation in several countries.[2] In Australia, the government pays for a nationwide program that covers 60% of the country's primary care doctors. We've recently begun a program in Pennsylvania funded by that state; our reviews and teaching materials are freely available to all at www.RxFacts.org.[3] We all benefit if doctors have access to even-handed, non-product-driven drug information. Such programs can improve appropriate prescribing, and over time should even be able to save more than they cost, while helping us make smarter prescribing choices for our patients.
That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Jerry Avorn, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Sign Up now for a free monthly email that brings you the top features from MedGenMed.
Posted 01/19/2007
Jerry Avorn, MD
Readers are encouraged to respond to the author at javorn@partners.org or to George Lundberg, MD, Editor of MedGenMed, for the editor's eyes only or for possible publication via email: glundberg@medscape.net
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/549759?src=mp
Saturday, February 10, 2007
More about Merck's- Help Pay for Vioxx
News reports about Merck's aggressive marketing campaign aimed at obtaining state government mandates forcing 11 and 12 year old girls to be vaccinated with its Human Pappilomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, is the latest example of irresponsible marekting targetting America's female population. Another is the recruitment of female students at university campuses who are asked to enroll as human subjects in an experimental Herpes vaccine trial co-sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. . Below is a form letter sent out to all female students at the Unviersity of Maryland offering $358. Since doctors agree that condoms are the safest and most effective protection against sexually transmitted diseases-- Why are only females being sought for risky experimental vaccine trials?
Gardasil is touted as prevention for cervical cancer which Merck says is the second-leading cancer among women around the world. But as The Wall Street Journal reports (below) the prevalence of cervical cancer is actually low in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates that 11,150 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,670 will die from it in the U.S. this year. That's equivalent to 0.77% of cancers diagnosed in the U.S. and 0.65% of U.S. cancer deaths each year. By comparison, the society estimates that 178,480 American women will get diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and 40,460 will die from it.
These numbers underscore Merck's strictly commercial motivaiton: Gardasil's price tag is exorbitant-three shots at $360 each-is being forced on American children-not because they are at particular risk-but rather to ensure that the company profits hugely. So what is the justification for even considering mandatory vaccination of children?
Since 80% of cervical cancer occurs in underdeveloped countries, clearly, those who might benefit the most are denied access because they can't afford the vaccine. The WSJ confirms that Merck is "desperate" for funding streams and "vaccination across the U.S. would make Gardasil an automatic blockbuster." The campaign has been dubbed: "Help pay for Vioxx" litigation.
Inexplicably, influential media sources have demonstrated a blind willingness to accept without evidence, unsubstantiated promises about a new vaccine from a company whose ignoble record of fraudulent claims and illegal marketing of a lethal drug caused thousands of preventable deaths. Prominent among these is The New York Times which rendered its position on the side of commerce in an editorial (below) reflecting a faith-based belief rather than a critical appraisal of evidence. Not only does the editorial endorse Merck's vaccine for all preteen girls, it offered "congratulations to Texas for becoming the first state to REQUIRE vaccinating young schoolgirls-ages 11 and 12"-even as it acknowledges that "many parents are appalled at the notion of vaccinating such young girls against a sexually transmitted disease."
"GARDASIL has not been shown to protect against disease due to non-vaccine HPV types.The health-care provider should inform the patient, parent, or guardian that vaccination does not substitute for routine cervical cancer screening. Women who receive GARDASIL should continue to undergo cervical cancer screening per standard of care." [Link]
Gardasil will not prevent cancer--it does not protect against ALL HPV types [e.g., 31, 33, 35] . The vaccine will merely result in a change of prevalent serotypes.
"Tina Walker, the mother of an 11-year-old girl in Flower Mound, Texas, told The Wall Street Journal that she would prefer to wait until the vaccine has been on the market for several years before subjecting her child to it. "We are the guinea pigs here," she says.
Under what moral authority do the editors of New York Times decree that Tina Walker's rights as a responsible parent should be nullified-and her daughter exposed to potential harm by a company that has a proven record of concealing the lethal hazards of its products?
The Times editors would do well to examine how often the Times got it wrong when it endorsed any number of medical treatments that proved harmful. For example, on November 18, 1994, Times health columnist, Jane E. Brody, gave a ringing endorsement to hormone replacement therapy (New Therapy For Menopause Reduces Risks, [Link]), reporting that it protects women "not only against the risk of uterine cancer but heart attacks as well." In time, these claims were overturned by science-but not before untold number of women died as a result of bad medical advice.
Furthermore, Merck does not deserve our trust in disclosing all we need to know about its products. Merck marketed Vioxx as an effective, safer alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain associated with osteoarthritis, but-as its secret documents later uncovered during litigation revealed--Merck concealed the fact that Vioxx increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. What guarantee do we have that Gardasil is not another Merck hoax?
News reports about Merck's aggressive marketing campaign aimed at obtaining state government mandates forcing 11 and 12 year old girls to be vaccinated with its Human Pappilomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, is the latest example of irresponsible marekting targetting America's female population. Another is the recruitment of female students at university campuses who are asked to enroll as human subjects in an experimental Herpes vaccine trial co-sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. . Below is a form letter sent out to all female students at the Unviersity of Maryland offering $358. Since doctors agree that condoms are the safest and most effective protection against sexually transmitted diseases-- Why are only females being sought for risky experimental vaccine trials?
Gardasil is touted as prevention for cervical cancer which Merck says is the second-leading cancer among women around the world. But as The Wall Street Journal reports (below) the prevalence of cervical cancer is actually low in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates that 11,150 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,670 will die from it in the U.S. this year. That's equivalent to 0.77% of cancers diagnosed in the U.S. and 0.65% of U.S. cancer deaths each year. By comparison, the society estimates that 178,480 American women will get diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and 40,460 will die from it.
These numbers underscore Merck's strictly commercial motivaiton: Gardasil's price tag is exorbitant-three shots at $360 each-is being forced on American children-not because they are at particular risk-but rather to ensure that the company profits hugely. So what is the justification for even considering mandatory vaccination of children?
Since 80% of cervical cancer occurs in underdeveloped countries, clearly, those who might benefit the most are denied access because they can't afford the vaccine. The WSJ confirms that Merck is "desperate" for funding streams and "vaccination across the U.S. would make Gardasil an automatic blockbuster." The campaign has been dubbed: "Help pay for Vioxx" litigation.
Inexplicably, influential media sources have demonstrated a blind willingness to accept without evidence, unsubstantiated promises about a new vaccine from a company whose ignoble record of fraudulent claims and illegal marketing of a lethal drug caused thousands of preventable deaths. Prominent among these is The New York Times which rendered its position on the side of commerce in an editorial (below) reflecting a faith-based belief rather than a critical appraisal of evidence. Not only does the editorial endorse Merck's vaccine for all preteen girls, it offered "congratulations to Texas for becoming the first state to REQUIRE vaccinating young schoolgirls-ages 11 and 12"-even as it acknowledges that "many parents are appalled at the notion of vaccinating such young girls against a sexually transmitted disease."
"GARDASIL has not been shown to protect against disease due to non-vaccine HPV types.The health-care provider should inform the patient, parent, or guardian that vaccination does not substitute for routine cervical cancer screening. Women who receive GARDASIL should continue to undergo cervical cancer screening per standard of care." [Link]
Gardasil will not prevent cancer--it does not protect against ALL HPV types [e.g., 31, 33, 35] . The vaccine will merely result in a change of prevalent serotypes.
"Tina Walker, the mother of an 11-year-old girl in Flower Mound, Texas, told The Wall Street Journal that she would prefer to wait until the vaccine has been on the market for several years before subjecting her child to it. "We are the guinea pigs here," she says.
Under what moral authority do the editors of New York Times decree that Tina Walker's rights as a responsible parent should be nullified-and her daughter exposed to potential harm by a company that has a proven record of concealing the lethal hazards of its products?
The Times editors would do well to examine how often the Times got it wrong when it endorsed any number of medical treatments that proved harmful. For example, on November 18, 1994, Times health columnist, Jane E. Brody, gave a ringing endorsement to hormone replacement therapy (New Therapy For Menopause Reduces Risks, [Link]), reporting that it protects women "not only against the risk of uterine cancer but heart attacks as well." In time, these claims were overturned by science-but not before untold number of women died as a result of bad medical advice.
Furthermore, Merck does not deserve our trust in disclosing all we need to know about its products. Merck marketed Vioxx as an effective, safer alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain associated with osteoarthritis, but-as its secret documents later uncovered during litigation revealed--Merck concealed the fact that Vioxx increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. What guarantee do we have that Gardasil is not another Merck hoax?
TEXAS TO REQUIRE POORLY TESTED VACCINE
[The tests on this vaccine have been mainly on older girls and women, have been short term and were sponsored by Merck]
RALPH BLUMENTHAL, NY TIMES - Texas on Friday became the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
GREGORY LOPES, WASHINGTON TIMES - The National Vaccine Information Center yesterday warned state officials to investigate the safety of a breakthrough cancer vaccine as Texas became the first state to make the vaccine mandatory for school-age girls. Negative side effects of Gardasil, a new Merck vaccine to prevent the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, are being reported in the District of Columbia and 20 states, including Virginia. The reactions range from loss of consciousness to seizures. "Young girls are experiencing severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision and some girls have lost consciousness during what appear to be seizures," said Vicky Debold, health policy analyst for the National Vaccine Information Center. . .
Merck began marketing Gardasil last year after the Food and Drug Administration approved it for females ages 9 to 26. The vaccine is the first of its kind to build immunity against two strains of HPV, which lead to 70 percent of cervical cancer cases in the United States. . .
Its side effects were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a federal reporting system for consumers to notify federal regulators of bad reactions to medications. The adverse events began being reported in July 2006, when an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended girls ages 11 and 12 receive the series of shots.
The types of side effects reported are not cause for alarm, according to the American Cancer Society. "We have not been informed of an instance that would call into question the overall safety of the vaccine," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and cervical cancer control at the American Cancer Society, adding that about 70 similar events had been known in October 2006. . .
Clayton Young, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Texas, objects to Merck's claim that Gardasil will prevent cervical cancer. "There is no proof Gardasil will stop cervical cancer," he said. "They haven't been studying it long enough to make that claim.". . .
Gardasil is delivered in three separate injections that cost $120 to $150 per injection. Blue Cross Blue Shield, an omnipresent health insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region, covers the vaccine for girls in the federally recommended age groups. Merck revenue from Gardasil reached $155 million for the fourth quarter of 2006 and $255 million for the entire year.
Source: http://prorev.com/2007/02/texas-to-require-poorly-tested-vaccine.htm
[The tests on this vaccine have been mainly on older girls and women, have been short term and were sponsored by Merck]
RALPH BLUMENTHAL, NY TIMES - Texas on Friday became the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
GREGORY LOPES, WASHINGTON TIMES - The National Vaccine Information Center yesterday warned state officials to investigate the safety of a breakthrough cancer vaccine as Texas became the first state to make the vaccine mandatory for school-age girls. Negative side effects of Gardasil, a new Merck vaccine to prevent the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, are being reported in the District of Columbia and 20 states, including Virginia. The reactions range from loss of consciousness to seizures. "Young girls are experiencing severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision and some girls have lost consciousness during what appear to be seizures," said Vicky Debold, health policy analyst for the National Vaccine Information Center. . .
Merck began marketing Gardasil last year after the Food and Drug Administration approved it for females ages 9 to 26. The vaccine is the first of its kind to build immunity against two strains of HPV, which lead to 70 percent of cervical cancer cases in the United States. . .
Its side effects were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a federal reporting system for consumers to notify federal regulators of bad reactions to medications. The adverse events began being reported in July 2006, when an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended girls ages 11 and 12 receive the series of shots.
The types of side effects reported are not cause for alarm, according to the American Cancer Society. "We have not been informed of an instance that would call into question the overall safety of the vaccine," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and cervical cancer control at the American Cancer Society, adding that about 70 similar events had been known in October 2006. . .
Clayton Young, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Texas, objects to Merck's claim that Gardasil will prevent cervical cancer. "There is no proof Gardasil will stop cervical cancer," he said. "They haven't been studying it long enough to make that claim.". . .
Gardasil is delivered in three separate injections that cost $120 to $150 per injection. Blue Cross Blue Shield, an omnipresent health insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region, covers the vaccine for girls in the federally recommended age groups. Merck revenue from Gardasil reached $155 million for the fourth quarter of 2006 and $255 million for the entire year.
Source: http://prorev.com/2007/02/texas-to-require-poorly-tested-vaccine.htm
Moves to Vaccinate Girls For Cervical Cancer Draw Fire
As Merck Lobbies States To Require Shots, Some Fret Over Side Effects, Morals
The Wall Street Journal
February 7, 2007; Page D1
By JOHN CARREYROU
Bills being drafted in some 20 U.S. states that would make a cervical-cancer vaccine mandatory for preteen girls are sparking a backlash among parents and consumer advocates.
The bills coincide with an aggressive lobbying campaign by Merck & Co., the maker of the only such vaccine on the market. Called Gardasil, the three- shot regimen provides protection against the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that is responsible for the majority of cases of cervical cancer.
If the state bills become law, they would guarantee the Whitehouse Station, N.J., drug maker billions of dollars in annual revenue from the vaccine.
Proposed legislation varies from state to state, but the bills generally would require girls to show proof that they have received the inoculation in order to enter school. A number of immunizations -- including those for measles, chicken pox and polio -- are mandatory for U.S. schoolchildren because they block highly contagious diseases that can be spread easily in a group setting. But HPV is different because it is transmitted sexually. At $360 for the three shots, Gardasil is also costlier than many vaccines (a measles-mumps-rubella shot costs about $42.85 per dose, for instance), though it is generally covered by insurance.
Conservative Christian groups have long voiced opposition to the vaccine, saying it would conflict with their message of abstinence because it would, in effect, condone premarital sex. However, concern has spread beyond the religious right as momentum has grown for making inoculation mandatory. A growing number of parents are worried about exposing their children to the unforeseen side effects of a new vaccine to protect them from a disease that is no longer very common in the U.S. and often doesn't develop until much later in life.
Tina Walker, the mother of an 11-year-old girl in Flower Mound, Texas, says she would prefer to wait until the vaccine has been on the market for several years before subjecting her child to it. "We are the guinea pigs here," she says.
Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order mandating that the vaccine be administered to all girls entering the 6th grade in the state as of September 2008. The Texas executive order, which includes an opt-out clause for religious or other "reasons of conscience," enabled the governor to bypass what would have likely been a heated debate in the Texas Legislature.
Many of the state bills contain opt-out clauses, but a few don't. The bill pending in Florida would bar students ages 11 or 12 from being admitted to public or private school in the state unless they can provide proof that they have been vaccinated or that their parents opted them out after receiving information about cervical cancer and the vaccine.
Merck says cervical cancer is the second-leading cancer among women around the world, but the disease's prevalence is actually low in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates that 11,150 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,670 will die from it in the U.S. this year. That's equivalent to 0.77% of cancers diagnosed in the U.S. and 0.65% of U.S. cancer deaths each year. By comparison, the society estimates that 178,480 American women will get diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and 40,460 will die from it.
Adding to some parents' concern, 82 adverse events among both teens and adult women have been reported since Gardasil became available last June. Many involve common immune-system responses to vaccines, such as nausea, fever or rashes. But a number of patients suffered syncopes, or fainting spells.
Richard Haupt, Merck's executive director of medical affairs, says the syncopes are caused by patients' anxiety at having a needle stuck in their arm and not due to any neuro-immune reaction to the vaccine. Mr. Haupt adds that the number of adverse events is small compared with the hundreds of thousands of doses of the vaccine administered so far in the U.S.
However, with any newly approved drug or vaccine, side effects often don't become apparent until a regimen has been on the market for a while, leading some patient and consumer advocates to urge states to hold off on requiring vaccination until Gardasil's safety is more clearly established.
Of the more than 25,000 patients who participated in clinical trials of Gardasil, only 1,184 were preteen girls. "That's a thin base of testing upon which to make a vaccine mandatory," says Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, an advocacy group that lobbies for safer vaccines.
Gardasil is approved for females ages 9 to 26, and the three-dose regimen is the same for all age groups. The vaccine protects against four strains of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancer cases. So it would not eliminate the need for vaccinated women to have regular Pap smears to detect cancerous cells caused by other HPV strains. HPV is also the virus that causes genital warts.
Merck acknowledges that it doesn't know yet whether an initial vaccination will offer lifetime protection or whether patients will need booster shots. So far, the company has shown only that the vaccine lasts five years.
Merck started lobbying state legislatures to pass laws requiring vaccination last year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that all girls get the vaccine when they turn 11 or 12. Another HPV vaccine, called Cervarix, is in development from GlaxoSmithKline PLC, but so far Gardasil is the only regimen on the market.
As part of its lobbying campaign, Merck has been funding Women in Government, a Washington, D.C.- based advocacy group made up of female state lawmakers. An executive from Merck's vaccine division, Deborah Alfano, sat on Women in Government's business council last year, and many of the bills across the country have been introduced by members of the group.
Merck declined to say how much money it has funneled into its lobbying campaign, or contributed to Women in Government. A spokeswoman for Women in Government, Tracy Morris, declined to say how much it had received from Merck. In Texas, one of Merck's lobbyists is Gov. Perry's former chief of staff, and Merck's political action committee contributed $6,000 to the governor's re-election campaign.
"Parents should be concerned that the only company that makes this vaccine is pushing behind the scenes for mandatory laws," says Maryann Napoli, associate director for the Center for Medical Consumers, a consumer group based in New York.
At a Merrill Lynch conference yesterday, Margaret McGlynn, the president of Merck's vaccine division, acknowledged the company's aggressive lobbying campaign but said, "States decide what works for them." She added that she had her own daughter vaccinated with Gardasil and "immunizing females against cervical cancer is absolutely the right thing to do."
Mandatory vaccination across the U.S. would make Gardasil an automatic blockbuster for Merck at a time when the patents on some of its bestselling drugs are expiring and it's desperate to replace their revenue streams. Gardasil's sales in 2006 were $235 million.
Cervical cancer is a much bigger problem in the developing world, which accounts for more than 80% of cases of the disease. Merck says it's committed to bringing the vaccine to developing countries, but for now its availability is limited there to a few studies and demonstration programs.
Write to John Carreyrou at john.carreyrou@wsj.com
POINTS OF CONTENTION
Concerns over mandating shots:
• Some parents say a vaccine for HPV, the sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, effectively condones premarital sex.
• Long-term efficacy and risk of side effects are unclear. There have been 82 reports of adverse events associated with the vaccine.
• Gardasil is typically covered by insurance, but is costlier than many other common vaccines.
Full Story at: Cancer Vaccination Information - CLICK HERE
As Merck Lobbies States To Require Shots, Some Fret Over Side Effects, Morals
The Wall Street Journal
February 7, 2007; Page D1
By JOHN CARREYROU
Bills being drafted in some 20 U.S. states that would make a cervical-cancer vaccine mandatory for preteen girls are sparking a backlash among parents and consumer advocates.
The bills coincide with an aggressive lobbying campaign by Merck & Co., the maker of the only such vaccine on the market. Called Gardasil, the three- shot regimen provides protection against the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that is responsible for the majority of cases of cervical cancer.
If the state bills become law, they would guarantee the Whitehouse Station, N.J., drug maker billions of dollars in annual revenue from the vaccine.
Proposed legislation varies from state to state, but the bills generally would require girls to show proof that they have received the inoculation in order to enter school. A number of immunizations -- including those for measles, chicken pox and polio -- are mandatory for U.S. schoolchildren because they block highly contagious diseases that can be spread easily in a group setting. But HPV is different because it is transmitted sexually. At $360 for the three shots, Gardasil is also costlier than many vaccines (a measles-mumps-rubella shot costs about $42.85 per dose, for instance), though it is generally covered by insurance.
Conservative Christian groups have long voiced opposition to the vaccine, saying it would conflict with their message of abstinence because it would, in effect, condone premarital sex. However, concern has spread beyond the religious right as momentum has grown for making inoculation mandatory. A growing number of parents are worried about exposing their children to the unforeseen side effects of a new vaccine to protect them from a disease that is no longer very common in the U.S. and often doesn't develop until much later in life.
Tina Walker, the mother of an 11-year-old girl in Flower Mound, Texas, says she would prefer to wait until the vaccine has been on the market for several years before subjecting her child to it. "We are the guinea pigs here," she says.
Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order mandating that the vaccine be administered to all girls entering the 6th grade in the state as of September 2008. The Texas executive order, which includes an opt-out clause for religious or other "reasons of conscience," enabled the governor to bypass what would have likely been a heated debate in the Texas Legislature.
Many of the state bills contain opt-out clauses, but a few don't. The bill pending in Florida would bar students ages 11 or 12 from being admitted to public or private school in the state unless they can provide proof that they have been vaccinated or that their parents opted them out after receiving information about cervical cancer and the vaccine.
Merck says cervical cancer is the second-leading cancer among women around the world, but the disease's prevalence is actually low in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates that 11,150 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,670 will die from it in the U.S. this year. That's equivalent to 0.77% of cancers diagnosed in the U.S. and 0.65% of U.S. cancer deaths each year. By comparison, the society estimates that 178,480 American women will get diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and 40,460 will die from it.
Adding to some parents' concern, 82 adverse events among both teens and adult women have been reported since Gardasil became available last June. Many involve common immune-system responses to vaccines, such as nausea, fever or rashes. But a number of patients suffered syncopes, or fainting spells.
Richard Haupt, Merck's executive director of medical affairs, says the syncopes are caused by patients' anxiety at having a needle stuck in their arm and not due to any neuro-immune reaction to the vaccine. Mr. Haupt adds that the number of adverse events is small compared with the hundreds of thousands of doses of the vaccine administered so far in the U.S.
However, with any newly approved drug or vaccine, side effects often don't become apparent until a regimen has been on the market for a while, leading some patient and consumer advocates to urge states to hold off on requiring vaccination until Gardasil's safety is more clearly established.
Of the more than 25,000 patients who participated in clinical trials of Gardasil, only 1,184 were preteen girls. "That's a thin base of testing upon which to make a vaccine mandatory," says Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, an advocacy group that lobbies for safer vaccines.
Gardasil is approved for females ages 9 to 26, and the three-dose regimen is the same for all age groups. The vaccine protects against four strains of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancer cases. So it would not eliminate the need for vaccinated women to have regular Pap smears to detect cancerous cells caused by other HPV strains. HPV is also the virus that causes genital warts.
Merck acknowledges that it doesn't know yet whether an initial vaccination will offer lifetime protection or whether patients will need booster shots. So far, the company has shown only that the vaccine lasts five years.
Merck started lobbying state legislatures to pass laws requiring vaccination last year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that all girls get the vaccine when they turn 11 or 12. Another HPV vaccine, called Cervarix, is in development from GlaxoSmithKline PLC, but so far Gardasil is the only regimen on the market.
As part of its lobbying campaign, Merck has been funding Women in Government, a Washington, D.C.- based advocacy group made up of female state lawmakers. An executive from Merck's vaccine division, Deborah Alfano, sat on Women in Government's business council last year, and many of the bills across the country have been introduced by members of the group.
Merck declined to say how much money it has funneled into its lobbying campaign, or contributed to Women in Government. A spokeswoman for Women in Government, Tracy Morris, declined to say how much it had received from Merck. In Texas, one of Merck's lobbyists is Gov. Perry's former chief of staff, and Merck's political action committee contributed $6,000 to the governor's re-election campaign.
"Parents should be concerned that the only company that makes this vaccine is pushing behind the scenes for mandatory laws," says Maryann Napoli, associate director for the Center for Medical Consumers, a consumer group based in New York.
At a Merrill Lynch conference yesterday, Margaret McGlynn, the president of Merck's vaccine division, acknowledged the company's aggressive lobbying campaign but said, "States decide what works for them." She added that she had her own daughter vaccinated with Gardasil and "immunizing females against cervical cancer is absolutely the right thing to do."
Mandatory vaccination across the U.S. would make Gardasil an automatic blockbuster for Merck at a time when the patents on some of its bestselling drugs are expiring and it's desperate to replace their revenue streams. Gardasil's sales in 2006 were $235 million.
Cervical cancer is a much bigger problem in the developing world, which accounts for more than 80% of cases of the disease. Merck says it's committed to bringing the vaccine to developing countries, but for now its availability is limited there to a few studies and demonstration programs.
Write to John Carreyrou at john.carreyrou@wsj.com
POINTS OF CONTENTION
Concerns over mandating shots:
• Some parents say a vaccine for HPV, the sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, effectively condones premarital sex.
• Long-term efficacy and risk of side effects are unclear. There have been 82 reports of adverse events associated with the vaccine.
• Gardasil is typically covered by insurance, but is costlier than many other common vaccines.
Full Story at: Cancer Vaccination Information - CLICK HERE
Texas Gov. urged against cancer order
Wyoming News, WY
Associated Press
February 7, 2007
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
AUSTIN, Texas - Several key Republicans urged Gov. Rick Perry on Monday to rescind his executive order making Texas the first state to require girls to be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
Lawmakers should have been allowed to hear from doctors, scientists and patients before the state implemented such a sweeping mandate, said state Sen. Jane Nelson, chairwoman of the health and human services committee.
"This is not an emergency," said Nelson, adding that she plans to ask Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion on the legality of Perry's order. "It needs to be discussed and debated."
Three other Republican lawmakers filed bills that would override the mandate, and several others were working on similar legislation.
Perry defended his decision, saying his fellow conservatives were wrong to worry that mandating the vaccine will trample parents' rights and promote premarital sex.
"Providing the HPV vaccine doesn't promote sexual promiscuity any more than providing the Hepatitis B vaccine promotes drug use," Perry said in a statement. "If the medical community developed a vaccine for lung cancer, would the same critics oppose it claiming it would encourage smoking?"
Perry has ordered the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules requiring Merck & Co.'s new Gardasil vaccine for girls entering the sixth grade as of September 2008. The vaccine protects girls against strains of the human papillomavirus that cause most cases of cervical cancer.
Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing an affidavit objecting to the vaccine on religious or philosophical reasons, but critics say the order still interferes with parental rights.
"I don't think the government should ever presume to know better than the parents what to do with children," Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.
Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available free to girls ages 9 to 18 who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover vaccines. And he ordered Medicaid to offer Gardasil to women ages 19 to 21.
Click here for the URL: http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/cancer_vaccination.html
Wyoming News, WY
Associated Press
February 7, 2007
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
AUSTIN, Texas - Several key Republicans urged Gov. Rick Perry on Monday to rescind his executive order making Texas the first state to require girls to be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
Lawmakers should have been allowed to hear from doctors, scientists and patients before the state implemented such a sweeping mandate, said state Sen. Jane Nelson, chairwoman of the health and human services committee.
"This is not an emergency," said Nelson, adding that she plans to ask Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion on the legality of Perry's order. "It needs to be discussed and debated."
Three other Republican lawmakers filed bills that would override the mandate, and several others were working on similar legislation.
Perry defended his decision, saying his fellow conservatives were wrong to worry that mandating the vaccine will trample parents' rights and promote premarital sex.
"Providing the HPV vaccine doesn't promote sexual promiscuity any more than providing the Hepatitis B vaccine promotes drug use," Perry said in a statement. "If the medical community developed a vaccine for lung cancer, would the same critics oppose it claiming it would encourage smoking?"
Perry has ordered the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules requiring Merck & Co.'s new Gardasil vaccine for girls entering the sixth grade as of September 2008. The vaccine protects girls against strains of the human papillomavirus that cause most cases of cervical cancer.
Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing an affidavit objecting to the vaccine on religious or philosophical reasons, but critics say the order still interferes with parental rights.
"I don't think the government should ever presume to know better than the parents what to do with children," Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.
Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available free to girls ages 9 to 18 who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover vaccines. And he ordered Medicaid to offer Gardasil to women ages 19 to 21.
Click here for the URL: http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/cancer_vaccination.html
Friday, February 09, 2007
"Of the more than 25,000 patients who participated in clinical trials of Gardasil, only 1,184 were preteen girls. "That's a thin base of testing upon which to make a vaccine mandatory," says Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, an advocacy group that lobbies for safer vaccines.....Merck acknowledges that it doesn't know yet whether an initial vaccination will offer lifetime protection or whether patients will need booster shots. So far, the company has shown only that the vaccine lasts five years.....As part of its lobbying campaign, Merck has been funding Women in Government, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group made up of female state lawmakers....Merck declined to say how much money it has funneled into its lobbying campaign, or contributed to Women in Government. "Parents should be concerned that the only company that makes this vaccine is pushing behind the scenes for mandatory laws," says Maryann Napoli, associate director for the Center for Medical Consumers, a consumer group based in New York.....Mandatory vaccination across the U.S. would make Gardasil an automatic blockbuster for Merck at a time when the patents on some of its bestselling drugs are expiring and it's desperate to replace their revenue streams. Gardasil's sales in 2006 were $235 million." - John Carreyrou, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 7
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
There is a an old saying in politics: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Texas Governor Rick Perry should have remembered that old saying before crowning himself King and wielding his executive branch power like a scepter over the Texas legislature in order to force all little girls in Texas to get three doses of Merck's HPV vaccine, GARDASIL.
The funny thing about it is that Merck had launched a massive PR/advertising blitz for GARDASIL on TV and in magazines and, with a little help from some friends, was successfully simultaneously introducing bills in multiple states with a military precision not seen since the invasion of Iraq. It was breathtaking in scope and public health officials, many doctors, politicians and editors were giving GARDASIL a standing ovation as the greatest advancement in the history of vaccines and cancer prevention. Flush with the victory of having convinced the FDA that GARDASIL should be fast- tracked into early licensure in the summer of 2006 and with unanimous blessing by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that GARDASIL should be used by all pre-adolescent girls, Merck was on a roll.
Merck was on a roll until parents, who were being threatened with state mandates forcing their little girls to get three doses of GARDASIL, started to object after taking a closer look at the evidence for the safety, efficacy and costs of GARDSIL to prevent 3700 cases of cervical cancer every year that can be prevented with routine pap screening and early treatment of pre-cancerous signs. Some legislators and investigative reporters started asking questions. It was revealed that Merck was, in effect, funding the political effort to get many states to mandate the vaccine. The National Vaccine Information Center issued a press release on Feb. 1 questioning how Merck could possibly know whether it was safe to give GARDASIL to little girls when they only studied less than 2,000 of them in pre-licensure clinical trials and when reports were already coming into VAERS that indicated some pretty serious health events were occurring after GARDASIL vaccination. Some legislators in some states pulled state mandate proposals or modified them to include opt-in provisions for parents.
Then Merck choked, convincing the Governor of Texas to put on his cowboy hat and perform the Heimlich maneuver. But what they didn't count on was public opinion when it comes to messing around with the democratic process and freedom.
After PROVE's Dawn Richardson stood her ground against HPV vaccine mandates in Texas on NBC's "Today Show"and legislators and doctors alike told "King Perry" on Tuesday that he had gone too far, today an MSNBC poll of more than 85,000 responders shows that the majority of Americans do not think HPV vaccine mandates are right.
Actually, the Governor of Texas and Merck may have done America a favor: the debate about the threat to freedom and the democratic process posed by forced vaccination policies, the influence of corporations in the political process, and abuse of power by the chiefs of executive branches of government is now being openly discussed.
Let freedom ring.
Full Story: www.TheMostImportantWebsite.com
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
There is a an old saying in politics: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Texas Governor Rick Perry should have remembered that old saying before crowning himself King and wielding his executive branch power like a scepter over the Texas legislature in order to force all little girls in Texas to get three doses of Merck's HPV vaccine, GARDASIL.
The funny thing about it is that Merck had launched a massive PR/advertising blitz for GARDASIL on TV and in magazines and, with a little help from some friends, was successfully simultaneously introducing bills in multiple states with a military precision not seen since the invasion of Iraq. It was breathtaking in scope and public health officials, many doctors, politicians and editors were giving GARDASIL a standing ovation as the greatest advancement in the history of vaccines and cancer prevention. Flush with the victory of having convinced the FDA that GARDASIL should be fast- tracked into early licensure in the summer of 2006 and with unanimous blessing by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that GARDASIL should be used by all pre-adolescent girls, Merck was on a roll.
Merck was on a roll until parents, who were being threatened with state mandates forcing their little girls to get three doses of GARDASIL, started to object after taking a closer look at the evidence for the safety, efficacy and costs of GARDSIL to prevent 3700 cases of cervical cancer every year that can be prevented with routine pap screening and early treatment of pre-cancerous signs. Some legislators and investigative reporters started asking questions. It was revealed that Merck was, in effect, funding the political effort to get many states to mandate the vaccine. The National Vaccine Information Center issued a press release on Feb. 1 questioning how Merck could possibly know whether it was safe to give GARDASIL to little girls when they only studied less than 2,000 of them in pre-licensure clinical trials and when reports were already coming into VAERS that indicated some pretty serious health events were occurring after GARDASIL vaccination. Some legislators in some states pulled state mandate proposals or modified them to include opt-in provisions for parents.
Then Merck choked, convincing the Governor of Texas to put on his cowboy hat and perform the Heimlich maneuver. But what they didn't count on was public opinion when it comes to messing around with the democratic process and freedom.
After PROVE's Dawn Richardson stood her ground against HPV vaccine mandates in Texas on NBC's "Today Show"and legislators and doctors alike told "King Perry" on Tuesday that he had gone too far, today an MSNBC poll of more than 85,000 responders shows that the majority of Americans do not think HPV vaccine mandates are right.
Actually, the Governor of Texas and Merck may have done America a favor: the debate about the threat to freedom and the democratic process posed by forced vaccination policies, the influence of corporations in the political process, and abuse of power by the chiefs of executive branches of government is now being openly discussed.
Let freedom ring.
Full Story: www.TheMostImportantWebsite.com
" The National Vaccine Information Center yesterday warned state officials to investigate the safety of a breakthrough cancer vaccine as Texas became the first state to make the vaccine mandatory for school-age girls. Negative side effects of GARDASIL, a new Merck vaccine to prevent the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, are being reported in the District of Columbia and 20 states, including Virginia. The reactions range from loss of consciousness to seizures. "Young girls are experiencing severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision and some girls have lost consciousness during what appear to be seizures," said Vicky Debold, health policy analyst for the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit watchdog organization that was created in the early 1980s to prevent vaccine injuries."- Gregory Lopes, The Washington Times, Feb. 3, 2007
"Lawmakers should have been allowed to hear from doctors, scientists and patients before the state implemented such a sweeping mandate, said state Sen. Jane Nelson, chairwoman of the health and human services committee. "This is not an emergency," said Nelson, adding that she plans to ask Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion on the legality of Perry's order. "It needs to be discussed and debated." Three other Republican lawmakers filed bills that would override the mandate, and several others were working on similar legislation." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press, Feb. 5, 2007
"Dr. Patricia Sulak, a professor of obstetrics-gynecology at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, said health-care providers she knows were shocked by the order. "It's such a new vaccine — they haven't had time to explain it to patients," said Sulak. "I think everyone was happy with the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices' recommendation that it be routinely given. But this makes it seem like it's being shoved down people's throats." Hinchey [president- elect of Texas Medical Association] and others emphasized that although the vaccine is considered safe, there are questions of whether there is enough experience with it to warrant a mandate. They say that some girls eventually may experience rare adverse effects not yet identified." - Todd Ackerman, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 7, 2007
For Full Stories: www.TheMostImportantWebsite.com
"Lawmakers should have been allowed to hear from doctors, scientists and patients before the state implemented such a sweeping mandate, said state Sen. Jane Nelson, chairwoman of the health and human services committee. "This is not an emergency," said Nelson, adding that she plans to ask Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion on the legality of Perry's order. "It needs to be discussed and debated." Three other Republican lawmakers filed bills that would override the mandate, and several others were working on similar legislation." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press, Feb. 5, 2007
"Dr. Patricia Sulak, a professor of obstetrics-gynecology at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, said health-care providers she knows were shocked by the order. "It's such a new vaccine — they haven't had time to explain it to patients," said Sulak. "I think everyone was happy with the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices' recommendation that it be routinely given. But this makes it seem like it's being shoved down people's throats." Hinchey [president- elect of Texas Medical Association] and others emphasized that although the vaccine is considered safe, there are questions of whether there is enough experience with it to warrant a mandate. They say that some girls eventually may experience rare adverse effects not yet identified." - Todd Ackerman, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 7, 2007
For Full Stories: www.TheMostImportantWebsite.com
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