Vaccine Politics - 4 important articles

April 4, 2004

- Ingri Cassel

Dear Members and Friends -

I decided to send the following 4 or so articles as a single package since together they paint a more complete picture of the intense stranglehold the pharmaceutical companies have over the CDC, FDA, NIH, public school funding, and much more... Fascism? Seems pretty clear to me!

The first article was printed in the L.A. Times on April 2, 2004 in the front of their business section. It is followed by Teresa Binstock's excellent response to this article.

The third item was posted on a forum and sent to me by Sandi Rizzo, director of the Northern Nevada V.I.A.L. chapter. I haven't taken time to try to dig up the Washington Post article cited or get any other details. If you have more source material for The Secret of the FDA and the Drug Industry, please send it onto me at vaclib

The last articles have to do with federal funding of public schools being tied into the number of students who are "immunized" with vaccines. Shot records are sent directly to the local public health depts. (and then *likely* onto the CDC Beast database). In our state the immunization Tracking system is called IRIS (Idaho's Immunization Reminder Information System).

~ingri

U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids

By Myron Levin, Times Staff Writer

Hundreds of thousands of infants and toddlers who get flu shots starting this fall could be exposed to a mercury-laced preservative that has been all but eliminated from other pediatric vaccines because of health concerns.

Saying there is no proof of harm from exposure to the preservative thimerosal, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that they won't advise parents and doctors to choose a mercury-free version of the flu vaccine.

This year, flu shots are being added to the government's "recommend" list of vaccines that should be given to all young children. The CDC's decision on thimerosal, made despite pleas from parent activist groups and some experts, appears to be at odds with recent federal warnings about exposure to mercury, a potent neurotoxin, and with the government's successful effort to have it removed from other childhood vaccines.

The mercury-free flu vaccine will be more expensive — by about $4 per shot — and is somewhat harder to make in large quantities than the alternative. If the CDC were to warn parents, demand for thimerosal-free shots would rise, possibly squeezing supplies. Some experts said a shortage could lead to some children not being immunized against a known risk, flu, in order to avoid the theoretical risk of thimerosal.

"The available scientific evidence has not shown thimerosal-containing vaccines to be harmful," the CDC said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has a membership of 57,000 physicians, is backing the CDC.

But the agency has come under blistering attack from some parent groups. By not advising parents and physicians, the government is "violating the precautionary principle which reminds doctors that, when in doubt, take an action which minimizes the risk of harm," said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, a parent-led group that promotes safer vaccines.

Rep. David Weldon (R-Fla.) said he planned to introduce a bill to ban thimerosal in childhood vaccines. The CDC's refusal to recommend mercury-free shots "is medical malpractice," Weldon said. A physician with a young son, he said he wouldn't let the child have a shot containing mercury.

Preservatives are used by drug companies to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi in vaccines. Thimerosal, which is nearly 50% ethyl mercury, had long been the preservative of choice. That changed in 1999, when the U.S. Public Health Service and the academy of pediatrics called on drug firms to voluntarily remove thimerosal from pediatric vaccines as a precaution.

In doing so, they acknowledged a major oversight: Under the country's increasingly aggressive policy of childhood immunizations, infants were being repeatedly exposed to mercury in cumulative doses far above Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Since then, vaccine producers have virtually eliminated thimerosal from regularly scheduled childhood vaccines.

Some parent groups and researchers believe that thimerosal has contributed to a sharp increase in reported rates of autism and other developmental disorders in children. Nearly 4,000 compensation claims have been filed in a special vaccine injury branch of the U.S. Court of Claims on behalf of children with autism-related disorders.

Vaccine makers and many scientists dispute the connection, contending, among other things, that the exposures are too low and that ethyl mercury is more easily eliminated from the body than methyl mercury — the type produced by industrial emissions that ends up in fish.

The CDC's neutrality on thimerosal in flu vaccines comes amid blunt warnings from other federal agencies about reducing methyl mercury levels in infants and toddlers, whose developing brains may be more vulnerable.

Last month, for example, the Food and Drug Administration cautioned that young children and women who are nursing or pregnant should avoid fish high in mercury, such as shark and swordfish. In February, the EPA estimated that nearly 1 in 6 babies may be exposed to hazardous levels of mercury through the umbilical cord.

In recent months, small mercury spills resulted in the evacuation and cleanup of several schools. In January, for example, a middle school in Reno was shut down for eight days of extensive decontamination after mercury spilled on a school bus was tracked inside by students.

Boyd E. Haley, who is chairman of the department of chemistry at the University of Kentucky and is considered an authority on both ethyl and methyl mercury, said it was "preposterous and ridiculous" for the government to warn about methyl mercury in fish but sanction ethyl mercury's being injected into children.

The CDC decision is "unconscionable," Haley said. "If it were my grandson or my granddaughter, there's no way in hell you'd give them a vaccine containing thimerosal."

The decision endorses the stance of a panel of experts that advises the CDC on vaccination policies. Citing estimates of 36,000 deaths a year from influenza, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Policy recommended that all children 6 to 24 months old be considered at risk and receive two flu shots next fall. Rejecting pleas from parent activists, the committee refused to state a preference for giving thimerosal-free vaccines to toddlers and pregnant women.

The CDC will officially publish its decision later this month in an official agency bulletin.

The CDC orders mass quantities of vaccine for state and local health departments that immunize low-income children. Paradoxically, the agency has ordered up to 2 million doses of thimerosal-free vaccine for the coming fall to be sure there is enough for health departments that request it, said Roger Bernier, senior scientist with the CDC's immunization program.

However, the CDC's stating a preference for thimerosal-free vaccines "would drive the demand even more aggressively," Bernier said. There is no need to do so, he said, given the lack of proof of harm.

Dr. Margaret Rennels, who chairs the academy of pediatrics' committee on infectious diseases, cited manufacturers' estimates that nearly one-third of a vaccine is lost in the process of removing thimerosal and in packaging the preservative-free version. "It is the judgment of pediatric disease specialists that it would be better to have a third bigger supply given the lack of evidence of harm from thimerosal," she said.

It's unclear, however, whether high demand for preservative-free vaccine would in fact disrupt supplies.

Three companies produce flu vaccines for the U.S. market. Only one, Aventis Pasteur Inc., a subsidiary of French pharmaceutical giant Aventis, is licensed to make the medicine for children as young as 6 to 24 months.

Aventis makes both thimerosal and thimerosal-free vaccine at its Swiftwater, Pa., plant. Len Lavenda, director of public affairs, said Aventis encourages parents who are concerned to ask their doctors to order thimerosal-free vaccines. The company believes "we will be able to produce a sufficient amount" of mercury-free vaccine, Lavenda said, "providing we're notified early enough."

Lyn Redwood, a registered nurse and the mother of an autistic child, said that without a signal from the CDC, which is "looked to in this country as the authority on vaccines," parents and doctors simply wouldn't demand mercury-free drugs.

Dr. Neal Halsey, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that "it would make life much easier for everybody if there wasn't the thimerosal in the vaccines." But he added: "I personally am not concerned."

Halsey described the situation as different from 1999, when the call went out to eliminate thimerosal from childhood immunizations. That appeal stemmed from a realization that infants were getting a cumulative dose of 187.5 micrograms of mercury by the age of 6 months under the approved immunization schedule. Halsey, who was among those voicing alarm, said flu shots with thimerosal would deliver only a 25-microgram dose to children 6 months and older, so the exposure would be lower "in terms of the amount that's given and the size of the child."

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Cogent Response to above article

Teresa Binstock binstock

[abmd] to LAT reporter Myron Levin: U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids

A letter addressing Dr. Rennel's thimerosal quote in April 2, 2004 L.A.Times article. This email may be forwarded hither & yon.

-------

to LAT reporter Myron Levin: U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids

Sat, 03 Apr 2004 09:55:06 -0700

Teresa Binstock <binstock

Letters LAT <letters

CC: Margaret B. Rennels, M.D. <mrennels, Donald E. Wilson, M.D., MACP <deanmed

**********************

To Myron Levin of the LATimes:

If the quote attributed to Dr. Margaret Rennels is accurate in Myron Levin's recent article about ethylmercury in vaccines (1), then Dr. Rennels appears either to have committed deliberate fraud or, at best, to have displayed a sufficient unfamiliarity with published medical literature so as to call into question her competence.

The LAtimes article stated that "Dr. Margaret Rennels, who chairs the academy of pediatrics' committee on infectious diseases, cited manufacturers' estimates that nearly one-third of a vaccine is lost in the process of removing thimerosal and in packaging the preservative-free version. 'It is the judgment of pediatric disease specialists that it would be better to have a third bigger supply given the lack of evidence of harm from thimerosal,' she said." (1)

Dr. Rennels' assertion "the lack of evidence of harm from thimerosal" is false. Increased rates of autism associated with thimerosal injections have been described in at least three published articles (2-4). Two of those three articles were published in the Spring of 2003. Furthermore, in 2000, a CDC study found an association between infant thimerosal injections and a range of neurologic problems including ADHD, tics, language problems, and autism (2). Since those original findings, the CDC has been diluting the data so as to "disappear" thimerosal injection's associations with adverse sequelae. The CDC's intent to fudge data was documented during an in-houseCDC conference wherein the original CDC findings were discussed (eg, 3).

Perhaps not surprisingly, the American Academy of Pediatrics, via its journal "Pediatrics", has published fudged-data versions of the original CDC findings (4a, 4b). A more precise term for data-fudging is scientific fraud, and for further insights into the CDC's malfeasance, consult with Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D., R-FLA (eg, 5-).

The number of studies documenting injected thimerosal's adverse effects is growing (eg, 2, 7-11 and citations therein). If misquoted, Dr. Rennels deserves a chance to correct her statement. We note that Dr. Rennels is affiliated with the University of Maryland's Center for Vaccine Development (12) and thus may have a financial conflict of interest when offering critiques of toxic ingredients within vaccines.

Sincerely,

Teresa Binstock

Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy

P.O. Box 1788

Estes Park CO 80517

970 586 xxxx

References:

1. U.S. Won't Alert Parents, Doctors on Mercury in Flu Shots for Kids By Myron Levin LATimes Staff Writer April 2, 2004

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-vaccine2apr02,1,1037077.story<link>

2. The CDC's original findings before the CDC began to fudge the data, obtained via FOIA: http://factsformedia.com/factsformedia/thimerosalstudy.pdf

3. CDC Knew of Potential Link between Vaccines, Autism: Excerpts from CDC Simpsonwood transcript, showing what the CDC knew in 2000 and then proceeded to hide via data fudging and publishing articles based upon the data fudging.[end of url is pdf]

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/library/IOM%20Simpsonwood%20in%20bold.pdf

4a. Safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a two-phased study of computerized health maintenance organization databases. Verstraeten T, Davis RL, DeStefano F et al. Pediatrics. 2003 Nov;112(5):1039-48.

4b. In 2000, the AAP website presented an abstract by RL Davis et al, wherein the results of data-dilution were presented.

5. Congressman, Dr. Weldon's letter to the CDC director, available at: http://momsonamissionforautism.org/Autism_Central/Dr_Weldon_Responds.shtml

6. IOM presentation of Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D. http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/pdf/Weldon.pdf

7. Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, caspase-3 activation, membrane damage, and cell death in cultured human neurons and fibroblasts. Baskin DS et al. Toxicol Sci. 2003 Aug;74(2):361-8.

8. An assessment of the impact of thimerosal on childhood neurodevelopmental disorders. Geier DA, Geier MR. Pediatr Rehabil. 2003 Apr-Jun;6(2):97-102.

9. Neurodevelopmental disorders after thimerosal-containing vaccines: a brief communication. Geier MR, Geier DA. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2003 Jun;228(6):660-4.

10. Activation of methionine synthase by insulin-like growth factor-1 and dopamine: a target for neurodevelopmental toxins and thimerosal. Waly M et al. Mol Psychiatry. 2004 Apr;9(4):358-70.

11. Geier & Geier letter published by Pediatrics: Parents' worries about thimerosal in vaccines are well founded! 12 March 2004

<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/eletters/112/6/1394#top>

12. "Margaret B. Rennels, M.D." <mrennels Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Room 480 685 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.

************************************** Re: The Great Pharmaceutical Hoax #13915 < Send email to #13915 > | All #13915's Messages | 2/20/2004 1:48:04 AM ( 43 days ago )Monday, February 09, 2004 9:27The Secret of the FDA and The Drug Industryfrom THE INTERNATIONAL FORECASTERThe Food and Drug Administration is at it again. It has recently become dependent on the multi-billion-dollar drug industry that it's supposed to be policing.With virtually no public debate, Congress has passed a law that dramatically increases the FDA's dependence on large drug companies for its funding. It's an expansion of a law passed in 1992 intended to speed up the approval process for new AIDS medications.But this time the emergency was of a different sort. The FDA was running out of money to keep its new employees. Going before Congress and asking for more money amidst a war on terrorism was going to be a tough fight. And the drug companies offered an easier solution.Negotiate a deal in secret; attach it to the widely popular bioterrorism bill, and the drug companies would pay for the FDA's new employees and more.The FDA and the drug companies are getting awfully cozy...The details of discussions leading to this "solution" were never made public. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the program was created in private meetings between the industry and the FDA. It was never debated or voted on in either chamber before going to the negotiators. And it's moving forward before aGeneral Accounting Office review of the current program can be finished and made public.According to the Washington Post, the user fees from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies would add almost 500 employees to the FDA centers that review proposed new drugs. That would bring the FDA workforce funded by the drug industry to at least 1530. And that would constitute more than 55 percent of the FDA staff involved in reviewing drug applications."What was the price of the FDA sellout?$1.2 billion over the next five years.The report that's due from the GAO is supposed to tell us how well the public has faired under the current smaller program of drug company support for the FDA's drug approval process. But the truth probably won't come out:Over the last 10 years, the FDA has approved nine drugs that proved to have deadly side effects.The Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that 125,000 Americans die each year from the side effects of FDA approved drugs.The FDA approved the sale of Baycol (later found to cause fatal rhabdomyolysis) and continues to approve the use of other "statin drugs"to lower cholesterol that are also associated with this deadly side effect.Beefed up by drug company funds, the FDA has aggressively suppressed natural alternatives to drugs. Red yeast rice, for example, known to bea safe and effective alternative to cholesterol-lowering drugs, was banned by the FDA in 2001.The next time you are offered a drug, ask questions.Why do I have to take it? If I take it, what's the plan to get me back off of it? Are there alternatives? What are the side effects? How can I get more information? What Natural treatments are available without side effects that are often accompanying with the use of prescription drugs?Most importantly, keep yourself healthy. If you need help to get back to good health, choose as natural a therapy as possible. You will be less vulnerable to these dangerous products of a questionable approval process and drugs should be a last resort......not the first.***********************See http://www.unhinderedliving.com/statevaccexemp.html for Vaccine Exemption Forms Online by State or Country.You may ask for SunToads Health News Archives. Look for vaccine subject matter. Lots of it.The gist of the info below is current today in all states. Yes, we know the articles were written a while back.SunToads did not write the below. If you have questions, contact the authors.Source for the below:http://www.duffyslaw.com/current17.htmFEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPONSORED COMPULSORY VACCINATIONS AND MANDATORY MEDICINEThe single greatest obstacle to creating a free society is government's control over education.James Ostrowski, mises.orgDr. Mercola's website ( http://www.mercola.com/2004/index.htm ) reported today Sept 24, 2001 that the government is encouraging schools to send students back home who are not vaccinated.

The schools lose federal funding for every student who is not vaccinated.

This is Blackmail of Schoolteachers by the Federal Government.It is the worse form of coercion, the forcing of unwanted medical procedures on our innocent schoolchildren at a time when all the evidence proves that vaccinations are crippling our children. Autism cases are skyrocketing while doctors stubbornly refuse to report obvious vaccine related damages as caused by vaccines, even when reactions occur within minutes of vaccination.Contact your legislator personally, tell them you want all compulsory, mandatory medical procedures outlawed in keeping with the Nuremburg trial principles set forth over fifty years ago.The idea of compulsory medical procedures in a free country is insane.Wake up folks, speak up for your most basic right, the right to protect your own person from violation by a medical quack, out of control politician or bureacrat.The following article is from the Mercola website, the second most visited alternative medicine site on the world wide web and highly recommended by this website.GWhen the federal government began to blackmail the schools with extra money for "special Ed" students, the ball game was over for any hope of recovery for the public school system.Daniel H Duffy SrGovernment schools introduce and reinforce the bureaucratic Mentality, the opposite of a free and spontaneous attitude toward life.James Ostrowski mises.orgNon-Immunization Costs SchoolsBy Beth DoveSchool districts across the state are losing state funds to the tune of half a million dollars because some students have not been properly immunized.In June, 271 of Utah"s more than half a million public school students had not received the shots needed to comply with state law. As an encouragement to send students home who are not immunized, districts do not receive funding for those students, said Patrick Ogden, state associate superintendent of agency services.Sixty-four of the non-compliant students are in the Box Elder School District, which along with Granite and Salt Lake, is one of the hardest hit districts. Box Elder stands to lose more than $131,000 this year.Box Elder School Superintendent Martell Menlove said the loss, a first for the district, represents a significant chunk of a $56 million budget.But he"s hoping to save some of the money through an appeal to state officials. He pointed out that, since the report came out, all but eight students have either gotten the required shots or filed for exemptions.If attempts at compromise are unsuccessful, he"s unsure, he said, which programs will absorb the cut.Menlove said most of the noncompliance stemmed from school-nurse turnover and a recent requirement that secondary students receive a second MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) shot. He said school officials take responsibility for knowing the students needed the additional shot but not following up."It was a failure on our part to send kids home from school who did not have that shot," Menlove said. "That"s what we"ll do from now on."Ogden said new reporting methods could account for the state receiving more accurate data than in the past.Starting in fall of 2000, school nurses reported student immunization data directly to the state Health Department. Previously, nurses had funneled information to the districts, which then reported to the state.Ogden said officials are trying to help districts reduce the impact of losing the funds. Local officials are encouraged to make sure nurses reported the data properly, for instance, being sure they based attendance on a daily average.No immunizations, however, no money, Ogden said."Right now, the law is pretty clear."Standard-Examiner September 8, 2001--DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:The vaccine companies have quite a sweet deal. They have convinced most of the state committees to recommend these immunizations for all children.Very few people realize what an expert testified when Illinois tried to pass a law to prevent conflict of interest on these committees:"No infectious disease specialist will be able to serve on this committee! We all take money from pharmaceutical companies."Quite sad. The vaccine companies buy out the experts who serve on the committees that make the recommendations to vaccinate.Once the recommendations are in place, the companies have the government backing them to enforce them by restricting funds to the public schools if children are not in school due to compliance with the recommendations."No problem" you may say. The vaccines are good and protect us from illness.Well, many would disagree with that assertion. Especially the tens of thousands with clear vaccine related injury."No problem" you may say. Those individuals can sue the vaccine manufacturer.That used to be true, but many many moons ago the vaccine companies banded together to convince the government that they could not afford to make the vaccines if people were allowed to sue them.So the US government essentially granted them immunity from any lawsuits by establishing the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, where any injury complaints must be addressed before any legal action can be taken against the manufacturers.Pretty sweet deal for the drug companies that make the vaccines if you ask me.********************The above information has been forwarded to you by SunToads Health News(formerly named Health Matters). We write very little of the materials youreceive.We do not use a web site.PLEASE NOTE: Some rs receive only a portion of their email. Thisis because these rs have chosen email providers/servers that haverestrictions, often unknown to you, on email such as size limits, storagetime limits, numerical limits, etc. Please check to see if you haverestrictions applied to you. Each time we send out an issue we areoverwhelmed with non-delivery notices. At some point, we delete thesers who generate repeat non-delivery notices. If you think you havebeen deleted, just again, hopefully using a better email provider.If you don't receive at least one newsletter during any 30-day period, thatcould mean that we have lost all our data. You may ask us to confirm yoursubscription status. Thanks.This newsletter is for those who want to know more about:1. Current serious health threats even though you may not be sick now.2. Suppressed cures.3. Sources of info so you can do further research.4. Controversial health information, typically non-mainstream.5. Alternatives. Bits and pieces.Our Archives list can be emailed to you.In the body of your email, write:SunToads Health News archives requested.Email to: jfebPlease send us similar health info you are aware of and include references,if possible, so others can do further research. Since our staff volunteersits time and we do not charge you for our efforts, we are therefore unableto pay money to writers.Feel free to forward this material to those who may have an interest in better health.SunToads Health News emailings are on no particular schedule.We don't claim to be experts or doctors, we just search for suppressed andlittle known information. Any statements made by SunToads are solely ouropinions and in no way constitute medical advice.Opinions expressed in material written by others are their opinions, notnecessarily ours. Sometimes other writers may say something we are sure isincorrect. For example the writer may say cow's milk is great and parasitesare bad. SunToads happens to think that neither milk nor parasites are greatfor humans, but we won't torpedo the entire article if the overallinformation is helpful.We inform you of what we find, we do not practice medicine or guarantee theaccuracy of what we find and forward. From the huge amounts of material wereview, we select material that we feel is likely to be largely accurate. Wedo not pretend to be infallible. As more valid research becomes available,today's best information often goes on tomorrow's junk pile. We continue tolearn just like you do.We are aware that there are often volumes of intentional disinformation andmisinformation on many subjects. You too need to be aware that deliberatelies are frequently promulgated. Sorting it all out is not always easy. Wehave seen web sites that claim to expose lies and truths. Some of thesesites have an agenda and/or are run by poorly informed people. We try toforward info to you that will give you a wider perspective, and willhopefully be mostly true given the current knowledge base. We will NEVERintentionally mislead you.Occasionally we are blasted by a venomous reader shrieking nasty remarksabout something he/she doesn't agree with, and always he/she fails to offerevidence or research to help us determine if we have forwarded incorrectinformation. This behavior is unproductive. It sends a barb to our hearts,and in no way helps anyone. We are pleased when this type persons... and we may even drop them from our list without theirrequesting it.YOU decide what is credible and if you wish to use the information weforward.We do this newsletter because we have personally had medical successes andknow of many others who have. We do this because we care about you, not forany personal gain......... well, maybe......... we learn from you guys too.All information is for educational purposes only and is not intended todiagnose, treat, or cure any disease. For clarification and/or professionaladvice, you should seek the opinion of an appropriate licensed professional.

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Ingri Cassel, director

Vaccination Liberation

P.O. Box 457

Spirit Lake, Idaho 83869

(208) 255-2307/ (888) 249-1421

vaclib

www.vaclib.org

"Free Your Mind....

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to make medical decisions for us,