Organized medicine can't buy everyone

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" Ken " <shining

Friday, March 15, 2002 9:43 AM

Organized medicine can't buy everyone

 

 

> Organized medicine can't buy everyone

> >From the March 2002 Idaho Observer

> Published 03. 13. 2002 at 15:12 PST

> http://www.sierratimes.com/02/03/14/health.htm

>

> Vaccine-induced infant deaths used to be attributed to a mysterious

ailment

> called " Sudden Infant Death Syndrome " . When children are killed by

vaccines

> these days, it is trendy to accuse parents of shaking their baby to death.

> For those parents who are too insistent and the death of their babies are

> too obviously related to vaccination, there is the Vaccine Injury

> Compensation Program. This program uses tax dollars to compensate parents

> for damage and death caused by vaccines; this program is often used to buy

> parents off and shut them up. It did not work when a vaccine killed

> Stephanie Kate Vasquez.

> by Ingri Cassel

>

> When Luis and Angie Vasquez came home from the hospital with their third

> child Stephanie Kate Vasquez on April 15, 1998, a day after she was born,

> they were elated. She was a beautiful, healthy girl weighing in at seven

> pounds, two ounces. They did everything the doctor told them to do.

> Stephanie was given the recommended hepatitis B vaccine, the vitamin K

shot

> and had erythromycin applied to her tender newborn eyes prior to being

> discharged from the hospital. Despite this, Stephanie took well to

> breastfeeding and was well bonded with her mom, dad, brother and sister.

>

> At her six-week check up, Stephanie had not gained as much weight as the

> average baby according to the formula-based chart doctors' use in

> determining normal weight gain. She was prescribed Enfamil formula and> was told to give Stephanie Enfamil every other feeding.

>

> At eight weeks of age, on June 16, 1998, Stephanie went into the

> pediatrician's office for her series of " immunizations. " She was

> administered Tetrammune, a new diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and

> haemophilus influenza (Hib) combo vaccine by Lederle; oral polio vaccine

and

> a second hepatitis B vaccine. Stephanie became sick with flu-like symptoms

> including an abnormally high temperature, fussiness and excessive

sleepiness

> seven days after the shots. Angie nursed and comforted her newborn

daughter

> as any good mom would, giving her baby Tylenol as prescribed, but nothing

> would sooth her.

>

> On June 24, 1998, Angie got up in the morning to check on Stephanie who

had

> been particularly fussy the previous evening. Angie noticed that she was

> cold and clammy. She immediately picked her daughter up and noticed that

she

> was not breathing. She screamed, " she's dead! " and ran down the hall to

call

> 911. Then she proceeded to administer CPR until the police and ambulance

got

> there. Angie rode with the officer to the police station with Stephanie

> while Luis stayed with the other two children. When they arrived the

officer

> stood by Angie's side while she asked what was wrong with her daughter and

> if she was okay. The nurse from the hospital turned to her and coldly

said,

> " Your baby is dead. "

>

> Reality set in and Angie began to scream and cry uncontrollably. The

police

> began to question both Angie and Luis since the cause of death had not yet

> been determined. After all, this is not necessarily a normal reaction and

> could have been a sign of hysteria or mental instability or even " shaken

> baby syndrome. "

>

> When the medical personnel and county demanded that a thorough autopsy be

> performed, Angie protested, not wanting her baby to be cut apart like

> someone would dissect an animal. Since she had no legal say in the matter,

> she insisted on having a complete and thorough analysis as to the cause of

> death and demanded a full copy of the autopsy report.

>

> The pathologist determined that the cause of death was interstitial

> pneumonia so Angie thought this is what the death certificate stated. A

> month later as Angie was putting away Stephanie's things, she came across

> Stephanie's death certificate and it stated haemophilus influenza type B

as

> the cause of death. So Angie decided to go to the library and look these

two

> diseases up in a medical dictionary. When she discovered that interstitial

> pneumonia is Hib disease, she decided to review Stephanie's shot records.

> Then she saw that Stephanie was vaccinated against Hib so she wondered how

> in the world Stephanie could have possibly died of a disease she had been

> " immunized " against. Angie called numerous medical professionals for

answers

> and got nowhere. Finally one nurse told her it is rare for a child to

> contract the disease from the vaccine but she had heard of this happening

> before.

>

> Angie's mind was reeling. How can this be? The vaccine is supposed to

> prevent this disease! When she tried to get a corroborating opinion, the

> other medical professionals denied the possibility of an association,

saying

> that she must have contracted it from her siblings, despite the fact that

> the rest of the family had not been sick prior to or during the time that

> Stephanie Kate was sick.

>

> After searching the internet, she found out about the National Vaccine

> Information Center and the existence of the Vaccine Adverse Event

Reporting

> System (VAERS). She decided to report Stephanie's death to VAERS since her

> doctor refused to do so. She found out that the lot number of Tetrammune

> administered to Stephanie had been reported to VAERS 34 times and was

listed

> as causing one other death.

>

> Since 1998 it has been pulled from the market and it is now recommended

that

> Hib and DPT shots be administered at different times to maximize

> " effectiveness. " To add insult to injury, another death certificate was

> created that lists SIDS as being the cause of Stephanie's death.

>

> Angie decided that she needed to hire an attorney and file her case with

the

> National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).

>

> She contacted the National Vaccine Information Center and asked if they

knew

> of an attorney in her area that was familiar with the VICP. They

immediately

> gave her Curtis Webb's number, an attorney in Twin Falls, Idaho, who has

> represented numerous parents in similar cases. Since Angie lives in

Burley,

> Idaho, 45 miles from Twin Falls, she was thankful to get the

recommendation

> and immediately called his office. This happened two months after

> Stephanie's death and Angie was doggedly determined to avenge her

daughter's

> wrongful death through the VCIP. She had a vision of using the money to

> educate other parents regarding the real dangers of vaccines and the fact

> that the risks DO outweigh any imagined benefits.

>

> Curtis Webb answered the phone, heard the first part of her story and then

> asked where she lived. As soon as he found out her location and address,

he

> told her to stay put since he would be right over. True to his word, he

was

> there in 20 minutes. Curtis Webb turned out to be a Godsend and went right

> to work getting every detailed medical record and autopsy report he could

> get his hands on. The claim was filed and pediatrician Dr. Edward Yazbak

> agreed to be their expert witness after Angie searched the internet in

> desperation looking for one. At the end of September 2001, Curtis Webb

> finally got a complete autopsy report and it just happened to be an

> additional six pages more than the one Angie received three years earlier.

> The autopsy report came just days before Angie and Curtis flew to

> Massachusetts for the VICP hearing.

>

> The hearing was held in a ritzy hotel and was called a " Masters Court. "

> Master French, a woman, presided as the judge. Robert Daum, the inventor

of

> Tetrammune, was the VICP and Dept. of Health and Human Service's (HHS)

> expert witness. Mr. Menowski was the attorney for HHS. When the 34 cases

> reported to VAERS regarding Tetrammune was brought to Daum's attention, he

> passed it off as a coincidence. When the judge addressed Daum point blank

> with the question of " What kind of reactions do occur with Tetrammune? " he

> repeatedly told the judge that there are no known adverse reactions. She

> finally said, " Don't you tell me there are no known reactions. This is

what

> I do for a living and I see case after case of adverse reactions from

these

> vaccines. "

>

> Finally the judge took both attorneys aside and told Menowski that he

needs

> to settle this now since he does not want this case to set a precedent.

One

> issue they were squabbling over is the type of haemophilus influenza

> Stephanie had contracted. There are apparently many different strains and

> despite Angie's pleas to make sure the autopsy was thorough, the

pathologist

> did not list the specific type of haemophilus influenza on the report. She

> was told that if the pathologist had listed the specific strain and it

> coincided with the strain in Tetrammune, then she would be entitled to a

> larger settlement.

>

> After the hearing, Curtis Webb did not hear from Menowski, and so he

finally

> scheduled another hearing for December 12. The day before Webb was

scheduled

> to fly out for the second hearing, Menowski called with an offer to

settle.

> Curtis told Angie they might want a gag order as part of the settlement

> agreement. She is not interested since she plans on using whatever amount

of

> money she gets to further her ability to educate other parents on the

> dangers of vaccines. This is to her credit since we know of two other

women

> in this state who signed gag orders in order to get the maximum amount

> offered by the VICP.

>

> Although Angie waited three years for her day in court, she has not been

> sitting idle on this issue. She has been a force for the local public

health

> district and the area doctors to contend with. She spends all her spare

time

> educating other parents by writing letters to the editor, being

interviewed

> on local radio stations, and going to their local health department and

> school functions passing out anti-vaccination literature. She wants

parents

> to know they have a choice. After all, the laws in the state of Idaho

> protect parent's rights to abstain from medical experimentation for

> themselves and their children. To find out more about vaccines and your

> right to legal exemptions in Idaho, visit Angie's website.

>

>