Congress Set To Bail Out Big Pharma In Secret

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Thu, 17 Nov 2005 12:27:28 EST

Subject:Re: Congress Set to Bail out big Pharma in

Secret

 

 

 

Update: Congress Set To Bail Out Big Pharma In Secret

 

 

 

 

 

Washington, D.C. - A behind-the-scenes plan is reportedly taking

shape in Congress to attach language to an unspecified conference

report giving drug companies blanket immunity from liability for

vaccine injuries and deaths.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a watchdog

consumer advocacy group critical of provisions in " The Biodefense and

Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005 " (S. 1873) sponsored

by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and a similar bill in the House (H.R.

3970), calls the reported plan " an end-run by Pharma's friends in

Congress to take away the civil rights of the American people. "

 

There are twice as many drug

companies marketing vaccines

in the U.S. today as there were

in 1982

 

In the past few weeks, public criticism about the proposed

bail-out of drug companies has been mounting as Americans are being

told that a pandemic bird flu is coming and drug companies are asking

Congress to bar citizen access to the civil justice system when they

are harmed by vaccines. Because the bird flu virus has not mutated

into a form that is transmittable from human to human, questions have

been raised as to whether irrational fear about bird flu is being

generated in an attempt to stampede Congress into passing liability

protections the pharmaceutical industry has been seeking for 40 years.

Pointing out that there are twice as many drug companies

marketing vaccines in the U.S. today as there were in 1982 when NVIC

was founded, NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher said, " It is a big lie

that drug companies have been driven out of business by lawsuits in

the past two decades. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of

1986 protected drug companies and doctors from almost all lawsuits.

There are only a handful of vaccine injury lawsuits pending in civil

courts but Pharma is on the brink of conning Congress into destroying

Americans' Seventh Amendment Constitutional right to seek redress in a

civil court in front of a jury of their peers.

 

 

S. 1873 is " arguably unconstitutional "

 

 

Apparently drug companies only want profits and not

accountability when Americans die or are injured by experimental and

poorly tested biodefense and pandemic flu vaccines they can be forced

to take whenever the Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a

public health emergency and state officials follow suit. "

In a November 15th letter to Senator Burr's staff director, U.S.

Senate Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness,

NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher describes S. 1873 as " arguably

unconstitutional " because it (1) lacks transparency into the research,

development, licensure and post-licensure surveillance of vaccines and

drugs used in public health emergencies; (2) lacks accountability for

either manufacturers of these products or government health officials

who mandate their use without informed consent; and (3) lacks justice

for those who will inevitably die or suffer chronic illnesses after

being compelled to take these products.

 

 

The proposed agency may deny

Freedom of Information Act

requests by citizens and is not

subject to judicial review.

 

 

The proposed law will also create a new agency within the

Department of Health and Human Services that will secretly develop

experimental drugs and vaccines to be used by civilian and military

populations whenever the Secretary declares " a potential or actual "

public health emergency. The agency may deny Freedom of Information

Act requests by citizens and is not subject to review of its actions

by the judicial branch of government.

In 1982, there were four drug companies marketing vaccines in

the U.S.: Wyeth, Lederle, Merck and Connaught. Today there are eight:

Wyeth, Merck, Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, MedImmune, Chiron,

Bioport, and VaxGen.

There are ten vaccine injury lawsuits currently pending in U.S.

civil courts, with the majority involving a highly reactive whole cell

version of DPT vaccine no longer distributed in the U.S.

For more information and a complete text of Barbara Loe Fisher's

11 page letter to Senator Burr's subcommittee staff, go to www.nvic.org.