ethics, legalities in decisions about vaccines

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Hepatitis B Vaccine? Part 3 2002-08-07 20:15:11

 

Hep B Vaccine Infant Deaths Reported In VAERS - Even

though fewer than 10 percent of all doctors report

health problems following vaccination, there are more

than 16,000 reports of hospitalizations, injuries and

deaths following hepatitis B vaccination that have

been reported to the U.S. government Vaccine Adverse

Event Reporting System (VAERS) since July 1990. There

are reports of deaths in infants under one month of

age following hepatitis B vaccination in VAERS, with

most of the deaths being classified as sudden infant

death syndrome (SIDS), even though SIDS is not

historically recognized in the medical literature as

occurring in babies under two months of age.

 

One of those death reports was made for a 15-day old

baby boy who died within 48 hours of his first dose of

hepatitis B vaccine. His father testified at a 1995

Institute of Medicine Vaccine Safety Forum workshop.

He described what happened:

 

'For the first 13 days of his life, Nicholas was no

different than any other baby. He ate well. When he

slept, he slept well. He acted just like my first son

acted when he came home from the hospital.' Nicholas

was given a hepatitis B shot at his regular check up

at the pediatrician's office on the 13th day of his

life. His father said:

 

'That night when I got home from work, I noticed that

Nicholas was crying a lot more than usual. In fact, he

was screaming some of the time. He was acting

differently, but because we had just taken him to the

doctor for a checkup and they told us he was a big

healthy boy, we thought everything was OK. When he was

just acting fussy, like babies sometimes do, we didn't

know anything about vaccines or that they can cause

problems for some babies.'

 

'Nicholas cried on and off for most of the night. When

I got up and went to work the next day, he was still

crying on and off. He continued during most of the day

and into the evening. The next morning, his mother

found him dead in his crib. From the way he looked, he

had been dead for several hours.'

 

An autopsy was done the next day. A couple of weeks

later, our pediatrician told us over the phone that

the autopsy showed Nicholas had died of sudden infant

death syndrome. He told us Nicholas was one of the

healthiest babies he had ever seen…. What I didn't

know then but I know now is that the pediatrician had

made a report within 17 days of Nicholas' death to the

government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System,

VAERS. In VAERS, Nicholas' death is listed as SIDS.

Even though I didn't know anything about vaccines or

SIDS, something told me that there was a reason why

Nicholas died, and I had to find out why.'

 

After seeing an article in the Washington Post about

the Institute of Medicine report on adverse events

associated with childhood vaccines, Nicholas's father

called the National Vaccine Information Center and

began talking to experts and researching infant death

and vaccines. Eventually a clinical professor of

pathology, who had reviewed Nicholas' medical records,

autopsy and slides, stated in writing that Nicholas

did not die of SIDS but died a cardiac death, caused

by passive congestive changes with pulmonary edema and

hemorrhage caused by the active immunization with

hepatitis B vaccine. The pathologist stated 'I do not

believe this was a sudden infant death syndrome death.

Sudden infant death syndrome is the most abused

diagnosis in pediatric pathology. In this particular

case, the infant was two weeks old. Sudden infant

death at two weeks old is so rare as to be virtually

unheard of.'

 

The pathologist went on to say that Nicholas was at

high risk for congestive heart failure because his

mother had gestational diabetes, but that he would

definitely have survived were it not for the stress

induced by the hepatitis B vaccination.

 

Nicholas's father, in his testimony before the

Institute of Medicine, asked 'How many other newborn

babies are dying from the effects of hepatitis B

vaccine, but are being wrongly diagnosed as SIDS and

no one ever knows the difference? I looked at the

computer printouts of VAERS reports at the National

Vaccine Information Center, and I saw there were other

reports of babies just a few days or weeks old, who

have died shortly after hepatitis B vaccination. Many

are listed as SIDS deaths, but are they?'

 

Adults Report Hep B Vaccine Injury And Death To NVIC -

As hepatitis B requirements force more adults to get

vaccinated as a condition for getting a higher

education or working in the health care field, NVIC is

receiving more and more reaction reports like this one

from a disabled nurse, who recently wrote in:

 

'24 hours after my first [hepatitis B] shot, I had

muscle pain in legs and arms - was told this was

'normal.' Same thing after 2nd shot. Six weeks after

2nd shot I had my first episode of Raynauds [temporary

loss of blood flow to fingers resulting in tingling,

throbbing, swelling, intense pain] and also began

having rashes on arms and neck. At this point it was

minor and not constant. I asked if it had anything to

do with the vaccine and was told no.

 

'Six months after the 1st shot, I received the

booster. From then (1995) to today, I have constant

daily fevers up to 100.5, tormenting rashes and

prickling on arms, hands, neck and legs, muscle

degeneration, joint pain with restricted movement,

difficulty swallowing and Raynauds has become severe.

 

'I was perfectly healthy until the hepatitis B

vaccinations and still all the doctors tell me it has

nothing to do with my illness. I had reactions to two

of the drugs they tried to treat me with. I am on

total disability because of these symptoms. I am an RN

but was taught that the vaccines were perfectly safe.'

 

 

Parents Oppose Hepatitis B Vaccine Mandate In Illinois

- In the spring of 1997, a suburban Chicago mother of

two daughters, ages 9 and 11, became concerned when

she received a notice from the school system stating

that her older daughter had to be vaccinated with

hepatitis B vaccine by September 1997 or she would be

barred from attending school. Although both of Kathy

Rothschild's daughters were fully vaccinated with all

other childhood vaccines, she didn't know anyone with

hepatitis B and couldn't understand why her daughter

had to get the vaccine. Her research led her to a

public library and then to NVIC.

 

With the help of Kathy Rothschild's State Senator,

Kathy Parker, an agreement by the Illinois Department

of Health to not voice opposition, and with support

from NVIC members around the state, a bill passed the

Illinois Senate 52-2 on March 20, 1997, allowing

parents the right to philosophical exemption to

vaccination. The bill also created a Task Force and

required the Board of Health to hold public hearings

to review how Illinois public health employees add new

vaccines to state vaccination laws and how they

implement those laws.

 

After the bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate, the

Illinois Department of Health went back on its pledge

not to oppose the bill and vigorously fought against

the bill in the House, successfully killing it in

committee before it had a chance to come to a floor

vote. However, the health department did agree to roll

back the hepatitis B mandate for one year (until

September 1998) and to hold three public hearings,

which resulted in testimony from physician expert

witnesses and parents and reinforced the dangers of

hepatitis B vaccine and the need for informed consent

rights to be established within state vaccine

requirements.

 

Doctor, Mothers Say Vaccine Safety Data Poor - In a

December 1997 public hearing in Chicago before the

Illinois Board of Health, Mayer Eisenstein, M.D.,

M.P.H., who is board certified in public health and

preventive medicine, quality assurance utilization

review, by the National Board of Medical Examiners and

has recently completed a law degree, testified against

the proposed hepatitis B mandate. He said: 'The idea

of giving this vaccine to a one-day old baby, a

newborn, is preposterous. There is no scientific

evidence for this. In fact, I called up the [hepatitis

B vaccine] manufacturer and I had [a representative]

come to St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital, where I am

Chairman of the Department of Medicine, and I asked

him: 'Show me your evidence on one-day old infants as

to side effects [from the hepatitis B vaccine]' - we

have none. Our studies were done on 5 and 10 year

olds.... As a father, grandfather, a physician, as a

lawyer, I want the option of not giving it to my

children unless I believe the scientific evidence is

there.'

 

Later during the public hearing, a mother whose child

reacted to the hepatitis B vaccine testified that 'We

were told unless we had the shot our children were not

getting into school. In the past, I got the shots for

my children. So I went and got the [hepatitis B] shot.

First shot, my daughter got slightly sick. We didn't

associate it with the shot. We associated it with

possible flu. Her legs hurt. Her back hurt....'

 

'The second shot, within two days of this shot, my

daughter's symptoms went from mild to severe abdominal

pain around the clock. She couldn't eat. She couldn't

sleep. Her legs hurt. She broke out in a rash. She had

eczema over most of her body. Going to the doctor, we

were told it was in her head, that she needed a

psychiatrist. Then we decided we would find out for

ourselves.

 

'It was the people who gave me [information on the

vaccine], the list that I should have gotten first

that said what the reactions were, including severe

abdominal pain, eczema, rash, hair loss. My doctor

didn't tell me that. I was given a piece of paper that

said reactions would be a minimum, maybe a small

fever. She had a fever the whole time.

 

'I never knew any of this existed, and this is $18,000

later, a child who [had to be] out of school for the

first three months and was tutored at home. I don't

want to see other kids go through this. I think there

should be more testing done. I think the parents

should know that this shot isn't for something that's

easily picked up. This is for sexual transmission or

drug use. My child is ten years old. She plays with

Barbie dolls and paints her fingernails. She doesn't

know about this stuff. I don't want to give her a shot

to protect her from something and someplace she's not

at yet.'

 

Citizens Make Plea for Informed Consent - Before

testifying at a Board of Health public hearing held in

Springfield on March 26, 1998, NVIC held a press

conference in the State Capitol building. Then, along

with scores of Illinois parents who traveled to

Springfield to make public comment, NVIC President

Barbara Loe Fisher Reverend Robert VandenBosch,

President of the American Research Foundation, and

Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D., professor of cell biology at

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, presented

formal testimony.

 

Fisher told the Board of Health 'There is a six year

old girl named Katherine lying in a bed in Skokie,

Illinois unable to lift her head off her pillow or

walk to the bathroom. Just 13 weeks ago, Katherine was

an ice skater with boundless energy and a dream of

going to the Olympics. Her mother didn't want her to

get the hepatitis B shot but her pediatrician told her

it was a political issue like AIDS and the American

Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was going to mandate the

vaccine soon. Katherine got that hepatitis B shot and

now she may never skate again. Where were her informed

consent rights? And where will the doctors from the

state health department and the CDC and the AAP be

when her mother carries her up the stairs to the

bathroom? And will the state of Illinois pay her

medical bills when her insurance runs out after DHHS

and the Justice Department oppose giving her federal

compensation?'

 

During limited public comment time, all of the parents

asked the Board of Health to allow citizens to follow

the judgment of their conscience when making

vaccination decisions for their children, including

the right to exercise informed consent to vaccination

without suffering harassment and punishment at the

hands of state health and school officials. Some, like

a young man who was kicked out of an Illinois college

in the middle of the semester because of his sincere

religious beliefs, asked for the right to follow his

religious convictions without being punished by

doctors employed by the state. He said:

 

'They have refused to give me credit for this semester

and have told me not to attend class and have

cancelled my appointment with my advisors. I applied

for a religious exemption. Both my parents wrote

letters identifying my objection. We were refused on

the grounds that, in order for a religious exemption

to occur, I must identify 'a recognized church or

religious organization.' I don't believe that anyone

has a right to judge my religion. How does recognition

of my belief by another human being make it more or

less? I am confused by the word 'organized.' How does

the number of people or the structure under which they

operate validate my beliefs? This is a violation of my

Constitutional right to religious freedom.'

 

 

 

 

 

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