NVAC INVITES V4V: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
By Kelli Ann Davis
Last Friday, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Vaccine Safety Working Group met in Washington DC. The stated purpose of the meeting was to “review the current federal vaccine safety system and develop a White Paper describing the infrastructure needs for a federal vaccine safety system to fully characterize the safety profile of vaccines in a timely manner, reduce adverse events whenever possible, and maintain and improve public confidence in vaccine safety.”
Two days before this meeting took place, I learned in a private meeting with organizers that Lisa Randall (Voices for Vaccines) had been asked to participate in a segment entitled, “Interacting with the Public.” At that time, I had no idea who she was or what Voices for Vaccines was all about which made it quite difficult to draw any conclusions about her addition to the panel on the spot.
That didn’t last very long. Once word spread about Lisa’s involvement in the upcoming meeting, private e-mails arrived in my inbox linking her with the Immunization Action Coalition. Soon thereafter, JB’s piece Fools Rush In hit the blogosphere. Suddenly the picture was becoming clearer.
At the meeting last Friday in DC, Voices for Vaccines provided an information sheet detailing their mission statement and listing their steering committee members.
Joseph Bocchini, MD – American Academy of Pediatrics
Douglas Campos-Outcalt, MD – American Acedemy of Family Physicians
Anna De Bois – Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Mark Kane, MD – Consultant, Seattle WA
Frankie Milley – Meningitis Angels
Paul Offit, MD – Vaccine Education Center
Walter Orenstein, MD – Emory Vaccine Center
Denise Palmer – Families Fighting Flu
Trish Parnell – Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases (PKIDS)
Amy Pisani – Every Child By Two
Gary Stein – Families Fighting Flu
L J Tan, PhD – American Medical Association
Jon Temte, MD – American Academy of Family Physicians
Deborah Wexler, MD – Immunization Action Coalition
Alan Hinman, MD – The Task Force for Child Survival and Development
Based on the above information and coupled with prior statements made by Lisa Randall over the last several years, one has to wonder what NVAC was thinking when they decided to include her in this pivotal meeting! Are they really trying to engage the public, or are they just trying to conjure up the kind of “public” representative that they’d prefer?
Consider the following:
• Voices for Vaccines is a brand new organization. It isn’t really officially "up and running" in any visible way. What contributions have they generated in the past to warrant their "seat at the table" and represent the “public” when others (e.g. Mark Blaxill from Safeminds) are obviously more suited to the charge and have a proven track record when it comes to thoughtful commentary on vaccine safety issues.
• Voices for Vaccines does not really represent anything and actually stands opposed to the kind of transparency needed to engender trust within the autism community when it comes to the government and their commitment to seriously tackle vaccine safety issues. Detailed information on their mission statement and membership were practically non-existent leading up to Friday’s meeting and we still don’t know what the sources of their funding are. Repeated attempts to get further clarification directly from Mark Rosenberg (Executive Director, The Task Force for Child Survival and Development) were unsuccessful due to his unwillingness to divulge any information; the Voices for Vaccines website is registered under his organization. Read more HERE.
• Voices for Vaccines’ emotionally charged rhetoric does little to produce any kind of constructive dialogue in what is already a highly charged environment of vaccine safety issues. Here’s what they said on their fact sheet from Friday:
"Rising concerns, mostly non-science based, about the safety of immunizations are threatening the gains we have made in childhood immunization. This is a global problem, not just a problem for the United States. Myths arising in other counties, such as MMR purportedly causing autism in the United Kingdom, have impact on attitudes and practices in the United States. By the same token, issues arising in this country, such as the notion that thimerosal in vaccines causes autism, affect what happens in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the loudest voices and most visible faces addressing immunization are often those attacking the safety of specific vaccines or those generally opposed to immunization rather than those who support vaccines' benefits.
• Voices for Vaccines is an organization which has demonstrated minimal interest in considering legitimate vaccine safety questions; any discourse that may jeopardize the status quo is automatically equated to an "attack" on vaccines in general. Inviting this organization to take up this important slot on the Vaccine Safety Working Group only perpetuates mistrust between parents of vaccine-injured children, who are asking for answers to their legitimate questions, and government officials, who are in charge of finding them.
• Voices for Vaccines is solely focused on preventing infectious disease and therefore they have an inherent bias against seriously addressing issues surrounding adverse events. It’s like inviting someone who has a vested, financial interest in promoting air travel to be involved in an investigation by NTSB. In other words, promotion (vaccine uptake in this case) is not the focus of this Working Group and therefore Lisa's "viewpoint" does nothing in terms of adding productive information to the discussions aimed at identifying and resolving specific safety issues. In fact, she is on public record referring to any parent and/or individual as "not pro-vaccine" and as an "anti-vaccine activists" simply when they raise legitimate safety questions.
It’s clear that Lisa Randall’s role should have been limited to that of public commentator rather than invited participant but unfortunately we can’t undo what’s already been done.
What we can do is launch a concentrated effort to get the government to ask for better public representation. So that’s why I would ask you to join me in requesting that these officials appoint Mark Blaxill, Vice-President of Safeminds to the Working Group. Mark would be a far better public representative on this critical issue. And it’s the kind of role he’s playing in other areas; he's recently been appointed to the Strategic Planning Working Group (SPWG) for the IACC based in large part on his vast experience in the strategic planning arena as well as his respected position within our community.
To give you an idea for why I think Mark would serve the Vaccine Safety Working Group well, here are his recent comments on the NYT article by Tara Parker Pope. This short post gives an excellent overview of his straightforward, uncompromising dedication to excellence and the pursuit of truth:
"Thank you Tara for discussing this issue with openness and honesty. The concern we should all have in this discussion is to promote childhood health. We should not be distracted by policy abstractions and political agendas. Promoting vaccine safety requires an unbiased investigation of the risks and benefits of these interventions. Compromising those investigations by overly solicitous defenses of product marketers and the political agendas of public health bureaucracies is not wise public policy. To keep children healthy we need open inquiry and honest assessment of past and future policies. And when we need to confront the inconvenient truth of vaccine damage, responsible management of health policy demands that we do so without bias. The reality? Too many children are sick. We need to understand why."
In the weeks leading up to this meeting, several of us pushed hard to incorporate “From Children Last to Safety First: A White Paper On Vaccine Safety (Prepared For The Blue Ribbon Panel On Vaccine Safety HERE) into the agenda and we were successful! Let’s continue the push and get Mark onto the Working Group.
In the meantime, I think it’s imperative for organizations like V4V, Families Fighting Flu, Every Child By Two, PKIDS, IAC and their like to remember these three facts:
1.) Classifying parents of vaccine-injured children as "anti-vaccine" is misleading and false. Our children were injured because they were vaccinated;
2.) Promoting vaccine safety has absolutely nothing to do with the issue of whether vaccines are successful in protecting against infectious diseases -- they are two separate issues; and
3.) It's only when safety issues are ignored that parents like us are eventually forced to weigh the risk of safety against the risk of infectious disease and the two issues come together
Again, please help get Mark Blaxill appointed to the Vaccine Safety Working Group by calling the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) at 202.690.5566 and by e-mailing:
Bruce Gellin, Director of National Vaccine Program Office [email protected]
Dan Salmon, National Vaccine Program Office [email protected]
Thanks and we’ll keep you updated regarding any progress!
Kelli Ann Davis is an autism advocate in Washington, DC.
Kelli,
Thanks for the information! It sounds like our recommendation for Mark Blaxill is being taken quite seriously, as well it should be.
Addition to the update:
According to Dan Salmon (as of this afternoon) we should expect to hear something soon. When pressed for a more specific time frame, he said we should have an answer "in about a week."
Sounds like more than enough time to me.
If I don't hear something sooner, I follow up on May 1.
Terri
Posted by: Terri Lewis | April 24, 2008 at 04:55 PM
UPDATE:
Hey Terri,
Yesterday, I was in discussions with two individuals on the Working Group who are joining us in issuing their personal support for Mark to the appropriate officials.
Additionally, I sent a follow up e-mail to officials reiterating our request and will put in a call tomorrow to Bruce (Gellin) the Director of NVPO.
Bottom Line: Still active. Please continue to call and send e-mails until we get a definitive answer to our request.
Rock On,
Kelli
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | April 24, 2008 at 03:12 PM
Kelli,
Any further word on this?
I made a follow-up call just now. . . Think we should we keep on with this? Wait a bit to hear?
Any additional background info. on the people we're trying to work with might be helpful. (Yeah, I know how to google, just thought we might all get up to speed a little faster if there's additional info. to be had!)
Terri L.
Posted by: Terri Lewis | April 24, 2008 at 01:04 PM
Jim Witte,
I actually think that MANY individuals do not create enough antibodies to the current vaccines to confer immunity against the disease. Hence the outbreaks where vaccinated individuals are infected.
My fear is that these individuals who are prone to vaccine failure, are the very individuals at risk for severe adverse events from vaccination.
Posted by: Monica | April 18, 2008 at 11:27 PM
I sent my e-mails.
If you are concerned about convincing anyone your true interests lie in making vaccines and vaccinating safer you need Mark Blaxill in the group. Conversely-Lisa Randall is widely considered the worst kind of hack and having her in your group greatly undermines your mission goal. Anything with her name attached is suspect at best. What were you thinking adding her? You might as well have "100,000 vaccines at a time is OK" Paul Offit in your group.
Posted by: A@T | April 18, 2008 at 04:36 PM
Kelli,
I made my phone call, and it sounds like lots of us have! GO TEAM!
What kind of time frame do you think we're looking at here, regarding some kind of response?
Terri
Posted by: Terri Lewis | April 18, 2008 at 04:07 PM
Perfect question, Kelli -- what WERE they thinking?
The appointment of attorney Lisa Randall/V4V/Immunization Action Coalition is tantamount to placing a Pharma or CDC employee on the board. Oranges and oranges.
Many of these peoples' identity is so deeply invested in the idea that they are saving lives, that they just can't even begin to accept that they've been damaging lives, too.
It's creepy to know that people with such a restricted mindset are given powerful responsibility over public health. People who will lie, if necessary, to defend their paradigm. Over and over history has shown the awful consequences.
Posted by: nhokkanen | April 18, 2008 at 03:36 PM
Monica said:
"Now that has me worried, is vaccine failure "not uncommon"? If this statement is true, our current schedule not only sucks, but leaves a LARGE number of children at risk for VPDs"
It also raises another question - how many kids received vaccines but did not develop immunity? Do we even have enough kids that DID develop immunity get to the precious "herd immunity" that everyone is talking about? If not.. Why don't we have outbreaks of measles and mumps and whatever else?
If there is not enough actually immunity created to get "herd immunity", then how are these vaccines any better than placebo injections (and quite a bit worse)? Why give them?
I personally think V4V is a Pharma or government front-group. If someone produced smoking-gun evidence of that (D.K. perhaps - a fourth nuclear bomb story later this year?), what would it do the debate?
Another thing is this is *not* just about vaccines.. If we are going to, say, delay most of the vaccines except for the MOST dangerous diseases (killed polio virus, maybe tetanus, maybe something else - things that can kill or cripple for life).. And delay everything else until a kid is 2 and their immune system is able to handle it better (and presumably when the mitochondria which might have been damaged by prenatal ultrasound have been replaced - I assume they get replaced by the cell at some point!)..
We may have to rethink a LOT of things that we take for granted now like day-care - I don't think you want a bunch of un-vaxed (indeed, perhaps still immune-immature) kids together in a small setting. If we want to push for breast-feeding infants until the age of 6 or 12 months (transfers at least temporary immunity, as well as other benefits), we have to rethink maternal-leave, policies about nursing mothers at work (with baby or with a breast pump)..
So sociologists might want to be on this group too - or a group to follow it.
I cannot believe how unprepared and *stupid* acting all these people are - they had all the time in the world to prepare for this - all "this" (NVAC, the Vaccine Safety Commision, etc) should have all been put in motion the DAY of the Poling press conference. Instead, the government is acting as if this is a bolt from the blue, and running around like autistic chickens with their heads cut off!
Cry Shame indeed - here and across the pond.
Jim
Posted by: Jim Witte | April 18, 2008 at 03:06 PM
UPDATE ON CALLS:
Just spoke with LaForest at NVPO to check and see if she was getting any calls. She told me she’s getting a ton of calls and she’s forwarding them to Dan Salmon.
I also updated Bruce, Dan and Dr. Raub giving them the link to this piece and reiterating our request for Mark’s incorporation into the Working Group.
Thanks all. Again, I’ll keep you posted on any progress!!!
Kelli
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | April 18, 2008 at 03:03 PM
UPDATE:
I just rec’d an interesting little tidbit from someone who attended the ACIP meeting in October 2007. They sent me the information sheet that was handed out at that time and it’s the **same exact handout (word for word) with only three distinct differences**
1.) The name of the group was changed from “People for Immunization” to “Voices for Vaccines;”
2.) Lisa Randall is heading the process and directly accepting monetary donations thus replacing Alan Hinman from “The Task Force for Child Survival and Development;” and
3.) Anna De Blois is a new member of the steering committee.
Based on this information, I have a few questions:
Exactly what have they been doing for the last 6 months in regards to appointing an official Board of Directors which they said they would do once they are “up and running?" And why the name change???
On their fact sheet, they state the following:
“To ensure its credibility as an independent voice, it will accept no funding from the vaccine industry or the federal government.”
Rigggghhhttt, the only problem is that most everyone on the steering committee DOES.
Hint: “I wasn’t born yesterday”
Kelli
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | April 18, 2008 at 01:22 PM
"Again, please help get Mark Blaxill appointed to the Vaccine Safety Working Group by calling the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO)..."
They purposely don't want him on there because they are afraid of him. He knows too much. Heck, even I am afraid of him and we happen to be on the same side!
Posted by: Autism parent | April 18, 2008 at 11:23 AM
"The above are complications,poor medical care,and with the avid jogger- provoked conditions, in the 10 families that represent "Families Against Flu." I might at that 1 survived the complications."
The flu shot broke my son's back and plunged him into autism. Chances are that these kids already had severe immune system damage from the aggressive vaccine schedule and it was the real flu virus that did them in. If these kids were healthy enough they would not have died from the flu. The flu has been around for centuries, your immune system is supposed to be healthy enough to overcome these illnesses. This is a very "sick" society, its frightening.
And these Families Fighting Flu are clueless, promoting the very thing that out their kids in jeopardy to begin with. Maybe they ought to be running some immune system panels on themselves to see what's going on with their immune systems. They might get to know why their kids died.
Posted by: Flu-mmoxed | April 18, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Hi Monica, It is important to bear in mind that while antibodies reflect exposure, they do not necessarily reflect immunity. Here's a good article that discusses the issue ("Challenging the Theory of Artificial Immunity" by Keith W. Wassung at http://www.vaccinationnews.com/dailynews/February2002/ChallengingTheoryArtImm.htm ). Another good one, by Dr. Philip Incao, is at http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/December2002/Vaccinations&Smallpox11.htm and called "Vaccinations and Smallpox: What you need to know".
Posted by: Sandy Gottstein | April 18, 2008 at 10:46 AM
P2P
propoganda 2 profits
Posted by: Keith | April 18, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Thanks, Kelli! I will be writing my emails soon!
Karen, Perhaps I misunderstood you, but with all due respect, we do not live in a free market as far as vaccines are concerned. Somewhere along the line, the notion that we are all entitled to the pursuit of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" got replaced with the notion that some have to be unwillingly sacrificed for the Establishement's idea of some common health good. Until and unless we get rid of mandatory vaccinations, or at least have easy access to exemptions with philsophical ones in all 50 states, things are only going to get worse. I have written repeatedly on this notion in my Scandals columns (http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/past_scandals.htm ), e.g., "On Cheating 'The Other Guy'", "Forced Vaccinations - Musings On What The Road To Hell Is Paved With", "The Perfect Business Plan", as well as my 2002 speech (http://www.vaccinationnews.org/dailynews/february2002/BartlettDemoSpeech.htm ). We must also arm ourselves with information about both the diseases and the vaccines so we are not easily manipulated by fear-mongering (see "The Power of Fear", also a Scandals column). And finally, we must demand that properly designed studies are conducted so that we have valid, reliable information on which to base our decisions. In my opnion, there is simply no other way.
Posted by: Sandy Gottstein | April 18, 2008 at 10:36 AM
CDC: Flu season worst in 3 years; vaccine didn't work well
"Pediatric deaths are another way flu seasons are compared. So far this
year, 66 children died, including 46 who were not vaccinated."
(44% efficacy was apparently not good enough for 20 of these kids.)
Apr 17, 12:17 PM (ET)
By MIKE STOBBE
ATLANTA (AP) - This year's flu season has shaped up to be the worst in
three years, partly because the vaccine didn't work well against the
viruses that made most people sick, health officials said Thursday.
The 2007-2008 season started slowly, peaked in mid-February and seems
to be declining, although cases are still being reported, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Based on adult deaths from flu and pneumonia, this season is the worst
since 2003-2004 - another time when the vaccine did not include the
exact flu strain responsible for most illnesses.
Each year, health officials - making essentially an educated guess -
formulate a vaccine against three viruses they think will be
circulating. They guess well most of the time, and the vaccine is
often between 70 and 90 percent effective.
But this year, two of the three strains were not good matches and the
vaccine was only 44 percent effective, according to a study done in
Marshfield, Wis.
The CDC compares flu season by looking at adult deaths from the flu or
pneumonia in 122 cities. This year, those deaths peaked at 9 percent
of all reported deaths in early March, and remained above an epidemic
threshold for 13 consecutive weeks. In 2003-2004, they peaked at more
than 10 percent of all deaths, and surpassed the epidemic threshold
for nine weeks.
"Our season is not quite as high but is lasting a little longer," said
Dr. Dan Jernigan, deputy director of the CDC's influenza division.
Pediatric deaths are another way flu seasons are compared. So far this
year, 66 children died, including 46 who were not vaccinated. In
2003-2004, 153 children died.
This year, the CDC started working with the Marshfield Clinic in
central Wisconsin to get a better gauge of vaccine effectiveness while
a flu season was in progress. Almost the entire population gets health
care at the clinic, which has complete vaccination and electronic
medical records.
This year, a Type A H3N2 Brisbane strain not in the vaccine has been
responsible for most of the illnesses. A Type B Florida strain, also
absent from the vaccine, has also been causing illness. Marshfield
data showed that the vaccine didn't work at all against the Type B
virus, and was 58 percent effective against the Brisbane virus.
Jernigan acknowledged that some people may lose faith in the flu
vaccine and skip it next year. But he noted even this year, when the
vaccine was not a good match, the vaccine still offered 44 percent
protection overall.
The Marshfield study and a flu season update are being published this
week in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Posted by: Miserable failure | April 18, 2008 at 09:39 AM
One question I will be posing to the above individuals (and maybe someone here at AoA may have the answer); Have we ever performed a full scale study to asses the efficiacy of our current vaccination program?
When assessing Jade's immune system function, her antibodies to her vaccines were tested, to which she had zero- mild response. No response was adequate for full immunity, yet she had all her vaccines, on schedule. At our next immunology appointment (this was 2 months after we started Low Dose Naltrexone through our DAN!- amazing how DR Berger knew what to treat, and how to do it without all the immunology visits), her immune system was again tested, by administering a shot of Prevnar, and checking her antibodies. She had a perfect response (even though she got a nasty rash), so they could not determine why she previously had vaccine failure, other than a genetic immunodeficiency, as I have functional immunodeficiency. The doctor attributed the positive response to the LDN, and said she had some type of "Primary Immundeficiency", but the LDN was working, so we didn't need to test again. He did exempt her from all live virus vaccines, though.
A few months back, when requesting info from my this office, I spoke to one of the undergrads there in his practice. He asked what treatment she is on (usually it is IVIG) I told him LDN, and explained the positive antibodies to Prevnar after 2 mos of LDN. He doubted that the LDN worked, and then told me something VERY unsettling.
He stated "It is not uncommon for children to not respond to their vaccines, as the immune system is not fully developed until age 2, your daughter's response is not all that uncommon."
Now that has me worried, is vaccine failure "not uncommon"? If this statement is true, our current schedule not only sucks, but leaves a LARGE number of children at risk for VPDs, while we think they are protected. Has ANYONE performed studies that asses antibody response to ALL vaccines in our current schedule in a large group of children?
This is one study I would love to see- testing of antibodies of a large group of children after each set of vaccines. Not just safety trials, where they look at a single vaccine for antibody response. But testing of antibody response to each and every vaccine given, 1-2 months after administration.
Does anyone know if such a study has been performed? If so, could you link me?
Posted by: Monica | April 18, 2008 at 09:37 AM
With all due respect to the sad loss of life...
Here are highlights from the 10 families featured on Families Against Flu's webpage.
These children clearly had underlying conditions and one physician failed to address an emergency. One child was transported to a number of hospitals a cause of death in itself.
7 children (one survived) dying from flu complications hardly warrants adding immune disrupting, neuro-toxic flu vaccines to the pediatric schedule.
This year 20 vaccinated children died from the flu. (They got all the brain damaging neurotoxins and ZERO flu protection.)
Excerpts from Families Against Flu:
http://www.familiesfightingflu.org/about/families/
The autopsy revealed that Katie had died of myocarditis (inflammation of the muscular tissue of the heart).
As Marques was being rushed to the hospital he suffered from several small strokes.
By Sunday evening, Amanda appeared weak and her lips started to look gray. Amanda's mother called the family doctor, who told her that she had received over 60 calls that weekend about the same virus, and that Amanda would be okay as long as she stayed hydrated. The doctor recommended that Amanda only drink several sips of water at a time, and that her parents should make sure she continued to urinate.
Just four hours later, at 7:30 a.m., Amanda's parents found her lifeless in her bed.
(Doctor ignored parents concerns.)
The Amanda Kanowitz Foundation has been established in memory of Amanda Rose Kanowitz, a beautiful, fun-loving four-year-old little girl who died suddenly from Influenza B on March 1, 2004.
Our mission is to save other children and spare other families the devastating tragedy of losing a child. Accordingly, we will work with top doctors and researchers across the U.S. to:
Promote development of *better* vaccines and effective antiviral drugs
Determine which children should be considered high-risk for extreme reactions to Influenza and other infectious diseases
Identify preventative measures and proactive treatment to protect high-risk children
Develop treatment for high-risk children to prevent serious complications/death once severe *immunological reactions* have been triggered
The autopsy revealed that in addition to influenza, Emily had pneumonia with a painful complication called an empyema (a collection of pus or fluid in the cavity between the lung and surrounding membrane).
The intense running that Martin had done the night before escalated his condition from muscle aches to Compartment Syndrome in his legs. The doctor explained that if the blood flowing to Martin’s legs ceased for an extended period of time, they might have to amputate his legs. Martin needed to be operated on as soon as possible.
Martin was taken into surgery that afternoon. However, during the surgery, his heart stopped beating.
They thought the worst was over; however, Ian went into respiratory arrest
Breanne had to be transferred to another hospital for more intensive care. A special life-support machine was needed as the virus began to attack Breanne’s heart and brain stem. However, after being transferred to yet *another hospital*, doctors told Breanne’s parents that the damage to her young body was too extensive.
Jessica died of viral myocarditis. An autopsy was not conducted to determine what type of virus caused Jessica’s ultimate death; however, viral myocarditis is linked to Coxsackie B and adenoviruses and can also result from the flu. ????????????
And lastly,
Within 24 hours of her arrival at the local hospital, Alana died of flu-related complications that caused swelling and injury to her brain.
If these viruses cause swelling and injury to the brain why would we inject viruses into developing brains?
NOTE:
The above are complications,poor medical care,and with the avid jogger- provoked conditions, in the 10 families that represent "Families Against Flu." I might at that 1 survived the complications.
All tragic but pales in comparison to 1:150 with Autism, 1:80 boys, 1:40 twins with a life long, multi-million dollar disorder, HHS concedes can be provoked by vaccines.
Posted by: 1:150 vs 10 who had flu complications | April 18, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Hmmm, I just can't guess what entity may be PHunding V2V or the kind of conPHlict of interest Paul OPHit might bring to the organization.
Sadly, it sounds as if the group was formed so suddenly because its formation is due to behind-the-scenes orders of inviduals in government for the express purpose of controlling this committee. This would make the stated purpose of the committee a bit "Newspeak-ish" if groups like V2V actually do "steer" it: it would be less concerned about safety than in "public confidence".
I hope I'm wrong. Even so, this is all the more reason to put pressure on the NVPO to include Mark Blaxill.
Posted by: Gatogorra | April 18, 2008 at 09:07 AM
As far as I am concerned these organizations have nothing to do with product failure and product safety. My understanding is that the purpose of this meeting was to uphold vaccine safety practices for ALL children.
This is the equivalent to advocates for "all tires" muddying issues when Firestone tires are blowing up and rolling SUVs.
We live in a free market where consumers have a voice.
This is not China. If a government mandated product fails, we have representation. Congress affords us public dialog on vaccines at ACIP.
We have met Families against Flu at CDC/ACIP meetings. They are strategically placed to testify at public comment right before parents and SAFEMINDS. These organizations have large corporate sponsors behind them. If they were truly concerned parents and not a corporate entity, they would be staunch consumer advocates for vaccine safety.
Interesting to research Families Against Flu stories. If truly advocating they would want safe, non-toxic vaccines based on their own public testimony. The handful of stories, linked to their website, state their children often had *underlying immune* disorders.
Since Thimerosal, according to university studies, harms T-cell mediated immunity, one would think they would be for us and not against us.
THIS YEAR 20 CHILDREN DIED FROM THE FLU, FULLY VACCINATED!
(Fox News Yesterday)
They got the wrong strain and ALL THE MERCURY.
Did 9-25mgs of Mercury push these poor children over the edge? Did it beat down their natural immunity to the correct flu strain?
These are the questions real advocates ask.
Posted by: Karen Atlanta | April 18, 2008 at 08:23 AM