SafeMinds Video Reviews Sebelius's Errors on Vaccine Safety
From SafeMinds:This video has been some months in the making and its release is highly appropriate given the new allegations regarding Dr. Andrew Wakefield, which we believe to be calculated primarily to attempt to end the debate over vaccines and autism, rather than having any merit. Please watch the video and then read the commentary below:
Last spring, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius was interviewed by Reader's Digest (HERE). In her interview, she stated that people who question vaccine safety should not be given equal weight by the press, compared to public health officials.
Since the vaccine/autism controversy is back in the news this week, we thought that it was important to help the press understand that they need to do their homework on this issue.
The health of 4 million infants a year in the United States and millions more worldwide is riding on the ability of our press to finally delve into this issue and think critically about it. Vaccines are a multi-billion dollar industry internationally and for many pharmaceutical companies, it is the fastest -growing segment of their business. Even the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) make money from licensing of vaccines. There is also a swiftly revolving door between the CDC, the FDA and the vaccine manufacturers in terms of recruiting. For example, former CDC director, Julie Gerberding, is now the head of Merck's vaccine division. Truly unconflicted research in this area is rare and SafeMinds has information obtained through FOIA requests indicating that the CDC has massaged data to its own benefit in the past.
We would truly like to see all journalists investigate this debate and not just follow the party line. SafeMinds has been mischaracterized as an anti-vaccine group. We are actually a group of concerned citizens who know too much to stay quiet. The truth is that we actually read the research (not just the abstracts and not just the big journals) and look at the details. The associations between autism and mercury and autism and vaccines are still open questions. The majority of the studies that claim to "prove" that autism is not associated with Thimerosal or MMR (the entire rest of the childhood schedule has never even been looked at in this regard) have significant conflicts of interest, have significant flaws in their methods and/or do not answer the whole question.
On the other side of this debate, and rarely mentioned by the press, are the biological studies that continue to be published supporting these associations. Ultimately, public health needs to be about both protection from infectious diseases and protection from chronic health conditions. In order to have informed consent and the greatest possible safety for our children, we must weigh both the risks and the benefits of any medical intervention, including vaccines.
At this point, we largely know the benefits of vaccines, but the research on their potential risks is grossly inadequate. SafeMinds has been asking for more than 5 years that the government perform a large study of fully-vaccinated children compared to unvaccinated controls to assess their total health and to compare autism rates in the two populations. The standard response to our request has been silence or the argument that to leave children unvaccinated is "unethical."We feel it is more unethical to inject 4 million infants a year in this country with a vaccine schedule that has not been subjected to a placebo-controlled clinical trial.
This assumption of safety is analogous to arguing that because 10 individual drugs are safe for children, it is therefore safe to give a child all 10 at once. In addition, the safety and efficacy testing of a new vaccine is often performed only in comparison to a previously approved vaccine, not to a true placebo. Regarding long-term outcomes, the use of hormone-replacement therapy comes to mind as an example of why it is critical not to assume safety of any widespread treatment without actually following patients over decades.
There is currently no enforced requirement that pediatricians report adverse vaccine reactions and manufacturers bear no financial liability for the safety of vaccines.Vaccine injuries are handled through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) which is grossly dysfunctional. Long-term safety studies of vaccines for outcomes other than infectious disease have not been completed. Until these situations are resolved, it is truly impossible for an accurate risk/benefit analysis of vaccines to be made.
Please consider educating your readers, your viewers, your families, your friends, your doctors and your legislators about what is going on and please forward this e-mail widely. Ultimately, we all want the healthiest children possible.
Sandy,
The Gods at the IOM, who play doctors and practice medicine in their day jobs, don't have to listen when good science, good methodology, ethical studies, are suggested by those who have no financial or ethical conflicts of interest.
sebellius is developing that God complex. Which consulting firm, pharmaceutical company will she move to when she's out of the U.S. Government Corporation?
Posted by: michael framson | January 16, 2011 at 04:47 PM
Sandy Gottstein;
It is always a deep sigh of satisfcation when I am able to read that (I) testified, and (I personally) told them.
Just like J.B. Handley personally told the staff of Anderson Cooper on CNN the facts.
Thank You Sandy, and keep at it.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 15, 2011 at 05:14 PM
There was a story in the media this week about how people who caught the swine flu last year have developed an amazing immunity to all different kinds of viruses. Of course, the crux of the story was that researchers want to use this information to develop a new vaccine, rather than acknowledging that maybe allowing otherwise healthy people to simply get the swine flu and fight it naturally wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Posted by: lisa | January 15, 2011 at 12:11 PM
PS I wrote a column describing my 20+ year efforts to get never-vaccinated studies at Age of Autism a few years back called "Seeking the Truth About the Never-Vaccinated": http://www.ageofautism.com/2007/12/seeking-the-tru.html
Posted by: Sandy Gottstein | January 15, 2011 at 10:57 AM
Here is what I testified to the IOM in 1993 about the ethics of not including a genuine placebo group, the never vaccinated, in studies:
"As to the notion that it is unethical to withhold vaccination due to "widespread acceptance" of vaccination, I would submit that to the contrary, if anything, it is unethical to administer vaccinations of unknown safety and efficacy. It is unsound to argue we can't withhold vaccines because of "widespread acceptance", as the 1991 IOM Committee did, when the reason there is such widespread acceptance of vaccinations is that we have been told the vaccines are safe and effective. Their argument is particularly ironic given their finding that serious consequences can result from the two vaccines, and lament about the absence of adequate information. To the contrary, the conclusion that must be drawn from their review is that randomized, long-term, placebo-controlled, prospective clinical trials are urgently needed, in spite of ethical concerns about ADMINISTERING vaccines of unknown safety. Indeed, no reassuring claims about the infrequency of any linked adverse event should be made until and unless the false premises underlying study designs and the many study design flaws, including the lack of reasonable and time appropriate controls, and reporting system inadequacies, are corrected."
http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Authors/SandyGottstein/IOMTest1993.htm
Posted by: Sandy Gottstein | January 15, 2011 at 10:39 AM
Pharma’s relentless, orchestrated attack on Dr Wakefield is a grand misdirection, intended to buy them time. Pharma (Novartis and Synthetic Genomics) now plans on adding synthetic life forms to the vaccine schedules. Could the flu shot we receive next year be developed by these processes? God help us!
http://www.jcvi.org/cms/press/press-releases/full-text/article/synthetic-genomics-inc-and-j-craig-venter-institute-form-new-company-synthetic-genomics-vaccines/
The idea that you can inject bits and pieces of various species, preservatives, and detergents into people to “prevent” disease is completely irrational. Vaccine-preventable diseases” is a pharma-conceived marketing slogan. There are many reasons why “greening” our vaccines will not ever make them safe, e.g. VLP vaccine technology.
“Synthetic Genomics Inc. And J. Craig Venter Institute Form New Company, Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc. (SGVI), to Develop Next Generation Vaccines”
Whoa! “...Next Generation Vaccines”? Don’t we have any say in this matter? Does anyone see government endorsement, advanced market commitments, liability waivers, redefined “pandemic”, and mandated inoculations here? Did anyone find fault with the Last Generation Vaccines?
Vaccine “madness” is getting more insane. The marketing “spin” is already revving-up. We will be transformed into believing that injecting various artificial life forms into people will somehow “prevent” disease. Will transforming our species into biological mosaics and chimeras somehow strengthen our God-given natural immunity and “prevent” disease? Where is the evidence?
This ghoulish juggernaut will not easily be stopped, if ever. Informed choice, an educated public, and Prayer is our only hope. Medical freedom must be protected in law. Medical freedom is the greatest legacy that we can leave for successive generations.
“Novartis announces agreement to develop influenza vaccines using revolutionary “synthetic genomics” technology”
http://www.novartis.com/newsroom/media-releases/en/2010/1449685.shtml
VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM
MAKE AUTISM STOP
MEDICAL FREEDOM NOW
END MEDICAL FASCISM NOW
Posted by: patrons99 | January 15, 2011 at 10:31 AM
'...she stated that people who question vaccine safety should not be given equal weight by the press, compared to public health officials'.
Two words: Sieg Heil!
Posted by: GH | January 15, 2011 at 08:58 AM
those useless birthspacing and freeway studies and the Brian Deer fraud story are all just Pharma diversionary tactics to get the negative attention off them as much as possible.
Posted by: Sarah | January 11, 2011 at 11:39 AM
The closing of this is really important, but I wish they left the studies comparison on the screen longer at the end: 43 studies associating mercury with autism and 15 studies with no association. [And every one of those 15 studies has been vaccine industry funded and/or manipulated to produce the desired outcome of "no problemo with Mercury"]
This video is just great and we should all send this out to everyone we can.
YEAH SAFEMINDS---GO TEAM GO!!!
Posted by: AutismGrandma | January 10, 2011 at 11:31 PM
I get ahead of myself when I write; I am so sorry.
I meant: CNN could have shown this excellant video. Instead CNN showed a silly clip just today of a "new" study that found there is a link between autism and spacing your kids.
Well--- what just happened to, "the live to close to the busy highway theory".
Posted by: Benedetta | January 10, 2011 at 05:00 PM
This is a great video. I'm sending the link to everyone I know. Thanks for a terrific job.
Denise Ferraro
Posted by: Denise Ferraro | January 10, 2011 at 04:22 PM
Very good video; to bad it can't be shown on CNN, and yet a study that say that autism has to do with spacing having your babies.
Now how did my great grandparents have 12 plus kids on both sides of my family and they are able to chew gum, raise a family and all had 5 plus kids. This is so sad, since they don't even know better to be embarassed about saying this, I will be embarassed for them.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 10, 2011 at 03:25 PM
Excellent.
The only change I would make is to explain that the federal government admitted that vaccines "resulted in" Hannah Poling's autism. Most in the general public don't know who she is.
Posted by: Kristina | January 10, 2011 at 02:33 PM