Bachmann Was Right: Government Database Contains Reports of Mental Retardation as Vaccine Adverse Event
By Beth Clay
The United States’ Election Day 2012 is less than 60 days away. The Republicans and the Democrats have selected their candidates and platform. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden (Democrats) are in a dead heat in the race to retain their positions rather than be replaced by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (Republicans).
In the months since Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann was vilified on the Presidential campaign trail for calling Governor Rick Perry on the carpet during a debate for his circumventing the Texas legislative process and issuing an executive order to mandate the HPV vaccines for girls age 12 years and older in Texas. The death knell to her campaign was sharing the story from a woman whose daughter suffered mental retardation as a result of that vaccine. She was vilified for raising a safety alarm, with attacks from the American Academy of Pediatrics; the vaccine industry’s favorite paid spokesperson, Dr. Paul Offit, and media outlets both conservative and liberal.
No Facts Presented: What was missing from the dialogue at the time, and to my knowledge remains an area unexplored, is what the facts are on the matter. No one in the media took the time to verify anything about vaccine adverse event reports. A simple review on the publicly available database of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), available at http://wonder.cdc.gov would have been an eye opener for any reporter.
I conducted a simple search for reports received from 2000 to July 13, 2012, in the United States for all vaccines in which ‘mental retardation’ is listed as symptom in the vaccine adverse events and found 394 reports. Two of these reports are for the Gardasil (HPV) Vaccine.
The HPV-Mental Retardation Reports Were Very Limited: A review of what is published about these two reports finds very limited information. One was from a reporter from a television show in which a mother reported that her daughter developed mental retardation after the Gardasil HPV vaccine. The second report notes that a doctor of psychology called to report that she heard a news report on 13 September 2011 a report of Gardasil causing mental retardation. This report was classified as hearsay.
Of the remaining 392 “Mental Retardation” reports, the notations are much more specific and cover many vaccines including (but not limited to) the anthrax vaccine, various combinations of vaccines for haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), influenza and varicella.
Broadening the Search Terms: A broader search including the terms “mental impairment, mental status changes, mental disorder as well as mental retardation" as symptoms of a vaccine adverse event that occurred in the United States from 2000 to July 13, 2012, returned 1221 reports. Of these, 65 were HPV reports.
It should be noted as well that the Rotavirus vaccines have 18 reports - Rotateq has 15 reports, Rotashield has 1, Rotarix has 1 and a rotavirus vaccine, brand not known in 2012 has 1.
Other HPV Adverse Events: A review of the VAERS reports for HPV without specification of the symptom locked up the database for returning too many responses. Multiple more narrow searches found 55 VAERS report of death under the HPV vaccine. In the first seven months of 2012 there have been 3339 VAERS reports on HPV. Some of these reports are for non-life threatening/life altering reactions such as nausea, dizziness and fainting. However, there were also 38 reports of Uticaria (Hives) some of which may have been life threatening. There were several reports of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, somnolence, seizure-like phenomena, 4 cases of cervical cancer, 7 cases of alopecia, and 4 deaths. There were also several reports of women who were vaccinated while in the early stages of pregnancy. The reports state these individual received a uterine dilation and curettage (D&C) but did not report whether there was a spontaneous abortion or a determination to terminate pregnancy. There were also multiple reports of abnormal PAP smears, sensory loss, and speech disorder.
4609 Reported Deaths Since 2000: A search for deaths reported in the VAERS system since 2000 produced a list of 4609 reports. Deaths were reported in many vaccines each year.
Required by Law to Report Adverse Events: When Congress passed the National Childhood Injury Act of 1986 as part of PL-99-660 (which created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program) a provision was included to mandate the Department of Health and Human Services to manage a post-marketing surveillance system for vaccine injuries and required that healthcare providers who administer vaccines report certain adverse events which are included on a list. The agency encourages healthcare professionals “to report any clinically significant or unexpected events (even if not certain the vaccine caused the event) for any vaccine, whether or not it is listed.[1] One of the challenges to this mandate is that there are no consequences if a health care professional fails to submit a VAERS report.[2]
Manufacturers are also required by regulation (21CFR 600.80) to report to the VAERS program all adverse events made known to them for any vaccine. Adverse event reports can be filed online at http://vaers.hhs.gov/index or submitted by mail by printing out and completing the form available at http://vaers.hhs.gov/resources/vaers_form.pdf. Reports can be made by individuals who are not healthcare professionals as well. Parents, grandparents, the adult injured party, even neighbors or others may submit reports.
Vaccine Information Statements (VIS): The law also requires “all health care providers in the United States who administer, to any child or adult, any of the following vaccines – diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), trivalent influenza, pneumococcal conjugate, meningococcal, rotavirus, human papillomavirus (HPV), or varicella (chickenpox) – shall, prior to administration of each dose of the vaccine, provide a copy to keep of the relevant current edition vaccine information materials that have been produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): to the parent or legal representative of any child to whom the provider intends to administer such vaccine, or to any adult to whom the provider intends to administer such vaccine.” [3],[4] If you are not offered a VIS, ask for it. In addition to information about the vaccines benefits and risks, contact information to report a vaccine adverse event is included.
A Signal Not Proof: It is widely acknowledged that VAERS has limitations. It is intended as a centralized database to monitor expected and unexpected adverse events, and form the basis for investigations. The VAERS system is one of several vaccine adverse event tracking systems maintained and utilized by the agency. One of the challenges to evaluating the data is that many reports (such as the two on HPV discussed above) are not from primary sources, or are mostly incomplete. Reports are most useful when as much information about the vaccine such as including lot number, manufacturer, date of administration, and contact information for the parent of the vaccine injured are included. While the reports may only act as a signal, if the signal is ignored, how the public benefits from the use of increasingly limited resources is unclear.
Going Forward: There are 165 publications listed in PubMed that discuss VAERS. I am unaware of any unbiased expert review of these papers, and the studies which some of these papers discuss. Some of the articles only describe VAERS, others are not research.
Be Proactive: If you or your child suffered a vaccine adverse event, have you submitted a VAERS report? If you have not submitted a report, please do so, keep a copy. If you submitted a report, do you still have a copy? Have you looked it up online to see if your report is registered? Do you know what the agency did with your report?
Conclusions: The attacks on Representative Michelle
Bachmann were based more on a desire to protect vaccine policies rather than to
discuss the facts of vaccine adverse events.
It was a prime example of the industry’s heavy influence with news
outlets, which has been lamented by many who have been working since Congress
engaged in looking at vaccine injuries in 1999. Rather than seek the truth of the statement,
there was an attack on the individual.
Any reporter, radio talk show host, or political operative could have
visited the CDC’s website the same way that I did and confirm that indeed there
were reports of mental retardation a year before Representative Bachmann shared
the personal story of a mother, who sadly has not reported this incident to
VAERS.
Beth Clay, a Concept Doula who consults with corporate and non-profit
organizations is the former Senior Professional Staff member who led the
Congressional investigation that regarding epidemic rise in autism
rates.
Response To Jan : I have no idea of the politics of the thing , but its true they have tried twice now at the "Swine Flu hoax Pandemic scenario" back in 1976 and now 2009 if my dates are correct . If they can force a "pandemic situation" the laws are in place that they can try their hand at forcibly vaccinating everyone in the nation. So again i have no issue with Bachman raising this comment . For me she again comes out of it quite well .
Alas we arent seeing much difference in vaccine policies between any of the parties . When we see that , we will know we are getting somewhere .
Posted by: Kim No-Vac | September 19, 2012 at 04:37 AM
Twyla,
both sodium borate and polysorbates are detergent type ingredients,what I think is that together possibly they are
stronger,more like a wide spectrum detergent type emulsifier.
If I look at my old chemical warfare studies I always wonder
why do they want these ingredients in the brain????!!!
I know for sure that in Italy they use polysorbates to carry
meds through to treat brain cancer.I am very sad how agressively merck pushed this garbage through to million of kids.We do not even know the long term side-effects.The short-term results are poor,it should have been taken off the market already.We need more honest politicians like
Michelle Bachmann,not corrupted ones like pHarma king Perry with his "mandates".Thanks to God,he is out.
Posted by: oneVoice | September 18, 2012 at 03:01 PM
What happened to Michele Bachmann regarding her speaking up is what happens to any politician that dares to do that. I remember Dan Burton used to have hearings and Henry Waxman was always there pushing the pharmaceutical line of "safe vaccines". Where is Dan Burton now??? The media depends on pharmaceutical funding for their outlets so they tow the line. Despite what the autism community thinks or wants, the politicians/media en mass won't deviate from kissing the pharmaceutical industry's ring. Once in awhile you may get one or two brave politicians like Bachmann or Burton to speak up, but rarely especially if they see what happens to those who do.
Reality!!!! I'm sad to say.
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | September 18, 2012 at 08:17 AM
Gardasil contains an ingredient called Sodium Borate. I wonder if that (combined with the usual suspects such as aluminum) is a factor in some of the severe reactions.
from CDC list of vaccine ingredients:
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) (Gardasil)
yeast protein, vitamins, amino acids, mineral salts, carbohydrates, amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate, L-histidine, polysorbate 80, sodium borate.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf
From MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia:
"Ingestion of 5-10 grams has produced severe vomiting, diarrhea, shock and death."
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924968
"The main symptoms of boric acid poisoning are blue-green vomit, diarrhea, and a bright red rash on the skin. Other symptoms may include:
Blisters
Collapse
Coma
Convulsions
Drowsiness
Fever
Lack of desire to do anything
Low blood pressure
Significantly decreased urine output (or none)
Sloughing of skin
Twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs, and feet
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002485.htm
Much of the above is similar to symptoms described in Gardasil adverse reaction reports.
Posted by: Twyla | September 18, 2012 at 04:41 AM
Reports of post-Gardasil vaccine injury frequently mention memory loss, inability to concentrate, and "brain fog". Does this rise to the level of mental retardation? Would a better term have been "mental impairment"? Perhaps. Vaccine defenders love to split hairs and quibble over the definitions of terms. But the fact is, Gardasil clearly affects the brain in some individuals, causing a myriad of symptoms such as seizures, headaches, slurred speech, paralysis. A sampling of cognition issues reported by the injured at the Truth About Gardasil web site:
"memory loss"
"I am unable to concentrate for any length of time."
"I am no longer able to perform my job the way I used to. Before Gardasil, I was enrolled in college with a 4.0 and now I cannot even finish a book I am just trying to enjoy."
"brain fog"
"finds it difficult to concentrate and retain information"
"She’s stayed in College, though her grades fell from the Dean’s List prior to the vaccine."
"dizziness and brain fog (complaints of dyslexia)"
"She has struggled to get good grades over the past two years... She was constantly concerned she would lose her college scholarship. I had to let her know it was OK to get a C or even a D if she could just get through to the end of the school year."
"She went from being an Academically Gifted student to one who struggled to complete her 8th grade year of school. She was placed on a modified school plan by her principal who fully backed her because she was an excellent student who had been in the North Carolina Academically Gifted Program since 2nd grade."
"staring or blank episodes… memory loss, confusion, brain fog"
"Her concentration levels are poor and Kelly cannot sit down and read a book, which she always used to enjoy."
"She was an A/B student but was now failing her 10th grade year. She did fail and is now having to re-take the 10th grade."
"My daughter had a 3.8 GPA without even trying and she has failed all her classes since having this vaccination… she has brain fog and from once being the brightest kid on the block, a walking encyclopaedia she has often been called, she has great difficulty in remembering things, in concentrating for any length of time and is not the young academic she once was before Gardasil. Something has damaged my daughter and her school records would confirm her scholastic skills before being vaccinated."
"Memory Loss, Poor Concentration"
"brain fog, short term memory or confusion"
"trouble with short term memory"
"She went from being… Honor roll and straight “A”s her entire life… She is making the first “C”s of her life…"
"unable to concentrate or retain anything she learned in school"
Michelle Bachman was right, and it's amazing how she was slapped down by a united chorus of politicians and media people.
Posted by: Twyla | September 18, 2012 at 03:19 AM
Did anybody ever investigated - what emulsifiers can do in the brain? Polysorbates used in the gardasil vaccine,based on biochemistry studies, this emulsifier has the ability to
weaken the blood brain barrier.Weaker blood brain barrier then can allow aluminum adjuvants and salt(and other contaminants - like mycoplasm,viral particles etc.in the vaccine)
to move to the brain and cause damage,which also called brain fog,unable to focus,unable to concentrate,unable to study etc.Independent scientists must do their own research
on all vaccines,as manufacturers will not be interested to expose adverse effects.This is one of the reason why they have failed our children.Histology studies need to be done
and tests on animals to expose these criminals.Yes the truth
comes from the Parents,not from the media.
Posted by: oneVoice | September 17, 2012 at 10:48 PM
On the VAERS list Case # 87507, 07/02/1996 Patient (Eric Gallup) received vaccine; blood test reveals extremely high measles titer; severe autism for possible auto-immune disorders; On 01Nov95 the patient experienced elevated measles titer 7.74 which according to the patient's physician "was equivalent to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis."
Also on the VAERS list Case # 63822, 6/24/1994 in California, MD states there are currently 10 cases of autism in children who received DPT/OPV/MMR at 15-18 months.
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | September 17, 2012 at 07:09 PM
I wish that ANYONE other than Michelle Bachman was the one who brought this issue to the fore because of the MANY strange things she has said. For example, when commenting on a swine flu outbreak (I believe this was 2011) she said "I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."
When a person comes out with comments that are just so off beat (and there are so many more) it's tough to take anything she says seriously.
SO I am grateful Beth for the research you did, and I found the article riveting. It's my greatest hope that one day soon more and more people will do their homework and realize the number of adverse vaccine reactions that have been taking place for years.
Posted by: Jan | September 17, 2012 at 06:50 PM
Meanwhile some are researching 'social isolation' instead:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6100/1357
Posted by: GH | September 17, 2012 at 05:55 PM
Katie (with a sister with autism),
You are the future. Educate whenever you can. There is, indeed, hell to pay.
Unbelievably, there are still grandparents, parents, and even siblings in denial over the vaccine connection and/or the reality of what autism looks like (even "mild" autism) when left untreated. (Or when treated without the hoped-for improvements. . .happens all the time, as most of us here know.)
Posted by: Terri Lewis | September 17, 2012 at 04:27 PM
Rob Smith,
Too much pressure from above; reporters that report become unemployed and sometimes unemployable. That's why WE are the new media.
That's why people who truly want news get it from each other now. . .honestly, the mainstream news is nothing but propaganda, so let's generate some truth, shall we?
See you on FB, and other places where we can still move faster than they can! :)
Posted by: Terri Lewis | September 17, 2012 at 04:23 PM
Just like the UK America shall see a continuation of policy whatever party gets voted...
OBAMA 2009
http://autism.about.com/b/2009/01/21/the-obama-administration-on-disabilities-and-autism.htm
...President Obama and Vice President Biden are committed to supporting Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders (“ASD”), their families, and their communities. There are a few key elements to their support, which are as follows:
First, President Obama and Vice President Biden support increased funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and support services. There must be research of the treatments for, and the causes of, ASD.
Second, President Obama and Vice President Biden support improving life-long services for people with ASD for treatments, interventions and services for both children and adults with ASD.
Third, President Obama and Vice President Biden support funding the Combating Autism Act and working with Congress, parents and ASD experts to determine how to further improve federal and state programs for ASD.
Fourth, President Obama and Vice President Biden support universal screening of all infants and re-screening for all two-year-olds, the age at which some conditions, including ASD, begin to appear. These screenings will be safe and secure, and available for every American that wants them. Screening is essential so that disabilities can be identified early enough for those children and families to get the supports and services they need.
Posted by: Angus Files | September 17, 2012 at 02:46 PM
Perhaps Michelle Bachmann posed that knowing that she could sacrifice her campaign for doing so. (It only takes a couple of internet searches to find the thousands of obscene, hateful, and threatening comments directed at anyone opposed to vaccination--particularly if that person isn't a doctor.) In doing so, though, hopefully she sparked a number of conversations between previously-non-thinking people and those in the know.
God bless her.
I have a sister with autism, and it makes my head spin when people self righteously claim that autism isn't a big deal in light of these (unproven) benefits to vaccinating. In some (many?) cases it's bathroom (wetting) issues into adulthood, screaming and violence into adulthood, and the lack of ability to ever hold a regular job or move out on one's own. Sometimes people seem to think either Aspergers or plain old quirkiness is autism...thereby dumping a lot of cool stuff into the autism discussion that simply doesn't belong.
Friends, do your research or there will be hell to pay.
Posted by: Katie | September 17, 2012 at 01:34 PM
Michelle Bachman will be remembered kindly for what she did . And we are grateful . Rick Perry will also be remembered . As will Offit . This isnt over yet .
Posted by: Liz Birts Army | September 17, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Per.......
"Be Proactive: If you or your child suffered a vaccine adverse event, have you submitted a VAERS report? If you have not submitted a report, please do so, keep a copy. If you submitted a report, do you still have a copy? Have you looked it up online to see if your report is registered? Do you know what the agency did with your report?"
I would urge all parents per what Beth Clay says being proactive to file with VAERS, if they haven't already. I filed Eric's case back in the 1990s with the blood test work I had at the time indicating elevated measles titer antibodies and testing positive for myelin basic protein antibodies. Parents and MDs alike can file cases on VAERS.
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | September 17, 2012 at 08:23 AM
You should be able to choose your own doctor and choose your own vaccines.
The government may soon require us to buy a Toyota where the accelerator sticks to the floor... any problems would then be handled at the "Toyota Court" in DC.
Posted by: cmo | September 17, 2012 at 08:16 AM
I'm not surprised that Beth Clay found 394 cases of ‘mental retardation’ in VAERS. The vast media outlets will never do their homework on this by looking into VAERS which is there for anybody to check. It is there, year after year accumulating cases of adverse reactions to vaccines and yet the propaganda is out there that vaccines are "safe". The pro-vaccine surrogates like Offit, etc. continue to perpetuate the myth that vaccines are "safe" and the willing lap-dogs in the media outlets go along with it. The reason why I and other parents educate the public by word of mouth, one by one who we come in contact with. The evidence is there in VAERS that vaccines are not "safe".
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | September 17, 2012 at 07:59 AM
Bachmann Was Right: Government Database Contains Reports of Mental Retardation as Vaccine Adverse Event
**************
Shouldn't just ONE report of mental retardation as a vaccine adverse event , have been enough to convince the medical community to step back and re-evaluate??
And since there is no scientific proof that vaccines even work...doesn't the act of vaccinating constitute a reckless and unjustified endangerment of children??
Posted by: Barry | September 17, 2012 at 07:27 AM
If we had news reporters interested in reporting, if wouldn't have been a surprise that vaccines can cause brain damage.
Posted by: Rob Smith | September 17, 2012 at 07:12 AM
Thanks for reminding everyone of the unwarranted harsh vilification of Michelle Bachmann .. by the media and BOTH political parties .. for having had the courage to challenge then Republican nominee for President Rick Perry .. during a nationally televised public debate .. for issuing an executive order mandating HAP vaccines for all girls 12 years and older in Texas.
Michelle simply asked Gov Perry why he issued the ill-conceived, ill-advised executive order .. which was nothing less than a blatant abuse of power .. that attempted to deny parent's their Right to make the decision whether or not to vaccinate their child against HPV. Indeed, Perry's executive order was so outrageous it was almost immediately overturned by the Texas Legislature forcing Perry to eventually issue an apology for his action.
The tragedy of the matter was Michelle's issue of "parental consent" was "conveniently" lost in all the sound and fury regarding "mental retardation" that followed.
Again .. every politician seeking elected office in the United States should be required to sign a pledge guaranteeing "parents" .. not "legislators" .. will decide what vaccines THEIR children receive.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | September 17, 2012 at 06:44 AM