Age of Autism Turns Five As Autism Epidemic Continues to Grow
Dachel Media Update: 11/15

Making Out with Merck

  FiveSmoothStonesBy Dan E. Burns

If we are winning the war against the autoimmune plagues, why does it feel so much like losing? Twenty-two years into the autism epidemic the parents of vaccine-injured children are like the rebels in Syria: outgunned, isolated, and largely ignored by the rest of the world. We’ve won some battles, HERE, but we have not yet been able to topple the pharmaceutical establishment and its enablers in medicine, media, insurance, and government.

The delay is economically disastrous. If the ASD epidemic ended today we would still have the cost of caring for the already afflicted. If prevalence continues to increase at 10% per year for another 22 years, one in ten 12-year-olds will be on the spectrum, and services and supports for our disabled adults will surpass the cleanup cost of two Sandy-scale hurricanes per year. Add to that other autoimmune disablers — asthma, allergies, and ADHD for starters — and preventable chronic diseases will force a major cut in the US defense budget or bankrupt us.

Why can’t we end this nightmare now? We know enough about the causes – toxins, both chemical and biological — to bend the curve down and start reducing prevalence. But we’re stuck. To shake loose, let’s try looking at the epidemic from a financial perspective, using insights from the industry I’m most familiar with, oil and gas.

As a teen growing up in Oklahoma in the 1960s, I asked Uncle Tever how to make money in the oil business. Tever was a petrochemical company vice president and a big picture visionary. He rode a private jet to New York and back to Tulsa every week. “Go down to the filling station and buy a quart of oil,” he said. “Bury it. When the price goes up, sell it.”

Twenty years later, when I was Executive Speechwriter for a Texas oil company, I too saw the big picture. When oil companies bid to buy each other, they’re not looking just at the things you and I see: refineries, brands, people, gas stations. Nor do they base their bidding primarily on current sales, customers, and cash flow. Instead they look first at “reserves” – oil, gas, and coal – which are safely underground. Like that quart of oil I didn’t buy. I also learned that wealth, in the oil business, is all about Wall Street, and Wall Street is all about future sales: the price of oil, coal, and natural gas multiplied by reserves.

Like any publicly traded business, pharma exists to create wealth for shareholders. Where is the wealth of the vaccine manufacturers Merck, Glaxo, Sanofi Pasteur, Pfizer’s Wyeth, Novartis? Partly in their products, their vaccines, their patents, their company-bought-and-paid-for research and publications. As well as their current sales and cash flow. But for the most part, it’s not.

It’s in their reserves. Our children and grandchildren. 

Think of unborn children as barrels of oil in the ground. Their birth rate inflates the value of Merck and Glaxo stock, and as they grow into toddlers they help make CEOs Kenneth C. Frazier and Sir Andrew Witty very, very rich. Not just with current pharmaceutical sales (including prescription drugs and vaccines), but with the prospect of future sales. In other words, each pregnant, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAC)-compliant mom leverages the stock price of Merck et al. And stock price is where the unseen, unimaginable wealth and power of Pharmageddon reside.

Let’s look at how this works.

Each and every baby born in the USA is recommended for Hepatitis B immunization immediately, Day One, the birthday shot. And there are 10,800 babies born in the US every day. Merck and Glaxo split the market between them. Think they don’t count the babies? Imagine “Today’s Newborns” total flashed on a trampoline-sized monitor in the executive dining room and updated minute by minute, like election returns. Because at $22.66 per dose, the average private sector price the hospital pays to Merck and Glaxo’s globally integrated distributors for their Hep B vaccines – CEO Ken Frazier and his British counterpart Sir Andrew Witty get an estimated $244 thousand dollars from the birthday shot flowing into their company coffers every day.

That’s only the beginning. Like the tobacco companies learned, start ‘em early and they’ll come back. Especially if the doctor says. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommended immunization schedule, these same newborns are supposed return at about two months and again at six to eighteen months for more Hep B shots, a total of three. So at $22.66 per shot times three shots, that’s a total of $67.98 per kid, about the price of barrel of oil. At the current US birth rate, assuming parents are compliant with the AAP-recommended immunization schedule, Ken and Andrew can chalk up $734,184 on the birthday shots and follow-up sales of Hep B vaccine alone, per day, based on the “future value” of each child.

When you check your bank balance, wouldn’t you like to see pop up on your computer screen “Cash flow up $734 thousand today — Thanks USA Moms!”? I would. KA-CHING. “You’re a Winner!”

But wait a minute – we’ve been talking US births only. For every kid born in the USA, there 34 human beings born somewhere else on earth. That’s 384,000 planetary births per day. Those newborns need shots for Hepatitis B, primarily a sexually transmitted disease, about as much as our American kids age zero need them -- in the vast majority of cases, unless the mother is a carrier, not at all. And at the Preferred Customer discount rate, the World Health Organization will fork over an average of $11.12 per dose. If Ken and Andrew could get 100% world buy-in and compliance on Hep B shots (not counting income from the ten other vaccines on the US immunization schedule, each delivered multiple times), they could add over $12.8 million to their per diem cash flow. That’s almost $13 million per day.

Here’s my point: the potential for big vaccine-driven profits goes a long way toward explaining why Merck has a Wall Street value of about $130 billion. Investors are looking ahead. The price for a piece of Merck & Company includes the future value of our children, the company’s reserves. Technically most of these kids aren’t born yet, but they might as well be. They’re already making money for Ken and his investors. They’re figured into the share price, and Merck is using them to make acquisitions, shore up dividends, and fund the new product pipeline.

Notice that we’re not talking about other pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer’s Wyeth, Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur. I haven’t broadened the focus to include Gardasil, MMR, flu shots, or the DNA-recombinant medical chimeras that pump up Merck’s stock price (Gardasil, an off-schedule vaccine, added $581 million to Merck’s third-quarter 2012 income, a 31% increase over third quarter previous year). Nor have I breathed a word about the dozens of new vaccines scheduled for clinical trial. But you get the picture. Pharmageddon is Goliath on steroids. And the steroids are our kids.

The good news is that each pregnant mom who is not AAP-compliant leverages the stock price down. De-leveraging is why pharmaceutical companies panic when vaccination rates drop. Billions of dollars in value just disappear, and Ken and Andrew have already spent the money. Did you see Carl Rove go white when Ohio vote counts for his candidate came up short? Just a few hundred votes off projection, and the whole structure falls. Likewise, the unimaginable wealth and power of pharma is a house of cards.

Let’s end this epidemic. Let’s aim for rapid, transformative change. Here are five smooth stones for your slingshot.

  • Stone 1 – Hep B. Eliminate or delay the birthday shot, which makes our kids pharma customers for a lifetime. Put decisions in the hands of consumers, ban mandates, and demand exemption rights.
  • Stone 2 – Put a high price on our disabled children, and make the offenders pay. Eliminate the Vaccine Court and restore the power of parents to sue in state courts.
  • Stone 3 – Expose the perps. That’s why the Wakefield trial is so important. Tug on that thread and the whole sweater unravels. Contribute to the Dr. Wakefield Justice Fund 
  • Stone 4 – Create an independent safety authority for vaccines like the NTSB
  • Stone 5 – Get involved in the political process. Support the Canary Party and break the deadlock

David had five stones in his pocket but he only needed one. Grab your stone, load your slingshot, and let’s bring the house of cards tumbling down.

Dan E. Burns, Ph.D., is the father of a 24-year-old son on the autism spectrum and the author of Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of Autism.  Dr. Burns is an Age of Autism Contributing Editor and is Adult Issues Liaison for AutismOne. He facilitates planning, vocational programming, and funding for An Independent Me (AIM Ranch), a campus in the Austin, Texas area for teens and young adults on the Autism Spectrum. He chairs The Autism Trust USA, (www.theautismtrustusa.org), a 501(c)3 charity focused on empowering parents to organize communities where their ASD children and others can live and work, enjoy life, continue to heal, and give back to society.  Dr. Burns serves on the Executive Board of the Canary Party.   

 

Comments

oneVoice

Linda and Sarah,
after all the financial losses governments had in the past
few years,it makes lot of sense to control the population.
We are not dying fast enough for them.

Linda

All big pharma companies are evil and only care about the bottom line--money. I totally agree that they only look at us and our children as a commodity. If they can get them sick from the start then they will have their business for life. And since most people in the US and Canada are a bunch of lemmings who believe 100% of everything that their doctor says is gospel truth and correct, our society is spiraling down at an alarming rate. And I do also agree that the world governments as well as the elite are working on population control through vaccines by sterilzing and poisoning the masses of lower and middle class people.

Sarah

Anyone consider the geopolitics here? Global resources are dwinding and competition is increasing. This means war. Reducing demand on resources means reducing population or the ability to compete. Ente the autism crisis. Does anyone else see a connection here? I can help but think that besides greed population reduction is part of the agenda driven by the demand for dwindiling global resource. I think US officials agreed to global policies on population reduction that they probably now regret. Not trying to sound conspiratorial this is just how I see it.

ANGUS FILES

Continuation of Policy is what Tony Blair stated and its world wide ...you have to vote the smaller parties these days to make a change ..the ones who are deemed nutters ..just like us lot..

Angus

Linda

Zmeg,
You are absolutely right. It's as dirty as it can get, and as long as they can rationalize that no one is getting hurt (which is of course far from the case), health professionals are all too happy to take kickbacks and have their work done for them. There is an abundance of ignorance and apathy, but I have to believe that there is also a good percentage that do have a conscience, do want the truth and would reject harmful practices if they were aware of them. If enough of us call the propagandists out, it has to change. I was thinking, if anyone wants to write to the the company mentioned in my post below, the link to the course is http://www.nursece.com/courses/70. This company can't leave easily verifiable incorrect information in a CEU course and maintain their accreditation. Please write to them. Especially this week after learning about little Ian Gromowski (thank you Kim, for sharing his story).

Jen

VAVHM, I think you're right that the ball is rolling now as far as people being skeptical of vaccines. Simply put the "health" people/ pharma have pushed the schedule to pretty much the point of absurdity. I checked out when they were talking about chicken pox vaccine- it just seemed like a pure money grab. The hep b in the US and a few other countries is a ridiculous addition to the schedule. They have become a victim of their own greedy agenda. More and more studies are coming out to suggest problems -Cochrane, studies that show inefficacy for some shots re. Timing (MMR) etc., bad batches (viral clumps in flu vaccines), scientists actually examining the studies that certain shots are based on poor safet/ efficacy trial data (Gardasil), studies of increased narcolepsy with H1N1, now gut inflammation is seen as having a role in autism, etc. etc. The pressure is coming from many places at this point, including from many scientists, doctors.
The other day I was at a school and a magician with a message was performing for the kids. He does a lesson around courage, character and caring. Some of those in high places who see what is happening to many children today due to this bombardment of "well-baby shots" are clearly lacking in these three important things. People like Offit, Gerberding and the damage deniers are clearly lacking in the moral department, have no character and have simply dug in their heels. I still think some may eventually jump ship and once a few key ones do, it's over.

zmeg

Linda,

The problem with your statement is that it is often the pharmaceutical company themselves funding those courses. They may not be the ones teaching them but they are paying for the lunches, paying for the teacher, paying the NCCE in someway, etc. I have been to a few pharmaceutical hosted "education" sessions - 2 with a dermatologist friend and 1 with a psychiatrist. They were considered "education" but I totally felt like I was being bought. Hosted in nice hotel conference rooms, lunch supplied, we got gift bags, and as an outsider I totally could see the goal of the "education" session.

david burd

Donna L and everybody, Yes - financial profit (greed) is the motivation for the Pharma companies to perpetuate the endless cycle of vaccine damage and then drugs to (possibly) treat such damage.

HOWEVER, what is killing and disabling Americans yesterday, today, and tomorrow is the entrenched dogma adhered to by PUBLIC OFFICIALS at the head of all our agencies, specifically the CDC, NIH, FDA. And THEIR motivation is to forever protect their "reputations" and positions of (virtually) absolute "power."

I posit it is the PUBLIC OFFICIALS that are the biggest villains of all, as it is their DUTY (hah!) to be objective and honest yet they have long abrogated any such duty - along with sane, objective thinking. I really don't know how they live with themselves.

David Burd

Very Angry Very Hairy Man

Another Hero , great article , thanks Dan Burns !

I know quite a few vaccine rejectionists now , the ball is rolling . It will not be long now before we put some manners on them all . Every decent parent of an autistic child needs to become a militant . We cannot do this alone , but together we can cause them carnage .

Benedetta

Linda Made a very important point.
t

Lou

"Preventable chronic diseases will force a major cut in the US defense budget or bankrupt us."

The "defense budget" and "health care" are both designed to bankrupt the USA and destroy its people.

I know this is hard to swallow but after seventy plus years on this planet I can assure you the odds greatly favor this proposition.

Lets just look at "health care". Around the turn of the last century the Rockefeller interests captured the US Medical Industry. If you remember old man Rockefeller swore he would destroy the USA after Teddy and the trust busters broke up his Standard Oil monopoly. Well John D is nearing his dream even if from his abode in hell.

Our medical paradigm is chronic toxic drugs to "treat" chronic disease. A school child can see where this will end and certainly our Medical Industry KNOWS.

The Rockefellers invented thimerosal and arranged to have this neurodegenerative toxin injected into billions of bodies. To this day 70% of the toxic completely needless "seasonal flu shots" contain about 100 billion atoms of mercury each. As some mercury has been removed from the totally needless and toxic "childhood vaccines" more aluminum is put in allowing the aluminum and mercury potentated by aluminum to keep killing and disabling our kids.

“Just by decreasing a cell’s oxygen content by about one-third, cancer is automatically induced. Nothing more is required for cancer to develop.” Doctor Otto Warburg 1924

“But how long cancer prevention will be avoided depends on how long the prophets of agnosticism will succeed in inhibiting the application of scientific knowledge in the cancer field. In the meantime, millions of men and women must die of cancer unnecessarily.” Doctor Otto Warburg 1966

Doctor Otto Warburg discovered the cause of MOST cancer in 1924; a Medical Industry not controlled by truly evil people would have completely solved the "cancer problem" by 1950 at the latest. Cancer is a depopulation and disease propagation means. Rockefeller's Cancer Industry is a truly evil organization as it painfully slow kills tens of millions while extracting the final few cents out of their pockets.

"Cardiovascular Disease is a preventable disease. We have the ability to prevent heart disease." Doctor Michael Ozner MD, Heart Surgeon

"Coronary heart disease need never ever exist and if it does exist it need never ever progress. A raw plant based diet restores the ability of the endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide which oxygenates the entire body.” Doctor Caldwell Esselstyn MD Coronary Specialist Cleveland Clinic, Note couple this with ingesting NO processed vegetable oils and its close to 100% IMO

"Ascorbate deficiency is an important underlying factor and that all mechanisms known today leading to CVD can be triggered by ascorbate deficiency. The different mechanisms of human CVD known today therefore all compensate for impaired integrity and stability of the vascular wall caused by chronically low dietary ascorbate intake. If these mechanisms overshoot, heart attack, stroke and other forms of CVD develop. " Doctor Matthias Rath, Note ascorbate is vitamin C in it's complete form as found in nature, ascorbic acid is a component of ascorbate

Doctors Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath in the 1970s discovered the cause of MOST CVD; a Medical Industry not controlled by truly evil people would have completely solved the "CVD problem" by 1990 at the latest. CVD is a depopulation and disease propagation means.

An honest CDC who wished to help solve our disease problems; an honest FDA who wished to eliminate toxins from our food supply and a Medical Industry who wished to help the US citizen prevent and fight disease ...

Could.

Instead we watch these purportedly "noble" organizations lie, promote disease and death and bludgeon into silence those who solve our disease problems and present us with cheap effective CURES and means of PREVENTION.

The Old Dope Peddler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNWvdtt5sxs

Cynthia Cournoyer

It's more like the street drug economy. Get your customers addicted and you have a built in revenue stream. Unless they die. But oh well, just get more suckers to come your way.

We (as a population) are addicted to the easy fix of vaccines solving all of our health problems. We believe the pap that comes our way and we belly-up-to-the-bar for another hit. It's not just another high, it's a way of life.

So, people have to walk away from the pushers. WE have to become independent so they have no more customers.

Linda

"The hepatitis B vaccine is a very effective vaccine that provides greater than 90% protection to persons who have received all three doses. Vaccination is the single most important way to prevent hepatitis B. Since 1982 when it became available, over one billion people have been vaccinated worldwide with no serious side effects reported."

The above quote is from a 2 hour accredited course on Hepatitis B for registered nurses from the National Center of Continuing Education, Inc. Reading this infuriates me. I wonder if there is a legal penalty for misinforming health professionals about a pharmaceutical product in a way that will impact patient education and care. Teaching RNs that Hep B vaccine has no serious side effects is an outrageous lie. I propose that the sixth stone would be to end the brainwashing of Goliath's army.

Joy B

I would lose the allusion to the Syrian "rebels" if I were you. It may not matter to this milieu in the immediate sense, but history will reveal them to be the foreign agents and paid mercs for western empire that they are. Oh and overt war criminals, too. And since this is actually the designation that big pharma has earned, reading this might confuse some, at least, at some point in the future. You're presenting a false victim as reference to bolster the case of real victims. I know this will be scoffed at by some but I had to say it.

Otherwise great article and thoughts, as usual from Dan.

Not an MD

Well, Dan, here's just one more thing to back up everything you wrote above, and it is just sickening. What a business model - no liability for your product, and a guaranteed annual market of ----> 100%! This has to end. We are not slaves--- yet.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pediatric-influenza-vaccination-rates-improve-184200583.html

Lisa J Goes

This. Was. SPECTACULAR. Sharing with everyone at our event this evening! YOU ARE AMAZING DAN!!!! much respect, lj

Cassandra

John,

You are absolutely right. All those kids with autoimmune diseases become life-long pharma customers. ADD/ADHD have also been a boon for pharma. Vaccines are the entry ticket to the brave new world of pharma dependency.

Benedetta

I have been watching on the history channel " The Men Who Built America"

Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan.

I don't think it is some master plan toward depopulation; it is just good business.

These men formed monopolies in railroads, oil, steel, electricity and banking and wall street was their playground. Stocks rose anytime they could get a monopoly on a business.

Carnegie and Rockefeller for years had an ongoing rivalry and the way to win this rivalry as far as these men were concerned; was to be the richest.

To be the richest it required that they pay their workers next to nothing and workers' safety conditions were horrible; it did not matter to them that 1 out of 11 steel workers died on the job. It did not matter to Morgan that men lost their jobs and lively hood when he consolidated business and got rid of competition. It did not matter that there was no middle class ; only the very rich and the very poor. When workers went on strike the rich hired mercenaries; The Pinkerton Detective Agency that was heavily armed force to shoot them down.

It does not matter to these men now that 1 out of 88 children have autism

It does not matter that we have close to 50 percent of the population with diabetes.

It does not matter about the high number of asthma, peanut butter allergies, mood disorders that is leading to drug addiction.

So how did it all change back then?

The pubic was furious with these men. A man named Byrant a Republican ran on the platform that he would break these monopolies. Rockefeller, Morgan and Carnegie got together and gave "HUGE SUMS" of money to their candidate McKinley . You would think that no amount of money could buy off the public?? But on top of that, they practiced (Scare tactics) on the public. They got out the message that if Bryant wins the workers will lose their jobs because factories will have to shut down. To this day even if a company is in trouble -- do we really believe them?

The Northeast voted for McKinley twice, while the central United States voted for Bryant. So all was bleak.

The second time around though, a rich man called Roosevelt decided he wanted to do the right thing about the monopolies. Rockefeller, Morgan and Carnegie saw he could not be bought off , and since he was a man that filled up a room with his personality they decided to get rid of him. To keep him from running against McKinley a fellow Democrat for the second term. They decided to make him Vice President. Vice President was a nothing position and a good way to get rid of him.

However: a worker that was laid off because Morgan took over a company and consolidated, in a rage assassinated McKinley. Vice President Roosevelt became President and broke the monopolies.

Rockefeller was brought in front of Congress for his past ruthless business deals. It must be painful to have to listen to your past wrongs. By the way - his father was a snake oil salesman before he abandoned his family.

Right now however; and this is the difference: very few of the American people are blaming vaccines for their suffering, and it is not on the radar of many politicians. We did have Trump and Brach running for a bit, but no one is coming right out and running on the premises that drug companies need to be reined in. As a matter of fact President Obama met with pharmaceutics when discussing the new health care plan. I wonder if President was a good enough negotiator to help us in this matter?

Meanwhile: I am paying for seizure medicine 28 dollars a month , that I would not have had to pay if the vaccines had been stopped after the first reaction or even the second to vaccines -- it took three.

And if I really want to get into it even deeper there is the Adderoll for ADD too. hmm and the vitamins too. Those are only for my son.

Add my husband which probably all comes to 500 dollars a month.

Add my daughter who takes the highest drug of all; Lamictal which is ridiculous high even with insurance paying for a lot of it.
If you go to the epilepsy websites -- well here is one comment that someone left :

"That is ridiculously expensive. The only think I can suggest is to look for a job in a bigger company. Usually bigger corporations (AT&T, Verizon, Microsoft, Google....) have much better benefits"

To that blogger -- don't forget to include those drug companies; you might can get a job with them ---if you are able to work.

Dan E. Burns

Bob, why moms and dads trust the safety of their newborns on Day One to Merck, the company that brought us Vioxx -- safe, effective, and deadly -- is a question for the scientists behind the Milgram Experiment.

A newborn infant is a turtle without a shell. Parents who assume that the Hep B shot is safe and effective for their newborn’s unshelled immune system have probably not read Hewitson’s paper, “Delayed acquisition of neonatal reflexes in newborn primates receiving a thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccine” (abstracted in PubMed; Google it), which found “a significant delay in the acquisition of root, snout, and suck reflexes” in primates vaccinated with the old Hep B on Day One. Brainstem damage.

Yes, Mom and Dad, the new DNA-altered Recombivax HB is supposed to be mercury-free. Says Merck. But what about the mercury already in your baby’s body? Put it together with the Birthday Shot and what have you got? $22.66 in pharma’s coffers and the first step toward an epidemic.

John Stone

Anne,

Despite Dan I am not sure how far they have factored in sustainability. In one sense the oil business is different, but with these people I suspect the mentality is to exploit without a care beyond the next decade. That's a problem of another generation as they all retire to their gracious residences.

John

Nora

This was great Ben and John Stone you are on the money. I am sure the AAP recent acknowlegement of the gut issues in children with autism is in preperation for the drugs that are on the way.
I called TACA yesterday in hopes of getting a petition started to be sent to the White House petition sight. If we were to get some 25,000 signatures, the White House has stated that they will take a look at it. I think Ben's letter here would go along way in explaining what is going on with pharma and the medical professionals who have allowed this epidemic to continue.

Anne McElroy Dachel


John's right about the economy surrounding all the developmentally disabled. Drugs for ASD kids have got to be another gold-filled pot at the end of the rainbow. Universities now have autism certification. Autism clinics are springing up all over as reported in lots of local news stories. All kinds of people now make their living because of the autism epidemic. I don't know how long this can continue though because we still have to pay for this dependent population. Maybe all those making money off the disaster can come up with some ideas about how we'll do that

Anne Dachel, Media

Sarah

Pharma has plenty of money so there's more to it. I think population reduction is a factor when you consider that many of our kids will never marry of have families of their own. Barbaric way to go about it but there you have it.

something for nothing


Dan,
Great job. Please finish this great account by showing financially how the US (in particular) cannot sustain the pharma growth based on the lack of able working tax payers to pay for it.

In other words, the only way even the government can cover the cost of the mandated vaccines, is if they can tax the people to pay for it. Never mind the fiscal cliff we are already in. In another 10 years, the sandwich generation that is caring for their parents and their disabled children, will not be able to continue paying in at the ever increasing rate needed as fewer and fewer people will be paying in. With fewer people each year working (and paying taxes) and more and more people (old and young) will be on the disability roles, there will be no money to pay for even basic health care, let alone vaccines.

The only thing that will stop this train is for the power's at be to realize they are too greedy and now they will soon be shooting their own feet!

Donna L.

Good stuff, Dan...gets straight to the heart of what's really driving the vaccine program. This isn't about disease prevention, the greater good or even, as some suggest, population reduction. This is about Greed, plain and simple. Our children's lives have been sacrificed for nothing more than the almighty dollar (and a few truly heinous egos). How the general public can view this as anything other than criminal is beyond me.

John Stone

Yes, it would all come to an end over night if there was financial and criminal liability.

Bob Moffitt

•Stone 2 – Put a high price on our disabled children, and make the offenders pay. Eliminate the Vaccine Court and restore the power of parents to sue in state courts.

I especially like Dan's suggestion to:

"MAKE THE OFFENDERS PAY"

There is something inherently wrong in a country that fails to severely PUNISH the highest levels of pharmaceutical companies .. after being found guilty of numerous violations where drugs .. such as .. VIOXX .. were routinely prescribed by doctors to unsuspecting victims .. and .. which is reported to have caused more deaths than was lost in the Iraq War.

It is not enough to simply "fine" these giant pharmaceuticals when they are found guilty of distributing a drug that caused so many deaths .. because .. as I suspect Dan would agree .. the fines are simply "written off as a cost of doing business".

So, the question remains:

Why weren't the officials responsible for the VIOXX debacle brought before the very same Senate Committee hearing regarding the contaminated steriod company .. where just yesterday .. the CEO invoked his "fifth amendment right to remain silent" .. knowing he was likely to face CRIMINAL CHARGES IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

Were the lives of the innocent people who died of heart attacks as a direct result of VIOXX .. any less worthy of justice than the innocent people who died from the direct result of contaminated steriods?

If so .. why?

John Stone

Fine article Dan but I think you are missing the fact that the damaged children are becoming buried oil in themselves with their neurological impairments and chronic ill-health. I should not wonder if that is not the bigger source of revenue ultimately.

John

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