The Lady Doth Protest Too Much: Voices for Vaccine is a Top-down Front Operation Launched by a CDC Partner in 2008
By John Stone
Despite Karen Ernst’s repeated insistence that Voices for Vaccines - who recently got up a petition against Jenny McCarthy on Change.com - is an independent parent-led organization speaking up for the vaccine program, the evidence that it was started by the Atlanta based non-profit partner of the Centers for Disease Control, Task Force for Global Health, to promote their joint policies is overwhelming. John Stone (UK editor of Age of Autism) reports:
A few days ago I wrote about vaccine program advocate Prof Dorit Reiss, her unconventional views about agency capture, and her links with Voices for Vaccines “an administrative project” of Task Force for Global Health a partner organization to the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University in Atlanta. The first response to my article was from Karen Ernst a Minnesota based officer of Voices for Vaccines :
“Voices for Vaccines has as its fiscal agent The Task Force for Global Health. They take in our donations and cut checks for us. Many non-profits who are too small to handle their own 501(c)3 status use fiscal agents in this way; it's quite common. We have absolutely no access to their money, nor do we benefit from their money. Voices for Vaccines is not tied to any pharmaceutical corporation or to any government organization. Thus far, all of our donations have been small and have come from individuals. Thus, the dots you have connected paint an incorrect picture.”
Ernst was again engaged the other day with Steve Schneider's article Big Pharma's faking a "grass-roots" campaign to keep Jenny McCarthy off "The View" in Mark Crispin Miller's News from the Underground blog noticed that a Change.com petition against McCarthy was being promoted by ‘Voices for Vaccines, St Paul, Minnesota’. Ernst was first to respond once more :
“I’m one of the two moms who runs VFV. Your blog post is curious to me, seeing that you are an academic. It seems you consulted Barbara Loe Fisher for her anti-vaccine conspiracy theories about who we are, but you never bothered to actually consult us.
“I am the person who started the petition. I have been in contact with exactly zero people who work for pharmaceutical companies or who work in the government about the petition. At best, your headline is misleading. The rest of your blog post is inaccurate. You’ve misrepresented our relationship with our Scientific Advisory Board and our fiscal agent.”
For the record the current Voices for Vaccine website states:
“Voices for Vaccines was re-launched in early 2013 after two young parents, Karen Ernst and Ashley Shelby, volunteered to lead the organization in rallying parents of immunized children to combat vaccine misinformation and increase immunization rates. In 2010, Shelby and Ernst founded the blog Moms Who Vax, which offers resources on vaccine information, commentary, and first-person stories from parents who immunize. They are currently working to develop a new organization, the Minnesota Childhood Immunization Coalition.”
The name ‘Voices for Vaccines’ rang a bell but I could not immediately find any pre-2013 references on Google. The web archive was rather more helpful, however, with the earliest page holding any text dating from 13 May 2008 (passages in bold are my emphasis):
“Recent public discourse has taken on a tone of doubt regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccines. While immunization rates remain high in the United States, scientifically unfounded fears receive broad coverage in the media, and the views of those who oppose vaccination are often presented as fact. This creates an environment in which vaccine uptake is in danger of declining precipitously - in America, and in other countries that are influenced by American attitudes toward vaccines.
“Voices For Vaccines has been formed to speak for those who value the vital protection provided by vaccines and want accurate communication of their safety profile. Our goal is to maximize the ability of vaccines to prevent disease, disability, and death, here and abroad, by supporting sound vaccine policies and practices.
“Voices For Vaccines is guided by the following principles:
“ Science. We will follow the most reliable scientific findings in formulating our positions. We will be frank and clear about what is known and the limitations of current knowledge.
“ Independence. To allay concerns about conflicts of interest, we will accept no funding from companies that manufacture or distribute vaccines, nor from any government.
“Accessibility. We will provide information through multiple media formats in order to effectively reach the general public, health care providers, and policymakers.
“Voices For Vaccines has already begun enlisting members to demonstrate the strong support that vaccines enjoy across the population. Membership is at no cost and provides a subscription to our newsletter as well as the opportunity to participate in VFV-coordinated action campaigns.
“Voices For Vaccines is administratively housed within the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, an Atlanta-based 501(c)(3) organization.”
According to its notice on Wiki ‘Task Force for Child Survival and Development” was re-named ‘Task Force for Global Health’ in 2009. Apart from that there are two fundamental problems. One is that however Voices for Vaccines solicits funds it is still administered by Task Force (which solicits funds from all sorts of places), so the notion of independence is meaningless and a deliberate deception. The other is that it is an attempt to recruit members of the public to advocate for Task Force’s policies and activities: Voices for Vaccines was not started independently of Task Force, and Task Force is not just “cutting” Voices for Vaccine’s checks, it is Task Force's creature while posing as an independent and parent-led organization.
Why is it that these people can only operate by subterfuge?
John Stone is UK Editor for Age of Autism.
An update to this article is published here.
Thanks Benedetta, I unfriended misnomered TPGTA "Thinking Person's Guide To Autism".
They certainly sound like they attempted to hijack the name from: "Thinking Mom's Revolution"(Team TMR is awesome) :)
Their feeble attempts have failed. More and more #CDCwhistleblower tweeters have BLOCKED the TPGTA and joined Thinking Mom's Revolution(TMR)!
Posted by: aspiesmom | October 04, 2014 at 06:57 PM
I hope you can unfriend them, but it sounds like they are trying to trick you for it sounds like they are playing on the group of Mothers of vaccine injuried children
Thinking Moms' Revolution.
Posted by: Benedetta | July 14, 2014 at 11:45 PM
Beware of misnomered and misleading "Thinking Person's Guide To Autism" on facebook and twitter. It is clearly a front organization for pushing vaccinations. And they spend their time and energy with ad hominem attacks against autism parents.
Posted by: aspiesmom | July 14, 2014 at 01:01 PM
Jenny McCarthy has powerful enemies and they are completely without shame - for them the truth is nothing. Anyone who stands up against the vaccine lobby in any way in public life has to be taken out. I am linking to another recent article of mine which reflects on the antics of "Reuben Gaines" in the comments below.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/12/dorit-rubinstein-reiss-and-the-weakness-of-vaccine-science.html
And also to another article where VFV advisor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss explains the twisted logic of targetting McCarthy:
http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/08/voices-for-vaccines-iii-the-opinions-and-silences-of-dorit-reiss.html
Basically it is saying that if you question the vaccine program in the slightest they will make sure you don't have a career.
Posted by: John Stone | January 06, 2014 at 05:55 AM
I had problems with the VFV people the other night myself. Simply because my evidence contradicted theirs I was called a liar and a troll. One member went so far as to say that she hoped my daughter suffered greatly from not being vaccinated and that my grandchildren should suffer lifetime disabilities. She got quiet after I said my grandson did in fact have a disability due to a vaccine reaction. The administrator took down the post when I asked her to but other members including Dorit Reiss continued berate me for my beliefs and my "inability" to understand the science behind vaccination.
Posted by: Theresa | January 05, 2014 at 11:30 PM
Ref.
Growing Up Unvaccinated http://www.voicesforvaccines.org/growing-up-unvaccinated/
Analysis,
http://whois.net/whois/voicesforvaccines.org -> The Task Force for Global Health -> http://www.taskforce.org/about-us-and-annual-report -> About Us and Annual Report. The Task Force for Global Health was founded as the Task Force for Child Survival in 1984. The Task Force was initially tapped to serve as a Secretariat for a consortium of global health organizations: UNICEF, WHO, The Rockefeller Foundation, The United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank. ..
I.e. UN and banksters mafia propaganda sites
VACCINATION 101 - Dr. Lanctot alias "GHIS", vaccines are only a form of warfare http://www.navigate3d.no/mbbs22/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1819&start=1
Posted by: Otto Lund | January 05, 2014 at 06:41 PM
Well, she was polite enough.
John Stone - Jake was right to congradulate you.
Maybe you gave them some things to think about.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 08, 2013 at 07:12 PM
As Jake says ..way to go..both of you do a great service to the Autism community..
God bless you both
Angus
Posted by: Angus | August 08, 2013 at 05:46 PM
Thanks Jake!
Posted by: John Stone | August 08, 2013 at 03:56 PM
"Voices for Vaccines ... is an independent parent-led organization speaking up for the vaccine program"
I seriously doubt that such an organization can exist for the simple reason that any group of honest citizens is bound to have SEVERAL members who are cognizant that their children have been damaged by "vaccination". In an independent organization their questions and concerns would become part of their agenda.
As we have seen this NEVER happens with the shill groups. Thus there can be no truly independent groups FOR "vaccination".
Thank the lord there are SEVERAL groups QUESTIONING the whole "vaccination" deadly scam. Most are independent and "vaccine" proponents are free to voice opinions.
Posted by: Lou | August 08, 2013 at 12:58 AM
An exchange between myself and Dorit Reiss can now be found on examiner.com (if it survives)
http://www.examiner.com/article/anti-jenny-mccarthy-petition-authored-by-pharmaceutical-industry-cronies
Posted by: John Stone | August 07, 2013 at 04:14 PM
A response I left for Dorit Reiss on examiner.com:-
http://www.examiner.com/article/anti-jenny-mccarthy-petition-authored-by-pharmaceutical-industry-cronies
Hi Dorit,
You claim that VFV is run by two moms but its director is given on the Task Force website as CDC veteran Dr Alan Hinman (and it is a sub-project of Task-Force for Vaccine Equity), it was set up by Task Force in 2008, and it is not clear that VFV has any independent legal status outside Task Force. The rule about VFV not accepting pharma donations was dreamt up in 2008 to pre-empt accusations of pharma patronage but clearly VFV is fulfilling the purpose of TF who created it and maintain its accounts (are they available for scrutiny?), and TF does accept donations from the pharmaceutical industry. The 2012 Task Force report listed as the major donors to 'Vaccine Equity', of which Alan Hinman is also director, Bill and Melinda Gates, Merck and Novartis.
Something which greatly puzzles me, as you probably know, is why this show of fastidiousness when articles on your website argue that agency capture is a good thing, so presumably the blurring of who is what in the grand narrative would be a good thing too? According to you pharmaceutical patronage is a very good thing - as I understand it - so is it a big deal if VFV is parading as a parent group, when actually it has been brought into existence for the purposes of giving a parent led front to the policies of TF and its partner the CDC in league with pharmaceutical patronage (and concerns itself with such matters as Paul Offit's reputation)? Presumably if VFV cannot afford to operate independently of TF and use their banking facilities - as Karen has said - that would be one way in which they benefitted from pharmaceutical industry largesse.
And this is the case even if other people properly want to know who is really what, and think it is an important issue. We are talking about very powerful interests and huge salaries down the line, so I am bemused by the fact that you apparently propose that the rules governing these matters are still not sufficiently lax.
So - at the end of this - what, pray, protects the public interest?
Posted by: John Stone | August 07, 2013 at 06:07 AM
"Reuben" Bonnie just cant give it up? Family silver at stake.. inheritance ....Shame on them
Posted by: ANGUS FILES | August 06, 2013 at 07:26 PM
For a supposed professional, "Reuben" sure seems to have a lot of spare time for some rather strange extracurricular activities: http://thepoxesblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/my-first-legal-threat/
Posted by: Things to do in Philly when you're a creep | August 06, 2013 at 01:55 PM
Here are a few quotes from Lisa Randall to demonstrate the caliper of vaccine-zelots our tax dollars pay for. How could such a distorted individual be entrusted with Public Health and HIPPA?
“Hysteria distilled in the groupthink of autism advocacy groups that insist thimerosal causes autism contrary to all reputable science and cast anyone who says otherwise as a member of a global conspiracy to poison children."
"Money for shady personal injury lawyers who lick their chops at the prospect of presenting a jury with a disabled child, some sophisticated-sounding pseudoscience, and the ominous fact that certain states have banned thimerosal.”
“Many children who would once have been diagnosed with mental retardation or childhood schizophrenia are now slotted into the autism category; the formerly "odd kid" is now recognized as being on the autism spectrum. In addition, the availability of specialized programs for autistics has made this diagnosis more attractive to professionals and parents”
"Unlocking Autism is a "national organization" in much the way that my family can be said to be a "national organization" due to its having members in three states.”
“This is such an important distinction, and one that can’t be effectively addressed as long as the parents and their representatives are the only ones allowed to speak on the case. From what I can tell, Hannah Poling is not really autistic now, which adds doubt to the contention that she was ever really autistic to start with, “autistic symptoms” or no.”
“Actually, the case at issue concerns a mitochondrial disorder — one which, according to the head of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, has never been shown to be environmentally acquired. The autistic features that the child developed were among a complex set of symptoms.”
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SUNA_en___US267&q=%22lisa+Randall%22+and+vaccine+and+autism
Posted by: Not a young mom | August 06, 2013 at 01:45 PM
Hera re Gaines
....'the damage it was doing to children was none of your business'. It could be worse Hera...it could have been 'collateral damage', unavoidable in other words. I have heard that militaristic phrase applied to our damaged kids once too often.
Flippers for arms and no legs is very very visible. Autism isn't quite so visible, but how long and how many will it take I wonder before it does become so?
One in 10? 1 in 5?
Posted by: Patricia | August 06, 2013 at 01:34 PM
Or Karen Ernst types.
Posted by: jen | August 06, 2013 at 01:05 PM
Thanks Jim for sending all this info, John
Posted by: John Stone | August 06, 2013 at 12:58 PM
Wow,John, the CBS investigated vaccine defenders?! Amazing. In this past Sunday's Toronto Star there was a good article titled, "Big Pharma 'likes' Social Media" by John Lorinc. Maybe we can still hope for the truth about medical matters to come out.
A little while ago one of those Lisa Randall types ("Health care analysits"/"science writers") named Emily Jordan wrote a 'hit' piece on CCSVI treatment for multiple sclerosis. It was of course full of bias- she was mentioned in some Gates/Cambridge scholarship context- big surprise! She works for something called Sociable Pharma- watch for her to put out vaccine articles in the future. It seems there are a lot of young people willing to sell their soul to work for these pharma media companies. Forgive them for they know not what they do? Or do they?
Posted by: Jen | August 06, 2013 at 10:55 AM
Just ignore these types... Acknowledging they exist and letting them know they are ignorant or misled only empowers them. They thrive off any sort of attention. Don't give them a fight. Just go forth and be all you can be, and the world will see the truth.
Posted by: Billie Joe | August 06, 2013 at 10:25 AM
Mr Gaines; you seem to really be missing the point here. Quote:
Vaccines work..."and it curdles your milk to think that they do?"?? Not very professional language really, from someone with a position in government.
You seem to believe that
If something "works" then it can't be causing dangerous side effects.
Thalidomide "works" too. It really stops morning sickness.( And test at the time proved it was so safe that it was considered virtually impossible to overdose on it.)
Then babies were born without arms and legs, and with flippers for hands. There were many doctors who were so sure that "it worked", and kept prescribing it.
But some brave souls stood up for what was right and looked not just at the fact that it "worked' but also at what damage it was doing.
Do you think if you had been in power, in charge of a company making thalidomide, or in charge of a government program aimed at reducing morning sickness, that you would have had the courage to tell the truth about the side effects, or would you have been one of those who explained to the parents that "it works" and felt that the damage it was doing to some of the children was really none of your business?
Posted by: Hera | August 06, 2013 at 09:12 AM
Jim Thompson;
You forgot to put some decimals in those figures! Surely????
Lisa Randall mis spoke on one word in her quote:
"It is our privilege to partner with these institutions in our mission to *(decimate)* reliable information about vaccines."
W
Posted by: Benedetta | August 06, 2013 at 08:58 AM
Searching these sites for 501 (c) (3) organizations called Voices for Vaccines produced zero results: See http://www.guidestar.org/ and http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder/ .
If that is the case (as Karen stated as well) then Task Force for Global Health probably is required to file an annual Form 990 with Voices for Vaccines as a “project” of the Task Force. One would have to look at that form 990 to search for more information on this “project.”
According to this site, "...you can request a Form 990 from a specific non-profit corporation by writing to the IRS, including the name of the organization and the tax year you wish to review:
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Attn: Freedom of Information Reading Room
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20224"
See http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/incorporation-and-legal-structures/nonprofit-financial-statements.html .
Posted by: Jim Thompson | August 06, 2013 at 08:58 AM
John, here is a partial list of the fiscal year 2012 “functional expenses” of the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, Inc as stated in the Task Force for Global Health Inc. Consolidated Financial Statements:
Personnel costs: $8,432,407
Office expense: $872,635
Meeting expense: $2,265,183
Travel expense: $1,977,801
Conferences, consulting, and collaboration: $2,224,981
Other: $17,508,654
See http://www.taskforce.org/publications/fy2012-annual-report-task-force-global-health .
Posted by: Jim Thompson | August 06, 2013 at 08:26 AM
http://craigwestover.blogspot.com.au/2005/07/calm-down-and-explain-my-hysteria.html
Posted by: Interested | August 06, 2013 at 08:04 AM
http://www.beyondconformity.co.nz/hilarys-desk/a-prick-too-close-for-comfort
A prick too close for comfort?
Hilary Butler - Saturday, August 02, 2008
A curve ball was delivered Dr Offit’s way about a week ago, when CBS television investigated the many vested interests behind various vaccine defenders. When asked to comment on the $1.5 million Merck Sponsored University chair he occupies, and what his other financial vested interests might total, Dr Offit declined to comment.
Very quickly after the programme aired, CBS received a salvo purportedly from an organization called “Voices for Vaccines”. Amongst other things, the letter said:
Voices for Vaccines objects to the defamatory allegations made by the CBS Evening News on Friday, July 25, against the American Academy of Pediatrics, Every Child By Two, and the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, with our colleague Dr Paul Offit singled out for baseless criticism.
It is our privilege to partner with these institutions in our mission to disseminate reliable information about vaccines. … It is preposterous and deeply offensive for CBS to suggest otherwise by insinuating that the pharmaceutical industry improperly influences the views of these vaccine advocates...
Lisa H. Randall
Interim Executive Director
CBS has released a statement standing by it’s programme.
Let’s think about this for a moment. Who is Lisa H. Randall? Ms Randall is the Immunization Action Coalition Policy Consultant, located in Paul, Minnesota... which amongst other contributors, was funded in 2008 by Sanofi Pasteur, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, MedImmune and Baxter Healthcare Corp.
Randall’s letter implies she is writing from Georgia Atlanta. From her letter, you’d believe that Voices for Vaccines is independent, yet she works for Immunization Action Coalition, which is 50/50 funded between drug companies and CDC.
Voices for Vaccines is the reincarnation of another group called People for Immunization. Pamphlets about this group were handed out at the American Committee for Immunization Practice in October 2007. The stated aim of People for Immunization was that, “it will have a large Scientific Advisory Board comprising recognized authorities in the field. To ensure its credibility as an independent voice, it will accept no funding from the vaccine industry or the federal government…” They changed their name to Voices for Vaccines. Sounds much better than People for Immunizations.
There’s only one problem here. Guess who was on the steering committee of People for Immunization? All the usual big names who are up to their armpits in drug company money including Dr Paul Offit. Looking down the list, I can’t see one person who has not received money from drug companies. Since Randall says that Voices for Vaccine partners with Dr Offit, presumably the “Voices for Vaccines Steering Committee” has the same captains at the helm as was proposed for People for Immunization.
Same people, same agenda, and supposedly, with Voices for Vaccine to be funded by "people", no-one would recognize the pharma dipping tigers, with their spots instead of stripes.
Here’s another interesting thing. Lisa Randall signed herself as “Interim Executive Director”. In place of whom, exactly? Not that it would have mattered, because every single person on the People for Immunization Steering committee is as “drug funded” as is Lisa Randall’s Immunization Action Coalition.
The question that needs to be answered is, “How is it that vaccine defenders are so quick to point out vested interests in others, yet are oblivious to vested interests in themselves
Posted by: John Stone | August 06, 2013 at 06:25 AM
So, what happened to Lisa? She became a vaccine official in - you guessed it - St Paul, Minnesota. Here she is on LinkedIn:
Lisa H. Randall
Adolescent and Adult Immunization Outreach, Minnesota Department of Health
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area Health, Wellness and Fitness
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisahrandall
Posted by: John Stone | August 06, 2013 at 04:54 AM
This is Lisa Randall of V4V in 2008 trying to get a retraction from CBS for Sharyl Attkisson's report about Paul Offit through Orange County Register.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/08/sam-miller-of-o.html
Orange County Register was then forced to retract the story:
"An OC Register article dated Aug. 4, 2008 entitled “Dr. Paul Offit Responds” contained several disparaging statements that Dr. Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia made about CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson and her report. Upon further review, it appears that a number of Dr. Offit’s statements, as quoted in the OC Register article, were unsubstantiated and/or false. Attkisson had previously reported on the vaccine industry ties of Dr. Offit and others in a CBS Evening News report “How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders?” July 25, 2008.
"Unsubstantiated statements include: Offit’s claim that Attkisson “lied”; and Offit’s claim that CBS News sent a “mean spirited and vituperative” email “over the signature of Sharyl Attkisson” stating “You’re clearly hiding something.” In fact, the OC Register has no evidence to support those claims. Further, Offit told the OC Register that he provided CBS News “the details of his relationship, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s relationship, with pharmaceutical company Merck.” However, documents provided by CBS News indicate Offit did not disclose his financial relationships with Merck, including a $1.5 million Hilleman chair he sits in that is co-sponsored by Merck. According to the CBS News’ documentation recently reviewed by the OC Register, the network requested (but Offit did not disclose) the entire profile of his professional financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies including: The amount of compensation he’d received from which companies in speaking fees; and pharmaceutical consulting relationships and fees. The CBS News documentation indicates Offit also did not disclose his share of past and future royalties for the Merck vaccine he co-invented. To the extent that unsubstantiated and/or false claims appeared in the OC Register and have been repeated by other organizations and individuals, the OC Register wishes to express this clarification for their reference and for the record"
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/correction-296910-dated-entitled.html
So, it turns out that Offit is still on the Professional Advisory Board of V4V or VFV despite this embarrassing incident:
http://www.voicesforvaccines.org/about/
Posted by: John Stone | August 06, 2013 at 04:25 AM
Ginger Taylor's Adventures in Autism blog 10 April 2008:-
http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/lisa-randall-vaccine-safety-working.html
Lisa Randall, Vaccine Safety Working Group , Voices 4 Vaccines, The Task Force for Child Survival, Pharma Dollars and The World Bank
Yes I know that is a long and confusing name for an article. But it is apt as this article will be long and confusing.
Yesterday I brought to you a piece about the composition of the CDC's Vaccine Safety Working group that is meeting for the first time tomorrow in DC. It read in part:
"The National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), Vaccine Safety Working Group (VSWG) will meet for the first time on April 11, 2008 in Washington DC. The autism community's vaccine safety concerns are not represented within this panel.
The charter for NVAC calls for participation by representatives from "parent organizations concerned with immunization.""
Here is the information from the CDC's web site.
Well, one of the people invited to present information to the Working Group tomorrow in a segment entitled: "Interacting with the Public" is Lisa Randall, a long time advocate of vaccination; and a long time critic of vaccine/autism theory and biomedical intervention for autism. Lisa opposed removing mercury from vaccines.
Today there has been some questioning as to whether or not she really presenting as a member of the 'public'.
I am having a time following this, and people are still trying to work it all out, so please be patient with me and I try to bring this story to you and get more information.
Lisa Randall is a an attorney and "policy consultant" for Immunization Action Coalition, or Immunize.org, a group that is funded in part by the CDC and by pharmaceutical companies Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, CSL iotherapies, MedImmune, and Baxter Healthcare Corp.
Dan Olmsted mentioned Immunize.org when they opposed removing mercury from vaccines.
So is she a representative of the 'public' or of pharmaceutical companies?
She is also appears to represent Voices 4 Vaccines, a new and mysterious organization that JB Handley wrote about today on the Age of Autism. Handley tried to get information on the group (there is not much on their web site) and found that the domain name was registered to The Task Force for Child Survival and Development, another vaccine group, not so much formed by the public as much as, "the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the Rockefeller Foundation to achieve the goal of universal child immunization by 1990."
So in order to see just what Voices 4 Vaccines was, who was running it and who was paying for it, Kelli Ann Davis made some calls today.
First she called Immunize.org and was told that Lisa Randall was not in and does not have an office there, but is a consultant. So then she called the Executive Director of the Taskforce for Child Survival, Mark Rosenberg, to whom Voices4Vaccines.org is registered and asked him the two important questions.
1. Who is on the board of directors of Voices 4 Vaccines?
2. Where do they get their funding?
Mr. Rosenberg would not tell Kelli, only referring her back to Lisa Randall.
Kelli remarked that she could not get a hold of Ms. Randall, and she was writing a piece that had to be ready tomorrow morning for the Vaccine Safety Working Group meeting, and needed the information today.
But again Mr. Rosenberg declined to answer the questions, referring her back to Ms. Randall.
5 times.
She asked 5 times, he refused to tell her 5 times.
So Kelli, and me too, would like to know. Who is Voices 4 Vaccines? Is this the 'public' that Lisa Randall is representing? And if it is, who are the members of the 'public'? Or is this another group funded by corporate interests like Immunize.org and the Taskforce for Child Survival?
When Ms. Randall offers information to the Working Group tomorrow, for them to work on, will it be as a member of the public or as someone who is financially benefiting from pharmaceutical companies?
And where is the transparency?
Peter Bell of Autism Speaks and Barbara Loe Fisher of NVIC will be speaking, but there is no secret about who they are, who they are affiliated with, what their agenda is and who finances their groups
If anyone has any light to shed on any of this, let me know
Posted by: John Stone | August 06, 2013 at 03:26 AM
John,
Voices for Vaccines is a “project” for the Task Force for Global Health. “The Task Force project, Voices For Vaccines, addresses questions about vaccines.” See http://www.taskforce.org/our-work/projects/voices-vaccines .
The Task Force for Global Health financial report states that Global Health Solutions Inc (GHS) is a subsidiary of the Task Force for Global Health that handles “projects.”
“GHS was incorporated in the State of Georgia on September 22, 2005 for the purpose of supporting the Task Force's global health projects…GHS is also a Type 1 supporting organization under Section 509 (a).” See http://www.taskforce.org/publications/fy2012-annual-report-task-force-global-health .
While the report does not specify the amount spent on the Task Force project “Voices for Vaccines” in administrative expenses, the annual employee fringe benefit contribution by the Task Force for Global Health was reported at $1,665,091. It seems unlikely that Karen Ernst would have access to the amount spent on the Task Force project “Voices for Vaccines” in administrative expenses.
Posted by: Jim Thompson | August 06, 2013 at 02:46 AM
I was reading their statements and among them,"At Voices for Vaccines, we know that parents have questions about vaccines—as parents ourselves, we had them, too. But we also know that it’s hard to separate fact from fiction, and that this conundrum is starting to have grave consequences on the health of our children and our communities." I would like to understand how , when and where, my not vaccinating my son hurts them. My fully vaccinated daughter caught whooping cough, something my not vaccinated son has never had, she ,as well, developed Kawasaki after one mmr and neutropenia after her second. My oldest son had atypical measles, something rare that led to his crohn's. My ASD child will have challenges no child should have to face. My little asthmatic guy has to fight for his breath. I am not guessing, I saw cause and effect. Have any of us caused one out of fifty to develop a disability? Those like these two women have sold our children out to the pharmaceuticals, for what, a vacation, a hefty bonus? Among their statements they made the claim that "these people" are the loud voices , again, no, they've silenced the issue by threat across the board in all areas of media. These women who "volunteered", which doesn't mean they are working for free, are dangerous. They can't be mothers, mothers like me who believed in vaccine and saw it destroy my kids lives could never for any amount of fame or money propose anyone do the same. There is no common good , no herd immunity with vaccines, herd immunity was natural, with children and adults of various ages building it with exposures. There are few if any pathogens that haven't mutated out of the vaccine typing, with whooping cough as the best current example. We only need read for a few minutes to see that vaccinating newborns didn't mount any effective titers, yet they cling to it as a religious belief. It's really time to stop. They, the mouthpieces of Paul Offit are threatening the future of another generation, couldn't it just stop with ours, and let us try to repair the damage done.
Posted by: barbara j | August 06, 2013 at 01:02 AM
John,
Voices for Vaccines was "created" originally under the instruction of Paul Offit after the Poling case went public. The idea then was that Voices for Vaccines was just a bunch of "soccer moms" , the one they used in particular also happened to be a lawyer and "student" at the Bloomberg school of Public Health (Johns Hopkins) alongside Neal Halsey. She used her "voice" for vaccines at HHS during a hearing approximately April of 2008 where she was one of the only people invited to speak to the public although no one had ever even heard of VFV prior to that. Think Neal, Paul.....they are all in it together
Posted by: anon | August 06, 2013 at 12:37 AM
I recall Voices for Vaccines, they've been fronting for the CDC for many years. Just Google "Lisa Randall" and "Voices for Vaccines". There was a lot of press in 2008 about their financial ties:
http://www.beyondconformity.co.nz/hilarys-desk/a-prick-too-close-for-comfort
My guess is that Karen Ernst is not "just a young mom". She's hooking for big-PHARMA, just like Lisa Randall.
Posted by: Not a young mom | August 06, 2013 at 12:34 AM
Thank You John Stone;
Once again I am too trusting in beleiving what one brags about themselves is true.
I must get over that and be more cynical esp with a government that has a task force that collects money from pharm corp and probably Bill Gates and gives it to a organization pretending it is a ----
Grass Roots Organization! HA!
Posted by: Benedetta | August 05, 2013 at 09:54 PM
Please, Mr. Handley, let's not try to pretend like we can have a conversation. I dared defend someone you and Mr. Stone despise, so, by association, I am to be despised and, as you can see, lied about. Okay, I don't exist. I'm just a figment of my imagination.
But, for argument's sake, let's say that I do exist. You're telling me that I should never ever consider a job with "big pharma" because it would show how "big pharma" is rewarding me for supporting the truth? And let's not split hairs here, Mr. Handley, vaccines work, and that's the truth. I know it curdles your milk to think that they do, but they do. It's a reality you cannot and will not escape. They work so well that even Wakefield was considering a single-jab vaccine. (I wonder if he knew the damage he was about to do and still wanted to prevent measles outbreaks like we've seen since he told us what his gut feeling was instead of what the results section of his paper states?)
You're a businessman, Mr. Handley. Would you not hire the most qualified person for the job? Gerberding is quite well qualified. She knows the industry. She knows vaccines. She also knows people. Where the heck did you want them to hire from? From your financial firm? From amongst your writers? Maybe your ex-writers with yet-to-be-finished epidemiology degrees?
In fact, let's ask your other readers. Come on, guys, where would you hire from to be the head of vaccines of your theoretical corporation?
John Stone keeps doubting my story, but I've already sent you a friend request on Facebook, John. Accept it and you can convince yourself of who I am. Not that it matters. You'll find fault in me for something. You too, Mr. Handley. You'll probably bet that I'm Bonnie Offit. (And once you see my IP address, I just bet you will.)
Good night from Philly.
Posted by: Reuben Gaines | August 05, 2013 at 09:19 PM
JB
Of course, like a lot of people in this game Reuben is almost certainly not quite what he says, nor do his comments address this article - a group pretending to be independent who are thoroughly hooked up to the government pharmaceutical machine, and advocates who actually say that agency capture is a good thing. No doubt he doesn't bat an eyelid at Gerberding's revolving door, it will just lead to better understanding between government and industry, with Dorit Reiss the ideologue. It's a mockery of what government is supposed to be about.
John
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 08:59 PM
Reuben:
I don't think the CDC promoting vaccines is a conflict of interest. The fact that the former head of the CDC went on to be the President of Merck's vaccine division? Different deal, and sign of a captive agency. If that doesn't make you cynical, you've spent too much time in government work!
JB Handley
Posted by: JB Handley | August 05, 2013 at 08:35 PM
As they say only God Forgives. I will never forgive any of the colluders, in this vaccine Holocaust..
Posted by: ANGUS FILES | August 05, 2013 at 08:20 PM
Frankly Benedetta I don't know who he was, and I can't find any trace of such a person on the web. A high ranking government official with a professorship? A hoax more likely - just the kind of defender Voices for Vaccines Dorit, Karen & co deserve.
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 06:45 PM
Reuben Gaines is wrong in what he writes about Dr. Wakefield. Those familiar with Dr. Wakefield's work know that. For those who aren't, there is plenty of good information about Dr. Wakefield on this website and at www.callousdisregard.com, www.cryshame.com. Dr. Wakefield's videos: Youtube or TheAutismChannel.com. Andrew J. Wakefield, "Callous Disregard, Autism and Vaccines - the Truth Behind a Tragedy" (Skyhorse Pub.: NY 2010).
Carol, you asked about the CDC's PR budget for vaccine promotion: Here are just a few links http://www.prweekus.com/cdc-allocates-up-to-65-million-for-vaccine-pr/article/252293/
http://www.prweekus.com/icf-bags-24m-cdc-contract-to-promote-immunization/article/256885/
http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/campaigns/index.html
Listing of Active Contracts CDC 2011 (Beginning on 2d page, note high amounts spent on "health marketing and communications." http://www.hhs.gov/about/smallbusiness/Active%20Contracts/pdf/cdc.pdf
Google "CDC wastes taxpayer money." Here's one on that: http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=f016bd58-8e45-45d4-951a-b6b4d1ef3e70 (2007 Senate subcommittee report).
Posted by: Christina Waldman | August 05, 2013 at 06:44 PM
John,
Thank you, getting back on track, for tracing these connections. I get the feeling that in some areas, Washington D.C. is likely one, many become influenced by a pro-established-wealth-generating-entities attitude that may influence their altruist endeavors more than they want to see, but that does not even seem to be the case here.
Getting back off-track, I did to be completely accurate think there was a very good possibility Mr. Gaines believes himself to be a scientist.
There is someone going by that name here also:
http://www.quora.com/Reuben-Gaines
I for one would like to see such "scientists" call for actual safety research so as to not further compromise the value of that field overall in the eyes of what I think is an increasingly waking public, but they do not themselves seem to be pro-vaccine in belief enough for that. I can't think of one positive reason that groups like VfV aren't on the frontlines in support of neglected vaccine research such as directed by Congressmembers Carolyn Maloney/Bill Posey's bill.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | August 05, 2013 at 06:16 PM
Rueben or Reuben is going to let it pass - I am so relieved.
First born -- I wonder if he knows what Jacob said at the end of his life about "ALL" of his first 10 sons. It was not pleasant and he told them what evil men they were.
Although I think Rueben is sincere coolaid drinker with a big job in Washington as an epidemologist.
So he knows enough about it to make a good argument but does not know enough about it to push on through and see the truth.
Heck who wants too.
Not me.
I was forced here after years of stupidity on my part.
Perhaps Gaines will be lucky and never be forced here too.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 05, 2013 at 06:15 PM
"It's Reuben, with the e before the u, and it's Jewish, the name of the eldest son of Jacob and Leah. But, again, I'll let it pass."
I am glad you wrote that as I was almost certain you were the person Kenny Rogers sang about in one his songs.
I have heard the charge of a one shot patent, but have never seen any evidence. Is there such clear evidence?
Posted by: Visitor | August 05, 2013 at 05:38 PM
Well Reuben Gaines exists, apparently, but it is a bit difficult to see how anything in his account of things in the pharmaceutical government complex could ever constitute a conflict, so it is really quite insightful. Also, he accuses me of making false statements about Dorit Reiss but he has not really come up with anything, except that I may have worked insufficiently hard to turn up her publications(but then he didn't produce a lot either). The message once again seems to be "anything goes", and I am sure that we don't much look forward to meeting each other.
Of course, AW was trying to develop a product for therapeutic purposes a long way from marketing, and he advised using single vaccines in which he had no financial interest.
PS I said exists "apparently" but I can't find a lot of evidence for it (and certainly not from the information provided).
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 05:34 PM
I learned a new phrase, "vaccine equity," from Chris Hemming’s post below. I wondered if it were like “the great equalizer.” Looked it up. Sure enough. It is Bill Gates’s plan to vaccinate every child in the world.
Posted by: Mary W Maxwell, PhD, LLB | August 05, 2013 at 05:03 PM
Nope, Mr. Stone. I'm very real, and very much an infectious disease epidemiologist: https://www.facebook.com/reuben.r.gaines
My real job is at the Washington, DC, Department of Health. Fifth Floor:
http://thepoxesblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/image-7-4-13-at-11-35-pm.jpg?w=387&h=290
Please do look me up if you are ever in the States. I would so much love to take you out to lunch. This is my last posting for the day. I've been in the field all day and need to get back to the office and write up some reports.
I look forward to you posting this publicly and having your followers do "their thing," meaning contacting DC DOH and complaining that I'm a big meanie or something.
Also, you have my email, if you feel an itch you can't scratch.
Posted by: Reuben Gaines | August 05, 2013 at 04:52 PM
That's Professor Gaines (like Professor Moriarty) to you, but I will forgive your trespass. I'm not widely known in the anti-vaccine circles, yet.
Science is not always based on using controls. For example, the Wakefield study, which concluded that there is no link between MMR and autism (shocker, I know, but read the "Results" section) did not use any controls. If and when controls are used, they are used to demonstrate that the exposure of interest is not found in people without the condition (in case-control studies). In cohort and randomized clinical trials, controls are used to demonstrate that the condition of interest is not present at the same rate in those who have not been exposed.
As for "conflicts of interest," I don't think you have the same idea of conflicts of interest as reasonable people do. See, reasonable people who don't live in what I am now calling "Jacob's Labyrinth" see CDC promoting a vaccine and don't see a conflict of interest. They're charged with keeping the nation healthy, and they do, partly through vaccines.
Now, perhaps someone will enlighten me and tell me why you're so goddamned shocked that CDC, NIH, WHO, Merck, Pfizer, etc., are involved in promoting vaccines. Who do you want to promote vaccines? Barnum and Bailey? (Don't answer that. There is enough of a circus going on as it is.) And, as Wakefield showed, not all research out there is pro-vaccine. Like Wakefield, I'm sure there are plenty of researchers with patents for single-shot vaccines also looking to take down the MMR. Can't you rely on them to do the research you want?
Then there is the matter of the editors and contributors to this blog and other anti-vaccine organizations. How much money do they make? How much of that can they put toward a study that doesn't need no stinkin' IRB approval? If you can pay for it yourselves, you can do the "vax v. unvax" study you crave. That would be putting your money where your mouth is, and I would respect you for that.
It's Reuben, with the e before the u, and it's Jewish, the name of the eldest son of Jacob and Leah. But, again, I'll let it pass.
Posted by: Reuben Gaines | August 05, 2013 at 04:45 PM
Jeannette Bishop seems to think that Reuben Gaines is a scientist and Benedetta seems to think he's a Russian. I thought Reuben Gaines was the name of a 19th century Texan judge which may have been adopted by a non-wellwisher because of the Wakefield lawsuit.
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/just/justices/05.html
But there possibly are actual people called Reuben Gaines alive today. It doesn't strike me that our Reuben Gaines is on top of anything very much: I think he is someone who is non-plussed by the inability of his side to mount any effective defence of their beliefs or their behaviour when really challenged.
PS I can see that Karen and Dorit are present on the Examiner blog with their slithery defence but they are not here:
http://www.examiner.com/article/anti-jenny-mccarthy-petition-authored-by-pharmaceutical-industry-cronies#comment-989534556
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 04:36 PM
Barbara J
It is already funded by the CDC - the Global Task force is-part of the CDC - created by the CDC to go forth and push vaccines across the land- it is not being denied
-- and the global task force cuts a check for Vaccine for voices and supports Vaccines for Children that are poor and will fall between the cracks.
The global task force takes money from the CDC and also from individuals, and also from corparations as well
Not connecting the dots here guys -- straight solid dark, black lines.
Rueben -- rueben hmmmm sounds like a Russian name to me. But what do I know , I am just a hick that has roots here in the US since they all came over and settled in the Mass Bay colony -before coming to the Cumberland Mountians and staying. Oh, well there was a couple of very backward Cherokee many times great grandmothers - one was named Fern Walkingstick so - I am not real good a figuring out what names comes from what countries.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 05, 2013 at 04:14 PM
Mr. Gaines,
As a scientist perhaps you can explain why science is based on research involving control groups? And then further why vaccine "research" does not seem to need controls, and how, given this state of things, possible and actual COI(s) are not very relevant data in evaluating vaccine promotion value?
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | August 05, 2013 at 04:14 PM
Could the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR ) support The Task Force for Child Survival and Development in turn support this Voices for Vaccines group? If so then it's federally funded via congress funding PEPFAR?
Posted by: barbara j | August 05, 2013 at 02:19 PM
Thankyou Erik for your good thoughts. I agree that its time to take a look at other ways of fighting disease, but you see, our dear public health friends are not INTERESTED in that. Which is odd, dont you think after they protest so much that they love the little children and wish them to remain healthy. Get kids out in the sun to get vitamin D and reduce flu incidence? Have they suggested this to parents or schools.? Stop mercury in vaccines so that kids immune systems are functioning well? Stop giving kids tylenol, so that their glutathione levels remain high to fight viruses? Stop giving kids aluminum in vaccines because it is likely to lead to health problems? Tell pregnant women not to eat fish because the mercury will move into their unborn child? Help pregnant women to breast feed so that babies get maternal antibodies to disease? By the way, friends, do you know that if your tiny baby suffers from the "new diagnosis" of "infantile anorexia" your doctor will tell you to stop breast feeding. That's correct- when your baby is sick you need to take away his one comfort which is still maintaining his dwindling nutrition..Gee, this list is getting very long. I really didnt realize things were that bad.
But thankyou John for your hard work, and while youre engaging with these uneducated people, could you ask them what their "science" tells them about the 90 plus girls who died after Gardasil.?
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | August 05, 2013 at 02:17 PM
Thanks, Erik, I agree with you. Ten years ago I was still in favor of a moderated vaccine schedule. From the beginning I split up my daughter's vaccines to only one per visit (four DTaPs, three polios, three Hibs), and was glad to go back for the additional visits as I thought it increased the safety margin. I refused one Hib after I read in Mothering that it caused diabetes, and refused the varicella and the MMR vaccines. She reacted to the hep-B at birth, given without permission, with encephalitis, and to the one DTaP booster at 18 months with losing her only words, and was diagnosed with autism two months later. So in our case, cutting down on the number and limiting the number per visit to only one did not save us from vaccine devastation. I agree that we need to turn to other options, like homeopathy to treat severe cases and herbal remedies and vitamins to treat all cases. Vaccines are just too dangerous to give to anyone.
Posted by: cia parker | August 05, 2013 at 01:09 PM
Reuben
More evidence that you can't read. Did I say you were a troll, no I said you used a troll technique.
I certainly did not say either that Dorit Reiss had nothing published although I had trouble finding many publications. I did of course mention her reply to the excellent, remarkable Mary Holland in Harvard Law Review.
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 12:51 PM
Hi Reuben
In defence of John and others here I would just like to make it very clear that no one here, least of all John Stone is 'afraid' of pro vaxers. We think they are mistaken.
Some are criminals, namely those that make and sell and knowingly promote, improperly tested and therefore unsafe vaccines.
We British BTW Reuben actually admire a lot of US citizens.
Posted by: Patricia | August 05, 2013 at 12:41 PM
You said that her papers were not published. If you look at my post, you'll see where they were published (reputable law journals). Then there is the subject of your entire treatise, that Dorit Reiss was in the pocket of Big Pharma. You failed to prove it, but, boy, did you ever insinuate it. And now you go after Karen Ernst. I almost hear you saying, "Here, kitty, kitty."
Thanks for calling me a troll, Mr. Stone. I've addressed you by nothing but your given name and that's how you treat me. Interesting to see your reactions. More interesting that I can see why AoA got rid of Jacob. With you to connect the dots where there aren't even dots, who needs his "six degrees" game anymore?
Posted by: Reuben Gaines | August 05, 2013 at 12:40 PM
The CDC used to have a public relations firm. I'm afraid I don't remember who that was now, but I'm sure they still have one (at the very least).
Posted by: Carol | August 05, 2013 at 12:39 PM
Reuben
"You people" was certainly not a reference to US citizens.
You say I said several incorrect things about Dorit Reiss but you can't say what they are, and you say other people pointed them out, but I am still mystified.
This is of course a troll technique to allude to things that have not happened to put someone in the wrong.
Please stop wasting everyone's time.
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 12:30 PM
What do you mean "you people"? Yet another Brit thinking he's smarter than us mutts in America.
If you read my take-down of your post, you incorrectly mentioned several things about Dorit Reiss. These things were pointed out to you in the comments section as well, and you could have easily discovered them and posted them (had they not been inconvenient to you). Do your due diligence, Mr. Stone, or stop portraying yourself as a journalist.
Now, if by "you people" you want to lump me in with the "pro-vaccinators" that you so fear, I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that. I'm just a humble scientist in the garden of the Lord.
Posted by: Reuben Gaines | August 05, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Hi Reuben
You have not specified what false statements I have made, nor did Karen suggest I made false statements in my article about Dorit Reiss (although she certainly falsified what I had said). This is an article about unacknowledged conflicts primarily. In my earlier article I mentioned conflicts but I also offered a critique of Dorit Reiss's views. I don't like her views, and I don't like yours.
I did raise whether Dorit was being paid (after Karen mentioned the so-called "shill gambit") as a question although there was nothing in my original article, and Karen came back to deny Dorit had received payment from VfV but that of course would not rule out payment from other sources (Task Force for example?)
I don't understand why you people are so sensitive about your conflicts given your views about agency capture - anything goes, surely?
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Will Mr. Stone retract his false statements about Dorit Reiss, or will he continue to live in "Jake's Labyrinth," where "conflicts of interest" are a dime a dozen?
http://thepoxesblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/smear-smear-at-all-costs/
Is Age of Autism free of any outside influences, advertisements, or pharmaceutical support?
Posted by: Reuben Gaines | August 05, 2013 at 11:03 AM
Karen Ernst has not been quite so swift to pop up as on earlier blogs. In the meantime a friend has pointed out another anomaly - I cannot find an annual report and accounts on the Voices for Vaccines website, though they have apparently been in existence since 2008. This perhaps points further to the proposition that they don't exist independently of Task Force.
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 10:33 AM
Just the name of the "group" -Voices for Vaccines- is ridiculous and outrageous. As if an inanimate object- a pharmaceutical product- needs a voice! CHILDREN and ADULTS--> HUMAN BEINGS, especially those injured by vaccines, if they have voices left with which to speak, and their family members need a voice-- not the products that caused their or their family member's brain damage, convulsions, and/or death. What kind of a sick joke is Voices for Vaccines? Independent-- really? With that "scientific," pharma corrupted board? I don't think so. Everyone involved with Voices for Vaccines is a paid pharma shill.
All those involved with Voices for Vaccines are going to need a lot of luck when they meet their Creator at whatever time in their futures, unless they drastically change their course and tune before then. I don't have any expectation of that occurring, however. It is interesting, though, how the vast majority of these scientific types reject God, in favor of industry-funded "science." They don't appreciate how wonderfully their human bodies were designed. How sad.
Posted by: Not an MD | August 05, 2013 at 10:16 AM
Got me sleuthing, too! There's only this to add, penned by Ashley Shelby, it seems, but published in "Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics" of the Landes Bioscience family:
http://www.landesbioscience.com/article/24828/full_text/#load/toc/abstract
For example:
"With little or no science or evidence-based information to back up claims of vaccine danger, anti-vaccine activists have relied on the profound power of storytelling to infect an entire generation of parents with fear and doubt."
The piece is slickly created and goes on to suggest that the vaccine industry should promote themselves with tales of dire consequences arising from illnesses. Nothing new there, then!
What it does not seem is a randomly composed cri de couer from an emotional young and driven housewife, frightened for her kids. It is clearly both professional and directed - whoever wrote it!
She (Shelby) is listed as an author in Link'din, with one recent book to her name but no ins on any other Medico-Pharm connections, other than taking on "Voices for Vaccines", as you described, above.
Oh, and I do love the independence of their "Scientific Advisory Board":
Voices for Vaccines relies on its Scientific Advisory Board to ensure the vaccine information on this site is accurate and up-to-date. The members of the Scientific Advisory Board are:
Alan R. Hinman, MD, MPH, Director for Programs, Center for Vaccine Equity at the Task Force for Global Health
Paul A. Offit, MD, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases and Director, Vaccine Education Center, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Professor of Pediatrics and Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania; Emeritus Professor at Wistar Institute; Former Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Deborah L. Wexler, MD, Founder and Executive Director, Immunization Action Coalition
Medical information on this website has been reviewed by members of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Posted by: Chris Hemmings | August 05, 2013 at 09:42 AM
Who was it, what doctor was it - that was sitting on a TV Show a little after Jenny got done, and said that it was hard to compete with just "Science" when a mother gets on TV and says my child was fine, we got a vaccine, and the light went out of his eyes.
Soooooo he went on to say (and he believes it too) that Jenny is "RARE" only 1% of the population, and parents must look at the other 99% that medicine has saved!
From where I am sitting out here in the middle of America- the other 99% is not doing so good either, with obesity, diabetes, BIPOLAR, drug abuse, and for a reaction that is suppose to be "RARE" such as seizures/immediate reactions how come I keep running into these mothers?
Matilda the liar
is a version of the boy who cried wolf-
As in the case of a government agency telling us to take vaccines, lots of vaccines - they are using up all their credibility. Will they recover from this when it hits the fan.
Well considering that a voice on the intercom told everyone to stay in place and be calm when the twin towers were hit and a lot of them did -- they just might pull it off and come out okay.
And apparently they have 35 million to help them come out okay.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 05, 2013 at 09:31 AM
John:
Thank you for this excellent follow-up. I can understand why VfV may be dismayed over being called out. I'm glad that their children have tolerated the current vaccine schedule. I would also hope they would respect the fact that a subset of children are unable to tolerate the recommended doses. AoA raises valid questions regarding the safety of vaccines, conflicts of interest within the CDC/HHS and supposed "grassroots" movements that attempt to undermine what is well known - vaccines are unavoidably unsafe. As many of us have learned, the one-size-fits all model is a fallacy.
Posted by: Christine Thompson | August 05, 2013 at 09:27 AM
This is big pharma desperation. Our children are vaccinated and their pathologies all point to vaccine injury. Those of us who are passionately vocal and well-armed with the facts affect everyone we know with what we know. That is far more powerful than trying to sway the undecided with "nothing to see here." The vaccine program is so corrupt I'd just assume see it completely dismantled. At first, after my daughter's injury, I was willingly saying "get your vaccines, but split them up." Today... after all I've learned and all the people I've met and spoken to who've experienced injuries or death after a SINGLE vaccine... I'm completely opposed to vaccines. But it's not just the safety records... it's the blanket liability protection given the vaccine makers. It's the phony pharma-paid bloggers trying to spread pro-vaccine propaganda. It's the gag orders imposed upon those who were awarded compensation by the vaccine injury compensation program. The whole thing STINKS. It's time we take a new approach to fighting disease.
Posted by: Erik Nanstiel | August 05, 2013 at 09:16 AM
John: This comment is re-posted from your previous report "Dorit Rubenstein Reiss and the Benefits of Agency Capture: The Latest Vaccine Industry Advocate"(July 26, 2013):
"The Task Force for Global Health revenue includes private donations from corporations, according to this:’ The sources of The Task Force revenues include contracts, grants, and private donations from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies.' See http://www.taskforce.org/publications/fy2012-annual-report-task-force-global-health
The Task Force for Global Health has a net worth value of 35 million dollars and most of this is in cash or cash equivalents, according the 2012 financial statement. See http://www.taskforce.org/financial-documents.
The Voices for Vaccines is a 'project' of the Task Force for Global Health, according to this: 'The Task Force [For Global Health] project, Voices For Vaccines, addresses questions about vaccines.'
http://www.taskforce.org/our-work/projects/voices-vaccines.”
So then look at this definition of "project."
"A project in business and science is typically defined as a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project .
Independent or non-independent but not both, or as John Keats wrote “You cannot eat your cake and have it too…” (1819).
Posted by: Jim Thompson | August 05, 2013 at 08:41 AM
Thanks John
It's just ad hominem - she just trashes anyone who gets in the way. She doesn't have to address any arguments if she sticks to a "bad people" theory. It is very unlikely that she is equipped to conduct a technically sophisiticated argument in defence of the official science. Of course, the "bad people" strategy was always the province in the UK of "bad scientist" Ben Goldacre, but even he made a show of pretending to have a superior grasp of the science - not that he ever answered any awkward questions (then it was back to the bad people who don't understand science strategy always).
John
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 08:04 AM
From the very informative book jacket of "Doubt Is Their Product" ..
"Doubt is our product" a cigarette manufacturer once observed, "since it is the best means of competing with the "body of fact" that exists in the minds of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy"
The book is an "eye-opening expose" which reveals just how prevalent .. and how effective .. such strategies have become. Mercenary scientists, have increasingly shaped and skewed the technical literature, manufactured and magnified scientific uncertainty, and influenced government policy to the advantage of polluters and the manufacturers of dangerous products".
The gist of the book is that our "regulatory system is broken" .. and .. "the agencies we rely on to protect our air, water, food and medications have become unable, or, in some cases, unwilling to do their jobs"
Amen to that.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | August 05, 2013 at 08:03 AM
About time someone sets up voices against vaccines before the CDC or whoever set it up for us..
Posted by: ANGUS FILES | August 05, 2013 at 07:58 AM
Orac's butt-sniffers are out in full force crying about this article below:
http://www.examiner.com/article/anti-jenny-mccarthy-petition-authored-by-pharmaceutical-industry-cronies
Posted by: Faux Skeptics Make me Laugh | August 05, 2013 at 07:31 AM
Ernst's prose "It seems you consulted Barbara Loe Fisher for her anti-vaccine conspiracy theories about who we are" seems to say it all.
One minute she is claiming to have begun researching vaccine "science", yet the next she demonstrates how her "research" has no integrity and is heavily biased since she has already reached a conclusion that Fisher voices "vaccine conspiracy theories".
Until any theory has been properly, scientifically and comprehensively researched one cannot begin to judge whether or not a conspiracy exists.
Posted by: John | August 05, 2013 at 07:28 AM
Of course, I posed the question "Why is it that these people can only operate by subterfuge?" rhetorically. However, to spell it out a friend just responded to me by email:-
"Because they don't tell the truth and if you knew who was behind it you would not believe it.
"Testimonial like newspaper stories or editorials are worth four times what advertising costs because it is seen as independent. So they want 4x the impact.
"In fact it is greater than 4x the impact because the 4x figure applies when the advertiser is telling the truth. The value of seeming independent testimonial when the advertiser is known to be untruthful is clearly much more valuable than anything the advertiser says.
"Substitute "CDC" for "advertiser" in the above."
Posted by: John Stone | August 05, 2013 at 06:47 AM
MATILDA
(WHO TOLD LIES, AND WAS BURNED TO DEATH)
MATILDA told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her,
And would have done so, had not She
Discovered this Infirmity.
For once, towards the Close of Day,
Matilda, growing tired of play,
And finding she was left alone,
Went tiptoe to the Telephone
And summoned the Immediate Aid
Of London's Noble Fire-Brigade.
Within an hour the Gallant Band
Were pouring in on every hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs, and Bow.
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow,
They galloped, roaring through the Town,
'Matilda's House is Burning Down!'
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to Souse
The Pictures up and down the House,
Until Matilda's Aunt succeeded
In showing them they were not needed;
And even then she had to pay
To get the Men to go away!
It happened that a few Weeks later
Her Aunt was off to the Theatre
To see that Interesting Play
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece
To hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire did break out--
You should have heard Matilda Shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the Street--
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence) -- but all in vain!
For every time she shouted 'Fire!'
They only answered 'Little Liar!'
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned.
Posted by: Belloc | August 05, 2013 at 06:19 AM