December 9, 2003                   

Childhood Vaccines Are Safe - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Comment:  Among those propounding this sanguine view of thimerosal/ethylmercury is Dr. Paul Offit, "director of the Vaccine Education Center and chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia", and the "expert" cited in this article.  What this article fails to disclose, however, is that not only does Offit hold "a patent on a rotavirus vaccine and receives grant money from Merck to develop this vaccine.  He also disclosed that he is paid by the pharmaceutical industry to travel around the country and teach doctors that vaccines are safe.  Dr. Offit is a member of the CDC’s advisory committee and voted on three rotavirus issues – including making the recommendation of adding the rotavirus vaccine to the Vaccines for Children’s program." (From the Opening Statement by Chairman Dan Burton, Committee on Government Reform titled: “FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process”, Thursday, June 15, 2000) Might these clear conflicts of interest be the real reason Offit holds this benign view of mercury in vaccines?

Saint Mum, Saint Doctor and the Evil MMR - The Guardian - "Television companies are usually congratulated for making plays that might lead to viewers fearing the needle: there's a long tradition of anti-drug dramas set in Glaswegian crack-houses. The channel now known as Five, however, has been strongly criticised for a play that seems to advocate abstinence from the syringe...The reason is that Hear the Silence features Juliet Stevenson, as the saintly mother of a young boy diagnosed with autism, teaming up with a dashing and heroic doctor, played by Hugh Bonneville, in an attempt to prove that a new variant of autism is being caused by the combined MMR vaccine."

Why did my son suffer? - The Scotsman - "Watching her son walk through the school gates, Kathleen Yazbak is haunted by a moment in her past. Some days the feeling catches her more than others, as children greet each other; hugging, chatting or racing around before the bell rings. This stab to the heart comes from the fleeting memory of a fateful decision that changed her life for ever when, six years ago, Kathleen let her four-year-old son have his MMR booster."

Records of Payments to NIH Staff Sought Two congressmen ask health institutes' leader to detail researchers' links to drug companies. (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times - "Two congressional leaders on Monday called upon the director of the National Institutes of Health to account for all payments that drug companies have made to researchers at the federal agency over the past four years...The leaders — Reps. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) and James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) — said that their letter was in response to articles in Sunday editions of the Los Angeles Times detailing millions of dollars in consulting fees and stock options paid by companies to NIH employees."

CDC vaccines study slammed as cover-up - Data linking mercury exposure, neurodevelopment said 'manipulated' - Insight Magazine via www.worldnetdaily.com - "Redwood says with a sigh, 'On a scale of one to 10, I give the CDC study a big fat zero. I think it started out good, but when they saw the early numbers it scared the hell out of them. I don't have any faith in the CDC doing a decent study of this matter. It's like having the tobacco industry monitor cigarettes for safety. From a parent's perspective and from a health-care professional's perspective it's maddening that we can't get products that are safe, and yet we're forced by law to use them. They need to just get the thimerosal out. It's barbaric.'"

Comment:  Because yesterday's must-read, exceptional Insight Magazine article by Kelly O'Meara, has been re-published today on WorldNetDaily.com, it is also being re-posted on this website.

Nevada congressman loses hearing in ear due to virus, aide says - AP via Las Vegas Sun - "Brooke van Soest, Porter's deputy chief of staff, said Porter was being treated for an unspecified virus in his right ear that could have been contracted on a hunting trip or that might have been a side effect of a flu shot."

Targeted Genetics targets AIDS: Testing under way on single-shot vaccine - "AIDS kills 300 people an hour, but in the past two decades, only one biotech company has come close to developing a preventive vaccine...But another biotech — Seattle-based Targeted Genetics — plus an academic research center and a nonprofit institution backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are announcing today they are trying another technique."

Vaccine protects mice from deadly Ebola virus - www.ananova.com

Pocket of Opposition to Vaccine Threatens Polio Eradication - The New York Times - "Opposition to vaccinations against polio by some Islamic leaders in northern Nigeria has led to the spread of the disease to neighboring West African countries, jeopardizing the World Health Organization plan to eradicate it by the end of 2005."

New Jersey Child Welfare Commissioner to Step Down - The New York Times - "Since October, when a 19-year-old who had been adopted in Camden County was found so emaciated that he weighed just 45 pounds, senior aides to Gov. James E. McGreevey had been pushing for Ms. Harris to be replaced, administration officials said on Friday."

Bio-Terrorism Countermeasures - Requirements & Funding - Defense Week via www.kingpublishing.com - conference alert - Washington, DC - March 9-10, 2003

Vegans vs. Atkins - Animal-rights activists claim that low-carb, meat-heavy diets are killing people. Are they raising legitimate health concerns -- or are they just rabid anti-carnivores? - www.salon.com

Statins For Children - This Is Madness - by RFD Columnist, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick - www.redflagsdaily.com - "The first thing that I have to point out here is that, in primary prevention trials, statins have never been found to reduce the risk of death. I don’t care if they have been found to reduce the rate of heart disease. Does it really matter if someone is saved from dying of heart disease, only to die of something else?"

Glaxo sees red over 'clanger' - www.thisismoney.com - "GlaxoSmithKline went on the warpath over accusations that one of its top scientists made a gaffe in admitting that most prescription drugs do not always work."

Merck Talks Up New Drugs To Address Research Doubts (requires subscription) - Wall Street Journal - "In the shorter term, Merck's strongest area is vaccines. It said it plans to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2005 for a vaccine against the human papilloma virus, which research chief Peter Kim called "the predominant cause of cervical cancer death" in women. Other vaccines that Merck expects to market in the next few years would prevent shingles, a painful viral infection of the nerve roots, and infection with rotavirus, which is a serious problem especially in less-developed countries."

Redflagsdaily.com - www.redflagsweekly.com