ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
Sandy's Scandals Column
Past and current Scandals
- columns by Sandy Gottstein (aka Mintz)*
* ►April 20, 2010
- Infection
Prevention in a Large Community-Wide Drive-Thru Point of Dispensing
(POD) for H1N1 Pandemic Influenza Immunization - 44th
National Immunization Conference (NIC) (abstract) - "On November 11-12,
2009 a community-wide H1N1 immunization point of dispensing (POD) was
held at a large stadium parking lot. ...During those two days, a total
of 19,079 vaccines were administered with 12,613 (66.1%) being
administered via a ten lane drive-thru. Specific infection
prevention issues were anticipated including 1) vaccine handling, 2)
injection site skin disinfection, 3) hand hygiene, 4) environmental
disinfection, 5) needle safety, and 6) occupational exposure
management."
* ►April 2010 - Vaccination,
squalene and anti-squalene antibodies: Facts or fiction? - journal
article (European Journal of Internal
Medicine) - "Nearly a decade ago, squalene was supposed to be
the experimental anthrax vaccine ingredient that caused the onset of
Persian Gulf War syndrome in many veterans, since antibodies to
squalene were detected in the blood of most patients affected by this
syndrome. This evidence has raised a widespread concern about the
safety of squalene containing adjuvants (especially MF59) of influenza
vaccines. Nevertheless, further clinical evidence clearly suggested
that squalene is poorly immunogenic, that low titres of antibodies to
squalene can be also detected in sera from healthy individuals, and
that neither the presence of anti-squalene antibodies nor their titre
is significantly increased by immunization with vaccines containing
squalene (or MF59) as an adjuvant. This review summarizes the current
scientific evidence about the relationship between squalene,
anti-squalene antibodies and vaccination."
* ►March 12, 2010 - Human
Papillomavirus (HPV) - Quadrivalent & Bivalent Vaccines Global
Parental Concerns Regarding Safety and Efficacy of Gardasil &
Cervarix - FDA Webinar (pdf) - Truth About Gardasil