Hepatitis
FRANCE STOPS VACCINATING CHILDREN WITH HEPATITIS B
15,000 French citizens filed a lawsuit against the French government for
understating the risks and overstating the benefits associated with the
hepatitis B vaccine. Hundreds of people were reported to have suffered from auto
immune and neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis, following
hepatitis B vaccination. As a result, in October 1998, the French Minister of
Health ended the mandatory hepatitis B vaccination program for all school
children.
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Mindless vaccination bureaucracy:
by Michael Belkin
My daughter Lyla Rose Belkin died on September 16, 1998 at the age of five
weeks, shortly after receiving a Hepatitis B vaccine booster shot. The following
comments are intended to be a heads up to parents and potential parents about
the risks of the Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV), and a firsthand report questioning
the scientific legitimacy of the vaccine industry, which provides $800 million
of annual revenue to Merck -- the company which makes the Hepatitis B vaccine
distributed in the US.
Lyla Rose Belkin was a lively, alert five-week-old baby when I last held her in
my arms. Little did I imagine as she gazed intently into my eyes with all the
innocence and wonder of a newborn child that she would die that night. She was
never ill before receiving the Hepatitis B shot that afternoon. At her final
feeding that night, she was agitated and feisty -- and then fell asleep and
didn’t wake up. The autopsy ruled out choking. A swollen brain was the only
abnormal finding. Most doctors I spoke to at the time said it must have been
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a catch-all diagnosis for unexplainable
childhood mortality. The first instinctive reaction in such a situation is for
parents to blame themselves. For many weeks, my wife and I agonized over what we
might have missed or could have done differently. Meanwhile, the logical part of
my brain kept returning to the obvious medical event that preceded Lyla’s death
-- and that internal voice kept asking the question could the Hepatitis B
vaccine that Lyla received that afternoon have killed her? Most doctors I asked
scoffed at that notion and said the vaccine was perfectly safe. But I began to
search around on the Internet and Medline and discovered disturbing evidence of
adverse reactions to this vaccine.
In the US, the Hepatitis B disease mainly infects intravenous drug users,
homosexuals, prostitutes and promiscuous heterosexuals. The disease is
transmitted by blood, through sex or dirty needles. How could a newborn baby
possibly get Hepatitis B if the mother was screened and tested negative, as my
wife was? It is almost impossible. Unless a newborn child is having unprotected
sex or sharing needles with an infected junkie, it is extremely unlikely to get
the Hepatitis B disease. So then why are most US babies inoculated at birth by
their Hospital or Pediatrician with the Hepatitis B vaccine? That is a question
every parent should ask before getting this vaccination. I’ve discovered the
answer is -- an unrestrained health bureaucracy decided it couldn’t get junkies,
gays, prostitutes and promiscuous heterosexuals to take the Hepatitis B vaccine
-- so they mandated that all babies must be vaccinated at birth. Drug companies
such as Merck (reaching for new markets) were instrumental in pushing government
scientists to adopt an at-birth Hepatitis B vaccination policy, although the
vaccine was never tested in newborns and no vaccines had ever been mandated at
birth before. It is widely recognized that newborns have under-developed immune
systems, which can be overwhelmed or shocked.
My search for answers about a link between the Hepatitis B vaccine and my
daughter’s death led me to a Hepatitis B vaccine workshop on October 26th at the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Institute of Medicine entitled Vaccine
Safety Forum -- Neonatal Deaths. The NAS was concerned enough about reports of
Hepatitis B vaccine-related infant deaths and adverse reactions to hold a
special workshop on the subject. Doctors and scientists flew in from all over
the US and Europe to attend. I sat in the back and soaked it all up. It was a
real eye-opener. There were basically four constituencies represented: 1)
Serious scientists observing or presenting research studies. 2) Center for
Disease Control (CDC) pseudo-statisticians and FDA officials. 3) Merck and other
corporate drug officials and 4) Parents of vaccine-related dead or severely
injured children.
The presentations included a study of Animal Models of Newborn Response to
Antigen Presentation, which showed that newborn immune systems were undeveloped
and strikingly different than those of adults. The message I received was that
immune response in a newborn to shocks such as being injected with a vaccine was
potentially unknown, since newborn T-Cells have a radically different behavior
then those of adults. Another presentation was Strategies for Evaluating the
Biologic Mechanisms of Hepatitis B Vaccine Reactions, in which vaccine
researcher Dr. Bonnie Dunbar of Baylor College related numerous Hepatitis
B-vaccine related cases of nervous system damage in adults, such as Multiple
Sclerosis, seizures and blindness. On the more positive side, the FDA presented
a seemingly reassuring study from its Vaccine Adverse Effects Reporting System (VAERS),
which showed only 19 neonatal deaths reported since 1991 related to Hepatitis B
vaccination.
I found the VAERS study data to be completely deceptive. Since I was sitting in
that room and my daughter had died during their sample period and wasn’t counted
-- I wondered why. In fact, the New York City Coroner called VAERS to report my
daughter’s Hepatitis B Vaccine-related infant death and no one ever returned
their call! What kind of reporting system doesn’t return the calls of the NY
City Medical Examiner -- and how many other reports were ignored? This is
supposed to be the emergency 911 number for disasters such as bad lots of
vaccine that could poison thousands of other babies. With the personal knowledge
that the VAERS data was completely flawed, I sat in that room and listened in
amazement as CDC officials and Dr. Sharrar of Merck (their head of vaccine
safety) made disparaging comments about any possible risk from Hepatitis B
vaccination, despite the evidence just presented by impartial scientists.
I studied statistics and econometrics at UC Berkeley and have developed
innovative methods of applying probability to financial and economic data in my
consulting business with some of the largest financial institutions in the
world. That training and experience qualifies me to criticize the statistical
legitimacy of the VAERS study, on which Sharrar of Merck and the CDC
pseudo-scientists based their pro-vaccination stance. Their comments were
scathingly dismissive of any possible risk from the vaccine. But that VAERS
study is not a legitimate sample of a data set from which any conclusions about
the larger population can be made. VAERS doesn’t return coroner’s calls, leading
to the suspicion that deaths and adverse effects from vaccination are woefully
under-reported. To conclude that the Hepatitis B vaccine is safe because VAERS
only reports 19 deaths is scientific fraud. In fact, I obtained the raw data
from the VAERS system and found 54 reported SIDS cases after Hepatitis B
vaccination in just the 18 months from January 1996 -- May 1997. That’s almost
15 times as many deaths per year as their own flawed study reported. There are
17,000 reports of adverse reactions to Hepatitis B vaccine in the 1996-97 raw
data. Clearly something is fishy about VAERS. VAERS was set up by the FDA and
CDC and is supposed to be monitored by vaccine manufacturers. If there are
17,000 reports and VAERS doesn’t even return the NY Medical Examiner’s call, how
many other deaths and injuries go unreported? I came away from that NAS workshop
with the distinct impression that Merck and the CDC didn’t know and didn’t
really want to know how many babies are being killed or injured by Hepatitis B
vaccination. This is a bureaucratic vaccination program that is on auto-pilot
flying into a mountain. The CDC bureaucrats have a vested interest in the status
quo. If there were 17,000 reports of a dangerous disease in a 18 month period,
the CDC would be all over the case. But when there are 17,000 reports of adverse
reactions to a vaccine the CDC advocates for “public health” -- the CDC
dismisses it as a coincidence. Merck charges $50 a shot for the three-shot
series. Where do you think the allegiance of their vaccine safety official Dr.
Sharrar lies? He was by far the most arrogant character at the workshop. Merck
has sales of upwards of $800 million a year from vaccines.
Vaccination can be a lifesaver if an epidemic is raging, but in this case the
risk of vaccination outweighs the risk of infants getting the disease. Surely,
the hepatitis B vaccine doesn’t injure every child that gets it, but in some
unknown number of cases, it appears to be a death sentence and/or a nervous
system toxin to innocent children who are at no risk of getting the disease the
vaccine is supposed to protect against. My observations of Merck and CDC
scientists at the Vaccine Safety Forum left me with the distinct impression that
they had absolutely no idea which babies might be killed or injured by this
vaccine. Furthermore, they used obviously flawed scientific data to arrogantly
steamroller any opposition to their power. Parents should be aware that the
Hepatitis B vaccine is not administered for the well-being of their child.
Rather, it is delivered by the long arm of some incompetent and mindless
bureaucracy in the name of stamping out a disease most babies can’t possibly
get. The Drug Company/CDC/FDA alliance has really pulled the wool over the
medical profession’s eyes with the Hepatitis B vaccine. The American Pediatric
Society bought the alliance’s sales pitch and now recommends that all infants
get this vaccine at birth. So now the first thing most babies get in life is a
shock to their immune system from a vaccine against a non-existent risk of
contracting Hepatitis B. Clearly, the interests of newborn babies were not
represented on the original panel that created this vaccination policy in 1991.
This vaccine has no benefit whatsoever for newborns, in fact it wears off and
they will need booster shots later in life when they actually could get exposed
to the disease.
This is simply a case of ravenous corporate greed and mindless bureaucracy
teaming up to overwhelm common sense. Merck in particular has gone way over the
edge with this vaccination program. Ignoring and suppressing reports of adverse
reactions to their profitable Hepatitis B vaccine verges on criminal conduct. A
major media organization will soon present an investigative report on the issues
discussed here. Nothing will ever bring my lovely daughter Lyla back, but other
needless deaths and injuries can be prevented if this senseless Hepatitis B
newborn vaccination program is halted. Please contact Belkin Limited in New York
City if you are aware of other infant deaths that may be related to the
Hepatitis B vaccine.
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TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL BELKIN BEFORE THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IMMUNIZATION
PRACTICES -- CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION --February 17, 1999 --
Atlanta Georgia
My name is Michael Belkin. I am a father, businessman, former quantitative
strategist at Salomon Brothers and Director of the Hepatitis B Vaccine Project
of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC).
The NVIC has studied Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) data
obtained under the Freedom of Information Act covering the last nine years on
hepatitis B vaccine adverse events -- and in 1996 there were more than three
times as many reported serious adverse reactions as reported cases of the
disease in the 0 to 14 age group. Of the total 2,424 adverse event reports made
between 1990 and October 1998 in children under age 14 who only received
hepatitis B vaccine, there were 1,209 serious events and 73 deaths. Thus, one
half of the reports for children under age 14 who received only hepatitis B
vaccine were for serious events that required an emergency room visit,
hospitalization, or caused life-threatening health problems or permanent
disabilities.
As a UC Berkeley graduate and advisor to some of the largest financial
institutions in the world, I am qualified to analyze and make conclusions about
statistics. Based on that experience, I am astonished that the scientists on
this Committee would disregard or cover up data showing the number and severity
of adverse reactions to this vaccine. Science is observing and learning from
what is observed. The assertions of the CDC that the many reported adverse
reactions to this vaccine do not exist or are a coincidence violates the basic
principle of science, which is rooted in the observation and analysis of data.
A benefit/risk analysis of the hepatitis B vaccine for the average infant in
America, not born to infected parents, must conclude that the VAERS data on
adverse reactions shows the real-world risk of a newborn infant dying or being
injured by the hepatitis B vaccine is a greater threat than the remote chance of
contracting the primarily blood-transmitted disease.
My 5-week old daughter, Lyla Rose died within 16 hours of her hepatitis B
vaccination, which she received because of the universal vaccination policy this
Committee instituted in 1991. At her death, Lyla had four of the eight
highest-reported symptoms in the VAERS hepatitis B vaccine adverse reaction
data. The NY Medical Examiner observed brain swelling at the autopsy but refused
to record that or mention the hepatitis B vaccine Lyla received in the autopsy
report.
I hold each one of you who participated in the promulgation or perpetuation of
that mandated newborn vaccination policy personally responsible for my
daughter’s death and the deaths and injuries of all the other beautiful, healthy
infants who are victims of the hepatitis B vaccine. Your negligence is the
proximate cause of my daughter’s death and you have failed to exercise
reasonable care.
At the NVIC, we are overwhelmed following up constant new reports of deaths,
seizures and auto immune reactions following hepatitis B vaccination. Because
the CDC refuses to acknowledge this large number of serious adverse reactions,
hospitals and doctors who have been misled about the risks continue to
administer the vaccine and then deny any vaccine connection when children die,
get ill or have seizures within hours or days. CDC officials tell parents they
have never heard of hepatitis B vaccine reactions.
That is a lie. For this government to continue to insist that hepatitis B
vaccine adverse reaction reports do not exist is negligent, unethical -- and is
a crime against the children of America.
It is a sad day for the US when the nation’s children need protection from the
official medical authorities who are charged with protecting them from disease.
Thank you.