Vaccination NewsLetter: Top Stories - June 9-15, 2003

Note 1: If for any reason you end up in the "frames" version of the website, here's how to create a unique "url".  In Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape 7, in order to bookmark, forward or copy the direct link, right click on the link you are interested in and click on "open in new window".  The page will now open with the correct url.  (If someone knows how to do this in other editions of Netscape, please email me at sandym@touchngo.com and I will publish those directions as well.)

Note 2:  A sentence or two from each article will be included right after the link in quotes in many cases.

Note 3:  A short bio of Sandy Mintz is included in the Scandals column titled: The Homeland Security Act - The Aftermath.

Note 4:  My comments are in red.

Previous newsletters

Picks of the week - updated 9/9/03

Smallpox/smallpox vaccine

U.S. Urges Smallpox Vaccine for Monkeypox Exposure

HHS Proposes Smallpox Vaccination Compensation Plan

Smallpox Vaccine Includes a Dose of Risk - "'We have attempted to be very neutral in terms of recommendations regarding whether individuals should or should not receive the vaccine, because it’s a totally voluntary program,' said Dr. Chusid. “'Now, as far as we know, there is no smallpox in the world. So, if you’re looking at risk versus benefit ratios, as long as there’s no case of smallpox the risk of the vaccine far outweighs any benefit. As soon as there’s a single case, then everything shifts because smallpox is a very serious and devastating disease.'”

Smallpox Vaccine Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin - "The researchers at the Medical College seek an alternative to the current smallpox vaccine by testing compounds for their ability to act at the intracellular level and serve as anti-viral drugs if an infection occurs."

Animal bans, smallpox shots ordered - A definite misuse of words in the title, since they were not "ordered", but were recommended. - SM

Smallpox 1947: "People were terrified" - Public health officials averted an outbreak with the largest mass vaccination in U.S. history.

Frist bills/Eli Lilly et al protection/VICP  -  for more, click here

Other Bioterror-related

Treasure trove of toxins - Scientist warns that pharma industry's castoffs could be source of new chemical weapons - "United States pharmaceutical companies are inadvertently creating tens of thousands of poisonous new compounds each year that terrorists or rogue nations could develop into chemical weapons, according to a California researcher...These unintended toxins arise from the drug industry's automated high-throughput technology that permits millions of new compounds to be created and tested, and those found to be toxic to humans, simply discarded, said Mark Wheelis, director of the Program in Nature and Culture at the University of California, Davis."

Monkeypox - Scientists are wondering whether the spectre of smallpox might be rising from the dead. Perhaps reincarnated in its close relative monkeypox, which is alive, well and spreading in Central Africa.

Monkeypox shows gap in bioterror readiness

(More Homeland Security related articles posted starting on July 5, 2003)  http://www.vaccinationnews.com/HomelandSecurity.htm

Autism

Doctors manipulating autism figures

Autism/mercury

Link between Mercury-based Vaccines and Autism Generates Concern, Spawns Pediatrics Science Article. - Article Acknowledges Mercury Is More Toxic In Immature Brain But Falsely Downplays Association With Autism, Claim Parent Advocacy Groups. - SAFE MINDS - "Lyn Redwood, RN, President of Safe Minds and a co-author of the two autism-mercury papers, pointed out that the Pediatrics authors base their argument of thimerosal safety on a purportedly 'weak association' between neurodevelopmental disorders and exposure to thimerosal containing vaccines found by the Centers for Disease Control in an unpublished study. 'The supposedly weak association is a mischaracterization. Safe Minds obtained an earlier version of the CDC study that in fact found a 2 1/2 times increase in the risk of developing autism after exposure to increased thimerosal in vaccines. In a court of law, a relative risk of 2.0 or greater is sufficient to substantiate that a given exposure caused disease.'"

E-News: SafeMinds Responds to AAP on Geier Paper (NVIC)

Autism/MMR

MMR: more scrutiny, please - The public feels the media were too quick to report maverick claims - "The media love a maverick. That's one reason why a figure such as Dr Andrew Wakefield, who challenged established thinking over the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, has received so much coverage in the British press. But although some newspapers have presented Wakefield as a popular hero, fighting scientific officialdom on behalf of parents worried about autism, nearly half of the public believes that journalists should have subjected his claims to more scrutiny before reporting them.^"

Why Are Doctors Still Injecting Our Kids With Poison? - Dad’s fury over mercury jabs

Autism and vaccines

Vaccines May Fuel Autism Epidemic - EXCELLENT!

AIDS/AIDS vaccine

Researcher: Dirty needles underestimated as AIDS cause - "The World Health Organization's long-held position that dirty needles cause 2.5 percent of African HIV exposures is too conservative, says a leading researcher at the U.N. agency, prompting questions about a congressional bill focused mainly on unsafe sex...Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has launched a review of all research linking AIDS and medical injections, possibly laying the groundwork for changes in how the legislation's $15 billion in funding is distributed." - The wheels of change move slowly..... (Click here for more.) - SM

HIV chimp vaccine theory dismissed

AIDS traced to African monkeys and Ancestry of AIDS Virus Is Traced

Alzheimer's disease/vaccine

Anthrax/anthrax vaccine/Gulf War Syndrome

E-News: Marine Refuses Anthrax Vaccine (NVIC) - "A Marine Corps officer and helicopter pilot who military officials say refused to receive an anthrax vaccination is scheduled to face a charge of disobeying a lawful order in a general court-martial Monday at New River Air Station."

The Suicide Squaddies - Two young soldiers have killed themselves after falling ill with suspected Gulf War Syndrome following the latest conflict in Iraq. - "One - Royal Engineer Eddie Hosdell, 21 - leapt to his death from the Humber Bridge in Hull and a 26-year-old soldier hanged himself at a base in Germany...The German-based soldier was given five jabs in one day - in direct contradiction of Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon's pre-war pledge that troops would not have multiple vaccinations at the same time."

Coroner rules vaccinations contributed to reservist's death

Autoimmunity/autoimmune disease

Cancer/cancer vaccines

Chickenpox/chickenpox vaccine

U.S. Health Officials Concerned by Chickenpox Deaths - "'Varicella is a vaccine-preventable disease, and we encourage physicians to use the vaccine because it was proven safe and effective in outbreak investigations,' Marin said." Not to throw a wet-blanket on all this, but what about the outbreaks among the vaccinated? And any genuine concern for how this compares to problems with the vaccine? - SM

 Diphtheria/diphtheria vaccine

Flu/flu vaccine

Flu vaccine supply ample, demand lagging - Public health questions persist, ranging from the number of vaccine manufacturers to how well matched the vaccine will be to the upcoming season's active strains. - "'We must increase demand to increase the supply,' said Dennis J. O'Mara, CDC associate director for adult immunization." - Does this strike anyone else as funny? - SM or as Barbara Loe Fisher wrote "What is wrong with this picture? Why can't the free market system be allowed to work with vaccines just like it works with any other product bought and sold in America? The people know what they want. The vaccine industry ought to produce exactly what the people are demanding and the government should stay out of the business of drumming up business for industry."

Haemophilus Influenza/Hib Vaccine

Hepatitis A/hepatitis A vaccine

Hepatitis B/hepatitis B vaccine

Hepatitis C

Lyme disease/lyme disease vaccine

Meningitis/meningitis vaccine

Monkeypox/smallpox vaccine for monkeypox

Monkeypox trouble

A look at the monkeypox virus

U.S. Urges Smallpox Vaccine for Monkeypox Exposure

Monkeypox shows gap in bioterror readiness

MMR/measles,mumps,rubella

MMR uptake falls further - The number of children receiving the MMR vaccine in Scotland has fallen to its lowest level for more than two years, according to the latest figures.

Health chief pleads with parents over MMR jabs - For more statistics on the risks from measles, click here.

MMR study stirs up row - Researchers from the Public Health Laboratory Service have found no evidence that the triple MMR jab overloads a child's immune system. - "But campaigners against the vaccine have branded the study 'not worth the paper it is written on'."

Fathers win MMR legal battle - A High Court judge has ordered two young girls to be given the controversial MMR vaccine against the wishes of their mothers.

Mother speaks out over MMR ruling

Mumps outbreak fear as single jab runs out

Pet vaccines

Animal board tables action on yearly vaccination issue

Pneumonia/prevnar

Polio/polio vaccine

Northern Nigeria: How distrust marred polio vaccine project

HIV chimp vaccine theory dismissed

Rabies/rabies vaccine

RECALLS

SARS

“SARS Transmission Is Questioned”

SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome)

"Shaken Baby?" Maybe Not: Adult vaccine guinea pigs talk and walk at personal sacrifice

A case of murder and the BMJ - re: Sally Clark

Yurko Project Alert June 2003

West Nile virus/vaccine

Whooping cough/DPT vaccine

Other vaccines/screening

Vaccines in general/vaccine research

President to Propose Improvements in Childhood Vaccine Programs

(Vaccine) additives & contaminants

Vaccine testing

Adverse reactions/VAERS/VICP

Lawmakers urged to agree on medical error fixes

Alternative Treatments/prevention

Killing the goose that laid the golden egg? - Complementary and alternative medicine might best be kept separate from conventional treatments -  "Ultimately, however, for most patients this power struggle between health professionals and therapeutic philosophies is less important than its potential impact on the overall quality of health care. Progress in this arena must be judged by the extent to which proponents of complementary medicine are willing to accept evaluation and regulation and the extent to which orthodox practitioners are prepared to improve their interpersonal skills.^"

Homeopathy: Con or Cure?

Icy claim that water has memory

Breastfeeding (vs. formula)

"The Condition Our Condition Is In" (The State of Medicine/Science)

Factors associated with hand hygiene practices in two neonatal intensive care units - Isn't this kinda basic? - SM

Doctors often prescribe unneeded antibiotics to save their time - "According to a recent research study, many medical doctors knowingly prescribe unneeded antibiotics to children because they think it's easier and faster than telling parents why the medicine isn't necessary. Ironically, the researchers found that it would have taken them no longer to properly educate the parents rather than put the children at risk from unnecessary drugs."

Lawmakers urged to agree on medical error fixes

Prehypertension And The Emperor's Invisible Suit - "People with prehypertension are even less likely to find that lifestyle modification will normalize their blood pressure, which means that medication will be required. Chalk another one up for the drug companies." - I haven't read this yet, but it looks interesting. - SM

Conflict of Interest

Medical journals and pharmaceutical companies: uneasy bedfellows- Many medical journals have a substantial income from pharmaceutical companies from the purchasing of advertising and reprints and the sponsoring of supplements.  Is this funding corrupting journals? - "One of my first experiences of the relation between medical journals and pharmaceutical companies occurred in the early 1980s after the BMJ had published papers suggesting that a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, benoxaprofen, might have serious side effects. We were visited by three stern men from Eli Lilly, the makers of the drug. Tony Smith, the deputy editor, conducted the meeting and asked me to join him. The men, whom I remember (probably wrongly) as having gold teeth, threatened us with legal action, at which point Tony said: "In that case we'll see you in court." They backtracked hastily and asked simply to be able to publish a prompt response. ^"

Are doctors and the drug industry too close for comfort? - results of a poll at BMJ

Harvard may ease rules on faculty ties to drug firms

Death and Disease

Effectiveness/herd immunity

Ethics

Funding

Government/science/industry/medicine clearly run amok

Treasure trove of toxins - Scientist warns that pharma industry's castoffs could be source of new chemical weapons - "United States pharmaceutical companies are inadvertently creating tens of thousands of poisonous new compounds each year that terrorists or rogue nations could develop into chemical weapons, according to a California researcher...These unintended toxins arise from the drug industry's automated high-throughput technology that permits millions of new compounds to be created and tested, and those found to be toxic to humans, simply discarded, said Mark Wheelis, director of the Program in Nature and Culture at the University of California, Davis."

New Jersey Parents Must Let Go to Get Mental-Health Treatment for Children

Legal/lawsuits/legislation

Women file suit over hormone drug - Case against maker of Premarin is a long shot, some experts say

Lawsuit Alleges Companies Sold Bad Blood

House Expected To Pass Bill To Rewrite The Rules On Class-Action Lawsuits

Pew study says malpractice caps hurt patients - The report saying limiting damages is "unfair" to the injured comes amid a push to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Daily News Archive - Supreme Court Says Veterans Can Sue for Agent Orange Caused Illness

*Pending Immunization Legislation - bookmark this link

Parental/health rights/exemptions/mandatory/privacy/health freedom

Fathers win MMR legal battle - A High Court judge has ordered two young girls to be given the controversial MMR vaccine against the wishes of their mothers.

Mother speaks out over MMR ruling

Why Are Doctors Still Injecting Our Kids With Poison? - Dad’s fury over mercury jabs - "Don, 37, suffers from a mild form of autism and did not want to expose his three-month-old son Lewis to the additional risk of the vaccine, which contains high levels of mercury in the chemical preservative, Thiomersal...But he was stunned to discover that, despite the pledges from the then health No.2, Frank McAveety, parents must fight for mercury-free jabs."

Pharmaceutical industry/pharmaceutical industry oversight

Politics

Pregnancy/childbirth

Research/publishing/funding/other research results

Censoring science

Do patients need to read research? -  "If it's any comfort, most doctors don't read or understand medical research either—but they can be trained to do so without too much effort."

Common hormone therapy doubles dementia risk

Letters From Parents &others

Miscellaneous

Dangerous chemicals

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