►July 23, 2008 - Pediatric Medical Devices Stakeholders Workshop - National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

* ►July 2008 - Status epilepticus and lymphocytic pneumonitis following hepatitis B vaccination - journal article (European Journal of Internal Medicine)

►June 14, 2008 - Management of invasive meningococcal disease in children and young people: summary of SIGN guidelines - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Commentary: Controversies in SIGN guidance on management of invasive meningococcal disease in children and young people - journal article (BMJ)

* ►June 14, 2008 - Deficiency of sunlight and vitamin D - Fortification of foods and advice on sensible sun exposure are urgently needed - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Unrecognised severe vitamin D deficiency - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Measuring blood pressure in children - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - NICE’s simplified approach to lipids will not work - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Service for drug resistant tuberculosis exists in the UK - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Time to label sodium in drug treatments? - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Member states must enforce ban on dubious products - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Food dyes should be banned - journal article (BMJ)

* ►June 14, 2008 - NHS reforms have produced "only limited benefits so far" - journal article (BMJ)

* ►June 14, 2008 - Review launched after Harvard psychiatrist failed to disclose industry funding - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Government pledges extra £34m to tackle health inequalities in England - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Coinfection of tuberculosis and HIV poses global threat - journal article (BMJ)

* ►June 14, 2008 - Fall in hormone replacement therapy associated with fall in breast cancer - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Placebo pills for children - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing diabetes: prospective cohort study - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Preventing malaria in travellers - journal article (BMJ)

►June 14, 2008 - Injustices in HIV care are closer to home - The Guardian, UK

►June 14, 2008 - Aussie to be officially free of equine flu in 16 days - Horsetalk, New Zealand

* ►June 13, 2008 - Flawed St. John's Wort Study on ADHD Failed to Use Active Form of Herbal Extract - NaturalNews.com - "On the heels of shocking revelations that top psychiatric research Dr. Joseph Biederman secretly took $1.6 million from drug companies while conducting psychotropic drug experiments on children, it has been learned that Dr. Biederman is now one of the key collaborators behind the latest efforts to discredit St. John's Wort. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and widely reported in the mainstream media, Dr. Biederman and fellow cohorts 'concluded' that the St. John's Wort herb is useless in treating ADHD in children. What's astonishing about this study, as you'll learn in this article, is that all the children used in the study were given inactive forms of the St. John's Wort herb where the active ingredients had been oxidized and rendered useless! In other words, this clinical trial, which was widely reported in the mainstream media with headlines like 'St. John's Wort Found Useless!' didn't test the herb's active ingredients at all! It sort of makes you wonder about the agenda of the people running the study, doesn't it?"

* ►June 13, 2008 - About-face on natural health products - Health Minister won't lump in natural medicines with pharmaceutical drugs - Vancouver Sun via Canada.com

* ►June 13, 2008 - Before the dentist drills, know facts on fillings - Concerned about mercury exposure? Here's what to ask - MSNBC

►June 13, 2008 - Mercury in Silver Fillings May Hurt Kids, Pregnant Woman - Newsinferno.com

* ►June 13, 2008 - More girls getting HPV vaccination - Gardasil protects against virus which causes most cases of cervical cancer - Galesburg Register-Mail - "'You’re probably going to hear about more teenagers fainting because teenagers are getting more vaccines,' Greeley said. Her office tried, for about a week, to require all patients receiving vaccines to lie down, but 'they’ve all got other places to be. (The policy) was very unpopular.' Officials at Merck do acknowledge that there’s a risk of fainting, something which may be caused by extra pain which accompanies the shot. A definite link between the pain and fainting has not been found."

* ►June 13, 2008 - Sexual health advocacy group urges caution in use of HPV vaccine - AOL News Canada - "Most of the research on the vaccine has been done on older girls, argues Laura Wershler, executive director of Sexual Health Access Alberta, and not enough is known about giving it to girls in the Grade 5 age group. Wershler said she is pleased the government is funding the program, so parents can make their own choice. But, she said, they need to educate themselves before deciding whether their daughters should be vaccinated."

* ►June 13, 2008 - Why the change? Trustees' reversal on vaccination puzzling and and tough to swallow - editorial - Milton Canadian Champion

* ►June 13, 2008 - HPV shots will go ahead in Surrey - Surrey Leader - "Surrey's Board of Education will not interfere with a plan to give Grade 6 and 9 girls a vaccine protecting them from the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). In a 5-2 vote Thursday night, trustees defeated a motion tabled by Trustee Heather Stilwell asking that Surrey not participate in administering the Gardasil vaccine in schools because of alleged risks associated with the shot and potential lawsuits the school district could face."

►June 13, 2008 - Catholic board upholding beliefs - letter - Oakville Beaver - "Trustee Joanne Matters is correct in saying that a double message is being sent to the students in allowing the HPV vaccine in the separate school system."

►June 13, 2008 - No High Risk Avian Influenza Viruses Found In Canada's Wild Birds - Canadian Food Inspection Agency via Medical News Today

►June 13, 2008 - Bangladesh urged to contain Bird flu - MyNews.in

* ►June 13, 2008 - SAfrican minister under fire after ruling on HIV treatment - Africasia - "South Africa's leading anti-AIDS lobby called on Friday for the health minister to be sacked after a court ordered a private clinic to stop touting its multi-vitamin pills as a treatment for HIV. The Treatment Action Campaign said Manto Tshabalala-Msimang should be axed for failing to stop self-proclaimed German nutrition guru Matthias Rath from promoting a multi-vitamin treatment over government-sponsored anti-retrovirals."

* ►June 13, 2008 - Mozambique to build HIV/AIDS drug plant - Reuters South Africa

►June 13, 2008 - US FDA generic drug reviews delayed, report finds - Reuters

►June 13, 2008 - Sexual health advocacy group urges caution in use of HPV vaccine - AP via Bradenton Herald

►June 13, 2008 - Nine Salmonella Victims Ate at One Chain, US Says - Bloomberg

►June 13, 2008 - Tomatoes & Salmonella outbreak: What you need to know - FoodConsumer.org

►June 13, 2008 - Chronic disease: America’s health care crisis - La Prensa San Diego

►June 13, 2008 - 7 Reasons Men Die First - U.S. News & World Report

►June 13, 2008 - Agencies practice health emergency plan - Rockford Register Star

►June 13, 2008 - CDC: Possible link of poor POU devices, plumbing to disease - Water Technology Online

* ►June 13, 2008 - Lipoxen receives HIV vaccine research grant Update - London South East, UK

►June 13, 2008 - It's good to follow the herd - Vaccinations still controversial; but still important - Boulder Daily Camera

* ►June 13, 2008 - Phase I and II randomised trials of the safety and immunogenicity of a prototype adjuvanted inactivated split-virus influenza A (H5N1) vaccine in healthy adults - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 13, 2008 - Analysis and characterization of hepatitis B vaccine particles synthesized from Hansenula polymorpha - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 13, 2008 - Flu-Infected Flocks Killed, Educator Points To Possible Pandemic - KAIT 8

►June 13, 2008 - AstraZeneca Is Winning The Chinese ‘Arms Race’ - Pharmalot

►June 13, 2008 - Cymbalta Could Make Depressed Knees Happy? - Pharmalot

►June 13, 2008 - Metastasis: Trading in mitochondria - Exchanging the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) between mouse tumor cell lines has revealed mtDNA mutations that increase the metastatic potential of tumor cells by mediating the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). - journal article (Nature Reviews Cancer)

►June 13, 2008 - Biotech Watch: Elan's Alzheimer's Drug Data - The Street

►June 13, 2008 - Zapped! How Irradiation Is Threatening Our Food System - Lab animals fed irradiated food have developed illnesses from cancer to immune system failure. So why is the government pushing the same food on you? - AlterNet

* ►June 12, 2008 - Do Vaccines Cause Autism, Asthma, and Diabetes? New Book Helps Parents Weigh the Evidence - NNii Special Release via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

* ►June 12, 2008 - Promising Data Presented on GenVec Malaria Vaccine Program - GenVec via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology

* ►June 12, 2008 - WHO says Indonesia has given assurances it will report bird flu cases - The Canadian Press via Google News

►June 12, 2008 - FDA & EMEA Collaborate On Some Safety Tests - Pharmalot

►June 12, 2008 - Sanofi-Aventis Wins Award For Laziest Drug Name - Pharmalot

►June 12, 2008 - Good Practices Cutting Down On Infections - The Morning Telegraph

►June 12, 2008 - Attention disorder program helps kids cope - Wicked Local Melrose

►June 12, 2008 - The Diagnosis and Treatment of Bacterial Conjunctivitis in Pediatric Patients CME/CE (requires registration) - Medscape

►June 12, 2008 - BioWa licenses Potelligent technology to Novartis - Trading Markets

►June 12, 2008 - Autism conference brings actress to Pittsburg - PSU Collegio

* ►June 12, 2008 - Hidden CDC Data Confirms Vaccine-Autism Link - Hidden CDC Data Confirms Vaccine-Autism Link - press release - CoMeD via Newsvine - "The new study, led by Dr. Heather Young, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, examined the CDC-supplied medical vaccination records from the VSD of 278,624 children, born from 1990 through 1996."

►June 12, 2008 - Faces of the Fallen: Jonathan Jex-Blake Forde (requires registration) - Washington Post - "Forde, 26, of Vienna, died of meningococcal meningitis while preparing for deployment."

* ►June 12, 2008 - Rx for healthy camping - Summer camps accommodate kids with medical conditions, but parents should be vigilant - The Courier-Journal - "'Seventy-one percent of our camps report an increase in medications at camp,' said Peg Smith, chief executive officer of the American Camp Association....Smith said parents shouldn't look on camp as a time for their child to have a 'medication holiday.' 'It's not fair to the camp or to the child,' Smith said. The American Academy of Pediatrics says parents should not halt their children's ADHD medications."

►June 12, 2008 - Outbreak of measles in Christchurch - Parents are being urged to check whether their children's immunisations are up-to-date following an outbreak of measles in Christchurch. - Radio New Zealand

►June 12, 2008 - E Cape health authorities monitor measles outbreak - SABC News

►June 12, 2008 - Dexamethasone Improves Outcomes in Bacterial Meningitis When Implemented According to Recommendations: Presented at ENS - Doctor's Guide

►June 12, 2008 - Idenix Pharma reports positive Phase I/II data of IDX899 to treat HIV-1 - Trading Markets

►June 11, 2008 - When knowledge isn't just power, but life-saving power - Kingston Whig Standard - "The allergist began with the peanut allergen, giving Buttonman's soft skin a needle poke to break the skin. Barely a drop of peanut allergen had touched his open tissue when something terribly unexpected happened. Buttonman's heart stopped. His face swelled. His systems were shutting down in anaphylactic shock. 'Code Pink!' was loudly voiced over the public address system."

►June 11, 2008 - Noosa dad tells of meningococcal horror - The Sunshine Coast Daily, Australia

* ►June 11, 2008 - Immunogenicity and safety of a novel formalin-inactivated and alum-adjuvanted candidate subunit vaccine for mumps - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 11, 2008 - Setting priorities for new vaccination programs by using public health officers and immunization managers opinions - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 11, 2008 - Merck To Text Teens About Gardasil Reminders? - Pharmalot

* ►June 11, 2008 - Discolored leg syndrome after vaccination—descriptive epidemiology - journal article (European Journal of Pediatrics) - "All reports of adverse events following immunization that were made to the passive surveillance system between 1994 and 2003 were included—a total of 1162 identified cases. Red, blue, purple discoloration and isolated petechiae were reported in 39, 19, 27 and 14% of these cases, respectively. Of these 1162 cases, 1105 were considered to be related to the vaccination, based on a predefined risk window with symptom onset after vaccination (48 h for discolorations and 2 weeks for petechiae). Of the 1105 cases, about 50% occurred after DTP-IPV+Hib1 vaccinations, and 30% occurred after DTP-IPV+Hib2 vaccinations. Discolored leg syndrome was frequently accompanied by fierce crying (78%)."

* ►June 11, 2008 - NIH responds to critics on peer review - Agency sets its sights on transformative research. - news (Nature)

►June 10, 2008 - Militants permit polio campaign - Health officials in north-western Pakistan say they have embarked on a polio vaccination drive in the Swat area without resistance from militants. - BBC

►June 10, 2008 - Direct Advice Has Direct Effect on Improving Neonatal Survival - New York Times via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►June 10, 2008 - Oral sex blamed for throat cancer rise - The Age, Australia - "But many researchers focus on expanded use of the HPV vaccine, which since 2006 has been recommended for girls ages 11 to 12. Just as the vaccine lessens the risk of cervical cancer for those girls, it may offer protection from HPV-positive throat cancer, though studies have not yet addressed that question."

►June 8, 2008 - Serotonin May Affect Our Sense of Fairness, Scientists Report - University of California - Los Angeles via Biocompare

►June 8, 2008 - New Pathogen from Pigs' Stomach Ulcers - Society for General Microbiology via Biocompar

* ►June 7, 2008 - Immunisation laws to be made more stringent - A committee in the Ministry of Health is currently reviewing the Immunisation Regulation of 1986 to see how it can be made more stringent for parents and guardians who fail to ensure that children under their care are adequately immunised. - Jamaica Observer - "Speaking at the launch of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ) symposium at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Thursday, health minister Rudyard Spencer said that the regulation lacked teeth as the current fine for non-compliance was $500 or 30 days in prison."

►June 6, 2008 - Bush pushes G8 countries on disease aid for Africa - Reuters South Africa

* ►June 6, 2008 - Outcomes of febrile children without localizing signs post-pneumococcal conjugate vaccine - journal article (Archives of Diseases in Childhood)

* ►June 6, 2008 - Quintuple Vaccine Rates in Yemen Reach 87 Percent in 2007 - Yemen News Agency via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►June 6, 2008 - The growing scope of applications of genome-scale metabolic reconstructions using Escherichia coli - journal article (Nature Biotechnology)

►June 6, 2008 - MRSA Main Cause of S. Aureus Community Pneumonia During Flu Season - Reuters Health Information Services via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

* ►June 5, 2008 - New Meningitis B Vaccine Developed - The Future of Things

►June 4, 2008 - Female hormones key to HIV prevention - PM via www.abc.net.au

►June 4, 2008 - At Executive Board opening, Ann M. Veneman outlines key achievements for children - UNICEF

►June 2008 - Oversulfated chondroitin sulfate is a contaminant in heparin associated with adverse clinical events - journal article (Nature Biotechnology)

►June 2008 - Finding the false (requires registration) - The Scientist

* ►June 2008 - Decreased efficacy with hepatitis B vaccine noted among adolescent population at select clinical sites - (requires registration) - Infectious Diseases in Children

* ►June 2008 - Fatalities from pertussis on the rise among U.S. infants (requires registration) - Majority of deaths from pertussis during 2000 to 2005 occurred among infants aged younger than 1 year. - Infectious Diseases in Children

* ►June 2008 - New products on the horizon to prevent food-induced anaphylaxis (requires registration) - Infectious Diseases in Children

* ►June 2008 - CDC study assessed influenza vaccine efficacy in 2007-2008 season in specific population (requires registration) - Influenza was detected in 191 patients; 75% of cases were type A. - Infectious Diseases in Children

* ►June 2008 - Of MCV4, ADHD and ECGs (requires registration) - Recent guidelines reinforce the need to do thorough evaluations of our patients. - Infectious Diseases in Children

►June 2008 - Consider ECG for children prescribed attention-deficit/hyperactivity meds (requires registration) - Infectious Diseases in Children

►June 2008 - AOM observation therapy methods were successful in ED setting (requires registration) - Observation therapy without a prescription substantially reduced antibiotic use in patients with AOM. -  Infectious Diseases in Children

►June 2008 - An update on sunscreen (requires registration) - As summer approaches, inform your patients about the importance of sun protection. - Infectious Diseases in Children

►June 2008 - SPOT the rash (requires registration) - A monthly case study featured in Infectious Diseases in Children, with treatment information and discussion to follow. - Infectious Diseases in Children

►June 2008 - What's Your Diagnosis (requires registration) - A monthly case study featured in Infectious Diseases in Children, with treatment information and discussion to follow. - Infectious Diseases in Children

* ►October 2007 - Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and the second dose of MMR - journal article (Archives of Diseases in Childhood)

Posted June 12, 2008

* ►July 1, 2008 - Genetic Basis for Adverse Events after Smallpox Vaccination (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases) - "Genetic polymorphisms in genes expressing an enzyme previously associated with adverse reactions to a variety of pharmacologic agents (MTHFR) and an immunological transcription factor (IRF1) were associated with AEs after smallpox vaccination in 2 independent study samples..."Potential conflicts of interest: J.E.C. received research funding from Sanofi-Aventis and Vaxgen and a joint Small Business Technology Transfer award (with Mapp Pharmaceuticals). He has consulted for MedImmune, Vaxin, Evogenix, Symphogen, and Syngenta. K.M.E. received research funding from Sanofi-Aventis, MedImmune, Vaxgen, Merck, and Wyeth. She has also consulted for MedImmune and Wyeth. All other authors: no conflicts."

►July 1, 2008 - Transmission and Detection of Prions in Feces - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Valganciclovir and Human Herpesvirus-8 (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Valganciclovir for Suppression of Human Herpesvirus-8 Replication: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Salmonellosis Outcomes Differ Substantially by Serotype - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Staphylococcus aureus Clumping Factor A Binds to Complement Regulator Factor I and Increases Factor I Cleavage of C3b - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Increased Resilience to the Development of Drug Resistance with Modern Boosted Protease Inhibitor-Based Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Seroepidemiology of Human Bocavirus Defined Using Recombinant Virus-Like Particles - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Temporal Relationship between Human Parechovirus 1 Infection and Otitis Media in Young Children - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Expanded Access to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: A Potentially Powerful Strategy to Curb the Growth of the HIV Epidemic - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Viral Commensalism in Humans? (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Infection and Gastric Cancer Development in Japan (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

►July 1, 2008 - Learning to Appreciate Our Differences (free full text) - journal article (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

* ►July 2008 - Parvovirus B19 infection and systemic lupus erythematosus: Activation of an aberrant pathway? - journal article (European Journal of Internal Medicine)

* ►July 2008 - Clinical Immunology Review Series: An approach too the patient with anaphylaxis - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Immunology)

►July 2008 - Clinical Immunology Review Series: An approach to the use of the immunology laboratory in the diagnosis of clinical allergy - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Immunology)

* ►July 2008 - Pathogenic agents in inflammatory bowel diseases. - journal article (Current Opinion in Gastroenterology)

►July 2008 - Cytomegalovirus infection induces T-cell differentiation without impairing antigen-specific responses in Gambian infants - journal article (Immunology)

* ►June 19, 2008 - Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers: Is it really as effective as we claim? - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 19, 2008 - A risk-assessment model to rate the occurrence and relevance of adventitious agents in the production of influenza vaccines - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 19, 2008 - A quantitative risk assessment of exposure to adventitious agents in a cell culture-derived subunit influenza vaccine - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 19, 2008 - Safety of MF59™ adjuvant - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 19, 2008 - Immune response by athletes to hepatitis B vaccination - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 19, 2008 - Effectiveness of a 2+1 dose schedule pneumococcal conjugate vaccination programme on invasive pneumococcal disease among children in Norway - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - A bivalent influenza VLP vaccine confers complete inhibition of virus replication in lungs - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Cellular and humoral immune responses to chimeric EGFP-pseudocapsids derived from the mouse polyomavirus after their intranasal administration - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Issues with reducing the rotavirus-associated mortality by vaccination in developing countries - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Kunjin replicon-based simian immunodeficiency virus gag vaccines - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Efficient augmentation of a long-lasting immune responses in HIV-1 gag DNA vaccination by IL-15 plasmid boosting - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Improved HIV-1 specific T-cell responses by short-interval DNA tattooing as compared to intramuscular immunization in non-human primates - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Rotavirus epidemiology: The Asian Rotavirus Surveillance Network - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Safety and immunogenicity of WRSd1, a live attenuated Shigella dysenteriae type 1 vaccine candidate - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 19, 2008 - Intradermal vaccine delivery: Will new delivery systems transform vaccine administration? - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Engineered CCR5 superagonist chemokine as adjuvant in anti-tumor DNA vaccination - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Enhanced immunogenicity of HPV16E7 accompanied by Gp96 as an adjuvant in two vaccination strategies - journal article (Vaccine)

►June 19, 2008 - Adjuvant potential of aggregate-forming polyglutamine domains - journal article (Vaccine)

* ►June 13, 2008 - Keep fighting the good fight - New Zealand Doctor Online - "Health professionals need to 'keep fighting the good fight' against the anti-immunisation lobby, American vaccine expert Paul Offit urges. 'There are a few people, who fear vaccines, who feel compelled to communicate that to the media…I think that unnecessarily scares the public,' Professor Offit says....Some physicians in the US are turning patients away if they won’t allow their children to be vaccinated, Professor Offit says. One such practice in Pennsylvania, All Star Pediatrics, has a policy statement spelling out how important vaccination is to them, he says. Their vaccine policy says: 'If you should absolutely refuse to vaccinate your child, despite all our efforts, we will ask you to find another healthcare provider who shares your views.'"

* ►June 13, 2008 - Police administer anti-polio drops - The News - International - Pakistan - "'The department is providing health facilities to the poor and needy people at their doorsteps,' he said on Thursday while administering anti-polio drops at the Police Public Medical Centre during the Polio Eradication Day."

►June 13, 2008 - Breastfeeding-Related Maternity Practices at Hospitals and Birth Centers --- United States, 2007 - MMWR/CDC

►June 13, 2008 - Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Infections in Children Associated with Raw Milk and Raw Colostrum From Cows --- California, 2006 - MMWR/CDC

►June 13, 2008 - Cutaneous Anthrax Associated with Drum Making Using Goat Hides from West Africa --- Connecticut, 2007 - MMWR/CDC

►June 13, 2008 - Electronic Record Linkage to Identify Deaths Among Persons with AIDS --- District of Columbia, 2000--2005 - MMWR/CDC

►June 13, 2008 - QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Percentage of Adults Aged >40 Years with Diagnosed Diabetes Who Have Glycosylated Hemoglobin (HbA1c), Total Blood Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure Under Control, by Race/Ethnicity --- National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2003--2006 - MMWR/CDC

►June 13, 2008 - Notice to Readers: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2008 --- June 15, 2008 - MMWR/CDC

►June 13, 2008 - Notifiable Diseases/Deaths in Selected Cities Weekly Information - MMWR/CDC

* ►June 12, 2008 - More Parents Opt Out Of Vaccines (includes video) - WFTV Orlando

* ►June 12, 2008 - New Study Links Mercury from the Thimerosal in Vaccines with Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders - Hawaii Reporter - "This study represents six years worth of effort by independent researchers to gain access to hidden US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data in the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD)."

* ►June 12, 2008 - Goalposts By J.B. Handley - Age of Autism

* ►June 12, 2008 - 'Faulty' brain connections may be responsible for social impairments in autism - University of Washington via EurekAlert!

* ►June 12, 2008 - Possible problem surfaces related to autism bill (includes video) - WAFB Channel 9 Baton Rouge

* ►June 12, 2008 - Should Kids With Autism Be Treated Like Humans? NBC Wants to Know! By Anne Dachel - Age of Autism

* ►June 12, 2008 - Vaccine Exemptions: Blessing or Curse? - Age of Autism

►June 12, 2008 - Cortisol: A Clue to the Rhythms and Reactions of Children with Autism - UC Davis Health System via Rocklin and Roseville Today - "The affect of cortisol as a biological marker of stress and dysregulation in children with autism will be the topic of the July "Minds Behind the M.I.N.D." lecture. The lecture will be presented on Thursday, July 17, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute auditorium, 2825 50th St., Sacramento. The session is free and open to the public. No reservations are required."

►June 12, 2008 - He questions letter writer’s fact about Autism - letter - The Progress

►June 12, 2008 - Green Vaccines? - Scienceline

* ►June 12, 2008 - Vitamin D recommendations for teens may be too low - Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism via Reuters India

* ►June 12, 2008 - Drugs and disclosure - editorial (requires registration) - Boston Globe

* ►June 12, 2008 - Perspectives on vaccine safety, exemptions, and autism links - VaccineEthics.org

►June 12, 2008 - IAC Express 2008 - Issue number 736 - Immunization Action Coalition

* ►June 12, 2008 - Vaccine Preparedness — Are We Ready for the Next Influenza Pandemic? (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

* ►June 12, 2008 - A Clinical Trial of a Whole-Virus H5N1 Vaccine Derived from Cell Culture (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

* ►June 12, 2008 - Redefining Quality — Implications of Recent Clinical Trials (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

* ►June 12, 2008 - New Human H5N1 Bird Flu Vaccine From Baxter Shows Promise In Trial - NEJM via Medical News Today

* ►June 12, 2008 - Drugs and disclosure - The Boston Globe - "The public at least deserves full and accurate disclosure of potential conflicts that accepting drug company consulting and speaking fees could pose. But recent congressional investigations give patients little reason for confidence."

* ►June 12, 2008 - Illness And Death Reduced By Responding Quickly To Influenza Outbreaks - Infectious Diseases Society of America via Medical News Today

* ►June 12, 2008 - FDA, European Medicines Agency to Consider Additional Test Results When Assessing New Drug Safety - Collaborative effort by FDA and EMEA expected to yield additional safety data - FDA

* ►June 12, 2008 - Grassley Probes Paxil Suicide Risks - Pharmalot

* ►June 12, 2008 - Garrison commander shares details of Fort Detrick - The Herald-Mail

* ►June 12, 2008 - ADHD 'behind 20% of school suspensions' - Thousands of people in the UK battle with ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder but few really understand it. - BBC

* ►June 12, 2008 - Early Data Favorable for H5N1 Vaccine from Tissue-Culture Substrate - NEJM via MedPage Today - "The trial was supported by Baxter. Dr. Muller reported consulting and lecture fees from Baxter. Dr. Wright reported receiving grant support from Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Medimmune."

* ►June 12, 2008 - 228 People in 22 States Sickened in Ongoing Salmonella-Tomato Outbreak (requires registration) - Healthday via Washington Post

* ►June 12, 2008 - Two Die Following Gardasil Shots - Newsinferno.com

* ►June 12, 2008 - Alberta government will pay for HPV vaccine - Edmonton Journal via Canada.com - "Doctors are celebrating after the Alberta government announced today that beginning in September it will provide all Grade 5 girls with a vaccination that prevents human papillomavirus (HPV), the sexually transmitted virus which causes most forms of cervical cancer."

►June 12, 2008 - HPV vaccine - Calgary Herald via Canada.com

* ►June 12, 2008 - Chickenpox claims life of ‘quiet, lovely girl’ - Camden New Journal, UK - "Edith Neville School pupil Sheikh Nadia Yazmin, eight, was taken by ambulance to University College London Hospital, five minutes from her home in Ossulston Street, Somers Town....A post-mortem examination revealed she died from a bacterial infection in the lung and spleen as a consequence of chickenpox."

* ►June 12, 2008 - PAKISTAN: Smiles greet polio vaccination teams in Swat - IRIN

►June 12, 2008 - Death rate for flu, pneumonia fell sharply in 2006 - CIDRAP News

►June 12, 2008 - Measles outbreak in Blackpool prompts vaccine call - Blackpool Gazette

►June 12, 2008 - Breast-Feeding Support Lacking at Many Hospitals, Birth Centers - CDC reports 7 southern states scored lowest, while western and New England states did best - HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report

►June 12, 2008 - Ancient antibody molecule offers clues to how humans evolved allergies - Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council via EurekAlert!

►June 12, 2008 - Hope For Treating The Most Infectious And Neglected Diseases - Visceral Leishmaniasis, Chagas Disease, And Sleeping Sickness - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) via Medical News Today

►June 12, 2008 - Chantix Long-Term Data Was Downplayed: Expert - Pharmalot

►June 12, 2008 - Does Glaxo Study Resolve Advair Concerns? - Pharmalot

►June 12, 2008 - Genentech Settles Patent Dispute With MedImmune - The Street

►June 12, 2008 - What we can do and what we cannot do with fMRI - journal article (Nature)

►June 12, 2008 - Neuroblastoma — Linking a Common Allele to a Rare Disease - journal article (NEJM)

►June 12, 2008 - Propranolol for Severe Hemangiomas of Infancy (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

►June 12, 2008 - Innate immunity induced by composition-dependent RIG-I recognition of hepatitis C virus RNA - journal article (Nature)

►June 12, 2008 - Transgenic Chicken with hG-CSF - KBS World

►June 12, 2008 - Lyme treatment at center of debate - Seacoast Online

►June 12, 2008 - Intensive Glycemic Control in the ACCORD and ADVANCE Trials (free full text) - journal article (NEJM)

►June 12, 2008 - Nidoviruses (book review) - journal article (NEJM)

►June 12, 2008 - U.S. life expectancy tops 78 as leading diseases decline - AP via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

►June 11, 2008 - Discussing HPV with teens; Overlooking genital warts; New data on South Asian HPV prevalence (blog) - Vaccine Ethics

►June 11, 2008 - Molecular epidemiology of pneumococci obtained from Gambian children aged 2-29 months with invasive pneumococcal disease during a trial of a 9-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (pdf) - journal article (BMC Infectious Diseases)

►June 11, 2008 - Vaccine Skin Patch Prevents Travelers' Diarrhea - HealthDay News via The Washington Post

* ►June 11, 2008 - Congress Probes FDA Criminal Investigations Unit - Pharmalot - "The moves follow a report released last winter by House Republicans showing the FDA isn’t bouncing researchers and drugmakers that commit crimes when seeking approval for meds. Grassley cites the scandal over the Sanofi-Aventis antibiotic, Ketek."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Specter Accuses HHS Of Undermining FDA Funds - Pharmalot

* ►June 11, 2008 - What The FDA Says About Epilepsy Meds & Suicide - Pharmalot - "For those who want to delve into the details, you can look right here. Meanwhile, these are some other observations: “The higher risk of events for the drug-treated patients was observed as early as one week from initiating treatment until at least 24 weeks. After 24 weeks, it was not possible to draw conclusions due to the scarcity of data beyond 24 weeks.”

* ►June 11, 2008 - Guidance for Industry Providing Regulatory Submissions in Electronic Format - Postmarketing Individual Case Safety Reports - FDA/CBER

* ►June 11, 2008 - Consumers Report More Adverse Events Than Docs - Pharmalot - "Consumers became the major source of adverse event reports to the FDA in 2006, replacing physicians, FDA News reports. In 1998, consumers reported 23,691 adverse events, compared with 48,314 physician reports. By 2006, a tipping point occurred - there were 127,475 consumer reports versus 113,444 physician reports, according to FDA data."

►June 11, 2008 - Rubella Case Reported (includes video) - KFYR-TV , North Dakota

►June 11, 2008 - China approves implementation plans of two major technology projects - Xinhua

►June 11, 2008 - Senate tweaks bioterror regs (requires registration) - The Scientist

►June 11, 2008 - Encorium Group, Inc. Announces Signing of Letter of Intent to Acquire Prologue Research International, Inc. - Business Wire via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - "Encorium offers therapeutic expertise, experienced team management and advanced technologies. The Company has drug and biologics development as well as clinical trial experience across a wide variety of therapeutic areas such as infectious diseases, cardiovascular, vaccines, oncology, diabetes endocrinology/metabolism, gene therapy, immunology, neurology, gastroenterology, dermatology, hepatology, women's health and respiratory medicine."

►June 11, 2008 - Dr. Anthony S. Fauci to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom - NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases via EurekAlert!

►June 11, 2008 - Progress on NHS's reforms 'slow' - Patients in England are yet to see some of the benefits of the NHS market-based reform programme because progress is slower than expected, watchdogs say. - BBC

►June 11, 2008 - Human Herpesvirus Six - HHV6 - Health and Wellness News from the Underground

* ►June 11, 2008 - Diets that Eat Away At Illnesses - Los Angeles Times via The Journal Times - "In a randomized controlled study of 145 children ages 2 to 16 who had more than seven seizures a week and were unresponsive to medication, senior author Dr. J. Helen Cross of the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London reported a 38 percent reduction in mean seizure frequency among the 54 children assigned to receive the ketogenic diet."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Speech-Language Impairment: How to Identify the Most Common and Least Diagnosed Disability of Childhood CME/CE (requires registration) - Medscape

►June 11, 2008 - From Autoimmunity to HIV - Scienceline

►June 11, 2008 - Investigation calls Carey investigation 'shoddy' - Times Union - "Carey was the autistic Glenmont youngster who died last year while on a field trip from the state-run O.D. Heck center in Niskayuna. His death led to ``Jonathan's Law,'' which opened up records on abuse complaints regarding the disabled."

►June 11, 2008 - Some families overreacting to infants' sleeping problems - Times Union

►June 11, 2008 - Delay School, Sleep More - Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies via Ivanhoe

►June 11, 2008 - Investigators Test Groundbreaking Depression Research in Real-world Setting - UT Southwestern Medical Center via Newswise via Interest!Alert

►June 11, 2008 - Glaxo: 4M people tried diet drug since launch - AP via The Washington Post

►June 11, 2008 - Docs: Keep Patient Assistance Programs Simple - Pharmalot

►June 11, 2008 - Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2006 (pdf) - CDC/NCHS

►June 11, 2008 - Viral Genetics Announces Expanded License with University of Colorado and V-Clip Pharmaceuticals - Business Wire via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

►June 11, 2008 - Response To The Carers Strategy By The National Autistic Society, UK - Autism.org.uk via Medical News Today

►June 11, 2008 - New study reinforces health benefits of Probiotic Bacteria - Molecular Systems Biology via Easier Lifestyle

►June 11, 2008 - Drugs show promise in combating Alzheimer's disease - Newsday

►June 11, 2008 - Survey: 'Disabled Gamers' Comprise 20% of Casual Video Games Audience - More Than 10% Have Had Casual Games Prescribed or Recommended By A Doctor; Players With Disabilities Play Longer, More Often, And For Different Reasons - PRNewswire via COMTEX via MarketWatch

* ►June 11, 2008 - Diabetes cases to double in Ontario by 2010 - Canadian Press via HealthZone.ca - "Ontario's Ministry of Health predicts 1.2 million people in the province will have diabetes by 2010, more than double the figure from the year 2000. Health Minister George Smitherman cautions the numbers are only estimates, but says nearly 10 per cent of the Ontario population will have diabetes within two years. Smitherman says the doubling of the diabetes rate in just one decade is 'stunning,' but not unique to Ontario."

* ►June 11, 2008 - The politics of polio - Even the appropriate WHO document clearly states that there is evidence that OPV has not worked in developing countries. - opinion - The Hindu - "That Sabin’s oral polio vaccine (OPV) has not been able to eradicate polio in our country, is now well established (inter alia, Economic and Political Weekly, 4-11-06, p. 4538-4540; and 23-12-06, p.5229-5237; Tehelka, 11-11-06, p.8-9; The Hindu, Hyderabad, November 13, 2006, p.11; Down to Earth, 31-12-06, p.24-31; Conclusions Recommendations of a National Consultative Meeting organised by Ind ian Medical Association in New Delhi on May 14, 2006; Editorial in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, (IJMR), January 2007, p. 1-4; and numerous other articles in some of the world’s best known scientific journals, such as Science.) Not only that the cases of non–polio acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in those vaccinated with OPV have shown a dramatic rise. It appears that in 2005, in Uttar Pradesh alone, 4,800 had residual paralysis, or died after acquiring non-polio AFP, in comparison to the all-India figure of 4,793 polio cases in 1994; the 2006 data, after six doses of monovalent OPV, are worse. The infructuous expenditure on the OPV programme would probably run into thousands of crores."

►June 11, 2008 - Housing plan go-ahead despite anthrax fears - Wexford People, Ireland

* ►June 10, 2008 - Ron Paul Plans Alternative Convention in Minnesota - Planet Chiropractic - "A medical doctor that has delivered thousands of babies may not be someone you'd likely think would be against government-funded mandatory vaccination programs. Ron Paul is no ordinary medical doctor and apparently freedom and individual choice is something he finds still to be important. Dr. Ron Paul has spoken out more than once on his thoughts regarding immunization and vaccines."

* ►June 10, 2008 - Prophylactic Use of Tamiflu Bad Idea, Leading Virologist Says - Homeland Security Today

* ►June 10, 2008 - Big pharma gets creative (requires registration) - The Scientist - "Usually, industry funding targets specific projects, but in this case, researchers at the UCSF's Institute for Quantitative Biosciences will collaborate more broadly with the company, with both parties working together to identify promising ideas in different health disciples. Daniel Sanit, the institute's director, told the San Francisco Chronicle that academic researchers and their institution will retain patents to any inventions, while Pfizer will have the right to negotiate licenses on the technology."

* ►June 10, 2008 - Drug reminder bill raises privacy concerns - Calderon, a recipient of industry donations, says that 'marketing or sales pitches' would be barred. - The Sacramento Bee

►June 10, 2008 - An extra needle on the compass - Vaccinations provide essential protection for international travel - News Times

* ►June 10, 2008 - Unions sue over Vioxx settlement - Legal Newsline

►June 10, 2008 - You Discover Drugs And Dance? Perrigo Wants You (includes video) - Pharmalot

►June 10, 2008 - Promoting Healthy Adolescent Development: The View Through a Half-Full Looking Glass CME/CE (requires registration) - Medscape

►June 10, 2008 - AIDS Drugs Reaching More People in Developing World, U.N. Says - The Washington Post

►June 10, 2008 - Engineer Develops Detergent to Promote Peripheral Nerve Healing; 100 Patients Treated Successfully in First Year of Use - University of Texas at Austin via Biocompare

►June 10, 2008 - The Cause of All Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy Type II Cases Has Been Established - Mutations in a neuronal specific isoform of WNK1 cause this very serious disease - University of Montreal via Biocompare

►June 10, 2008 - Hox Genes Control the Path of Neurons Responsible for Development of the Nervous System - Public Library of Science via University of Montreal via Biocompare

►June 10, 2008 - Upstream Biosciences Expects Increased Interest From Big Pharma as FDA's Proposed Priority Review Voucher Program Is Implemented - Small Companies With Promising Drugs Could Benefit From Program to Encourage Development of Drugs to Fight Tropical Diseases - Upstream Biosciences via Market Wire via CNN Money

►June 10, 2008 - Wyeth To Announce Promising New Data For Enbrel(R) In Rheumatology - Wyeth via Medical News Today

►June 10, 2008 - Targacept launches Phase 2 trial - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - "Targacept has launched a new Phase 2 clinical trial of a drug it is developing in partnership with AstraZeneca that could be a future treatment for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD."

►June 9, 2008 - Most Biosimilars Would Need Clinical Trials, ASCO Tells House Panel - FDA Legislative Watch

►June 9, 2008 - Researchers Block the Transmission of Malaria in Animal Tests - By disrupting the potassium channel of the malaria parasite, a team of researchers has been able to prevent the malaria parasites from forming in mosquitoes and has thereby broken the cycle of infection during recent animal tests. - University of Copenhagen via Biocompare
 
►June 9, 2008 - Rutgers Researchers Show How the Brain Can Protect Against Cancer - Research could lead to therapeutic applications - Rutgers University via Biocompare

►June 8, 2008 - Study Identifies Brain Pathway that Shuts Down Seizures - University of Iowa via Biocompare

►June 8, 2008 - UCLA Researchers Develop New PET Scanning Probe That Will Allowing Monitoring of the Immune System - University of California - Los Angeles via Biocompare

►June 5, 2008 - 1 in 5 Adolescents are Not Sufficiently Protected Against Meningitis C - BMJ via Biocompare

►June 1, 2008 - Getting ‘brainy’ about epilepsy - A bit more about epilepsy ... - The Star, Malaysia

* ►June 2008 - The Innate Immune Response to Adjuvants Dictates the Adaptive Immune Response to Autoantigens. - journal article (Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology)

* ►June 2008 - Opportunistic immunisation of infants admitted to hospital: Are we doing enough? - journal article (Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health)

►June 2008 - Transient bilateral blindness and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: A rare complication of enuresis treatment - journal article (Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health)

►June 2008 - Radiation Protection and Safety in Pediatric Imaging - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►June 2008 - Advances in Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Injured Neonatal Brain - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►June 2008 - Fetal Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The Basics - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►June 2008 - Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) in Children - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►June 2008 - Pediatric Vascular Anomalies: The Role of Imaging and Interventional Radiology - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►June 2008 - Impaired Astrocytes and Diffuse Activation of Microglia in the Cerebral Cortex in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Macaques Without Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Encephalitis. - journal article (Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology)

►June 2008 - Imaging of Suspected Appendicitis: Appropriateness of Various Imaging Modalities - journal article (Pediatric Annals)

►June 2008 - The Risk of Death by Age, Sex, and Smoking Status in the United States: Putting Health Risks in Context - journal article (Journal of the National Cancer Institute)

►June 2008 - Postnatal weight and height growth velocities at different ages between birth and 5 y and body composition in adolescent boys and girls - journal article (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

►May 31, 2008 - A diagnostic score for molecular analysis of hereditary autoinflammatory syndromes with periodic fever in children. - journal article (Arthritis and Rheumatism)

►May 31, 2008 - Attitudes towards fibromyalgia: A survey of Canadian chiropractic, naturopathic, physical therapy and occupational therapy students - journal article (BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine)

* ►Anti-Vaccination Forces Get Much-Needed Shot in Arm - A British study supports the position of the anti-vaccination forces. - American Free Press - "A United Kingdom study—not widely disbursed in this country—says the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) has been linked to a rare bleeding disorder in children. According to research published Feb. 21, two out of every three cases of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), or bleeding under the skin, in the six weeks after MMR immunization are caused by the vaccine. This accounts for one child in every 22,300 in the UK given the MMR vaccine who were admitted to the hospital. The study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, was led by Dr. Elizabeth Miller of the Public Health Laboratory Service who has conducted extensive research into any adverse effects of the MMR vaccine."

►NAA's National Autism Conference - Fort Lauderdale, FL. November 13 -16, 2008

►June 12, 2008 - Iomai Vaccine Patch Prevented Travelers' Diarrhea, Study Finds - Bloomberg - "Three of the 59 people given the vaccine suffered moderate or severe diarrhea compared with 23 of 111 who received a placebo."

►June 12, 2008 - P1 polio virus detected in state after eight months - Times of India

►June 12, 2008 - NEW Background Articles - Gardasil: Women Hurt by Medicine - women tell their stories about 'cervical cancer vaccines'

►June 12, 2008 - Baby treated for meningococcal - A baby is being treated in the Canberra Hospital for meningococcal disease. - www.abc.net.au

►June 12, 2008 - Source of tainted tomatoes still unknown - Federal investigators are focusing on central Florida and Mexico but are hampered by the absence of bar codes or other ways to trace origin. (requires registration or subscription) - Los Angeles Times

►June 11, 2008 - FDA clears Florida and California tomatoes - CTV

►June 11, 2008 - FDA has tomato Salmonella reports in 17 states - Reuters

* ►June 11, 2008 - Parents protest school vaccination policy in Albany - Newsday - "Dozens of parents from Long Island and Westchester County rallied outside the Capitol yesterday, demanding legislation to protect their religious reasons for not vaccinating their children. Joined by Assemb. Marc Alessi, they asked for that decision to be left up to families. 'Medical decisions should be made for a child by a parent, not the state of New York,' Alessi (D-Wading River) told the crowd. 'I had a number of parents coming to me, talking to me about the religious waivers and how they were put on trial in their school district.'"

* ►June 11, 2008 - Exemption Bill Heats Up Vaccine Controversy - As the debate over mandatory vaccines continues, New York State Assemblyman Mark Alessi (D-Wading River) reaffirmed his plans to establish a roundtable event this summer to discuss the benefits and risks of immunizations. - Suffolk Life Newspapers - "'I am working to pass the philosophical exemption bill so parents can refuse vaccines based on philosophical grounds instead of religious,' said Rita Palma of Bayport. 'I was subjected to a 'sincerity test,' whereby a school attorney questioned my husband and I for two hours purportedly about our faith in God. Seventy-six percent of the questions had nothing to do with God.' Palma said she and her husband were ultimately denied the religious exemption 'along with almost every other couple in this town who applied.'"

* ►June 11, 2008 - Parents in New York call for choice on vaccinations - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - "Holding signs with slogans like 'Parents call the shots,' people from across the state rallied Tuesday against legislation that would increase the number of required childhood vaccinations and said they want more exemptions from the mandates."

* ►June 11, 2008 - A No-Brainer: Obey the M.D. With the Needle or My Conscience? by Barbara Loe Fisher - Vaccine Awakening

* ►June 11, 2008 - NVIC Vaccine E-Newsletter
 
A No-Brainer: Obey the M.D. With the Needle or My Conscience? by Barbara Loe Fisher

www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com
www.NVIC.org

I know and respect a number of enlightened medical doctors working with Moms and Dads as equal partners in making health care decisions for children, which may include making informed vaccination choices that do not necessarily conform with government policy. I also admire responsible, insightful journalists who do their homework and write astute and balanced articles about vaccine safety and informed consent to vaccination. However, these tend to be the exception and not the rule.

As the vaccination debate becomes more contentious and the divide continues to widen between those who worship at the alter of medical science and those who prefer to kneel at a different kind of alter, caught in the middle are ordinary Americans being forced to choose between obeying their conscience and obeying a medical doctor wielding a needle. Some journalists are desperate to be part of the intellectual elite calling the shots (no pun intended) and go to great lengths to characterize those, who place spiritual faith and conscientious beliefs above the doctor's orders, as ignorant. The desire to discredit people refusing to have blind faith in the opinion of a medical school graduate is most intense when it comes to the issue of vaccination.

During the past 26 years that I have studied and written about vaccination and the informed consent principle, I have been fascinated by the lack of knowledge that doctors giving orders and some journalists, who dutifully assist them in persuading others to follow orders, possess about the subject. Lacking knowledge, they often prefer to canonize medical doctors promoting use of multiple vaccines in early childhood and try to marginalize those who do not believe in non-evidence based pronouncements that "Vaccines are safe and effective and the benefits always outweigh the risks."

Despite the attempt by medical doctors heading up federal and state health agencies to persuade people that vaccination is, in fact, the new "sacrament" (brilliantly labeled by that medical heretic, the late great Robert Mendelsohn, M.D.), vaccination is a medical intervention performed on a healthy person that has the inherent ability to result in the injury or death of that healthy person.

There are hard facts to consider when making a vaccine decision:

1) There can be no guarantee that the deliberate introduction of killed or live microorganisms into the body of a healthy person will not compromise the health or cause the death of that person either immediately or in the future;

2) There are very few biological predictors that have been identified by medical science to give advance warning that injury or death may occur from vaccination;

3) There is no guarantee that a vaccine will, indeed, protect a person from contracting or transmitting an infectious disease; and

4) There is an absence of adequate scientific knowledge about the way vaccines singly or in combination act in the human body at the cellular and molecular level, including whether certain genes predispose some individuals to a greater risk than others for suffering vaccine injury or death.

Therefore, vaccination is a medical procedure that could reasonably be termed experimental each time it is performed on an individual, whether that individual is healthy or has an undiagnosed health condition or genetic predisposition that could raise the risk for being harmed by vaccination.

Further, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and drug companies marketing vaccines openly state that the number of human subjects used in pre-licensing studies are too small to detect all vaccine side effects. So mass use of a new vaccine after the federal government licenses it and recommends it is a de facto uncontrolled scientific experiment. In this regard, the ethical principle of informed consent attains even greater moral, medical and legal significance.

Although doctors take offence when their opinions are challenged, they REALLY get mad when an ordinary Mom questions the value of injecting vaccines into her child 48 times in the first six years of life (now, with the CDC's addition an annual influenza shot and more vaccinations to the adolescent vaccine schedule, it is 69 doses of 16 vaccines by age 18). The arrogant, patronizing response by those doctors, who are intent on mindlessly implementing government policy before taking into consideration the potential risks of vaccination for the 1 in 6 highly vaccinated child in America already suffering with immune or brain dysfunction, is to throw the mother and child out of the office.

It can be especially infuriating for the medical school graduate practicing pediatrics to be confronted by a Mom (or Dad) who knows more about the toxic components, potential high risk factors and life altering side effects of vaccines than they are getting paid by parents to know. But that outrage does not compare to the outrage of mothers and fathers being told by legislators doing the bidding of Big Pharma that an elitist group of CDC-appointed M.D.'s and Ph.D's holding a few meetings in Atlanta should be given the power to make state laws forcing children to get every new vaccine that the pharmaceutical industry creates and sells.

And this is where faith and reason comes in: the reconciliation of faith and reason that leads to a conviction which may be guided by prayer but is confirmed by conscience.

The club that medical doctors use to keep the people ignorant and bound to them by a golden chain from birth is fear: fear of microbes; fear of infection; fear of nature. Like primitives drawing menacing creatures on the walls of caves to ward off evil spirits, the men and women with M.D. written after their names get out their needles and poke them into babies to ward off the evil microbes they believe are out to get us. Giving themselves different names - vaccinologists, pediatricians, infectious disease specialists, public health officials - they are convinced they must fight a war with microbes and believe the only way to save humanity is to force everyone to get injected with more and more of those lab-altered microbes over and over and over again.

Then they tell us we must have faith that every time something bad happens after vaccination, it is only a "coincidence."

Let's see. Shall I consult the Merck Manual or the intelligence God gave me? Shall I obey the medical school graduate or my conscience?

For me and a lot of parents who have watched our once healthy children suffer life-altering vaccine reactions, it is no-brainer. I will stand up for the human right to use the intellect, heart and soul God gave me, pray for guidance, and obey my conscience when it comes to using a pharmaceutical product that could kill or injure me or my children. No government official or medical doctor has the moral authority to take my life or the life of my children to prop up a one-size-fits- all government policy that does not acknowledge biodiversity within the human species or respect individual human life.

 "Two weeks ago, a Northern Virginia-based group called the National Vaccine Information Center launched a campaign calling for "broad exemptions for medical, religious and conscientious belief reasons." According to Barbara Loe Fisher, the group's co-founder, "forcing vaccination is a violation of human rights.".....Fisher said her older son had a bad reaction to a childhood vaccine, and "I was very afraid that I would have another child this would happen to," though her pediatrician recommended the girl be immunized. "I prayed about whether God wanted me to do what this physician wanted me to do," she recalled. After a three-hour meeting, she said, her Lutheran pastor signed a statement in support of her exemption. "He said he didn't have to agree with me but that I had a sincere religious belief." School officials accepted it, she said. Although she is aware that some parents might manufacture religious objections, Fisher said she doesn't recommend it. "If you are going to take a religious exemption, you have to have a sincere belief and be true to the spirit and intent of religious exemption," she said. Maryland officials say they are watching immunization trends. Ed Hirshhorn, chief of the state's Vaccines for Children program, said that although he thinks the religious exemption requirement is "too easy," officials are reluctant to seek stronger requirements in the absence of an outbreak of disease or dramatic increase in parental refusal. "You're always opening Pandora's box," he said." - Sandra Boodman, Washington Post (June 10, 2008) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/06/AR2008060603770_pf.html

"It wasn't the boy I had a problem with. It was his mother. We had met a few months earlier, when I gave her 14-year-old son a diagnosis of mild asthma. I didn't mind her tough questions, but her tone of voice put me on edge. She seemed suspicious, almost angry. Still, in the end I decided she was just a smart, assertive parent, and I let it go..... This time, she was more confrontational. She complained she had been "forced" to bring in her son for a physical because his school needed a doctor's clearance before he could play sports.... bit my tongue and tried to tell her why I thought they belonged here. Yes, he was probably very healthy. But an annual checkup could help him learn to take charge of his own health as he grew up, and it would give me a chance to encourage healthy choices and to get a good sense of his emotional health during these challenging years. Finally, I pointed out, he was due for a tetanus booster....She was unimpressed. "I don't believe in preventive care," she said. "I'll treat him for tetanus if he needs it." The rest of the visit went more smoothly, mainly because Mom left the room so I could examine her son.....I thought about our conversation on the tetanus booster, when the mother said she didn't believe in preventive care. I'm a pediatrician - prevention is in my DNA. If I accepted her view, I'd be compromising my conscience and my professional ethics. I couldn't do that. I wrote a letter addressed to my patient's mother and sent by certified mail. I kept it brief: "Sometimes, a patient or family and doctor aren't compatible. ... Therefore, I will be dismissing you from my practice." - Rahul K. Parikh, M.D., New York Times (June 10, 2008)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/views/10case.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"I have four children and never vaccinated any of them," East Stroudsburg resident Susan Spannagel said. "I come from a holistic family. My father was a chiropractor and my family always had a natural approach to health." Parents have a choice regarding vaccinations and many are now speaking up on the subject. By the age of 6, most children have been injected with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation of 48 doses of 14 different vaccines, not including optional immunizations. With that number of shots, parents are taking a critical-thinking approach to vaccinations and making themselves aware of the pros and the cons.....The National Vaccination Information Center is another organization dedicated to vaccination issues. The nonprofit was founded in 1982 by Jeff Schwartz, Barbara Loe Fisher and Kathi William who are parents of vaccine-injured children. "We are parents whose kids were injured in the early '80s by the DTP vaccine. My son was injured at 2½ years old and was left with ADD and multiple learning disabilities," co- founder and president of NVIC Barbara Loe Fisher said. "We aren't necessarily anti-vaccination but are instead pro-education," Fisher said. Although Fisher said she feels that we have come a long way in public awareness, there is room for improvement. "My son had the vaccination and changed from a happy, high- functioning child to a sick child that regressed and no longer knew his alphabet or numbers. He became frustrated easily and was emotionally fragile. He stopped just short of autism," Fisher said. "I watch this now and it is happening in greater frequency. There is enough evidence now that vaccines can cause death or injuries." Holistic Family Healthcare in Hackettstown, N.J., is one of a few facilities in the region that provides natural medicine. "I am a primary care provider that allows my patients to not vaccinate. I do not offer vaccinations in my office," said Elaine Hardy, a family nurse practitioner and owner of the facility. "I think it needs to be a parent's choice, an informed choice. I am not against vaccinations at all. I am into doing it in a safe and controlled manner though." - Melanie Van Derveer, Pocono Record (June 2, 2008)
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/NEWS/806020315

* ►June 11, 2008 - Clarifying one point in vaccine debate - letter - Pocono Record - "I would like to clarify one point in the debate over vaccines: The CDC recommended, but did not require manufacturers to remove mercury in 1999. It took years to switch to reduced mercury-containing vaccines. No vaccines were ever recalled. Vaccines with mercury were on shelves well into 2004."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Gardasil Turns an Active 13 Year Old Into A Quadriplegic - Adventures in Autism

* ►June 11, 2008 - Two More Girls Die After Receiving Gardasil Cervical Cancer Vaccination - NaturalNews.com - "The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has reported that two young women died shortly after receiving Merck's Gardasil, a vaccine against several varieties of human papillomavirus (HPV)."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Gardasil Vaccine - A Study In Child Tragedy - The One Click Group

* ►June 11, 2008 - Schroyer Family Shares Story of Autistic Son Hayden on The Mtn - The two-part series will air on Friday, June 13 and Friday, June 20. - The 2008-09 season will be the second for Heath Schroyer as Wyoming's head coach. - CSTV.com - "MountainWest Sports Network, will feature a special story about Hayden Schroyer, the six-year-old son of Heath and Karen Schroyer, who was diagnosed with autism at an early age....Heath and Karen also discuss what they think was the cause of Hayden's autism: childhood vaccines administered to their son when he was 18 months old."

* ►June 11, 2008 - John Elder Robison: Before and After Experimental Autism Treatment by Kim Stagliano - Age of Autism

* ►June 11, 2008 - A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Rally by Harry Hofherr - Age of Autism - "It's often amazing what you might see and hear while hanging around our nation's capital."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Autism bill headed to Governor Jindal's desk - WAFB.com Baton Rouge - "House Bill 958, which would require insurers to cover evidence-based therapies for children with autism, passed the House and the Senate. The bill would require Louisiana healthcare policies to cover some treatments."

* ►June 11, 2008 - FDA reopens comment on mercury fillings for cavities - San Jose Mercury News - "Two years ago, Dr. David Biles videotaped a string of patients in his Santa Cruz dental office talking about what happened after he removed their mercury amalgam fillings. All of them reported they felt healthier; they said symptoms such as pain, high blood pressure and bleeding gums went away."

►June 11, 2008 - Mercury spills at LSSU. On purpose - SooToday.com - "Agencies from as far away as Ohio attended a mercury spill response workshop on LSSU's campus yesterday."

►June 11, 2008 - Film Festival showing to benefit autism groups - Maui News - "The movie “Beautiful Son,” a documentary about a couple’s journey to find help for their autistic child, will be shown as part of the Maui Film Festival on Saturday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s McCoy Theatre."

►June 11, 2008 - New School for Children With Autism To Open In 2009 - Chicago-Area School to Host Fundraising Gala On June 29, 2008 - press release - Soaring Eagle Academy via Business Wire

* ►June 11, 2008 - Once autistic, parents believe son is now cured - Sudbury Town Crier - "When Zack was 3 years old, doctors diagnosed his condition as 'mid-functioning' autism. He also suffered from liver dysfunction and had difficulty digesting food. Five years later and after his parents spent more than $400,000 out of pocket for Zack’s treatment, the boy smiles, relates and enjoys other children in his second grade class at Peter Noyes School in Sudbury. He plays on a Sudbury soccer team. He even has a best friend."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Do vaccines cause autism, asthma and diabetes? - New book helps parents weigh the evidence - Infectious Diseases Society of America via EurekAlert! - "To respond to these concerns about vaccine safety, the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii) writing team of Martin G. Myers, MD, and Diego Pineda have written a book titled, Do Vaccines Cause That?! A Guide for Evaluating Vaccine Safety Concerns."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Vaccines: Who Do You Trust? - Pediatrician Dr. Gwenn's perspective on this controversial topic of shots and autism. - MomLogic - "shannon on June 11, 2008 8:56 PM wrote:  All I can say, is that anyone who believes that Autism and vaccines arn’t linked somehow should come and spend time with my kids. I have a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy that are both Autistic, but they were both developing normally until they got the 1 year MMR shots. Within DAYS of that shot they both shut down and haven’t gotten any better. Tell me it’s just a coincidence, and I call you a liar."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Children given MMR jab declines - EADT.co.uk - "'The Department of Health should reinstate the single dose vaccine on the NHS so any parents concerned about the combination of three vaccines has the option to give the jabs individually.' Mrs Fletcher, whose 16-year-old son is severely brain damaged which she blames on the MMR jab, said 30 parents were registered with JABS who attributed the death of their children to the vaccine."

* ►June 11, 2008 - The New England Journal of Medicine Publishes Study Investigating the Safety and Efficacy of Baxter's Cell-Based Pandemic, Avian Flu Vaccine - First scientific, peer-reviewed publication showing the candidate vaccine induced neutralizing antibodies against widely divergent H5N1 virus - press release - Baxter International Inc. via PRNewswire-FirstCall - "CELVAPAN is manufactured in a cell culture-based system in Bohumil, Czech Republic, at one of the largest cell culture vaccine production facilities in the world. Vero cell technology uses a well-established cell line originally derived from African green monkey kidneys in 1962....Baxter's candidate avian flu vaccine is derived from the H5N1 strain A/Vietnam/1203/2004. Its antigen composition and structure are identical to the actual virus circulating in nature without the need to enhance an immune response by including adjuvants, additives that may cause side effects."

* ►June 11, 2008 - New Bird Flu Vaccine a Shot of Hope - Faster-to-Make Vaccine May Protect Against Multiple Bird Flu Strains - WebMD - "The biggest drawback to the new vaccine is that it must start with living, potentially deadly, wild-type strains of bird-flu virus. These viruses must be grown in biosafety level 3 laboratories. 'Could virus spread from a production facility and initiate an epidemic?' asks Dartmouth researcher Peter F. Wright, MD, in an editorial accompanying the Ehrlich report in the June 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Wright notes that polio vaccines are still being made with whole virus, and that no virus has yet escaped."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Elan says trial of Alzheimer's vaccine restarted - Reuters - "The suspension allowed Elan and partner Wyeth...to examine a potentially serious side effect suffered by one patient in the mid-stage trial. The patient was hospitalized with skin lesions that a lead researcher suspected was a case of vasculitis, an inflammation of blood vessels. Later on Wednesday, Elan spokesman Andrew Lewis said the trial was resumed after diagnostic tests failed to confirm vasculitis."

* ►June 11, 2008- AVANT Announces Vaccine Adjuvant Licenses with 3M - Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. via Business Wire via The Earth Times

* ►June 11, 2008 - Needle-free vaccine may stop Montezuma's Revenge - Reuters - "Even if travelers did get infected with the stomach bug, Iomai Corp.'s...experimental vaccine patch prevented severe illness, the researchers reported in the Lancet medical journal."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Norway provides $500,000 grant to India for TB vaccine research - TB is a leading causes of mortality in India with over 1,000 dying daily; the grant would be used to support scientific infrastructure development and clinical trials for new vaccines - Livemint

* ►June 11, 2008 - Cancer Vaccine Research Is Coming To Fruition, With A Number Of Products Now In Phase III Trials And 15 Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines Realistically Expected To Launch By 2013 - press release - Research and Markets via Business Wire - "At present, prophylactic vaccines dominate the cancer vaccine sector following the recent launches of Sanofi Pasteur MSD's Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix. We expect that sales of these vaccines will break through US$4 billion by 2011."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Brazil to start clinical test on vaccine against esophagus cancer - Xinhua via China View

* ►June 11, 2008 - Biovest Reports Blinded Results for Phase 3 Study Evaluating Anti-Cancer Vaccine, BiovaxID®, which Shows 100% Difference in Disease-Free Survival at 36 Months in the Comparative Arms - Final Unblinded Results Are Expected to Confirm Efficacy Of BiovaxID for the Treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma - press release - Biovest International, Inc. via Business Wire

* ►June 11, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline: Synflorix Vaccine Shows Improved Protection - Dow Jones via CNNMoney - "GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) Wednesday said its experimental pediatric vaccine Synflorix should offer protection for children against most pneumococcal diseases, citing data from a late-stage study....If successfully launched into the market, Synflorix would compete against Wyeth's (WYE) blockbuster pediatric vaccine Prevnar, which targets seven of the most prevalent pneumococcus strains."

►June 11, 2008 - Genentech: collaboration prompts speculation over infectious disease interests - Genentech and Symphogen are to join forces on infectious disease therapeutics. - Pharmaceutical Business Review

* ►June 11, 2008 - FDA official says plastic chemicals are safe to children - FoodConsumer.org - "Dr. Alderson told lawmakers that the FDA will continue keeping an eye on the concerns for both bisphenol A and phthalates because any conclusion could never be final."

* ►June 11, 2008 - U.S. Mortality Drops Sharply in 2006, Latest Data Show - Summary of Findings From the National Center for Health Statistics - ABC News

►June 11, 2008 - Death rates plunge, but chronic disease rises - Chicago Tribune Blog

►June 11, 2008 - GSK Cuts 40% Research Staff Due To Avandia Drug Crisis - The One Click Group

►June 11, 2008 - Congress Presses FDA on Investigations (free preview) - Wall Street Journal

►June 11, 2008 - Specter Says Bush Administration Is Hindering Quick FDA Funding (free preview) - Wall Street Journal

►June 11, 2008 - Alberta losing top public health docs just as West Nile virus season begins - The Canadian Press

►June 11, 2008 - Tetanus shots put on hold - WTHItv.com - "The Vigo County Health Department was offering tetanus shots for just $5 to anyone who wanted one. But as of one 1:00 p.m. this Wednesday they were completely out of the vaccine."

►June 11, 2008 - County health department administers tetanus shots in Worthington, Jasonville - Greene County Daily World

►June 11, 2008 - Flood Victims May Need Tetanus Shots - KAALtv.com

►June 11, 2008 - River continues to drop, tetanus shots offered to injured area residents - Waverly Newspapers

►June 11, 2008 - Vigo supply of tetanus shots depleted - Terre Haute Tribune Star

►June 11, 2008 - UP hit by shortage of tetanus vaccine - Expressindia

►June 11, 2008 - North Essex: Plea to parents over 'vital' jab - The Gazette, UK

►June 11, 2008 - Vaccines Limited Statewide/Immunizations Unavailable at New Student Orientation - University of Arkansas

►June 11, 2008 - Free Immunizations For Sixth Graders - A new law requires all children entering sixth grade to get a tetanus/diphtheria vaccine. - WFMY News 2 via Digtriad.com

* ►June 11, 2008 - PharmAthene CEO Participates on Panel at the 6th Annual Biodefense Vaccines & Therapeutics Conference in Washington DC - PharmAthene, Inc. via PRNewswire-FirstCall via PharmaLive

►June 11, 2008 - PATH Funds Genocea, Children’s Hospital - Boston to Create New Pneumococcal Vaccine (requires subscription) - Biotech Transfer Week

►June 11, 2008 - CDC Finally Begins Formal Investigation into Morgellons Disease - NaturalNews.com

►June 11, 2008 - Food safety on back burner - McClatchy Newspapers via Seattle Times

* ►June 11, 2008 - Panorama puts diseases under microscope - Program allows health officials to keep track of outbreaks, immunization records - Belleville Intelligencer - "Under Panorama, though, immunization records will follow people as they move from one province to another, Tucker said, making it easier for health officials to keep track of inoculations against diseases such as Hepatitis B."

* ►June 11, 2008 - Sublingual Immunotherapy With Aqueous Vaccine Controls Allergic Diseases: Presented at EAACI - Doctor's Guide

* ►June 11, 2008 - Hong Kong begins bird cull as H5N1 spreads - Reuters India

►June 11, 2008 - Bird flu outbreak reported in North Korea, South Korean aid group says - AP via International Herald Tribune

* ►June 11, 2008 - Rubella case confirmed - AP via WDAY.com - "State health officials have quarantined a Cass County man who contracted the first case of rubella in North Dakota in 17 years and say the risk of the case resulting in an outbreak is minimal. Officials have been tracking down people in several states who might have had contact with the man, and two people have been vaccinated as a precaution. Laboratory tests confirmed that the man has the illness, which also is known as German measles. Health officials said the man recently traveled to India, where he likely contracted the illness."

* ►June 11, 2008 - OUTBREAK: 19th Moses Lake measles case reported - Tri-City Herald

* ►June 11, 2008 - Today's health topic: New meningitis peril facing kids - The Mirror, UK - "Children are facing a threat from three new strains of meningitis C superbugs which are resistant to the current vaccine. Scientists at Imperial College London have identified the strains in the laboratory but so far no human cases have been reported."

►June 11, 2008 - Curbing hepatitis A - Although hepatitis A infection is rarely fatal, the suffering of those infected can be considerable. - Malaysia Star

►June 11, 2008 - Equine flu cases prompt call for vaccination - Horsetalk, New Zealand

* ►June 11, 2008 - No of Polio cases go up in Bihar - Expressindia - "'Though over five pulse polio rounds were carried out in Bihar in the last five months on which Rs 30 crore was spent, the cases of poliomyelitis is on the rise,' the sources said. According to medical experts, the most agonising part of the polio drive is that though a majority of the affected children were administered around seven doses of polio vaccine, the cases are maintaining a rising trend."

►June 11, 2008 - Cancer-killing Viruses Influence Tumor Blood-vessel Growth - Ohio State University Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS via ScienceDaily

►June 11, 2008 - CDC links earlier Salmonella outbreak to dry dog food - Consumer Reports

►June 11, 2008 - On The Brain - Dallas Morning News

►June 11, 2008 - Head of UN Program on HIV/AIDS, Peter Piot Withdrawing - eFluxMedia

►June 11, 2008 - The evolution of AIDS - opinion - National Post

►June 11, 2008 - Two decades of public health service - Cassville Democrat

►June 11, 2008 - Letter: Don't forget rattlesnake vaccination - Chico Enterprise-Record

►June 11, 2008 - Merial win vaccine tender - DEFRA has announced that it is placing an order with Merial to deliver 13 million doses of Bluetongue serotype 8 vaccine, eight million for use in England and five million for use in Wales. - Farmers Guardian

* ►June 10, 2008 - Cases - Showing the Patient the Door, Permanently (requires registration) - The New York Times - "I thought about our conversation on the tetanus booster, when the mother said she didn’t believe in preventive care. I’m a pediatrician — prevention is in my DNA. If I accepted her view, I’d be compromising my conscience and my professional ethics. I couldn’t do that. I wrote a letter addressed to my patient’s mother and sent by certified mail. I kept it brief: 'Sometimes, a patient or family and doctor aren’t compatible. ... Therefore, I will be dismissing you from my practice.'"

* ►June 10, 2008 - Could New FDA Rules Curb Drug Profiteering? - A GAO investigation has one drug industry insider squirming. - AlterNet

* ►June 10, 2008 - Top Psychiatric Researcher Dr. Biederman Caught Lying about $1.6 Million in Drug Money; Performed Medical Experiments on Children - NaturalNews.com - "But rather than being arrested for criminal behavior, Dr. Biederman and another colleague caught in the same financial scandal have been 'referred to a university conflict committee for review,' reports the New York Times. In other words, their punishment might consist of nothing more than sitting on a couch in a room with other corrupt psychiatric industry leaders who will discuss the issue and do nothing in response. (Dr. Biederman will likely not even be fired from his job...)"

* ►June 10, 2008 - Anti-Psychotic Drugs Found Useless on Patients with Learning Disabilities - NaturalNews.com

►June 10, 2008 - Days of our Lives to Tell Profound Story of a Family who Discovers their Son has Autism - Soapdom.com

►June 10, 2008 - Pfizer, Wyeth, Schering-Plough, Eli Lilly, and Others Explain How They Gain Control of an International Cold Chain - International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC) - press release - PharmiWeb

►June 10, 2008 - Doctor: West Nile Fever Often Overlooked In Children - NBC5i.com

* ►June 10, 2008 - Vaccine shortage limits rabies shots to people in immediate danger - A shortage of vaccine means only those in immediate danger will receive the series of shots, state health officials say. - Minneapolis Star Tribune

* ►June 9, 2008 - Researchers’ disclosure of Lilly payments probed - Indianapolis Business Journal

* ►June 9, 2008 - Sunbathing and sex to blame for rise in teenage cancer rates - Rates of skin and cervical cancer are on the rise among teenagers fuelled by an increase in excessive sunbathing and young people having unprotected sex, experts warned. - The Telegraph, UK

►June 9, 2008 - Hospitals test flu plans - AP via Barre Montpelier Times Argus

►June 9, 2008 - Artificial virus silences genes - Chemistry World via Royal Society of Chemistry

* ►June 9, 2008 - Lyme disease vaccine as example of government corruption - OpEdNews via National Lyme Report

* ►June 8, 2008 - Space-station experiments could hold key to food-poisoning vaccine - Orlando Sentinel

►June 8, 2008 - Regulatory Bodies including FDA, EPA and ECB to Present at the Lhasa Limited Symposium on New Horizons in Toxicity Prediction - The Lhasa Symposium is to feature presentations by representatives of several major regulatory bodies from around the globe including the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), European Chemicals Bureau (ECB), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Japanese National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) and the Italian National Institute of Health. - PRWeb

►June 8, 2008 - Prescription for Disaster/Preemption and the FDA - InjuryBoard.com

* ►June 7, 2008 - UN revises AIDS deaths’ estimates - New, more accurate United Nations estimates of HIV/AIDS cases worldwide reveal that deaths from the global epidemic have started to decline slightly. But there is no room for complacency, especially in Africa, where the disease persists at “nightmare” levels. - Africa Science News Service

* ►June 5, 2008 - Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan - Institute of Medicine - "Meetings - "The Institute of Medicine Committee on Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan will hold the first of five workshops with national stakeholders on July 24, 2008 in Chicago."

►June 2, 2008 - New Immunization Requirements Given For Sixth-Grade Students - WXII12.com Winston-Salem - "Effective Aug. 1, each student must have a booster dose of Tdap, tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis. This is required if five or more years have passed since the last dose of tetanus/diphtheria toxoid."

►June 2, 2008 - IAC Express Issue number 734 - Immunization Action Coalition

* ►June 2, 2008 - Pandemic Flu Vaccine Program: More Transparency Needed - Project on Government Oversight

* ►April 8, 2008 - CDC Under Attack for “Losing” Negative Vaccine Data - Wellness Resources

* ►January 24, 2008 - EMEA statement on the safety of Gardasil (pdf) - press release - The European Medicines Agency - "The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has received reports of deaths in women who had previously received Gardasil, including two reports concerning the sudden and unexpected deaths of two young women in the European Union (EU)."

* ►2008 - Initial Guidance for an Update of the National Vaccine Plan: A Letter Report to the National Vaccine Program Office - Authors: Committee on the Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan, Institute of Medicine - www.nap.edu

* ►Gardasil: Women Hurt by Medicine - women tell their stories about 'cervical cancer vaccines' - blog