* ►November 28, 2007 - Challenge for health staff - The Telegraph, India - "Children will be immunised against six diseases — diphtheria, tetanus, measles, polio, tuberculosis and whooping cough — and pregnant women will be given two tetanus toxide injections during the course of the week."

►November 28, 2007 - The great Indian cancer drug rush - Companies are tight-lipped about what’s cooking in their research departments in terms of cancer drugs - Wall Street Journal via livemint

* ►November 28, 2007 - Simple measures 'may thwart flu' - Simple physical measures, such as handwashing and wearing masks, could play a key role in blocking the spread of a flu pandemic, say researchers. - BBC - "Researcher Dr Tom Jefferson said: 'Worried about the flu? Then we have some good news for you. 'Wash your hands, and if it is a really bad epidemic avoid contact with people and keep your distance. You may even consider wearing paper masks and disposable gloves. They work.'"

* ►November 27, 2007 - Autism Controversy: The CDC Responds (includes video) - 11Alive.com - "A week after 11Alive's series on autism, the CDC responded with a sit-down interview with 11Alive's Jaye Watson."

* ►November 27, 2007 - Why Age of Autism Exists -- Exhibit A: Merck and Reuters - Age of Autism - "If you want to know why those concerned about autism deserve an alternative to the mainstream media, look no further than the announcement today that the CEO of Reuters Group PLC, Thomas Glocer, has joined the board of Merck. Many of us who believe autism is an environmental illness -- and vaccines likely play an unacknowledged role -- have long commented on the seeming sheepishness of Big Media. When you look at the amount of pharma advertising propping up the newsweeklies and the evening news, and notice how credulous their coverage of this issue is, it's hard not to suspect the worst."

* ►November 27, 2007 - Bottom Line Fuels Your Child's Healthcare - Age of Autism - "Will pediatricians embrace every new vaccine lock, stock and barrel? Or will they finally come to the defense of our children and say, 'ENOUGH!' Will someone with MD PhD after her name at NIH or CDC or FDA or AAP have the courage to say, 'Is the sum of the whole vaccination schedule worse than its parts?'  Has ANYONE ever tested the vaccines in total for their combined effect on the body?  Even this mother with a mere Bachelor's degree (Go BC Eagles!) asks, 'Can we really expect to vaccinate ourselves into a reduction of specific disease without unintended consequences on the body as a whole?'"

* ►November 27, 2007 - Designation of UN Day could boost efforts to raise awareness about autism - UN News Centre - "If adopted by the 192-member Assembly, World Autism Awareness Day will be observed annually on 2 April beginning in 2008. 'Combating autism is going to require worldwide effort. It is not politically, geographically or economically centred. It is an equal destroyer,' said Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks, a United States-based non-governmental organization that works to raise awareness of autism and fund research for its causes, prevention and treatment."

* ►November 27, 2007 - HHS Secretary Leavitt Announces Members of the New Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee - press release - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via PRNewswire-USNewswire

* ►November 27, 2007 - Report: Autism rates soar - FinalCall.com - "On Oct. 28, 2007, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, during a live address delivered from Mosque Maryam in Chicago, Ill. told the country that his research team had discovered there were soaring rates of autism due to vaccines. The following day Oct. 29, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released two reports regarding the need for increased and better screening of toddlers for autism."

►November 27, 2007 - Jenny McCarthy Highlights Autism in Holiday Show - Star Focuses on Food's Role in Treating Autism - The Daily Green

►November 27, 2007 - In Depth: Teacher works with autistic students - CBS 42 Austin

* ►November 27, 2007 - USF makes meningitis vaccine a must - The Gradebook via Tampabay.com - "USF President Judy Genshaft sent a letter over the Thanksgiving break to about 36,000 students, notifying them of the new policy. Genshaft, a mother of two, demanded the vaccine be made mandatory after Rachel Futterman’s September death, which also prompted the board that oversees Florida's 11 universities to examine vaccine policies statewide."

* ►November 27, 2007 - District admits unvaccinated kids - Fearing a lawsuit, the superintendent of schools has admitted two students to the district whose parents have refused their immunization shots. The parents say the vaccinations are against their religion. - The Independent via www.zwire.com - "Though the state Education Department requires all students entering public school receive vaccines for polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox and hepatitis-B, Superintendent Douglas Hamlin said the district would face a long battle in court if he excluded them, because denial would violate their constitutional rights. 'There would certainly be litigation,' he said. 'My lawyer said we would not win.'"

* ►November 27, 2007 - Pfizer case in Nigeria adjourned on technicalities - Reuters South Africa - "A Nigerian court adjourned civil and criminal cases brought by the federal government against U.S. drugmaker Pfizer over technicalities on Tuesday."

* ►November 27, 2007 - Handwashing more useful than drugs in virus control - Reuters - "Physical barriers, such as regular handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns, may be more effective than drugs to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS, a study has found. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, came as Britain announced it was doubling its stockpile of antiviral medicines in preparation for any future flu pandemic."

* ►November 27, 2007 - Get a flu shot without mercury - letter - Post-Bulletin

* ►November 27, 2007 - Health Officials Say People Should Get Flu Shots - AP via First Coast News - "They say studies have concluded flu shots for children are safe, even though about 90 percent of the vaccines contain mercury."

►November 27, 2007 - Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Khan Encourages Arizonans to Get Vaccinated Against Influenza - press release - American Lung Association via PRNewswire via EarthTimes.org

* ►November 27, 2007 - Doctors urge children, parents to get flu shot - NBC2 News Online - "Young Breanne Palmer got the flu in December 2003 and within 24 hours she was rushed to the hospital. Two days before Christmas, she died. Now Breanne's mom, Denise Palmer, works to educate other parents on the importance of getting annual flu shots."

►November 27, 2007 - Children's Flu Vaccination Day is today - Health Department, Super Shot offer free flu vaccine for children - KPCnews.com

►November 27, 2007 - Children's Flu Vaccination Day (includes video) - WISH TV 8 Indianapolis

►November 27, 2007 - Physicians offer reasons to get flu vaccination - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

►November 27, 2007 - National Influenza Vaccination Week Brings Attention And Pro-Active Solution To Upcoming Flu Season - National Association of Chain Drug Stores via Medical News Today

►November 27, 2007 - Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition Encourages Vaccination Throughout the Influenza Season - press release - Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition via PRNewswire via EarthTimes.org

►November 27, 2007 - Good News Clinic receives boost for fighting flu, pneumonia - Gainesville Times

►November 27, 2007 - Call in for a free flu jab - Northwich Guardian via This is Cheshire

* ►November 27, 2007 - Biotech company gets funding for avian flu vaccine - The Coloradoan - "InViragen, a small biotechnology company in Fort Collins, received a two-year $600,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to work with the University of Wisconsin to develop a safe and effective avian flu vaccine. The grant will fund construction and testing of novel vaccines designed to protect against the H5N1 avian flu virus. 'This new project combines Inviragen’s expertise in genetic engineering of vaccines for respiratory diseases with the influenza expertise at the University of Wisconsin,' InViragen CEO Dan Stinchcomb said in a statement."

* ►November 27, 2007 - Computer Sciences, Baxter Get $201.2 Million Contract Modification - Dow Jones Newswires via CNNMoney - "Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) said its DynPort Vaccine Co. unit and Baxter International Inc. (BAX) received a $201.2 million contract modification from the Department of Health and Human Services for the development of Baxter's cell-cultured seasonal and pandemic influenza candidate vaccines."

►November 27, 2007 - Baxter flu vaccine contract extended (requires registration or subscription) - Chicago Tribune - "The contracts show, Baxter executives say, continued support for new cell-based flu vaccine production technologies. In recent years, egg-based production technologies have come under fire when there are production problems and shortages."

►November 27, 2007 - FDA advisers back stronger flu drug warnings - Reuters

►November 27, 2007 - U.S. experts mull flu drugs, abnormal behavior link - Reuters Health

* ►November 27, 2007 - Tamiflu, Relenza Need New Warnings, US Panel Says - Bloomberg

►November 27, 2007 - MIMS Summary: HPV vaccine recommended for immunisation programme - The government has announced the introduction of a human papilloma virus (HPV) immunisation programme starting in September 2008. - Healthcare Republic

►November 27, 2007 - Norfolk County : 52% of Local Girls Getting HPV Vaccine - CD98.9 Norfolk

* ►November 27, 2007 - CU Doctor Works On Breast Cancer Vaccine (includes video) - CBS 4 Denver - "Doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center are already testing breast cancer vaccines created from a woman's own breast cancer cells."

* ►November 27, 2007 - No one caught TB flying with Andrew Speaker - CDC, Canadian tests of passengers come up negative (requires registration or subscription) - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►November 27, 2007 - Young adults need a booster - High River Times

►November 27, 2007 - Cold virus turns nasty (requires subscription for full article) - New Scientist

►November 27, 2007 - Clinics offer free 'catch-up' immunisations to youth - A series of free immunisation catch-up clinics will be held on the north coast this week. - www.abc.net.au

* ►November 27, 2007 - Merck to build $297 mln vaccine plant in Ireland - Reuters - "'The new Carlow facility, which will be the first stand-alone human vaccine project in Ireland, will involve a formulation and sterile filling operation and an R&D (research and development) team to support a number of recently launched vaccines and new products in the future,' the statement added."

►November 27, 2007 - Measles immunization campaign launched to combat child mortality - Yemen Observer

►November 27, 2007 - Parents urged to immunise against measles - BUPA, UK

►November 27, 2007 - Gates Foundation, Rotary pledge $200 million to fight polio - Gates Foundation puts up a $100 million for Rotary to match in fundraising (requires registration or subscription) - Chicago Tribune

* ►November 27, 2007 - Endemic Cholera Can Be Controlled With Oral Vaccines, Study Shows -  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center via Science Daily

* ►November 27, 2007 - Pneumococcal Vaccine Prevented Disease Despite Low Coverage - American Journal of Preventive Medicine via MedPage Today

►November 27, 2007 - Vaccines' benefits not always accepted - Jackson Clarion-Ledger

►November 27, 2007 - Media Sometimes Expresses Wrong Idea About New Drugs, Op-Ed Says - www.kaisernetwork.org

►November 27, 2007 - eDispense™ Vaccine Manager to Process Physician Administration Fees for Vaccines Covered under Medicare Part D - press release - Dispensing Solutions, Inc. via Business Wire

* ►November 27, 2007 - Sydion's Emergency Patient/People Tracking System is used for Mass Vaccination exercise for Pandemic Flu Disaster - Stanislaus County Health Services Agency deploys Sydion's Mobile Crisis Management Suite® to track patients during a mass vaccination study for the Centers for Disease Control - Sydion, LLC via PR-inside

►November 27, 2007 - Akorn and Cipla team up again - Specialty pharmaceutical company Akorn has signed up with India-based Cipla in an exclusive manufacturing and supply agreement for an undisclosed inhaled drug. - In-PharmaTechnologist.com

* ►November 27, 2007 - What determines Junior's DNA? - Environmental stressors can put babies at higher risk of diseases such as diabetes, research shows (requires registration or subscription) - Toronto Star - "But a new field of science is showing us that almost every aspect of our environment – from stress to our food to toxin exposure – can affect our genetic makeup in ways that can affect our bodies, and those of the next generation, for life. It is called epigenetics and it refers to any process that alters the gene activity in a strand of DNA without changing the genes themselves. And it means DNA can no longer be thought of as a biological inheritance passed from parent to child."

* ►November 27, 2007 - A Theory That Raises Questions - Schizophrenia Risk May Start in Womb (requires registration) - Washington Post - "...the newest studies suggest the culprit may not be infections such as the flu per se, but pregnant mothers' immune reactions to such infections. Current guidelines recommend that pregnant women get a flu shot -- and the point of the flu vaccine is to set off an immune reaction. If the risk for schizophrenia is increased as a result of maternal antibodies, might protecting mom and baby from the flu raise the risk the child could get schizophrenia years down the road?....Patterson said he also hoped to see new epidemiological studies that specifically looked at whether pregnant women given flu shots had offspring with a higher risk of schizophrenia than pregnant women who did not receive flu shots. 'It is true that vaccinations do not cause the same degree of immune activation as an infection,' he said. 'But if you are recommending universal vaccinations for every woman who is pregnant, you are asking for increased risk for schizophrenia because some women are going to have a very strong reaction.'"

►November 27, 2007 - Separating Friend From Foe Among the Body’s Invaders - book review (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Good Germs, Bad Germs - Health and Survival in a Bacterial World. By Jessica Synder Sachs. Hill & Wang."

►November 27, 2007 - Student spills mercury, causing evacuation of middle school - The Arizona Republic

►November 27, 2007 - Amorfix Life Sciences discovers common link between ALS and Alzheimer's Disease - press release - Amorfix Life Sciences via CNW Group

►November 27, 2007 - In Rats with Glioma, Angiogenesis Inhibitor Plus Antitumor Virus Boosts Activity - Journal of the National Cancer Institute via MedPage Today

►November 27, 2007 - Blood-vessel Blocker Aids Cancer-killing Virus - Ohio State University via ScienceDaily

►November 27, 2007 - Sigma-Aldrich Announces Launch of a New Antibodies Catalog - Fully indexed listing includes over 4,000 antibody products with documented and reproducible data - press release - Sigma-Aldrich via PRNewswire-FirstCall via CNNMoney

►November 27, 2007 - HIV/AIDS Is Washington's 'Modern Epidemic' - Tell Me More via NPR

►November 27, 2007 - Ingenuity inks $6M deal with FDA - San Francisco Business Times - "The company will work with the FDA under this three-year agreement to improve the way drugs are tested to see if they are toxic."

►November 27, 2007 - Environmental groups slam lifting of GM ban - The Greens and environmental groups have condemned the lifting of a ban on genetically-modified (GM) canola crops in New South Wales and Victoria. - www.abc.net.au

►November 27, 2007 - Warning of rabbit virus outbreak - Rabbit owners in the Bristol area are being warned of a possible outbreak of myxomatosis after four cases were treated by one veterinary practice. - BBC

* ►November 26, 2007 - Get a mumps shot or risk calamity, students told - Immunization campaign kicks off at colleges and university - Edmonton Journal via www.canada.com - "Capital Health launched its mumps vaccination campaign today by urging post-secondary education students to get their free shots to avoid possible sterility, deafness and meningitis."

* ►November 26, 2007 - Hard choices on healthcare - A national political fight, one middle-class Southern California family . . . What the debate about children’s health insurance looks like up close. (requires registration or subscription) - Los Angeles Times

►November 26, 2007 - Flu vaccine a gift for yourself - Gloucester County Times via www.nj.com

►November 26, 2007 - Flu Vaccination is Important (includes video) - www.kfyrtv.com

►November 26, 2007 - Meridian Bioscience gets FDA OK for Tru Flu, Tru RSV tests - Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex via CNNMoney

►November 26, 2007 - Nigeria: How Health Can Create Wealth - This Day (Lagos) via http://allafrica.com - "When the world becomes free of polio, Rotary International's role as the catalyst for Global Polio Eradication Initiative which it initiated in 1985 before the World Assembly adopted it in 1988 will be written in gold."

►November 26, 2007 - Gates Foundation gives $100 million more to eradicate polio - Gates Foundation grant a match to Rotary's effort - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

►November 26, 2007 - GlaxoSmithKline reportedly threatened diabetes expert over Avandia warnings - www.newstarget.com

►November 26, 2007 - Renegade School Board Member Educates Parents On ADHD Alternatives - www.newstarget.com

►November 26, 2007 - Merck says Reuters chief to join board - Reuters

►November 26, 2007 - Merck & the Media - CNBC

►November 26, 2007 - Sonoma County Health department warns about 'whooping cough' (requires registration or subscription) - San Jose Mercury News

►November 26, 2007 - Inquiry hears of pathologists chaotic work practices - CanWest News Service via www.canada.com - "Government officials viewed him at the time as the go-to autopsy expert for suspicious child deaths in Ontario, a 'guru' with no equal in the province or maybe all of Canada."

►November 25, 2007 - Fighting the flu bug - Shot or spray, the time for vaccine is now (requires registration) - Sacramento Bee

►November 25, 2007 - Fla. Student's Allergy Leads To Peanut Butter Ban - WKMG Orlando

►November 25, 2007 - Study: Kids Will Eat Healthy School Food (requires registration) - AP via Washington Post

►November 24, 2007 - Doctors see an increase in pneumonia cases (includes video) - KY3

►November 20, 2007 - Protein Suppresses Allergic Response In Mice - NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases via ScienceDaily

►November 15, 2007 - AIDS Groups File Complaint Over Merck AIDS Drug Access in South Africa - FDAnews

►November 11, 2007 - Consumers Won’t Know What They’re Missing (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "As of Jan. 1, Pennsylvania is banning labels on milk and dairy products that say it comes from cows that haven’t been treated with artificial bovine growth hormone, which is sometimes known as rBGH or rBST."

* ►"Secrets to Biomedical Interventions - The Most Common Beneficial Therapies" - Free Web Presentation. Presented by Kurt Woeller, DO (DAN! physician) Thursday, November 29 - Great Plains Laboratory

* ►December 3, 2007 - Illinois judge voids cap on liability awards - The case heads to the state Supreme Court, which twice before declared noneconomic damage limits unconstitutional. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►December 3, 2007 - Insurers agree to more transparent physician ratings - Two more health plans reach an accord with the New York attorney general to submit their tiered networks to outside scrutiny. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►December 3, 2007 - Putting the quality in rankings - An agreement between the New York attorney general and Cigna promises to curtail flawed systems that rank physicians more on cost than on care. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►December 3, 2007 - Doctors gain insight from theater training - Virginia residents learn to read body language to give patients better care. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: AMA to renew fight for Medicare balance billing - Some physicians say patients understand that they are struggling with practice costs and would accept balance billing. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - World of medicine gets smaller, flatter - A message to all physicians from Edward L. Langston, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - Maryland county idea offers access for uninsured - Organizers of "Healthy Howard" are negotiating with specialists to complete a new health care network. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: Principles aimed at better physician-hospital relations - The new policy could help doctors resist what they perceive as hospital leaders' attempts to undermine physician autonomy and interfere with patient care. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: Consent should be required for HIV testing, AMA says - Delegates also recommend legislation allowing doctors to provide STD therapies for patients to give their partners. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: CEJA to study doctors' duty to guarantee access - The ethics body also tackled conflicts of interest in sports medicine. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - Surgical safety device is his invention, but ENT is what he does - After becoming concerned about wrong-site surgery, a St. Louis doctor invented a device to keep patients safe. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: AMA guidelines say health reform should be universal, offer choice of benefits - The Association supports state efforts to cover the uninsured. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: Delegates seek tax credit to help pay for EMRs - Also, the AMA will develop contracting guidelines for doctors who accept health IT donations from hospitals. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: Efforts renewed for physician antitrust relief - AMA delegates said physicians need legislative reforms to create a foundation for fair contract negotiations. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - Trained interpreters: a necessary expense - Why should doctors provide interpreter services, and how can they afford to? - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - State boards keep an eye on medical spas - A Massachusetts task force may provide a model for other boards to follow. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - University of California system loses tuition-hike appeal - The California Court of Appeals upholds a $33.8 million award to medical students and others. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - AMA meeting: Tax deductions vs. credits - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - PHR: Pretty Half-hearted Reception - Despite the abundance of personal health record systems, patients have been slow to adopt them. But new technology and an expanded scope may change this. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - Pain care urged as a priority for wounded, returning veterans - Physicians are called upon to stop pain to prevent lasting changes in the nervous system and a downward spiral toward disability. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - Lymphedema no longer rare, still underdiagnosed - Climbing rates of obesity may be adding to the burdens of the lymphatic system and boosting the number of cases of lymphedema. - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - Letters to the Editor - Proposed law would rework residency spending to increase primary care - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - News in brief: Health & Science - Hypertension vaccine shows promise - Major stroke risk increases after TIA - New education program focuses on teens with type 2 diabetes - Lower socioeconomic status may reduce antidepressants' effectiveness - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - News in brief: Government & Medicine - House fails to override veto of HHS spending bill - Improper Medicare payments drop - Federal appeals court to rule on Virginia abortion ban - www.ama-assn.org

►December 3, 2007 - News in brief: Professional Issues - Pa. medical liability climate improves, governor says - New DEA rule allows extended scripts - www.ama-assn.org

* ►December 2007 - Human papilloma virus vaccine - more than a vaccine. - journal article (Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology) - "Many countries have embarked on vaccination programmes to target prevention and media attention has continued unabated. Studies show promising results regarding vaccine acceptance and cost-effectiveness. Who we vaccinate and the quality of campaign materials used now have the potential to alter the very effectiveness of these vaccines as primary preventive tools."

►December 2007 - In Vitro Efficacy of New Antifolates against Trimethoprim-Resistant Bacillus anthracis - journal article (Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy)

►December 2007 - ADHD Symptoms and Subtypes: Relationship Between Childhood and Adolescent Symptoms. - journal article (Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry)

►December 2007 - Maternal breast-milk and intestinal bifidobacteria guide the compositional development of the Bifidobacterium microbiota in infants at risk of allergic disease - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

►December 2007 - Pediatric onset Crohn's colitis is characterized by genotype-dependent age-related susceptibility - journal article (Inflammatory Bowel Diseases)

►December 2007 - Rising hospitalization rates for inflammatory bowel disease in the United States between 1998 and 2004 - journal article (Inflammatory Bowel Diseases)

►December 2007 - A 10% ready-to-use intravenous human immunoglobulin offers potential economic advantages over a lyophilized product in the treatment of primary immunodeficiency - journal article (Clinical & Experimental Allergy)

►December 2007 - Headaches. - journal article (Current Opinion in Pediatrics)

* ►November/December 2007 - Immunization Information Systems: National Vaccine Advisory Committee Progress Report, 2007. - journal article (Journal of Public Health Management & Practice)

* ►November/December 2007 - Potential for Improving Age-Appropriate Vaccination Coverage by Maximizing the 18-Month Well-Child Visit. - journal article (Journal of Public Health Management & Practice) - "Taking full advantage of the recommended 18-month-old well-child visit to administer missing vaccines would be a strategically timed opportunity to achieve high age-appropriate UTD coverage in preschool children."

►November 27, 2007 - Social development v2.0? - Economic Times, India - "A shining example of creative capitalism in public health is the concept of an ‘Advance Market Commitment,’ an advance bulk order for drugs and vaccines that are today nonexistent."

►November 27, 2007 - Danger of Hepaptitis-B [sic] - The Department of Health's relaxed stance on hep-B needs urgent review - letter - The Times, UK

* ►November 26, 2007 - Scandals: A Half-Truth In The Vaccination Era - Serious Measles and the Role the Measles Vaccine Plays in Preventing It - Vaccination News - "Buying the party line is a most serious abnegation of responsibility when practiced by the media, for it is their job to ferret out the truth.  Granted it is not always easy.  But a half-truth can be just as misleading and irresponsible as an outright lie.  Maybe even more so.  A recent example from the UK perfectly exemplifies this point."

* ►November 26, 2007 - NVIC E-news www.nvic.org  www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com

NY Punishes Doc, MD Threatens Parents for Vaccine Refusal by Barbara Loe Fisher

Last month, the state of New York slapped a $10,000 fine and State-ordered supervision of a pediatrician practicing in the Upper West of New York City, who helped parents get their children in school without all the state-mandated vaccines. Pediatrician Mark Nesselson said he did it because of the parents' and his concerns about the long term health risks of giving children so many vaccines. He is quoted in the Nov. 25 New York Post as saying "The central issue has not gone away. For me, that is the merit behind mandating immunizations that start so early, that are so numerous."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11252007/news/regionalnews/needle_nos_doc_slapped_277737.htm.

The report of New York State officials punishing a pediatrician with fines for failing to vaccinate children comes on the heels of media reports last week chronicling the actions by Maryland State officials punishing parents, whose children had not shown proof of hepatitis B and chickenpox vaccinations, with threats of fines and jail time.
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/METRO/111200050/1004 and
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1119/p02s04-ussc.html.

There is a spirited public discussion taking place on the website boards of print and broadcast media outlets reporting on doctors and parents, who are being threatened and harassed by state government officials for failing to get all state mandated vaccines. It is clear that a growing number of Americans do not like being forced to get so many vaccines for their children. When 1 in every 100 to 150 American child develops autism and 1 in 6 is learning disabled and 1 in 9 has asthma, it is no wonder that American parents are asking: Why are so many of our highly vaccinated children so sick? And it is no wonder more parents and enlightened physicians are seeking ways to make vaccine choices that do not conform with one-size-fits-all federal vaccine policy recommendations and state vaccine mandates.

Whenever the heel of the boot of the State is used to crush legitimate dissent, the more people will question why it is necessary to keep the people in chains. For more than 25 years, the parents of vaccine injured children have been calling on public health officials to institute vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the US mass vaccination system so that Americans can make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination. The public health crisis today is very much about one-size-fits-all vaccine policies that compel children to use dozens of doses of vaccines that have not protected their long term good health.

* ►November 26, 2007 - It's Hard Out There For A Pimp - Day Thirteen of the Autism Omnibus Proceeding – Hazlehurst v. the Secretary of Health and Human Services - Age of Autism - "Mrs. Hazlehurst then turned to Yates’ February 8, 2001 doctor’s visit.  He was ill that day and she questioned the nurse as to whether he should have his vaccinations because of his illness, and also because he’d just been given an anti-biotic for an ear infection.  The nurse told her it was fine. At his first birthday party three days later Mrs. Hazlehurst remembered him looking typical, but dazed, and this was documented on videotape."

* ►November 26, 2007 - Anti-polio drive gets $200m boost - The global campaign to eradicate polio has been given a grant of $200m (£97m) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International. - BBC

* ►November 26, 2007 - Vaccine for HPV is another weapon - Courier Press - "Gardasil has been tested extensively, and no serious side effects have been identified. Some girls who have had this shot say that it hurts more than other immunizations, but that it's nothing they can't handle. (Interestingly, in my experience, far more boys than girls complain about shots. Go girl power!)"

* ►November 26, 2007 - Flu crisis looms - It's when, not if, warns one of our top doctors - Belfast Telegraph

* ►November 26, 2007 - Prof's book battles bacteria - The Rocky Mountain Collegian - "Children especially need to be exposed to bacteria. Without early infections, people and other mammals don't develop normal immune, digestive or nervous systems. In the name of protecting children, parents may actually be hurting them by over-sterilizing their homes. Callahan cites an early study leading to this conclusion, conducted when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Public health officials expected that poverty and terrible air pollution in East Germany would have created a huge backlog of asthma patients from East Germany seeking treatment in the West. They were wrong, according to the study. Asthma rates were much lower in East Germany than in the West, where people received better health care and more immunizations and antibiotics."

* ►November 26, 2007 - Sanofi-Aventis to invest 70 mln eur in Chinese flu vaccine plant - Thomson Financial via Hemscott - "The plant in Shenzhen targets an annual capacity of 25 million flu doses after production begins in 2012, and will employ about 100 people. Last year Sanofi's existing vaccine packaging plant in Shenzhen delivered 5 mln doses of flu vaccine, while Sanofi's sales of vaccines in China amounted to 60 mln eur, up 50 pct from a year earlier."

* ►November 26, 2007 - FDA – Drug Industry Relationship Too Close for Comfort - NewsInferno - "The office that promotes drug approvals is still twice the size and as important as the office for drug safety. The same people who approve drugs also help decide whether those drugs should be withdrawn.  Does this create a conflict of interest?  Some feel that the imbalance of power between the Office of New Drugs and Office of Drug Safety is a major weakness in the system."

* ►November 26, 2007 - The HPV vaccine: It works, so why the controversy? - Results of study on cervical cancer prevention are clear, but concerns linger - Montreal Gazette via www.canada.com

* ►November 26, 2007 - Breakthrough in fight against cervical cancer - SABC News - "Lancet Laboratories says testing for the virus will allow for more accurate and earlier detection."

►November 26, 2007 - 65% opt for HPV vaccination - A public health campaign that aims to protect Grade 8 girls from contracting what's called the human papilloma virus (HPV) is experiencing a 65 per cent success rate in the region, according to Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit spokesperson Laurie Stanford. - Barrie Advance via Simcoe.com

* ►November 26, 2007 - FDA allows gene-therapy study to resume after inquiry - Investigation finds treatment didn't kill woman, firm says - Washington Post via San Francisco Chronicle

* ►November 26, 2007 - Chickenpox vaccine waived for schools - Jackson Clarion-Ledger - "The state Department of Health reported today it is waiving the two-dose requirement for the varicella vaccine (chickenpox vaccine) for children entering Mississippi schools during the 2007-08 school year due to delays in vaccine availability."

* ►November 26, 2007 - Researchers Transfer Immune Response to Myeloma Patient, Study Points to Potential Cancer Vaccination - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences via Newswise - "In the study, conducted in the UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, a healthy individual was immunized with a cancer protein that can kick start the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells. The cancer-killing antibodies produced by the healthy patient’s immune system were then transferred via stem cell transplant to her twin sister, who had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, in conjunction with chemotherapy."

►November 26, 2007 - AVANT’s Partner, GlaxoSmithKline, Announces New Data Published in The Lancet Show That Rotarix® Provides Sustained and Broad Protection During the First Two Years of Life - press release - AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc. via Business Wire

►November 26, 2007 - InViragen Receives Funding From the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative - press release - InViragen, Inc. via Business Wire

* ►November 26, 2007 - Akorn, Inc. Announces FDA Approval for Unit Dose Preservative Free Tetanus Diphtheria Vaccine - press release - Akorn, Inc. via Business Wire

* ►November 26, 2007 - MedImmune, Sanofi get deals worth $132.5M - Pocono Record - "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded two contracts to expand the domestic influenza vaccine manufacturing capacity that could be used in the event of a potential influenza pandemic."

* ►November 26, 2007 - FDA panel to review Tamiflu's effect on brain - USA Today

* ►November 26, 2007 - Sanofi Pasteur Supports National Influenza Vaccination Week - Largest U.S. influenza vaccine manufacturer helps raise awareness of influenza immunization recommendations to seek vaccination throughout the season - press release - Sanofi Pasteur via PRNewswire-FirstCall

* ►November 26, 2007 - Natural Alternative to Unreliable Flu Vaccine - With News That the Flu Jab Can Do Little to Stop a Likely Flu Pandemic, Consumers Are Turning to the Natural Flu Remedy Sambucol - press release - IceNews via Marketwire - "Sales of the natural flu remedy Sambucol are expected to rise even further after revelations that the traditional flu vaccine is powerless to stop a flu pandemic from reaching the UK. Australian scientist Dr. Graeme Laver, who helped create the flu jab more than 40 years ago, said that although the jab could offer some protection against the flu, it should not be relied on."

►November 26, 2007 - Wanted: Crowd for flu shots - Attleboro Sun Chronicle

►November 26, 2007 - Influenza Vaccine or tough it out? - Charleston City Paper

►November 26, 2007 - CDC: Get Vaccinated (includes video) - www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv

►November 26, 2007 - Concerns raised over flu vaccine - Nursing in Practice

►November 26, 2007 - Have you scheduled your flu shot yet? - Baltimore Examiner

►November 26, 2007 - 'Ban the Bug' kicks off today; next local vaccination opportunity is Nov. 29 at Hugo's - Crookston Daily Times

►November 26, 2007 - Publication Of Irish Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Assessment Report - Medical News Today

* ►November 26, 2007 - U.S. EPA, Cal EPA partner to reduce mercury: California first state to join growing ranks of U.S. EPA’s voluntary reduction program - press release - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

►November 26, 2007 - Crematoria gets Buried by Opposition - Planning commission recommends denying permit for Resthaven cremation facility - Fort Collins Now - "A majority of those who turned out for the meeting on Thanksgiving Eve took issue with the proposed crematoria’s proximity to residential areas and the potential emissions from the machines, including mercury."

►November 26, 2007 - Patients at risk from inexperienced doctors - Emergency department patients are being put at risk by young and inexperienced doctors, a conference has been told. - Melbourne Herald Sun via www.news.com.au

►November 26, 2007 - Venus Remedies files patent for Meningitis formula - PTI via The Hindu

* ►November 26, 2007 - Problem Solver: Tots and shots (includes video) - www.katu.com - "The number of kids skipping immunizations in Oregon is growing fast.  They’re required for every child, but some parents think vaccines do more harm than good, so they’re getting around the law with a simple signature. Medical professionals around the state worry that such a decision is endangering the community. Stacy Korolewicz is one of those parents. She never gave much thought to vaccine safety until she took her daughter, Willow, in for her first shots and the girl had a bad reaction."

►November 26, 2007 - IAC Express Issue number 696 - Immunization Action Coalition

►November 26, 2007 - Look What Vaccines Have Done for Us - HealthandAge

►November 26, 2007 - Glaxo confident as FDA probes asthma drugs in kids - Reuters UK

►November 26, 2007 - Prevent Disease Outbreaks with Sea Salt - Mother Nature's Anti-biotic - BostonNOW

►November 26, 2007 - Jakim, Ninebio Ink MoU Relating To Halal Vaccines - Malaysian National News Agency: Bernama

►November 26, 2007 - Indonesia refuses again to share bird flu samples - News-Medical Net

►November 26, 2007 - Hyperactivity prescriptions triple in seven years - Telegraph, UK

►November 26, 2007 - Chinese drug association official stands trial for alleged bribe taking - Xinhua China View

►November 26, 2007 - Oxfam says top drug companies focusing on patents, not poor - The Wall Street Journal via livemint

►November 26, 2007 - Parallel Traders: Pharma’s Uniqueness Is Exaggerated - Pharmalot

►November 26, 2007 - Gene Therapy Experiment Is Allowed To Continue - Pharmalot

►November 26, 2007 - Japan lags in ability to fight infectious diseases - AP via Daily Yomiuri

►November 26, 2007 - CitiWarrants: CSL - Modifying the Immune System – IVIG vs. a New Approach - Citi Investment Research - CIR via egoli, AU

►November 26, 2007 - Microscope helps scientists see body battle in action - The Sydney Morning Herald

►November 26, 2007 - U.K. and China launch venture to support joint R&D - Chemical & Engineering News

►November 26, 2007 - Family health: Chronic fatigue can have many culprits, solutions - Commercial Appeal

* ►November 25, 2007 - Winning the battle against cervical cancer - Enid News

* ►November 25, 2007 - Millisecond By Millisecond Changes In An Immune System T Cell Binding To An Antigen - The first lines of defense in our immune systems are specialized mobile units that check the identity of cells to determine whether they are 'self' or 'foreign.' A team of scientists, led by Prof. Israel Pecht of the Weizmann Institute’s Immunology Department, has now revealed in fine detail how the body’s 'reconnaissance unit' continuously screens and inspects identity. These new findings may lead to deeper insights into the workings of the immune system, its function in health and malfunction in disease, as well as yielding new directions in pharmaceutical and medical research. - Weizmann Institute of Science via ScienceDaily

►November 25, 2007 - Week to push importance of flu vaccination - Lansing State Journal

►November 25. 2007 - New resistant, deadly infection C. diff surfaces - Newsday

►November 25, 2007 - Experts urge clean break from antibacterials - The Washington Post via The Journal Gazette - "According to estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency, our antimicrobial crusade has us spending almost $1 billion annually on soaps and detergents, toys and cutting boards, bedsheets and toothbrushes, all of them treated with chemical compounds designed to kill the germs that cling to them."

►November 25, 2007 - Novartis to continue pharmaceutical R&D investment in Taiwan - Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex via CNN Money

►November 25, 2007 - Stakeholders look to dump pharma firm - French firm Sanofi-Aventis, already battling action over an anti-obesity drug and legal challenges from generic companies, now has to contend with stake sales by L’Oreal and Total SA - The Wall Street Journal via livemint

►November 25, 2007 - Die another day - Advances in science and medicine mean we are living longer than ever. But keeping death at bay comes at a price, and forces us to face a big question: how much is life worth? Peter Munro reports. - The Age, AU

►November 25, 2007 - Prion Fingerprints Detected With Glowing Molecule - Vetenskapsradet (The Swedish Research Council) via Medical News Today

►November 25, 2007 - A week's worth of science news - The Toronto Star

►November 25, 2007 - Health Highlights: - Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report

►November 25, 2007 - New interest in reforming oversight of physicians - Newsday

►November 25, 2007 - Safety concerns surface over switch to energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights - www.newstarget.com

* ►November 25, 2007 - States test pandemic plans with free flu shots - Stateline.org

* ►November 24, 2007 - Flu Shots Don't Reduce Flu Deaths - www.newstarget.com

►November 24, 2007 - Still time for flu shots - AP via www.kxmb.com

* ►November 24, 2007 - Ruling: CPS can’t immunize over mom’s objection - Capitol Media Services via East Valley Tribune

►November 24, 2007 - Lives rebuilt despite HIV - As Rwanda grapples with pandemic sweeping Africa, its women are making personal strides (requires registration or subscription) - Toronto Star

* ►November 24, 2007 - Burr and Burton to offer HPV vaccine - Rutland Herald via The Barre Montpelier Times Argus - "Consent for Immunization Administration"

* ►November 24, 2007 - The Gap Between Stats and Understanding In Flu Cases - Slashdot

* ►November 24, 2007 - Hepatitis scare stokes concerns about needles, syringes (includes video) - am New York

* ►November 24, 2007 - Go slow on bypassing doc prescriptions - Rocky Mountain News - "The idea - presented at a recent FDA hearing - is that some widely prescribed medications pose so few harmful side effects, do not require a physician's close supervision, or are so similar to other drugs that can be bought over the counter that patients should not have to pay for a doctor's visit to get them. Why bring pharmacists into the loop? They would serve two roles: to give medical advice to patients; and as gatekeepers, to limit access to medications that might be abused if they were freely available on the drug store shelves and not sold "behind the counter."

►November 24, 2007 - Hong Kong finds egret with bird flu in city park - Reuters

►November 24, 2007 - Texas Children's top physician recounts years of progress - For 30 years, Dr. Ralph Feigin has served as Texas Children's Hospital's physician-in-chief and chairman of the department of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. Talking with Chronicle reporter Alexis Grant, the specialist in infectious diseases takes a look back at the state of pediatrics when he moved to Houston three decades ago and offers some advice for parents. - Houston Chronicle

* ►November 23, 2007 - Glaxo's Asthma Drugs May Harm Children, U.S. FDA Staff Says - Bloomberg

* ►November 23, 2007 - Regulators slate Roche 'lack of knowledge and understanding' in Viracept contamination case - The official report into good manufacturing practice (GMP) failures that caused dangerous contamination and a Europe-wide recall of Roche's HIV drug Viracept (nelfinavir) claims the firm simply did not understand its own manufacturing processes. - in-Pharma Technologist

►November 23, 2007 - Many still consider bird flu a threat - ABC7/KGO-TV/DT via ABC/KFSM-TV/DT

* ►November 23, 2007 - A Gap in Knowledge About Kids, Medication (requires registration) - Washington Post - "Although federal regulators have enticed or forced pharmaceutical companies to conduct hundreds of studies that have produced vital results about more than 200 drugs, perhaps two-thirds of the thousands of medications given to children remain untested on them. 'Are there children dying because of this? I don't know. Are there children being less effectively treated because of this? Probably yes. But I can't tell you because I don't know,' said Richard L. Gorman of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 'That's the problem: We don't know what we don't know.'"

►November 23, 2007 - Kiwis have the highest awareness of shingles - New global survey shows Kiwis have the highest awareness of shingles in the world yet underestimate their risk - press release - Merck and Co. Inc. via www.scoop.co.nz

►November 23, 2007 - Pharma should keep outsourcing in mind - The pharmaceutical industry is backward when it comes to outsourcing, industry experts said at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) conference in San Diego last week. - In-PharmaTechnologist.com

* ►November 23, 2007 - Noble untruths about HIV/Aids - column - Financial Times

►November 22, 2007 - NHS on course for large surplus - A clampdown on spending within the NHS has turned a massive deficit into an even bigger surplus in just two years. - BBC News

►November 22, 2007 - Poultry culled on sixth site in bird flu zone - Telegraph, UK

* ►November 21, 2007 - Misstep - HIV Vaccine Trials Go Awry - Guinea Pigs Speak Out - TheStranger.com

►November 20, 2007 - U.N. Warns AIDS Could Spike if Countries Drop Guard (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Earlier, the U.N. AIDS agency slashed its estimates of how many people are infected from nearly 40 million to 33 million, mainly due to revised figures for India. It said better methods of collecting data showed it is not quite a common as feared."

►November 20, 2007 - Vioxx, the FDA, and Preemption: The Power Grab - Tortdeform

►November 20, 2007 - Effectiveness of flu shots debated by experts - Asbury Park Press

* ►November 20, 2007 - Is Disease "Inheritance" More Random than Once Thought? - Random and frequent cellular deactivation of one of two gene copies could potentially change a genetic outcome - Scientific American

* ►November 19, 2007 - Understanding and Treating Autistic Behaviors - Part 1: Nonpharmacologic Therapy - U.S. Pharmacist

►November 19, 2007 - Borderline Personality Disorder - U.S. Pharmacist

►November 19, 2007 - Drug-Induced Movement Disorders: A Primer - U.S. Pharmacist

►November 18, 2007 - Trasylol: The FDA and Bayer AG Wait, while 4.8 Million Patients Wonder… - Lawyers and Settlements

* ►November 15, 2007 - Impact of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on prescription drug spending for children and adolescents: increasing relevance of health economic evidence (pdf) - journal article (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health)

* ►November 14, 2007 - €800000 pay-out for chicken-pox death - 'Doctors left my husband to die in hospital' - Irish Independent - "Father-of-two Joe Reid, a self-employed businessman then aged 37, went to Naas General Hospital with chicken pox in May 2003 and, it was claimed, died because he should have been given anti-viral drugs but was not."

►November 2007 - Autism in adults: symptom patterns and early childhood predictors. Use of the DISCO in a community sample followed from childhood - journal article (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines)

►November 2007 - The verbal information pathway to fear and heart rate changes in children - journal article (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines)

►November 2007 - Facial electromyographic responses to emotional information from faces and voices in individuals with pervasive developmental disorder - journal article (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines)

►November 2007 - Sleep enhances serum interleukin-7 concentrations in humans - journal article (Brain, Behavior, and Immunity) - "Human studies indicate that the T cell mediated adaptive immune function including formation of antigen specific antibodies is facilitated by sleep."

►November 2007 - Cognitive/behavioral teratogenetic effects of antiepileptic drugs - journal article (Epilepsy & Behavior)

* ►October 13, 2007 - How environmental and genetic factors combine to cause autism: A redox/methylation hypothesis. - journal article (Neurotoxicology)

* ►October 1, 2007 - Schedules for hepatitis B vaccination of risk groups: balancing immunogenicity and compliance - journal article (Sexually Transmitted Infections)

* ►April 2007 - Evidence for Heavy Metal Toxicity in Autism through Urinary Porphyrin Profiling (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation) Laboratoire Philippe Auguste

* ►April 2007 - Oxidative Stress and the Metabolic Pathology of Autism (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation) Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

* ►April 2007 - Genetic Vulnerability to Environmental Toxins The Gene/Environment Interface (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation) Center for Autism Research and Education

* ►April 2007 - Preliminary Results of 3rd DMSA Study (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation) Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine

* ►April 2007 - Synchronizing Neural Networks: How Improved Methylation Helps Autism (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation)  Northeastern University

* ►April 2007 - Nature or Nurture: Relationships between Genetics and the Environment in the Causation of Autism Spectrum Disorders. (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation)  University of Sunderland

►April 2007 - Treating Vicious Cycles: A Paradigm for Understanding ASD Intervention (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation) 

►April 2007 - Improving Immunity and Understanding Inflammation (pdf) - (ARI Conference Presentation)  Tulane University

* ►Hazlehurst v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 03-654V (transcripts and audio) - United States Court of Federal Claims Vaccine Program/Office of Special Masters

* ►November 25, 2007 - Needle 'No's' Doc - Admits Faking Vaccinations - New York Post - "He said he began to question the safety of vaccines in the early 1990s after seeing many children with autism whose parents said the onset of the disorder coincided with the vaccinations. "The things that we are immunizing against are circulating in such low frequency, it impels those people who do what I do, who offer immunizations to children, to re-evaluate risks versus benefits," he said. He said he would work with parents who wanted their kids immunized on a slower or reduced schedule."

Comment:  In my opinion Dr. Nesselson deserves a Medal of Honor, for, as Dr. Steven Till posted in the comments, being “a true professional & a man of conscience”.  Both men, in fact, are men of honor and conscience.

►November 25, 2007 - 'Fake Vaccination' Pediatrician Fined $10,000 - Did It For Parents Concerned About Shots-Autism Link - MyFox New York

►November 25, 2007 - West Side Doc Abets Parents Afraid of Needles - Gothamist

* ►November 25, 2007 - Family says shots gave son autism - Jackson Sun - "At Christmas 2000, Gerrard's girls drove a little blue police car with Yates in the passenger seat, talking baby talk on a plastic phone. In January 2001, he could take a few steps. She said his words were da, bye-bye, peas (for please), tank (thank you), juice and bubba (bottle). He received an MMR, Hib, hepatitis B and Prevnar vaccination on Feb. 8, 2001, just before his first birthday. The first dose of the MMR vaccine is recommended at 12 to 15 months of age by the National Immunization Program. 'Three days past his vaccine, at his birthday, he's dazed,' Angela said. 'Twelve days after, he had a red, bumpy rash. We didn't recognize it as a reaction. A month after that, in the bathtub, I'm saying, 'Yates, Yates' and he won't look at us anymore.'"

* ►November 25, 2007 - Clinton's autism plan - MSNBC - "Clinton's plan would double investments in the National Institutes of Health’s efforts to identify the causes of the disorder, including possible environmental causes. Fully funding the 'Combating Autism Act,' a Clinton co-sponsored bill that became law in 2006, would cost $200 million a year and would be covered by the senator’s initiative to increase the NIH budget by doubling it over 10 years. The other $500 million would come from savings from improving government efficiency, said spokesman Jay Carson."

* ►November 25, 2007 - Clinton Would Boost Autism Funding (requires registration or subscription) - AP via The New York Times

* ►November 25, 2007 - Hillary Clinton Makes Promises to Autism Community - Age of Autism - "If Clinton talks seriously about funding true environmental research, we'll pay close attention. But pledging millions of dollars for government funded studies on anything but the most intimate environment possible (the bloodstream) doesn't make us wave our little flags and run to the voting booth."

* ►November 25, 2007 - C'mon, Dr. Gupta! - Age of Autism

* ►November 25, 2007 - Bernie Rimland: The Man Who Iced The Refrigerator Mom Theory - Age of Autism

►November 25, 2007 - One family's journey with autism - New Philadelphia Times-Reporter

►November 25, 2007 - Task force's goal: Statewide plan for dealing with autism - Tuscaloosa News - "'The need is finally being recognized that this is a struggle for parents,' said Tracy Camp, who has an 8-year-old son with autism and leads a support group for families touched by the disorder in Tuscaloosa. 'We should not have to scrap and claw for services, but that's what many parents are doing.'"

►November 25, 2007 - Silence needn't prey on minds in high school (requires registration or subscription) - Chicago Tribune - "Children are supposed to receive 48 doses of 14 vaccines by age 6, double the number of shots required in 1991, but new research suggests that the jam-packed immunization schedule should be re-evaluated. The issue has nothing to do with health concerns; the vaccines might just be unnecessary and waste a lot of money, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine."

►November 25, 2007 - Life with autistic child like coaching - AP via Billings Gazette

►November 25, 2007 - Report blames Roche for impurities found in HIV drug: Financial Times - MarketWatch

►November 25, 2007 - Crucial vaccine not included in immunization basket - Jerusalem Post - "A rotavirus vaccine is registered in Israel, and can be purchased with a doctor's prescription, the spokeswoman said, but it was not yet included in the basket of immunizations."

►November 25, 2007 - Nigeria: Polio Immunisation Delayed in Kano - Daily Trust (Abuja) via http://allafrica.com

* ►November 25, 2007 - 'Many' will die if Britain continues to rely only on my flu jab, warns scientist - Scotland on Sunday

►November 25, 2007 - Researcher hopes to hatch more ways to combat flu - NewsOK.com - "Air's research includes looking at the antibodies from people who get the flu shot, studying how their body reacts to the vaccination. She works with the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation on its study of the flu vaccination's effects on lupus patients. Air evaluates the antibodies of patients both before and after they get the vaccination, looking at the quality and quantity of the antibodies."

►November 25, 2007 - Flu clinics to test emergency plans (requires registration) - Boston Globe

►November 25, 2007 - CDC urges public to get free flu shots while supplies last - COME ONE, COME ALL: After a selective offering to high-risk groups ends this month, hundreds of thousands of flu shots will be available to all - CNA via Taipei Times

►November 25, 2007 - Plans set for fighting killer flu epidemic - If it happens, health officials say many will be treated at home, but when hospitals are full, others will be treated at three regional centers. - HeraldNet

* ►November 25, 2007 - Indonesia's health minister says 'no' to sharing bird flu virus with WHO - AP via PR-Inside.com

►November 25, 2007 - Sick bird found in Hong Kong tests positive for H5N1 virus - AFX via Forbes

►November 25, 2007 - Infectious enthusiasm - MSU scientists discover new microbes in Yellowstone - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

►November 25, 2007 - Schoolies teen has meningococcal - A 17-YEAR-OLD boy is in intensive care after contracting the deadly meningococcal disease while celebrating Schoolies on the Gold Coast. - www.news.com.au

►November 25, 2007 - Vomiting virus hits hospital - Press Association via Tyrone Times

* ►November 25, 2007 - Looking at the personalities behind scientific advances. - VACCINATED One Man's Quest to Defeat The World's Deadliest Diseases By Paul A. Offit - book review (requires registration) - Washington Post - "Hilleman, who died in 2005 at the age of 85, spent most of his career at Merck & Co., where he was a fanatical worker. When U.S. troops began dying of Japanese encephalitis in 1944, he oversaw the churning of 30,000 mouse brains per day in blenders, producing enough vaccine to protect 600,000 troops in just three months. When his 5-year-old got mumps in 1963, he swabbed her throat and drove to the lab in the middle of the night to grow the virus, from which he later made the first mumps vaccine. But Hilleman had little tolerance for lesser beings (unimpressed by one scientist's talk at a meeting, he began loudly clipping his own nails). And any lingering hint of sainthood dissolves as Offit reveals Hilleman's lack of compunction about using mentally retarded children and pregnant prisoners as guinea pigs for his experimental shots."

►November 25, 2007 - Eli Lilly Putting Zyprexa Patients At Risk of Suicide - Lawyers and Settlements

►November 25, 2007 - Are drug suit limits bad medicine? - letter - Detroit Free Press

* ►November 25, 2007 - Product Safety Debate - Activist, author challenges cosmetics industry over amount of lead in lipsticks - San Francisco Chronicle

►November 25, 2007 - Still a long way to go in curbing toxic emissions - opinion - Pensacola News Journal

►November 25, 2007 - First state regulator, then BP's advocate - Blast lawsuits claim job switch was done to get air quality permit - Houston Chronicle

►November 25, 2007 - Report assesses industrial pollution - Star-Telegram

* ►November 24, 2007 - AZ Court Rules against CPS regarding forced vaccinations - Saying No to Vaccines

* ►November 24, 2007 - Are your products safe? You can't tell. - Labels often fail to list compounds that can disrupt biological development - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - "A Journal Sentinel investigation found that the government has failed to regulate these chemicals, despite repeated promises to do so. The regulatory effort has been marked by wasted time, wasted money and influence from chemical manufacturers."

►November 24, 2007 - State agency, industry on same page in fighting smog cuts - The Dallas Morning News

* ►November 24, 2007 - Clinton stresses commitment to autism - Des Moines Register

►November 24, 2007 - Is autism more common now, or does it just seem so? - Deseret Morning News

►November 24, 2007 - Fresno State helps unlock potential of autistic children - Fresno Bee

►November 24, 2007 - District beats state mercury limits - Oro Loma Sanitary in San Lorenzo already below new discharge standards - Inside Bay Area

►November 24, 2007 - Cancer vaccine pioneer gives presentation in Taipei - BiotechEast

►November 24, 2007 - School offers HPV vaccine - Rutland Herald

* ►November 24, 2007 - The FDA still refuses to protect the people - www.newstarget.com

►November 24, 2007 - Oppose Livermore's bio-lab - letter - Tracy Press

* ►November 24, 2007 - The Lanier Law Firm Announces $4.85 Billion National Vioxx Settlement with Merck & Co. Inc. - Mark Lanier, Winner of Nation's First Vioxx Trial, Hails Settlement as "The Right Thing to Do" - News & Observer

* ►November 24, 2007 - Flu-shot scare unjustified by either evidence or science - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - "Respected medical organizations have more credible positions on this topic. In a letter dated April 3, 2006, and sent to all members of Congress, a broad-based coalition of 22 medical organizations including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the Infectious Disease Society of America, the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and the Society for Adolescent Medicine stated opposition to restricting access to vaccines containing thimerosal, because, among other effects, such efforts would 'perpetuate false and misleading information that vaccines are not safe.'"

►November 24, 2007 - National Flu Vaccination Week Hopes to Motivate Stragglers to Get It Done - 'The time to get vaccinated continues in December, January, and later,' CDC - Senior Journal

►November 24, 2007 - Myanmar reports bird flu outbreak at chicken farm in northeast - AP via International Herald Tribune

►November 24, 2007 - South Korea Confirms H7 Type Of Bird Flue Outbreak; H5N1 Virus Not Involved - RTTNews

►November 24, 2007 - WHO fails in giving developing nations access to bird flu virus - Reuters South Africa

►November 24, 2007 - Thousands of Ducks Killed After Bird Flu Found in South Korea - Voice of America

* ►November 24, 2007 - Remarkable Recovery for One-Year-Old Twin - This is Grimsby, UK - "Only six months ago, Dehanna was gravely ill with two strains of the killer bug meningitis - which doctors at Grimsby's Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital had never seen before....As previously reported, Dehanna was suffering from both meningococcal and pneumococcal strains of the disease."

* ►November 24, 2007 - They told me to give him Calpol... now he’s got meningitis - Daily Post, UK - "A two-year-old was last night fighting for his life against the deadly meningitis disease. Toby Williams was rushed to hospital days after his worried parents were twice told by health experts their fears of meningitis were unfounded."

* ►November 24, 2007 - Health Unit wants chickenpox vaccines - Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation Radio Owen Sound - "The Grey Bruce Health Unit wants to make sure another child doesn't die from the chickenpox again. The health unit wants the province to step up to the plate. An 8 year old girl from Owen Sound died this week from a serious and rare infection as a result of chickenpox complications."

►November 24, 2007 - Whooping cough showing up in Great Falls schools - www.montanasnewsstation.com

* ►November 24, 2007 - Hepatitis scare stokes concerns about needles, syringes - Newsday - "But if procedures are sloppy, multi-dose vials can become a transmission source to patients who subsequently receive injections. When multi-dose vials are used, one disease-transmission prevention technique that consumers should watch for is the use of germ-killing alcohol to swab a vial's rubber top before a needle is placed inside the vial."

►November 24, 2007 - Death by irony - opinion - The Courier-Journal - "The Indian government still must approve Gardasil's use, and Merck officials say they have plans to make the vaccine regime cheaper."

►November 24, 2007 - China To Import New Anti-AIDS Drug From U.S. - All Headline News

* ►November 23, 2007 - Roche blamed for tainting of HIV drug - Financial Times - "Impurities that triggered the international recall of a life-saving HIV medicine this year were caused by the failure of Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical group, to understand the manufacturing process, says a regulator’s report released on Friday. For more than five years, employees did not clean a 'hold tank' that stored the starting material for Viracept (nelfinavir), and then allowed the ingredients to mix with ethanol used to clean the vat, creating a toxic compound later discovered in the drug distributed to patients."

* ►November 23, 2007 - Universal vaccines: despite advantages, doubts remain - The need for yearly updates and the low coverage of existing influenza vaccines has created an unmet need for products providing a wider and longer-lasting immunity. Several companies are therefore developing 'universal' influenza vaccines that make annual vaccination unnecessary, mainly targeting the highly conserved M2e domain of the virus, although doubts regarding their real benefits remain. - Pharmaceutical Business Review

* ►November 23, 2007 - Flu jab inventor warns of killer epidemic - but claims his vaccine could be powerless to stop it - Daily Mail, UK - "Dr Laver, who receives royalties from the sale of Relenza but not the betterselling Tamiflu, said many children died in this year's Australian outbreak. 'In a true example of what happened, a lady in Adelaide experienced flu symptoms on a Monday and was sent home from work. She took paracetamol, went to bed, and was dead by Tuesday evening. 'If that unfortunate lady had taken Tamiflu, instead of paracetamol, she might still be alive today. But almost certainly she knew nothing of Tamiflu, and even if she had, she would never have been able to get it quickly enough to save her. That's not good enough.'"

* ►November 23, 2007 - Fever Dream - Age of Autism

* ►November 23, 2007 - Autism research (includes videos) - www.krnv.com - "As the numbers of children with autism in the United States grow, there is an intense effort underway to find answers quickly. The Mind Institute which stands for Medical Investigation of Neuro-Developmental Disorders is world-renowned. It's a 'think tank' of 250 experts from all different specialties under one roof."

* ►November 23, 2007 - Mercury spill at children’s clinic prompts fast action - The Dickson Herald - "Such a spill has come under the supervision of FEMA and has to be reported. 'A hazmat team has to come in and clean it up. It wasn’t a big issue, but has to be reported....The doctor said the clinic would replace the floors in that office....Gordon explained that long-time exposure to mercury causes brain damage and some medical articles suggest a relationship to autism and Alzheimer’s. 'There are a lot of connections with mercury in the environment. We just want to make sure there is a complete disposal. We do not want kids exposed to it,' Gordon said."

* ►November 23, 2007 - Acambis expects US vaccine license - Acambis, the UK vaccines manufacturer, said yesterday that it hopes to secure an agreement with the U.S. government to supply smallpox vaccines by early next year. - Healthcare Digital - "'We have already successfully delivered on an important near-term goal by partnering our ChimeriVax™-West Nile vaccine programme with one of the world's leading vaccine companies, Sanofi Pasteur. 'We have also received new orders under the existing ACAM2000™ smallpox vaccine CDC contract and discussions on the long-term US warm-base manufacturing contract have advanced to the later stages of the process.'"

* ►November 23, 2007 - DPT vaccine - from bioreactors to agricultural fields - DPT vaccine, a combination of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccines, is one of the many vaccines given to children to protect them from life threatening bacterial infections. To eliminate the chances of rare, but severe side-effects of DPT immunization, in addition to a reduced production cost, Dr. Alpuche-Solis' team investigates a possible safer and more efficient method. - Checkbiotech - "When contacted by Checkbiotech, Dr. Alpuche-Solis explained, 'In the best transgenic line obtained, approximately 270 mg of freeze-dried tomato had concentrations of diphtheria and tetanus antigens, similar to the concentrations found in the commercial vaccine Quadracel.'"

►November 23, 2007 - Family Planning calls for cervical cancer vaccine to be released - TV3 New Zealand

►November 23, 2007 - Mumps Vaccination Campaign Next Heads To U of C - 770 CHQR Calgary

►November 23, 2007 - Glaxo's Asthma Drugs May Harm Children, US FDA Staff Says - Bloomberg

►November 23, 2007 - Tamiflu, Relenza Side Effects Need Listing, US Says - Bloomberg

►November 23, 2007 - New support to pandemic vaccine supply - WHO via WebWire - "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s contribution of £2 million today to support the WHO global pandemic influenza action plan to increase vaccine supply is very much appreciated and is a gesture of global solidarity."

* ►November 23, 2007 - Sharing H5N1 Viruses to Stop a Global Influenza Pandemic - Although the threat of pandemic influenza, spawned by continuing avian influenza A (H5N1) epidemics, has dropped off the front pages, concern among experts continues to grow, writes Laurie Garrett and David P. Fidler in PLoSmediceine. - ThePoultrySite

►November 22, 2007 - Expert calls for national autism infant screening programme - Nursing in Practice

►November 22, 2007 - Entre Nous with Mark Wainberg, Director, McGill AIDS Centre - Taking aim on AIDS - McGill Reporter

►November 21, 2007 - Cardiologists Question Delay of Data on 2 Drugs (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►November 21, 2007 - Inhibitex Licenses Hepatitis C Inhibitors - WRAL LocalTechWire.com

►November 14, 2007 - Children's research digs into type 1 diabetes - Various projects under way - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

►November 7, 2007 - Battelle to manage second biodefense lab at Fort Detrick - AP via www.wdtn.com

►Vaccines: A Survival Guide for Pediatric Practices (pdf) - www.cispimmunize.org
 

►ARI's New Biomedical Survey Analysis Tool Now Online - Use ARI's database to find possible treatments for your child - www.autism.com