*For most of the Wakefield "conflict of interest" articles posted on the site, click here (check periodically for updates)

►February 24, 2004 - Letters: Controversy over accusation of research bias on MMR (free for first week) - www.timesonline.co.uk -  "Sir, The hysterical reaction to the disclosure that Dr Andrew Wakefield was funded by the legal aid authorities to undertake research in relation to litigation by parents at the same time that he submitted his seminal paper on MMR to The Lancet (report, February 23) reveals a remarkable divergence between current legal and medical views of what constitutes bias."

►February 25, 2004 - Government's double standards over MMR - The Daily Mail via www.femail.co.uk - "But health chiefs were immediately accused of hypocrisy by parents and campaigners - who pointed out that many of the Government's top scientific advisers have links with drug firms that make or supply the vaccine...At least 19 experts have interests in firms involved in the measles, mumps and rubella triple vaccine, campaigners said...They sit on two key committees which declared the vaccine safe: the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation."

Comment:  Excellent article.

►February 24, 2004 - Blair will be to blame if there's a measles epidemic - opinion - The Telegraph, UK - "The Government seems to believe that it has won the argument over the MMR jab. Andrew Wakefield, the scientist who first suggested a possible link between the triple vaccine and autism, has been villified by the scientific establishment. Parents stand accused of over-reacting and of selfishly putting the health of the nation at risk. Vaccination rates have dropped below 60 per cent in some areas...But the scare over the triple vaccine is not the fault of over-anxious parents, who cannot be blamed for wanting to protect their children. Nor can all the blame lie with Dr Wakefield and his research paper published six years ago in the Lancet. Dr Wakefield has been "discredited" because he was taking money from the Legal Aid Board at the time of his report...The board was paying him to discover, on behalf of parents hoping to sue for damages, whether the jab was harmful to their children. But this does not necessarily mean his research was biased. He should have disclosed his interest; but many scientists are paid for research by drugs companies."

►February 24, 2004 - The Sleaze Behind Our Science - The Conflicts of Interest Revealed by the MMR Story are Everywhere - www.dissidentvoice.org

►February 23, 2004 - Inside the world of medical journals - One of the world's most respected medical journals says it should never have published a controversial paper on MMR. - What steps do journals take to ensure studies are robust and trustworthy? - BBC - "The Lancet maintains it should have been told that Dr Wakefield was being paid to carry out another similar study...It says Dr Wakefield should have been aware of the potential conflict of interest after reading the journal's guidelines on the issue... In 1998, these stated: 'The conflict of interest test is a simple one. Is there anything...that would embarrass you if it were to emerge after publication that you had not declared it?'"

►February 24, 2004 - Mercury plan falls short, say activists - Coalition from Ohio, other states to tell EPA proposal may do harm - Akron Beacon Journal via www.ohio.com

►February 24, 2004 - New Health Dangers of Genetically Modified Food (and vaccines) Discovered - press release - Institute for Responsible Technology via Common Dreams Progressive Newswire - "Data from three groups of studies currently being conducted by the Norwegian Institute for Gene Ecology, in Tromsö, Norway, reveal potentially serious health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods and vaccines...3. Genetically engineered pox viruses in cell cultures recombined with natural viruses to create new hybrid viruses with unpredictable and potentially dangerous characteristics."

►February 24, 2004 - Alaska Vulnerable to World Health Woes - Anchorage Daily News via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 24, 2004 - CDC Study: Flu Shot Effective Up to 63 Percent for Adults 50-64 - AP via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 13, 2004 - Fraud spurs Cell paper retraction - Postdoc fabricated data, leaving his career in tatters and embarrassing his boss - The Scientist via BioMed Central

►February 12, 2004 - Human embryos cloned - South Korean team demonstrates cloning efficiency for humans similar to pigs, cattle - The Scientist via BioMed Central

►February 24, 2004 - More babies needed for meningitis vaccine trial - Hundreds more babies are needed to take part in a pilot meningococcal vaccine programme in Auckland. - www.stuff.co.nz

►February 23, 2004 - Fund-raisers hope to help Whitman girl - The Enterprise via www.southofboston.com - "Andie suffers from a severe seizure disorder that her doctors attribute to a reaction to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine she received when she was a year old. Despite years of treatment at Boston hospitals, doctors have been unable to control the seizures...A severe seizure in the spring left Andie with autism-like problems. She has since lost the ability to speak and now has other developmental delays."

►February 23, 2004 - Michigan targets mercury Initiative aims to cut exposure to neurotoxin (requires registration) - Bay City Times via www.mlive.com

►February 23, 2004 - SARS Forgotten But Not Gone - Wired News

►February 23, 2004 - Dutch virologist finds possible Sars medicine - Expatica News

►February 23, 2004 - Study Offers New Look Into Origins of MS - It finds the tissue that protects the nerves isn't the first to be destroyed. - HealthDay via www.healthcentral.com

►February 23, 2004 - New Data Challenge Theories Of Multiple Sclerosis - press release - The Annals of Neurology via American Neurological Association via www.sciencedaily.com

►February 23, 2004 - U.S. Watches Texas Farmworkers for Bird Flu Symptoms - Reuters

►February 23, 2004 - Polio boycott backfires on leader - The Telegraph, India

►February 24, 2004 -UK vets warn on anthrax vaccine - AAP via Herald Sun

►February 24, 2004 - ADF Admits it Should  Have Done Better on Anthrax Vaccine - An Australian Defence Department report has conceded it must do a better job of keeping its personnel informed about the health risks of innoculations. - www.sbs.com.au

►February 24, 2004 - Anthrax: troops to be monitored - AAP via The Australian

►February 23, 2004 - Controversy over accusation of research bias on MMR (requires subscription) - Times Online, UK




►February 24, 2004 - Chickenpox Vaccine Found to Fade in a Year (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Although no vaccine is ever 100 percent effective, some authorities see the findings as highlighting a potentially serious problem. If chickenpox becomes less prevalent, fewer unvaccinated children will contract it. That vulnerability follows them into adulthood, critics say, and it increases their chances of suffering severe complications if the disease does eventually strike...Adults whose childhood immunity has worn off will also be in trouble, said Barbara Loe Fisher, co-chairwoman of the National Vaccine Information Center...One solution, experts say, is to combine the chickenpox vaccine with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as M.M.R., usually given around the same time. That would mean that children would receive a second, or booster, dose of varicella vaccine, because M.M.R. is administered twice."

Comment:  The problem re: vulnerability of adults is also relevant to other so-called "vaccine-preventable" diseases, including measles.  For more on this go to Scandals: Playing With Fire - It's Not EASY To Fool Mother Nature

►February 23, 2004 - Tracking disease could save lives, money, UC study says - AP via The Sacramento Bee



►February 24, 2004 - Scientists Test Potential of Bird Flu - AP Exclusive: Scientists Experiment With Bird Flu Virus to Test How Dangerous It Could Be - AP via ABC News

►February 24, 2004 - Alice in Mercury-Land - commentary (requires registration) - The Orlando Sentinel

►February 24, 2004 - Mercury is toxin du jour, but don't bet on it staying that way - opinion - The News Journal via www.delawareonline.com

►February 24, 2004 - Flu vaccines reduce death rates by 40% - European Respiratory Journal via Medical News Today

Comment:  Unless they compared people who were vaccinated against the flu vaccine to those who have not been vaccinated against the flu, including those who have never been vaccinated at all, they simply do not know what is going on.

►February 25, 2004 - Defence had no anthrax safety data - The Australian - "THE Australian Defence Force admitted in confidential documents that it had "no available safety data" on its 5000 doses of anthrax vaccine less than six months before troops were deployed to Iraq."

►February 25, 2004 - Cosgrove defends anthrax vaccinations for ADF - radio transcript - The World Today via www.abc.net.au

►February 23, 2004 - Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza in British Columbia - Canadian Food Inspection Agency via Canada News Wire

►February 24, 2004 - Are Annual Rabies Vaccinations For Pets Really Necessary? - opinion - www.chattanoogan.com - "In March the Hamilton County Health Department will announce the dates and locations for its so-called “low-cost” rabies clinics for cat and dog owners. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the Health Department’s position that animals must have yearly rabies shots. The public is being shortchanged when it is not being informed about 3-year vaccines, which are now being routinely administered across the country."

►February 25, 2004 - Spray Flu Vaccine Is Little Used, Even With Shots Scarce (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►February 25, 2004 - CDC Vaccine Data Leads Scientists to Shocking Discovery - Yahoo! News via www.mercola.com - "The panel used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vaccine Datalink, which concluded that children who are given three thimerosal-containing vaccines are 27 times more likely to develop autism than children who receive thimerosol-free vaccines."

Comment:  The panel did not use data from the CDC.  The Geiers presented data from the CDC's Vaccine Datalink to the panel.

►February 24, 2004 - Universal flu shots considered - USA Today

►February 25, 2004 - Flu Vaccines for Everyone?  If Uncle Sam made shots universal, a stabilized vaccine industry might be ready for the killer virus doctors have long feared  - Business Week

►Canada's Adverse Drug Reaction database - CBC

►February 17, 2004 - Faint Warning - Generation RX - CBC News Disclosure

►February 24, 2004 - Childhood obesity accelerating, study finds - Clothing manufacturers adjust by offering baggier styles and elasticized waists - The Globe and Mail

►February 21, 2004 - Preventive Medicine Gets More Aggressive - The Wall Street Journal via Heathly News

►February 22, 2004 - TB patient arrested - AP via www.news-star.com

►February 22, 2004 - Deadly human diseases often arrive via animals - Global travel, conditions in food processing, exotic pets cited in new strains - The News Journal via The Detroit News

►February 22, 2004 - Researchers develop vaccine for animals with hay fever - Kyodo News via Japan Today

►February 24, 2004 - War veterans criticise anthrax vaccinations - radio transcipt - www.abc.net.au

►February 24, 2004 - Discover the Wonders of Meditation - The New Straits Times via Healthy News

►February 24, 2004 - Wellness Starts with Detoxification - The New Straits Times via Healthy News

►February 24, 2004 - Synthetic Science - www.alternet.org - "Finally, two of the authors admitted under threat of perjury that they were paid consultants of implant manufacturers and one admitted under oath that he knew that Dow Corning had donated $7 million to Brigham & Women's Hospital, a participant in the study."

►February 24, 2004 - Nevada leukemia cluster baffles scientists - For three years, scientists prodded the dust, dirt and water in this rural community and tested the blood of dozens of its residents -- all in hopes of uncovering why children were developing leukemia. - AP via CNN - "Yet despite the work, scientists revealed Monday that they haven't been able to determine what caused the disease that has sickened 16 children and killed three since 1997."

►February 18, 2004 - Exposure To Low-Level Magnetic Fields Causes DNA Damage In Rat Brain Cells, Researchers Find - University of Washington via biocompare

►February 24, 2004 - Smoking outside may not protect those indoors - Parents who smoke outdoors still expose homes and kids to nicotine. - journal article (Nature)

►February 19, 2004 - Rare Disease Endemic In South America Is Model For Studying Autoimmunity - A group of men living amid the gold mines and disappearing jungles of northeastern Colombia, is giving a Medical College of Georgia scientist unprecedented access to study how the wrong combination of genetics and environment cause the body to turn on itself. - Medical College Of Georgia via www.sciendaily.com

►February 20, 2004 - New system helps predict disease spread, aids control efforts - www.vidyya.com

►February 18, 2004 - Think twice about ‘disorderly’ children (opinion) - York Daily Record - "I am the parent of a preschool-age autistic child, as well as a 'typical' toddler. I’m writing in the hopes that some of the residents of the county might read this and think twice the next time they see an “undisciplined” child in the grocery store, the park, or the mall."

►February 24, 2004 - Mich. Hospital Trying to Eliminate Errors - AP via The Herald-Sun 

►February 24, 2004 - Chemical PBDE Showing Up in Breast Milk - AP via The Herald-Sun

►February 24, 2004 - Low Carb Lowdown: Sorting out the truth and judging the tastes of products born of the latest diet craze - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

►February 24, 2004 - They Can Dance to It - One Small but (Alas) High-Priced Facility Is Taking New Steps in Alzheimer's Care (requires registration) - Washington Post 

Comment:  Note that according to one source, "The severity of side effects among all vaccine recipients was low, though Jelinek cautioned that people with autoimmune diseases like lupus and Graves’ disease should be careful, as stimulation of the immune system by vaccines can cause episodes of their diseases."

►February 24, 2004 - Flu shots for all could become goal - Cox News Service via Longview News-Journal - "This is long overdue,' said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who served on ACIP until last summer. 'Influenza is an infectious disease than can be prevented easily and safely, and it should be.'"

Comment:  First, it is important to bear in mind that Paul Offit is highly conflicted, counting among his various financial ties to the vaccine industry, being paid by them to tout their safety to doctors.  Second, while the claim is made that it can be prevented easily and safely, in truth, no one knows whether the benefits of flu vaccine outweighs its risks.  The benefits are assumed, and the risks either dismissed or ignored.  Let's see some long-term studies comparing the flu vaccinated to the never vaccinated and then we'll have some idea whether or not the benefits outweigh their risks.

►February 24, 2004 -U.S. will pay for study to seek cause of autism - USA Today - "A major U.S.-financed study designed to unearth the roots of autism will track 100,000 babies in Norway to identify biological and environmental factors that could combine to cause autism and other developmental disorders...Researchers will collect information on exposures to toxins, including mercury, which has been suspected as a factor in autism, as well as diet, vaccines, babies' birth weight and head circumference, and volumes of other data that can be analyzed to compare children who develop autism with those who do not."

►February 24, 2004 -Medical Malpractice Bill Fails To Clear Hurdle - Critics Say Bill Is Bailout For Insurance Companies - www.ksat.com - "Senate Republicans failed Tuesday in their latest effort to limit medical malpractice awards...They fell 12 votes short of the number needed to force the Senate to consider the bill, which would have capped malpractice awards against obstetricians and gynecologists...But Democrats say the bill is a bailout for insurance companies who have made bad investments and that a cap on damages doesn't lead to lower insurance premiums. They called the bill an election-year ploy, arguing that capping damages has no impact on insurance costs."

►February 24, 2004 - What do you think of setting limits on malpractice awards? - online poll - www.ksat.com

►March 2004 - You Should Worry About Vaccine Safety - Coastal Post Online - "But industry has the trump card. Marin County receives enough monies from the vaccination program that its officials wish only to 'Hear No Evil.'..Eventually the tide must turn. But at what cost? Across how many more coffins containing infant and toddler bodies must the shadow of vaccination fall?"

►February 24, 2004 - Lifting the Veils of Autism, One by One by One (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times