►Mass Vaccination Clinics - California Distance Learning Health Network - Thursday, March 18, 2004

Comment:  Whoa.  That's a lot of vaccine to suddenly come up with.

Comment:  What if, however, as so many believe, HIV has nothing do with AIDS?

►January 9, 2004 - Doctors to march on Capitol - In February, they will meet here to press for changes in Virginia's malpractice laws - Times Dispatch - "Virginia doctors are blaming huge increases in malpractice premiums and policy cancellations for a growing erosion of patient services and access to care...In a rare public demonstration next month, hundreds of white-coated physicians will march on Richmond and argue for changes in the state's medical-malpractice laws, once regarded as among the country's most protective of doctors."

►January 11, 2004 - Ambiguous Gifts: When Patients Give and Doctors Take (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "A LAWSUIT last week evoked a distressing image of the former Beatle George Harrison, weak and exhausted, near the end of his life, being coerced into signing autographs by the doctor who was treating his cancer...Dr. Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital has denied through a spokesman that any coercion took place, saying that he and his patient had become close and that Mr. Harrison had freely autographed a guitar belonging to Dr. Lederman's son."

►January 12, 2004 - Researchers try to cut new path to pharmacy (requires subscription) - Wall Street Journal via www.healthleaders.com  - "A growing number of universities and hospitals are moving beyond basic science and into limited drug development in an attempt to generate interest from risk-adverse drugmakers."

►January 12, 2004 - Low-Tar Cigarettes Dangerous - BMJ via Ivanhoe - "A new study shows the risk for lung cancer is the same for people who smoke medium-tar cigarettes, low-tar cigarettes, or very-low-tar cigarettes."

►January 19, 2004 - Medical liability reform -- let's do it together now! (opinion) - www.ama-assn.org

►January 19, 2004 - Bad to the bone: The risk of osteoporosis - After halting hormone therapy, women may find it's not just hot flashes that plague them. Their bones may also be taking a hit. - www.ama-assn.org

►January 19, 2004 - Researchers step up battle against ongoing anthrax threat - Early detection, quick treatment and a new-generation vaccine are all part of a multipronged effort to disarm the deadly bacterium. - www.ama-assn.org

►January 9, 2004 - Data show states return millions to feds instead of spending it on schools - www.signonsandiego.com

►January 12, 2004 - The Power of Movements - www.oneworld.net - "Successful movements have internal leadership, a powerful voice for the perspectives of those most affected, and a strong people’s role in agenda setting and decision making. These are intrinsic components of what makes movements successful and their results sustainable...This is not to suggest that we do not develop new vaccines and other scientific solutions to some very serious development issues. Of course we should. But those “solutions” will work only in combination with social movement processes."

►January 11, 2004 - Autism's full spectrum - USA Today - "When researchers study autism today, they are studying a more broadly defined spectrum of disorders than was once recognized...People with autism spectrum disorders can be severely impaired — mute, retarded, caught up in a world of obsessive and seemingly meaningless behaviors — or they can be so intelligent and verbal that they appear merely quirky to an untrained observer."

►January 12, 2004 - Fury as doctor denies MMR autism link (editorial) - The Ham & High - "A ROYAL Free doctor has provoked a storm of protest after defending the controversial MMR vaccine in the Ham&High...A flood of letters in response to last week’s article – including several from the USA – accused Professor Brent Taylor of bias in casting doubt on a link between an increase in autism and bowel disease with the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine."

►January 12, 2004 - Official report links vaccine to Gulf War syndrome (requires registration or subscription) - www.timesonline.com - "For 13 years, the Ministry of Defence has denied that the vaccines , some of which were classified as “secret”, could be blamed for the wide range of debilitating diseases...A copy of the report, dated September 22, 2001, but never made public, has been handed to The Times by Mr Izett, who won a landmark ruling at a war pensions appeals tribunal in July last year which awarded him a 50 per cent disability pension. ..The MoD did not appeal against the ruling but maintained that the vaccines could not be the cause of any Gulf War syndrome of illnesses.

Comment:  How many secrets are we going to have to discover before realizing we have not been told the truth about vaccines?  For a recent letter from a Congressman concerning a possible CDC cover-up, click here (pdf).

►January 13, 2004 - Troops' illness linked to vaccines - Herald Sun - "VACCINES administered to Australian troops before their departure to the first war against Iraq may have caused long-term symptoms known as Gulf War Syndrome...A British medical report has found a link between a pre-deployment immunisation program and long-term medical problems...Australian Gulf War Veterans Association yesterday seized on the British report as evidence that Australian troops also suffered permanent side-effects from their vaccination program."

Comment:  For a comparison of oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine, go to Scandals: Wanted: Dead or Alive? Is IPV really safer than OPV?

►January 12, 2004 - Guess what's coming in dinner - Mad cow disease scare, salmon warning have consumers wondering what on their plates is safe to eat - Tri-Valley Herald Online

Comment:  As well they should.  But what about showing the same concern for what is injected into their bodies?

►January 12, 2004 - POISONOUS VAPORS: EPA cleaning up mercury spill - Levels of mercury inside house six times greater than what is considered safe - Las Vegas Review-Journal - "An Environmental Protection Agency emergency response team began cleaning up a liquid mercury spill Sunday at a house on Saylor Way where a 17-year-old boy inhaled the poisonous vapors...EPA officials spent Sunday trying to save the family's dog, Snowball, who was seriously sickened by the mercury exposure."

Comment:  Do not inhale.  But feel free to inject? Right...

►January 12, 2004 - Parents' anger over MMR threat to GPs - Leeds Today - "Doctors used to receive bonuses for achieving targets on vaccinating children with the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab...But now, a new policy set down by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), states that GPs will LOSE money if they fail to convince enough parents to have the inoculation."

►January 12, 2004 - Lack of flu shots spurs fake vaccines - Los Angeles Times via Knox News

►January 11, 2004 - Amid Mad-Cow Fear, Worries in Md. Death - Lack of Autopsies Hampers Research - Washington Post

►January 11, 2004 - Assessing Risks of Mad Cow - Other Animals Likely Infected, Scientists Say - Washington Post

►January 12, 2004 - China Hunts Source of SARS - 3rd Possible Case Reported as Officials Investigate Outbreak - Washington Post

►January 12, 2004 - For Health Officials, Flu Shot Is an Annual Gamble - Washington Post - "This winter marks only the second time in 15 years that the flu vaccine given to tens of millions of Americans does not specifically protect against the strain of flu circulating in the population...In that sense, this year's flu shot -- ironically, one of the more sought-after injections in years -- is a failure. How big a failure the shot is, and how many people may pay for the failure with their lives, will not be known for a while. The country could still get lucky. It might turn out a vaccine that is technically "wrong" may be right enough for the real world."

►January 9, 2004 - Monkeypox may complicate bioterror efforts - Similarity to smallpox could make detection of deadlier disease tricky - www.jsonline.com

►January 9, 2004 - New device can help defend against novel biological agents - Vanderbilt University via www.eurekalert.org

►January 12, 2004 - Cutting-edge science - www.palmbeachpost.com - "Scripps holds a patent on another promising technology: 'pharming,' or implanting human genes into corn and other crops so their tissues will contain disease-fighting antibodies."

►January 11, 2004 - Researchers prevent spread of flesh-eating virus - www.israel21c.org

►December 8, 2003 - A Step Past Chemotherapy - Cancer: The five-year survival rate for all cancers is 62 percent. Specially-targeted drugs hone in on cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched - Newsweek via MSNBC

►January 11, 2004 - Finding may lead to better asthma treatment - Researchers have found a compound that blocks the production of excessive mucus, which could point the way to better treatments for asthma, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis and other diseases. - AP via CNN

►January 12, 2004 - The blame game - The strategies for reducing HIV rates in Australia seemed to be working. But now, Jock Cheetham reports, the experts are wondering what went wrong. - The Sydney Morning Herald - "HIV rates are rising again after years of decline, dragging NSW into line with many other states and international trends. The AIDS Council of NSW is searching for the best response after years of safe sex messages that may have missed their targets."

►January 12, 2004 - Increasing Flu Vaccine in High-Risk Children - Pediatrics via Ivanhoe - "A simple reminder call significantly increases the number of children with a high-risk medical condition who receive a flu vaccine, according to new research. The study used billing data to identify children with high-risk conditions and evaluated whether a phone call could increase the number of children with a high-risk condition who actually get the flu vaccine."

►January 12, 2004 - Vaccine link to Gulf War syndrome - AFP via The Australian - "GULF War syndrome was probably caused by vaccines administered to soldiers before their departure to the region, according to a medical report whose findings are published in today's edition of The Times newspaper...The confidential report by senior army specialist Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe, who examined a British soldier who suffered osteoporosis and depression after the Gulf War, found that 'secret' injections he received before his expected deployment to the Gulf 'most probably led to the development of autoimmune-induced osteoporosis'...The theory has extra credibility because the soldier in question, ex-Corporal Alex Izett, did not end up going to the Gulf. His regiment, based in Germany, was not deployed there."