December 12, 2003 - Smallpox Vaccine Victims Can Seek Payment - AP via Yahoo! - "More than 38,000 medical care workers, police, firefighters and other emergency responders have been vaccinated against smallpox under an emergency response plan that went into effect last January. Officials estimate that about 2 percent of those vaccinated experienced some sort of medical injury as a result...Under rules announced Friday, those injured by the smallpox vaccine will be able to seek compensation from a $42 million program that provides both financial and medical benefits."

December 14, 2003 - Biotech threat scenarios get scary - Toledo Blade - "A newly declassified Central Intelligence Agency report warns that rogue scientists could highjack biotechnology and create super-microbes far worse than the virus staring in "24 Hours," Fox television’s popular drama...The CIA portrays them as viruses and bacteria from hell."

November 3, 2003 - My Turn: Reaching the 'Point of No Return' in Public - When 'J' has a fit, spectators assume poor parenting is to blame.  They never suspect that he's autistic - Newsweek via MSNBC

December 9, 2003 - Students with autism are moving to Kalamazoo - www.woodtv.com/ - "The number of autistic children in one West Michigan county is on the rise. Kalamazoo County has seen an increase of more than 300 percent over the last decade. One reason for that could be a special classroom at Croyden Avenue School."

Comment:  Or perhaps it is an actual rise in the number of children with autism in Kalamazoo County.

December 9, 2003 - Why did my son suffer? - The Scotsman - "Watching her son walk through the school gates, Kathleen Yazbak is haunted by a moment in her past. Some days the feeling catches her more than others, as children greet each other; hugging, chatting or racing around before the bell rings. This stab to the heart comes from the fleeting memory of a fateful decision that changed her life for ever when, six years ago, Kathleen let her four-year-old son have his MMR booster."

December 13, 2003 - Mercury in water, air a growing concern - EPA coal plant plans, fish linked (requires registration) - Chicago Tribune

December 12, 2003 - Getting heated over mercury - Regulation rollback is boon for utilities, bad for kids - by Molly Ivins - www.workingforchange.com - "I can't tell whether this administration is flaunting its cynicism, its contempt for science or its conviction that when in power you help your contributors and fry your enemies. Although how millions of small children and unborn fetuses came to be enemies of Bush & Co. is beyond my political or theological understanding."

December 10, 2003 - Tuna may join mercury advisory - FDA meets to consider warnings; Florida could follow - www.news-press.com

November 19, 2003 - New Study In New England Journal of Medicine Says Little Danger From Mercury Exposure In Vaccines and Dental Amalgam Fillings... Experts Claim Study Is Part of Massive Marketing To Mislead Safety Levels to the Public - Uninformed Consent, Seattle via www.universityofhealth.net

December 9, 2003 - As FDA, Advisory Panel Discuss Whether to Tell Women About Mercury Contamination, New FDA Tests Show Higher Than Expected Mercury in Tuna - www.ewg.org - "Mercury is toxic to the developing brain and nervous system, and it can have permanent effects on intelligence, speech and motor development of children after they are born."

Comment:  What, no mention of vaccines?  The idea that injecting an adult-sized mega-dose into the tiny bodies of infants via vaccines could in any way be benign simply doesn't pass the "straight-face test".  But, you say,  it's a different form of mercury (ethylmercury in thimerosal vs. methylmercury in tuna)?  Well, then thoroughly study the differences and prove they don't have the same effect, rather than avoid studying it, and insist the lack of evidence means thimerosal is safe.

Comment: P.S.  Don't let the vaccine or thimerosal manufacturers (past or present) have any influence, financial or otherwise, over the design or conduct of such studies.

Moms Against Mercury - Two Moms Fighting For Truth & Justice For Our Children...And Yours - website - BILLBOARD

December 11, 2003 - U.S. to Warn Women of Mercury in Tuna - Newspaper - Reuters Health via Yahoo!

December 10, 2003 - FDA mercury warnings come under further fire - Knox News - "The Food and Drug Administration has drafted a health advisory to pregnant women and children that isn't strong enough to prevent brain damage from eating mercury contaminated fish, particularly canned tuna, environmental and consumer groups said Tuesday."

Comment:  As for the problem with injecting an adult-sized mega-dose into the tiny bodies of infants via vaccines - it doesn't pass the "straight-face test" to suggest doing so could be in any way benign.

November 28, 2003 - A shot for the flu, with mercury too - Canadians are getting a dose of something unexpected with their flu shots this season: mercury. - Capital News Online - "Provincial and territorial governments use an influenza vaccine that contains the mercury compound thimerosal as a preservative. They buy it because it's less expensive than vaccines without mercury."

December 8, 2003 - CDC Study Raises Level of Suspicion - Insight Magazine - "Canned tuna or canned poison?...'We know that high levels of mercury can impair the cognitive development as well as the growth and development of a young child.'...What the critics of mercury in vaccines find provocative about this report is the acknowledgement by physicians that the high levels of mercury ingested from canned tuna can cause severe health risks. One such critic, the mother of an autistic child, wonders 'why everyone gets up in arms over ingesting small amounts of mercury from fish or from breaking a thermometer but finds it acceptable to inject an even more toxic form of mercury directly into the bloodstream of infants.'"

December 8, 2003 - political action alert - To thank Kelly O'Meara and Insight Magazine for their recent article entitled "CDC Raises Level of Suspicion." - National Autism Association Grassroots Center

Also published as CDC vaccines study slammed as cover-up - Data linking mercury exposure, neurodevelopment said 'manipulated' - Insight Magazine via www.worldnetdaily.com

December 14, 2003 - MMR RIP?  (requires subscription) - The Sunday Times, UK - "A conspiracy of silence or paranoid scaremongering? Is the MMR vaccine a cause of autism — or is it a vital health programme undermined by this medical maverick?"

December 14, 2003 - Doctors’ fury at MMR drama ‘errors’ - The Sunday Herald, UK - "A spokesman for the Royal Society said last night that members were alarmed at the blurring of the distinction between fact and fiction, especially the failure to include any reference to scientific doubts over Wakefield’s theories or that opinion is split and the majority of scientists believe there is no evidence to suggest an MMR-autism link."

Comment:  Sometimes what is one person's "fact" is another person's "fiction".

December 13, 2003 - Rapid responses to Hear the Silence - by Elliman and Bedford - journal ariticle (BMJ)

December 13, 2003 - Rapid responses to Hear the Silence - by Fitzpatrick - journal ariticle (BMJ)

December 14, 2003 - A travesty of truth - This week's 'drama' about MMR and autism does nothing but reinforce already held prejudices - The Guardian/Observer

December 13, 2003 - TV drama on MMR 'could cost lives'  - The Telegraph, UK - "A spokesman added that to ensure viewers were properly informed, a statement before the opening scene would make clear that the film was a dramatised account of a mother's perceptions of what happened to her child and the work of Dr Wakefield and his colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital in the late 1990s."

December 11, 2003 - Never mind the facts - Channel Five's new drama about the link between MMR and autism makes great TV. But it gets the story, and the science, disastrously wrong. How did we get to such a level of confusion and hysteria about this vaccine? Ben Goldacre unravels the real MMR story - The Guardian, UK

Comment: As for "never minding the facts", it all gets down to "who do you trust"?  Do you trust the "facts" provided by the vaccine manufacturers and anyone else who benefits financially from the use of vaccines?  Do you trust parents, who may not have proof, but do have evidence implicating vaccines?  Do you trust researchers and others who are willing to chance sacrificing their careers and/or their reputations to champion an unpopular idea?  For an overview of the vaccine issue and how conflict of interest has influenced the process, click here.

December 7, 2003 - Drama Turns Into A Crisis - The Sunday Mirror, UK - "Docudramas, those half- documentary half-fiction shows beloved of TV programme makers, are usually iffy and dishonest...They are a lazy way of distorting the truth to present a sensational story, while pretending to do some sort of public service...Channel Four did it with The Deal about the - largely inaccurate - relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Now Channel Five has had a go with Hear The Silence, a film about MMR, the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab, and its possible connection with autism, which stars Juliet Stevenson and be screened next Monday."

Comment:  The author, as revealed later in this piece, clearly buys the party line that studies have vindicated the vaccine.  It's a shame that he and others are either unwilling or unable to question the party line and the evidence brought to bear in support of it. 

December 9, 2003 - Saint Mum, Saint Doctor and the Evil MMR - The Guardian - "Television companies are usually congratulated for making plays that might lead to viewers fearing the needle: there's a long tradition of anti-drug dramas set in Glaswegian crack-houses. The channel now known as Five, however, has been strongly criticised for a play that seems to advocate abstinence from the syringe...The reason is that Hear the Silence features Juliet Stevenson, as the saintly mother of a young boy diagnosed with autism, teaming up with a dashing and heroic doctor, played by Hugh Bonneville, in an attempt to prove that a new variant of autism is being caused by the combined MMR vaccine."

December 14, 2003 - Withdrawn Drug May Close Window of Hope for Kids (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times - "But for the last 18 months or so, he's been moonlighting on the biggest case he'll ever have — proper treatment for his son, Garrett, who began displaying autistic-like characteristics when he was 1 1/2. However, Gurwitz and his wife, Renee, also a deputy district attorney, refuse to describe their son as autistic...Therein lies the backdrop for an emerging medical story that, so far, has left the Gurwitzes and other parents in varying states of frustration, anger and — dare they suggest it? — cautious optimism."

December 9, 2003 - Dog helps boy cope with autism - The Globe and Mail - "Jamil Shah threw long tantrums, and like thousands of other autistic children, could barely communicate with his parents...These days, the 12-year-old is doing better. He cuddles beside his canine companion, Sherlock, whenever he's upset, he's grown aware of his surroundings, but mostly he's more affectionate."

December 11, 2003 - Retrospective: The Discovery of HIV as the Cause of AIDS (full text requires subscription the first 6 months after publication) - journal article (NEJM)

November 28, 2003 - Virus Proves too Wily for Scientists - Financial Times  via www.immunizationinfo.org - "Recent failures of experimental AIDS vaccines in early human trials have underlined the difficulty facing researchers in developing a vaccine to fight HIV, with a viable vaccine no closer than five years away, and probably much further. Part of the problem is that people do not develop an immunity against HIV after contracting the disease--like they do for many other illnesses such as measles, smallpox, and mumps--so a vaccine probably cannot confer immunity just by showing the immune system the virus."

Comment:  According to some, there is reason to question whether any vaccine is able to confer immunity in that way.

Comment:  And what if, as some believe, HIV has nothing to do with AIDS?

December 2003 - New Hepatitis A Vaccine Efficacy May Last 21 Years - Few local side effects (requires registration) - ePediatric News - "Based upon the slow yearly rate of decline in anti-hepatitis A virus antibodies in the vaccinated children, it was calculated using standard models that the median duration of protection will be 28.1 years. An estimated 95% of children will remain protected for 21.1 years. The advantage of an aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine over current vaccines that rely upon aluminum hydroxide as an immunopotentiating adjuvant is markedly fewer adverse effects at the injection site. The aluminum-free vaccine uses reconstituted influenza virosomes as a carrier system for hepatitis A antigen."

Comment:  Given how questionable antibodies are in terms of reflecting immunity, it is hard to trust any antibody decay-rate- based extrapolation of a vaccine's duration of immunity.

Comment: Another reason to avoid aluminum in vaccines is the arguable hypothesis that aluminum may in some way be connected to Alzheimer's.

December 12, 2003 - Vaccine protects troops - by Dr. William Winkenwerderis, assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs - USA Today via Yahoo! - "Scientific knowledge behind the anthrax vaccine is impressive. In March 2002, a comprehensive study by the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites) concluded that the anthrax vaccine is safe and effective. The Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) approved the vaccine as effective against all forms of the disease. The Department of Defense (news - web sites) has safely administered several million vaccine doses to more than 980,000 servicemembers."

Comment:  And now for at least part of the other side of the story (repeat from December 12, 2003):

December 7, 2003 - Does Kindergarten Need Cops? - The youngest schoolkids are acting out in really outrageous ways.  Why? - www.time.com - " 'I'm clearly seeing an increasing number of kindergartners and first-graders coming to our attention for aggressive behavior,' says Michael Parker, program director of psychological services at the Fort Worth Independent School District, which serves 80,000 students. The incidents have occurred not only in low-income urban schools but in middle-class areas as well. Says Parker: 'We're talking about serious talking back to teachers, profanity, even biting, kicking and hitting adults, and we're seeing it in 5-year-olds.' And these are not the kids who have been formally labeled emotionally disturbed, says Nekedria Clark, who works in Parker's department. 'We have our E.D. kids, and then we have our b-a-d kids.'"

December 10, 2003 - Vaccines caused my three children's neuro disorders (letter) - The Illinois Leader - "The pharmaceutical companies are so large and almighty that bringing them down is a challenge but one that I and many other parents are slowly doing...I'm not anti-vaccine. I am for safe vaccines - vaccines without known neurotoxins such as thimerosal, and other additives such as aluminum, aborted fetus cells, and formaldehyde."

December 8, 2003 - The children of middle Australia are in crisis - There seems to be something wrong with the way our young are brought up. - The Age - "There is a growing body of evidence that children from the "mainstream" of suburban Australia are displaying serious physical, intellectual and emotional problems...Last month a report was published that added to that body of evidence. It indicates that many more Australian children than previously thought might be at risk of not being able to fulfil(sic) their educational potential...The results revealed that 26 per cent were vulnerable to not being able to achieve their educational potential, and 13 per cent were at high risk, particularly in the cognitive and linguistic skills area."

Comment: For more on this, go to Survey finds 1 in 4 five-year-olds have developmental problems

December 13, 2003 - Panel reluctantly backed flu vaccine to FDA - Members of an advisory panel that backed this year's flu vaccine expressed doubts about its potential effectiveness before recommending it for the Food and Drug Administration's approval. - CNN

December 13, 2003 - Why flu kills healthy kids a medical mystery - The Denver Post - "The exact cause of death of 14-month-old Jeremy Beaumont and of Joseph Williams, the 8- year-old from Wellington, and of the other Colorado flu victims hasn't been determined. Most of those who died in Colorado were sick before the flu struck, with compromised immune systems, or, in at least one case, heart problems. But some were healthy - normal, exuberant children whose deaths no doubt send shivers down the spine of every parent in the state."

December 12, 2003 - No end in sight - The News-Record - "The influenza A virus continues to take its toll on Campbell County and health officials aren't expecting it to get much better...Pediatrician Linda Ammari will see 45 kids today related to viral illnesses, which she says hasn't slowed in the last two weeks."

December 13, 2003 - Scientist warn of flu pandemic - As bad as this year's flu season is, it hasn't brought the worldwide outbreak known as a pandemic. But experts warn that a pandemic is coming, it's just a question of when. - AP via CNN

December 13, 2003 - Stronger vaccine was nixed - March decision by FDA is examined in light of deadly flu season - The Denver Post - "Federal regulators could have approved a flu vaccine that protected the public against the deadly strain sweeping through Colorado and across the country, but would have had to use a controversial and risky method to do it."

December 14, 2003 - The Big Bad Flu, or Just the Usual? (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "For all the public concern over the rapid spread of the new Fujian strain of influenza, health officials and doctors say there is still no way to know whether this year's flu season is particularly severe or just off to an early start. And for all the clamor for dwindling supplies of vaccine, no one knows how effective the current vaccine will be against the Fujian strain...But the flu season has already thrown some realities about the public health system into sharp relief, these experts say. It suggests that the country needs to be far better prepared to deal with influenza — either the conventional strains that cause serious illness each year, or a horrendous strain like the one that caused the 1918-19 pandemic, which killed at least 30 million people worldwide."

Influenza: The Disease & The Vaccine - www.nvic.org

December 12, 2003 - Read This Before You Get A Flu Shot Or Take Another Pill: By Mary Starrett - www.newswithviews.com - "A senior executive with pharma-giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in the U.K. said that fewer than half the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually got any benefit from them...Whoa."

Comment:  Note the stark contrast between alternative and mainstream press news.

December 13, 2003 - With Flu Shots Dwindling, Nasal Spray Vaccine Surges (requires subscription or registration) - The New York Times - "So Mr. Feinberg, a 49-year-old lawyer, dropped into a pharmacy here, sat in a chair and tilted his head back as a pharmacist squirted a liquid vaccine called FluMist into each of his nostrils. He paid $70, before a $25 rebate, several times what he would have paid for a flu shot. But he said it was worth it... 'The time I would have lost from work," he said, "I didn't mind paying at all.'"

December 13, 2003 - Noting High-Risk Flu Groups and a Few Tips on Coping (requires subscription or registration) - The New York Times - "Because it is impossible to predict which strain of influenza will strike in any given season, this year's vaccine was designed for strains other than Fujian A, the dominant strain this year. But health officials say it appears to be close enough to provide some protection. The vaccine takes two weeks to become effective."

December 10, 2003 - Health departments set priorities for flu shots - The Seattle Times - "State and King County health officials are recommending that physicians give top priority for the increasingly scarce flu vaccine to children and adults at high risk for complications..."It seems prudent to prioritize the doses we do have. ... It appears our supplies are dwindling," state Health Officer Maxine Hayes said yesterday."

December 10, 2003 - Listen, all you germ factories: Sneeze politely - Portland Press Herald - "It's been a long time since information this useful came out of Maine's state government. This morning's news report, therefore, would not be complete without attributing these two simple pieces of advice to no one less than Gov. John Baldacci."

December 12, 2003 - Children Hit Hard By Flu - CBS/AP via CBS News - "Fueling all the concern is the sobering fact that at least 23 children have died so far this flu season..Some of the people who track infectious diseases call the number alarming, but to date there has been little information available about the deaths that would either allay or confirm fears...But CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin reports that more than half of the children who died had an underlying illness such as asthma, heart disease or diabetes, but no information is being made public about whether or not the children were vaccinated."

Comment:  Children with diseases like asthma and diabetes are more vulnerable to the potential ravages of the flu.  Chronic disease among children is significantly on the rise, which means more and more children are potentially at serious risk from the flu.  Why are more and more children suffering from chronic disease?  For more on this, go to Scandals: Prescription For Disaster - Is Vaccine Policy A "House of Cards"? and Scandals: Look Who's Paying.

December 12, 2003 - Frist Says Flu Vaccine Shortage Points Up Need To Improve Supply - www.chattanoogan.com - "'There are a number of varying factors related to the shortage – too few vaccine manufacturers in large part due to costly and unnecessary lawsuits coupled with uncertain market conditions; lack of a coordinated strategy to safeguard against a flu pandemic; reliance on older technologies that slow vaccine production; public complacency about the importance of immunizations; and the caginess of the flu virus itself.'"

Bush blamed for flu vaccine shortage - The Washington Times - "'It's frustrating to hear a Bush health adviser make excuses for drug companies by giving inflated numbers on how much stockholders might lose on vaccine production,' Mr. Edwards said. I wish we could think more about solutions and worry less about profits.'... One Republican source said it was 'incredibly ironic' that Mr. Edwards would complain about vaccine manufacturers....'There would be more companies available to manufacture vaccines if people like John Edwards and his trial lawyer friends weren't putting them out of business with frivolous lawsuits,' the source said."

December 12, 2003 - Notice to Readers: Request for Information About Acute Encephalopathy Associated with Influenza Virus Infection in U.S. Children -  CDC via MMWR - "Reports of influenza-associated encephalopathy have been uncommon in the United States (3,4). To determine if a similar pattern is occurring in the United States, CDC is requesting information on any case meeting certain criteria. The criteria include a person aged <18 years with altered mental status or personality change lasting >24 hours and occurring within 5 days of onset of an acute febrile respiratory illness, laboratory or rapid diagnostic test evidence of acute influenza virus infection associated with the respiratory illness, and diagnosis of the condition in the United States."

Comment:  Might at least some of this be Reye's syndrome, which can be confused with encephalitis?  If so, and in those cases, might the "influenza-associated encephalopathy" be treatment related, i.e., caused by treating the flu with aspirin, rather than a direct consequence of the flu?

December 5, 2003 - New Data Suggest That A Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine May Induce Immunity Against Currently Circulating Drifted A/Fujian-Like Influenza Strain - MedImmune, Inc. via PRNewswire

Comment:  It would appear that the study was paid for by MedImmune, the maker of the vaccine.

December 9, 2003 - CDC to monitor children's flu complications - AP via CNN - "A new concern is the rise of a common drug-resistant staph infection that is complicating efforts to treat children with the flu, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday...Dr. Tim Uyeki, epidemiologist with the influenza branch of CDC, said that some children have died from the staph infections -- a phenomenon the CDC has not seen before."

Comment:  Why would children with flu suddenly be dying from staph infections?  Has something happened to impair their immune systems and make them more vulnerable to these infections than normally would occur when they have the flu?  Or is there something about this particular flu that makes them weaker in a way that, for the first time, makes them extremely vulnerable to staph?

December 8, 2003 - An Aetna InteliHealth/Harvard Medical School Look At The News -- Flu Crisis On The Horizon? - With the nation's supply of flu shots dropping rapidly and at least 13 states facing unusually severe flu outbreak, doctors are urging healthy people to opt for a nasal-spray version of the vaccine and save the traditional one for children and elderly. - AP via www.intelihealth.com

December 8, 2003 - FluMist Booms on Backing from Centers for Disease Control - The Washington Times

December 9, 2003 - A Better FLU Vaccine? Nasal Spray Vaccine May Give More Protection Against 'Drifted' Strains - www.slu.edu via Science Daily - "The maker of the vaccine, MedImmune Inc., is currently conducting additional studies with FluMist to confirm these findings."

Comment:  Any chance someone without a stake in the results will be doing any research on this?

December 11, 2003 - Flood of flu cases using up vaccine - The Navajo Times - "Across the United States, health officials have said this year could be the worst influenza season seen in decades...Michael Murphy, spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said that so far two adults and one child have died of influenza related sickness. Murphy said Arizona typically has 20 children deaths a year caused by influenza."

Comment: Okay, so let me see if I've got this straight.  Normally 20 children die in Arizona, and so far one has died.  And yet there is near hysteria over this flu and access to flu vaccine.  Perhaps I am missing something, but is this flu season being hyped up for some reason?  If so, what could that reason be?  And lest we forget, there have been almost 18,000 flu-vaccine associated adverse reactions reported to VAERS since reporting began, including 317 deaths.  (Note that estimates of under-reporting range from 90-99%, e.g., click here.)

December 11, 2003 - Cases of flu cut in half - The worst of worst Colorado season in years is over, officials say - Rocky Mountain News - "During a typical year, no more than two children and a total of 750 to 800 Coloradans die of complications of the flu or pneumonia."

Comment:  What makes this year the "worst of the worst"?  How many Coloradans died last year?  How many have died so far this year? How many of the allegedly flu-related deaths reported by the media have been confirmed to be flu-related?  How many of the allegedly flu-related deaths reported by the media are actually treatment related?  How many of the allegedly flu-related deaths reported by the media are actually non-flu-related, e.g., the result of asthma and other chronic conditions?  How many of the allegedly flu-related deaths reported by the media are actually vaccine-related deaths?  Will there be a genuine effort to answer these and other relevant questions? 

December 11, 2003 - NAA Action Alert: "On December 9, 2003, an editorial was published in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Where's my flu shot?" The writer goes beyond merely stating an opinion when the information he/she presents is made to seem factual, but really isn't. In fact, the writer uses erroneous information to take direct aim at government officials who have very much helped the autism community in the past.  He/she also depicts Senator Bill Frist as the hero while blaming our repeal of the Homeland Security rider for the current flu vaccine shortage...Please write to the Wall Street Journal ASAP and let them know that they irresponsibly printed a very misleading editorial without checking the facts first." - to learn more, go to the National Autism Association's Grassroots Center

December 11, 2003 - Doubling of flu deaths feared -  The Denver Post - "The FDA and CDC should have warned the public that the vaccine might not be effective against the Fujian strain, said Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center in Vienna, Va., and a member of the FDA committee..."Be honest with the people; tell them they couldn't produce the Fujian strain this year," she said, noting that citizens often incorrectly look at the flu vaccine as a panacea...Worse, Fisher said, is that health officials knew the the vaccine was only marginally effective against Fujian."

December 10, 2003 - Experts Question Potency of Flu Vaccine - AP via Yahoo! - "Even as federal officials try to round up extra doses of the flu vaccine, many experts are wondering just how much protection the shots will give the millions who have taken them...Vaccine makers produced 83 million doses this year, but the early and intense outbreak in some Western states has dried up supplies in many places...Even though one of the three is a close cousin of this season's bug, whether that will be enough to help people ward off the flu is unknown. Some experts expect the level of protection to be less than 50 percent...Most agree the vaccine will do at least some good. But the word "some" is about specific as CDC scientists are willing to get."

Comment:  How lovely for the vaccine manufacturers, to be able to produce 83 million doses of something that may well not work and enlist the government and medical community in their efforts to sell it.

December 11, 2003 - Effectiveness of shots isn't clear-cut - Expert says mismatch may protect half of recipients but adds, 'Biology is messy' - Rocky Mountain News

December 10, 2003 - Flu campaign emphasizes etiquette - www.ourmaine.com - "Governor John E. Baldacci, joined by public health officials from the Department of Human Services, Tuesday announced a 'Cover Your Cough and Wash Your Hands' campaign to involve all Maine people in the effort to improve their health during the flu season."

December 10, 2003 - Fujian flu vaccine ready by next year - The Star 

December 9, 2003 - Even doctors seek guidance on flu vaccine - Shortage creates questions  about who should be given shots - Akron Beacon Journal - "An earlier-than-usual flu season. News of influenza-related childhood deaths in Western states. A dwindling vaccine supply. It's a set of circumstances that's creating fear among parents and concern among doctors."

November 28, 2003 - A shot for the flu, with mercury too - Canadians are getting a dose of something unexpected with their flu shots this season: mercury. - Capital News Online - "Provincial and territorial governments use an influenza vaccine that contains the mercury compound thimerosal as a preservative. They buy it because it's less expensive than vaccines without mercury."

December 10, 2003 - Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine Could Take Off, Boosting Maker - USA Today via www.immunizationinfo.org - "The demand for influenza vaccine has increased due to an outbreak of a strong strain of flu, and Aventis and Chiron have shipped all their inventory of flu shots. This could turn into opportunity for MedImmune, which manufactures the FluMist nasal spray vaccine and whose sales so far have been slow. FluMist's launch was hindered by a number of factors, including its higher price, its limited approval for patients, and the fact that it must be kept frozen. However, MedImmune's marketing partner, Wyeth, has started a freezer distribution program, and higher demand could push sales."

Comment: Is all this a coincidence?  For more on this, go to New Campaign To Market Tough-Sell FluMist® - by Sherri Tenpenny, DO - Online Vaccines Conference @ www.redflagsdaily.com

December 6, 2003 - 700 senior citizens in Singapore get enhanced flu jabs to combat new flu virus strain - Channel News Asia - "Managing Director of Pacific Biosciences, Lloyd Soong, said: 'The elderly are a little different from us healthy adults, so their immunity system is a little different. So if you give the normal flu vaccines then maybe you're protected about 90 percent for healthy adults like us, but for the elderly if you use the so-called normal flu vaccines probably about 30 to 40 percent of the elderly are protected only.'...But while Fluad is also suitable for adults, it is not recommended for young children. They're better off with an ordinary flu vaccine."

Comment:  What's the story on this so-called enhanced flu vaccine?  And how many of the elderly are aware that "normal flu vaccines" probably only protect 30-40 percent of them?

December 2003 - Flu vaccination could mean extra doctor trips - Study reports a high rate of healthy infants who would require and additional visit to receive influenza vaccine. (requires registration) - journal article (Infectious Diseases In Children) - "An important drawback of the recent decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to move to a full universal influenza recommendation for healthy young infants in the fall of 2004 is the possibility that the requirement will prompt the need for additional medical visits."

December 7, 2003 - Children refused killer flu jabs - The Sunday Mercury - "More children could die of Fujian flu as doctors have been BANNED from giving them vaccinations because of jab shortages...A Sunday Mercury investigation has discovered Midland clinics have been told not to immunise healthy kids from the killer virus - as the government have not provided enough supplies."

Comment:  Given that we don't actually know how many of the children who died from the flu had been given the flu vaccine, perhaps it is a bit premature to draw the conclusion that more children could die unless they get it.

December 8, 2003 - Health Officials Say Flu Shots Should Go to Most Vulnerable - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org - "They do not face an easy decision, however; pediatricians, for example, are unsure whether to give the vaccine to first-time recipients, who then need a booster shot after 30 days, or to vaccinate children who have already received a flu vaccine in the past and therefore only require one shot. Meanwhile, the CDC is trying to figure out how much vaccine is really left, with estimates as low as a two-week supply and 200,000 doses left out of 83 million distributed nationwide."

December 8, 2003 - The Lack of Vaccines Goes Beyond Flu Inoculations - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org - "On Friday, the two suppliers of influenza vaccine to the United States reported that because of the unusual early and severe flu season, they are running low of vaccine doses, in the eighth major shortage of vaccines for preventable diseases since 2000. Flu vaccines have been in short supply for three years out of the past four..."

Comment:  Wasn't last year a mild year for the flu and one of the years with a severe flu vaccine shortage?  Is this merely a coincidence, or might the shortage of flu vaccine have been at least partly responsible for the mild season?

December 8, 2003 - CDC to Monitor Children's Flu Complications - Drug-Resistant Staph a New Wrinkle - AP via ABC News

December 9, 2003 - Nevada congressman loses hearing in ear due to virus, aide says - AP via Las Vegas Sun - "Brooke van Soest, Proter's deputy chief of staff, said Porter was being treated for an unspecified virus in his right ear that could have been contracted on a hunting trip or that might have been a side effect of a flu shot."

December 8, 2003 - Is It Possible That FluMist®, The Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine, May Be Causing The Flu? - by Sherri Tenpenny, DO - Online Vaccines Conference at Redflagsdaily.com

Atishoo! Atishoo! We All Fall Down? - Is the flu such a dreaded disease? - www.whatareweswallowing.com - "There have been many instances over recent years that show how governments and media oulets are adept at creating unnecessary mass anxiety over disease. With the news that UK supermarket Asda (Walmart subsidiary) is now offering the flu jab on-site to its customers (at the bargain price of £11.97 as opposed to the normal £20.00), readers are strongly encouraged to acquaint themselves with the tawdry, unethical nature of today’s so-called ‘flu protection’ programmes, before rolling up their sleeves."

December 2003 - New Hepatitis A Vaccine Efficacy May Last 21 Years - Few local side effects (requires registration) - ePediatric News - "Based upon the slow yearly rate of decline in anti-hepatitis A virus antibodies in the vaccinated children, it was calculated using standard models that the median duration of protection will be 28.1 years. An estimated 95% of children will remain protected for 21.1 years. The advantage of an aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine over current vaccines that rely upon aluminum hydroxide as an immunopotentiating adjuvant is markedly fewer adverse effects at the injection site. The aluminum-free vaccine uses reconstituted influenza virosomes as a carrier system for hepatitis A antigen."

Comment:  Given how questionable antibodies are in terms of reflecting immunity, it is hard to trust any antibody decay-rate- based extrapolation of a vaccine's duration of immunity.

Comment: Another reason to avoid aluminum in vaccines is the arguable hypothesis that aluminum may in some way be connected to Alzheimer's.

December 8, 2003 - Holyrood accused of toeing Westminster line on hepatitis C infection - The Scotsman - "Although the Executive has suggested payouts to those infected, patients say the amounts are derisory and far below those recommended by an expert committee chaired by Lord Ross...They have accused the health committee of letting them down by deciding to stop considering their cause, which includes demands for an independent inquiry. They are also angry the decision was taken in private."

December 11, 2003 - Better Awareness of Meningitis Vaccine Urged - Reuters Health via Yahoo! - "Parents should be better educated about the potentially fatal disease meningococcal meningitis, and the vaccine that helps prevent it, according to experts...They say that although the risk of contracting the disease is low--and the odds of dying even lower--parents should at least be aware they have the option of vaccinating their children against it."

December 11, 2003 - The Meningococcal Vaccine -- Public Policy and Individual Choices (full text requires subscription the first 6 months after publication) - journal article (NEJM) - "On December 11, 2002, a 12-year-old girl from suburban Philadelphia died as a result of serogroup C meningococcal infection. Death occurred within hours after the initial manifestation of the illness. Her parents learned subsequently that a vaccine was available that might have prevented their daughter's death. They asked, 'Why didn't we know about this vaccine?'"

December 8, 2003 - Study Proves Vaccine Safety - Courier Mail (AU) via www.immunizationinfo.org - "The meningococcal C vaccine is being distributed in Australia this year via a mass vaccination program, and there have been 21 serious reactions and no deaths reported, according to the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee."

Comment:  Just curious how many received the meningococcal C vaccine (pre-and post-marketing) and how their results (including long and short-term adverse reactions and disease incidence) compare to a never vaccinated group.

November 2003 - Risk factors of multiple sclerosis: a case-control study. - journal article (Neurological Sciences) - "In multiple logistic regression analysis, we found independent risk factors of MS to be: familiarity for MS (OR=12.1; 95% CI, 1.3-110.7), autoimmune diseases (OR=3.8; 95% CI, 2.0-7.1) and migraine (OR=8.7; 95% CI, 1.0-75.4); comorbidity with autoimmune disease (OR=6.8; 95% CI, 1.4-32.0) and migraine (OR=13.5; 95% CI, 1.5-116.6); and vaccination against measles (OR=92.2; 95%, 12.1-700.2). Familial susceptibility to MS, autoimmune diseases and migraine, and vaccination to measles are associated with an increased risk of MS."

Comment:  Seems kind of important, this result.  Wonder why nothing much, if anything, has been reported about this highly significant correlation between measles vaccine and multiple sclerosis. 

December 2003 - S. pneumoniae Resistance Is High, but Not Rising - Analysis of 2002-2003 respiratory season (requires registration) - ePediatric News

December 2003 - Prevnar ‘Herd Immunity’ Tied to Drop in Pneumococcal Disease - Results from large California study (requires registration) - ePediatric News

December 8, 2003 - Post-Polio Syndrome - Ivanhoe Newswire - "Polio is a disease that many people don’t think about anymore, but for many polio survivors, the disease is something they can’t forget. Approximately 300,000 polio survivors will experience their polio symptoms again, decades after they had the disease."

December 4, 2003 - Researchers Use Crippled Poliovirus To Attack Brain Cancer - Duke University Medical News - "In the study, the modified poliovirus rapidly killed cancer cells derived from primary brain tumors as well as cells derived from breast and colon cancer metastases -- all within a matter of four to six hours. In fact, polio is known to be one of the quickest killers of infected host cells, producing approximately a thousand additional infectious viral units per infected cell, he said."

Comment:  Does exposure to wild poliovirus have the same effect?  Given that most (95%) of those exposed to polio experience no apparent symptoms at all, and another 4-8% only mild symptoms, perhaps there is some advantage to allowing circulation of the virus while at the same time determining who those few are that get serious illness and why they are vulnerable to serious polio disease.  Perhaps there could then be a more targeted strategy.

Comment:  It is well established and widely accepted that tonsillectomy and injections (including antibiotic injection) predispose a person to either bulbar or paralytic polio.  It is unknown to what, if any, extent the decline in tonsillectomies and antibiotic injections caused or contributed to the decline in polio. Just as it is unknown to what, if any, extent the polio vaccine caused or contributed to the decline in polio.

December 2003 - SARS Appears to Be Less Virulent in Children - May be true of West Nile virus, too (requires registration) - ePediatric News

Summer 2003 - The SARS Epidemic: Are Viruses Taking the Rap for Industrial Poisons? - by Jim West for The Weston Price Foundation

December 11, 2003 - Case opens a can of worms - The Herald, UK

December 12, 2003 - In the rush to protect children, 'experts' use junk science to accuse innocent parents  -  Evidence is growing of disturbing flaws in the way allegations of child abuse are made and then pursued. James Le Fanu and David Derbyshire investigate - The Telegraph, UK – "First there was Sally Clark, then Trupti Patel, and now Angela Cannings…Three women wrongly accused of serial infanticide - one of the most horrendous crimes imaginable…Each prosecution relied on evidence from Sir Roy Meadow, Britain's leading cot-death expert who decided that, on the balance of probability, these mothers had murdered their children…Yet, according to a growing body of concerned lawyers, doctors and parents, these are not isolated cases but symptomatic of a legal and medical system so determined to protect children that it fails to protect the innocent."

Comment:  For more on the question of possible false imprisonment due to shaken baby syndrome, go to the Online SBS Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.

December 11, 2003 - Cannings cleared of smothering her two sons - The Herald, UK

Amendment and New Complaint / Sashi Gore, MD - To Florida Medical Examiners Commission on Nov. 2, 2003 by Alan Yurko (via email) - Free Yurko website

Comment:  For more on the question of possible false imprisonment due to shaken baby syndrome, and Alan Yurko's case specifically, go to the Online SBS Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.

December 11, 2003 - Medical expert faces inquiry - Times Online - "SIR ROY MEADOW, the expert whose evidence helped to convict at least three mothers of murdering their children, first came to prominence in the late Seventies...He claimed that many parents deliberately harmed their babies in order to draw attention to themselves, the condition known as Münchausen syndrome by proxy."

December 11, 2003 - Husband's long battle to prove wife's innocence - Times Online - "After her eight-week trial last year, Mrs Cannings told an interviewer she had done “everything in my power to show the jury what I was like as a person”; a person known to family and friends as a devoted mother. Yet her performance as a witness was eclipsed by those of expert prosecution witnesses who damned her on the basis of statistics."

December 11, 2003 - Unexplained deaths fall but claim 7 lives a week - Times Online - "According to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), 89 per cent of all cot deaths in England and Wales occur in babies aged under six months. Boys appear to be at higher risk than girls."

Comment: Boys are also at a higher risk for autism.

December 11, 2003 - Prosecution of mothers for baby deaths 'will cease' - Times Online - "All three cases highlight the problems in investigating cases where babies die suddenly and unexpectedly. The three mothers protested their innocence but an acquittal can be difficult because juries, experts say, have a revulsion to a mother who may have hurt her child...Joyce Epstein, director of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, called for an overhaul of the way sudden baby deaths are investigated. She said: 'Many parents are put through a very tough time because of rash unsupported views, quick judgments and incomplete investigations. Evidence should be tested before it reaches any court.'”

December 10, 2003 - Mother cleared of killing sons - A mother who was jailed for life for murdering her two baby sons, has had her conviction overturned. - BBC - "Ms Cannings, 40, a former shop assistant, always maintained that the two boys died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), or cot death...SIDS was recorded as the cause of death after Ms Cannings' first child, Gemma, died at the age of 13 weeks in 1989...'Still, nobody knows what causes cot death...'"

Comment:  There is good reason to believe vaccinations are implicated in SIDS.  For more on this, go to A Not-So-Perfect Vaccine: The Diphtheria, Tetanus and Acellular Pertussis vaccine: An Investigation - by RFD columnist F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP in the Online Vaccine Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.

Comment: For more on the question of whether or not parents are being unfairly blamed and incarcerated for the deaths of their infants and children, please visit the SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome) Online Conference at www.redflagsdaily.com.

Comment:  Although this study purports to vindicate the vaccines in question, it does nothing of the sort.  First, all groups were vaccinated, and all groups had around a 35% incidence of allergies.  What can be concluded is that there is an equally high amount of allergy among children given these vaccines.  What cannot legitimately be said is that the vaccines do not cause allergy because we know absolutely nothing as a result of this study of the incidence of allergy in never vaccinated children.  For more on the problem of poorly designed research, go to Out of Control: Childhood vaccinations and the risk of asthma.

December 9, 2003 - Whooping Cough on the Rise - Experts report 49 percent rise in the disease in infants in 1990's - Health Day News

December 10, 2003 - A Childhood Killer Once Vanquished Is Returning - USA Today via www.immunizationinfo.org - "Before a vaccine was developed to prevent whooping cough, or pertussis, up to 10,000 people died every year from the disease, particularly infants. Today, the disease is making a dangerous comeback, again striking infants, many of whom may be contracting the illness from teenagers and adults who have lost immunity against whooping cough. Experts say that the best protection could come from immunizing infants at an earlier age, or from giving teenagers booster shots against pertussis; however, there is no vaccine designed for either of those uses, so doctors are left without a system for protecting the very young."

December 10, 2003 - Trends in Pertussis Among Infants in the United States, 1980-1999 - journal article (JAMA) - "Context:  Reported cases of pertussis among adolescents and adults have increased since the 1980s, despite increasingly high rates of vaccination among infants and children. However, severe pertussis morbidity and mortality occur primarily among infants.^"

December 13, 2003 - Spread of Crohn's related to use of refrigeration, researcher says - The Toronto Globe and Mail via The Seattle PI - "The researchers believe that exposure to common food-borne bacteria such yersinia and listeria overstimulates the immune system and triggers Crohn's in people who are genetically susceptible. These bacteria are found in a wide variety of foods that are refrigerated, including pork, chicken, sausage, hamburger, cheese and lettuce; they can survive at temperatures near the freezing point."

Comment:  Perhaps, but why are they susceptible?  And since refrigerators have been around for quite awhile, given that Crohn's is on the rise, what has changed to make more and more people apparently susceptible than they used to be? 

December 9, 2003 - Merck to submit 5 vaccines, drugs over next 3 yrs - Reuters via Forbes

December 8, 2003 - The Lack of Vaccines Goes Beyond Flu Inoculations - Wall Street Journal via www.immunizationinfo.org - "On Friday, the two suppliers of influenza vaccine to the United States reported that because of the unusual early and severe flu season, they are running low of vaccine doses, in the eighth major shortage of vaccines for preventable diseases since 2000. Flu vaccines have been in short supply for three years out of the past four..."

Comment:  Wasn't last year a mild year for the flu and one of the years with a severe flu vaccine shortage?  Is this merely a coincidence, or might the shortage of flu vaccine have been at least partly responsible for the mild season?

December 9, 2003 - Childhood Vaccines Are Safe - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Comment:  Among those propounding this sanguine view of thimerosal/ethylmercury is Dr. Paul Offit, "director of the Vaccine Education Center and chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia", and the "expert" cited in this article.  What this article fails to disclose, however, is that not only does Offit hold "a patent on a rotavirus vaccine and receives grant money from Merck to develop this vaccine.  He also disclosed that he is paid by the pharmaceutical industry to travel around the country and teach doctors that vaccines are safe.  Dr. Offit is a member of the CDC’s advisory committee and voted on three rotavirus issues – including making the recommendation of adding the rotavirus vaccine to the Vaccines for Children’s program." (From the Opening Statement by Chairman Dan Burton, Committee on Government Reform titled: “FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process”, Thursday, June 15, 2000) Might these clear conflicts of interest be the real reason Offit holds this benign view of mercury in vaccines?

December 10, 2003 - Preservatives and Additives in Vaccines Studied - Ivanhoe

November 2003 - Risk factors of multiple sclerosis: a case-control study. - journal article (Neurological Sciences) - "In multiple logistic regression analysis, we found independent risk factors of MS to be: familiarity for MS (OR=12.1; 95% CI, 1.3-110.7), autoimmune diseases (OR=3.8; 95% CI, 2.0-7.1) and migraine (OR=8.7; 95% CI, 1.0-75.4); comorbidity with autoimmune disease (OR=6.8; 95% CI, 1.4-32.0) and migraine (OR=13.5; 95% CI, 1.5-116.6); and vaccination against measles (OR=92.2; 95%, 12.1-700.2). Familial susceptibility to MS, autoimmune diseases and migraine, and vaccination to measles are associated with an increased risk of MS."

Comment:  Seems kind of important, this result.  Wonder why nothing much, if anything, has been reported about this highly significant correlation between measles vaccine and multiple sclerosis. 

Comment:  Although this study purports to vindicate the vaccines in question, it does nothing of the sort.  First, all groups were vaccinated, and all groups had around a 35% incidence of allergies.  What can be concluded is that there is an equally high amount of allergy among children given these vaccines.  What cannot legitimately be said is that the vaccines do not cause allergy because we know absolutely nothing as a result of this study of the incidence of allergy in never vaccinated children.  For more on the problem of poorly designed research, go to Out of Control: Childhood vaccinations and the risk of asthma.

December 8, 2003 - Beers Criteria Medications to avoid in the elderly updated - AScribe Newswire - "Forty-eight medications or classes of medications to avoid in adults age 65 or older have been identified by a national expert panel charged with updating widely used criteria for potentially harmful medications in older adults...Estrogen in older women and the popular over-the-counter antihistamine, Benadryl, were among those on the list to avoid in the update of the 1997 Beers Criteria, published in the Dec. 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine."

November 1, 2002 - The Victim Friendly National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act: You've Got to Be Kidding! - by Stanley P. Kops, Esq. - The Litigation Report - www.harrismartin.com via www.redflagsdaily.com -  "Anyone who has yet to engage in practice governed by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act, a step required for all current vaccine injury and death claims as a condition precedent to litigation in a private forum, should proceed with great caution. Though the Congressional intent was to create a victim-friendly statute which provided just and fair compensation quickly and without the uncertainties and proof problems inherent in civil actions, frequent practitioners under the Act are in virtually universal agreement that the program, as it has evolved during the past decade and a half, is a perversion of the Congressional intent."

December 10, 2003 - Vaccines caused my three children's neuro disorders (letter) - The Illinois Leader - "The pharmaceutical companies are so large and almighty that bringing them down is a challenge but one that I and many other parents are slowly doing...I'm not anti-vaccine. I am for safe vaccines - vaccines without known neurotoxins such as thimerosal, and other additives such as aluminum, aborted fetus cells, and formaldehyde."

December 9, 2003 - Childhood Vaccines Are Safe - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Comment:  Among those propounding this sanguine view of thimerosal/ethylmercury is Dr. Paul Offit, "director of the Vaccine Education Center and chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia", and the "expert" cited in this article.  What this article fails to disclose, however, is that not only does Offit hold "a patent on a rotavirus vaccine and receives grant money from Merck to develop this vaccine.  He also disclosed that he is paid by the pharmaceutical industry to travel around the country and teach doctors that vaccines are safe.  Dr. Offit is a member of the CDC’s advisory committee and voted on three rotavirus issues – including making the recommendation of adding the rotavirus vaccine to the Vaccines for Children’s program." (From the Opening Statement by Chairman Dan Burton, Committee on Government Reform titled: “FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process”, Thursday, June 15, 2000) Might these clear conflicts of interest be the real reason Offit holds this benign view of mercury in vaccines?

December 9, 2003 - Nevada congressman loses hearing in ear due to virus, aide says - AP via Las Vegas Sun - "Brooke van Soest, Proter's deputy chief of staff, said Porter was being treated for an unspecified virus in his right ear that could have been contracted on a hunting trip or that might have been a side effect of a flu shot."

December 8, 2003 - Attention Deficit Drugs May Have Long-Term Effects - Reuters via ABC News - "Drugs given to children to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could have long-term effects on their growing brains, studies on rats suggest."

December 12, 2003 - Smallpox Vaccine Victims Can Seek Payment - AP via Yahoo! - "More than 38,000 medical care workers, police, firefighters and other emergency responders have been vaccinated against smallpox under an emergency response plan that went into effect last January. Officials estimate that about 2 percent of those vaccinated experienced some sort of medical injury as a result...Under rules announced Friday, those injured by the smallpox vaccine will be able to seek compensation from a $42 million program that provides both financial and medical benefits."

December 13, 2003 - Drug firms fund disease awareness - www.smh.com.au - via Spin of the Day @ PR Watch.org - "Pharmaceutical companies are pouring millions of dollars into patient advocacy groups and medical organisations to help expand markets for their products...They are also using sponsorships and educational grants to fund disease-awareness campaigns that urge people to see their doctors."

December 9, 2003 - Blood Money? - The Los Angeles Times' flawed masterpiece about corruption at NIH. - Slate - "Not many newspaper stories can boast that they were five years in the making, and fewer still can claim that they were worth the wait. But David Willman's meticulously researched 11,700-word feature, "Stealth Merger: Drug Companies and Government Medical Research," in the Sunday, Dec. 7, Los Angeles Times is that brilliant exception."

December 9, 2003 - Records of Payments to NIH Staff Sought Two congressmen ask health institutes' leader to detail researchers' links to drug companies. (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times - "Two congressional leaders on Monday called upon the director of the National Institutes of Health to account for all payments that drug companies have made to researchers at the federal agency over the past four years...The leaders — Reps. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) and James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) — said that their letter was in response to articles in Sunday editions of the Los Angeles Times detailing millions of dollars in consulting fees and stock options paid by companies to NIH employees."

Comment:  This is the follow-up to the December 7, 2003 landmark article Stealth Merger: Drug Companies and Government Medical Research.

December 14, 2003 - What Caused Small Town's Leukemia? - Fox News

December 9, 2003 - Asthma victims turning to ERs - A new study finds 1 of 11 in California has the disease. - Sacramento Bee

December 3, 2003 - Boston children's hospital fights new bacteria strain - Increased risk seen for those suffering from cystic fibrosis - The Boston Globe - "A newly identified strain of bacteria has invaded the lungs of at least 20 patients with cystic fibrosis at Children's Hospital, possibly contributing to the death of one woman and prompting hospital officials to begin isolating patients who carry the bug to prevent its spread."

December 2003 - New Hepatitis A Vaccine Efficacy May Last 21 Years - Few local side effects (requires registration) - ePediatric News - "Based upon the slow yearly rate of decline in anti-hepatitis A virus antibodies in the vaccinated children, it was calculated using standard models that the median duration of protection will be 28.1 years. An estimated 95% of children will remain protected for 21.1 years. The advantage of an aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine over current vaccines that rely upon aluminum hydroxide as an immunopotentiating adjuvant is markedly fewer adverse effects at the injection site. The aluminum-free vaccine uses reconstituted influenza virosomes as a carrier system for hepatitis A antigen."

Comment:  Given how questionable antibodies are in terms of reflecting immunity, it is hard to trust any antibody decay-rate- based extrapolation of a vaccine's duration of immunity.

Comment: Another reason to avoid aluminum in vaccines is the arguable hypothesis that aluminum may in some way be connected to Alzheimer's.

December 2003 - Prevnar ‘Herd Immunity’ Tied to Drop in Pneumococcal Disease - Results from large California study (requires registration) - ePediatric News

December 8, 2003 - Health Danger Depends On Access - Doctors say the uninsured are a risk to public health - St. Petersburg Times via www.theledger.com - "The worry: Because the uninsured are less likely to seek prompt care, they would be more likely to spread disease in an epidemic. While the chances of such an epidemic or bioterrorist attack might be remote, doctors say that ultimately, the barriers to getting uninsured people cared for could help infection spread further and faster than it otherwise would."

December 9, 2003 - Glaxo sees red over 'clanger' - www.thisismoney.com - "GlaxoSmithKline went on the warpath over accusations that one of its top scientists made a gaffe in admitting that most prescription drugs do not always work."

December 8, 2003 - Demolished: the myth that allows drugs giants to sell more - The Independent, UK - "For years, the drugs industry has grown fat on a myth - the false belief that all drugs will work on just about everybody...That has essentially been the rationale for a culture that has encouraged doctors to prescribe first and ask questions later - at a cost to the NHS of £7.2bn a year in medicines."

Comment: There is some overlap between this article and the one below.

December 8, 2003 - Glaxo chief: Our drugs do not work on most patients - The Independent, UK - "Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them...It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs boss has gone public." 

December 15, 2003 - Integrity in Scientific Research - The Scientist 

December 10, 2003 - NIH to launch ethics review - Zerhouni promises comprehensive look at lucrative consulting payments to top officials - The Scientist - "The Los Angeles Times on Sunday (December 7) reported that several high-level NIH scientists and officials had received more than $2.5 million in fees and stock options from drug companies for consulting outside of their government work over the past 10 years."

December 9, 2003 - Records of Payments to NIH Staff Sought Two congressmen ask health institutes' leader to detail researchers' links to drug companies. (requires registration) - The Los Angeles Times - "Two congressional leaders on Monday called upon the director of the National Institutes of Health to account for all payments that drug companies have made to researchers at the federal agency over the past four years...The leaders — Reps. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) and James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) — said that their letter was in response to articles in Sunday editions of the Los Angeles Times detailing millions of dollars in consulting fees and stock options paid by companies to NIH employees."

Comment:  This is the follow-up to the December 7, 2003 landmark article Stealth Merger: Drug Companies and Government Medical Research.
 

December 8, 2003 - HHS: Faulty research removed two years ago - UPI - "Despite news reports that recent, federally funded research on the effectiveness of a sex education program may have included fabricated data, the researchers involved actually were exposed more than two years ago and the skewed information was excluded from the final study, the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday."

November 13, 2003 - Over 500 Parents Say Schools Coerced Them to Administer Psychiatric Drugs to Children - Press Release - Citizens Commission on Human Rights of St. Louis, Inc.

December 8, 2003 - For hospitals, dirty hands still a danger - Infections: Although the importance of washing was discovered more than 100 years ago, busy health care workers often forget to scrub.- www.sunspot.net

Comment:  There is simply no excuse for this. Is it laziness?  Is it misplaced faith in, and an over-reliance on, drugs to solve the problems caused by their own bad behavior?  If so, have they not noticed that another "bad behavior", i.e.,  over- and incorrect use of antibiotics, has severely limited antibiotic usefulness and may have even destroyed the "miracle"?

December 11, 2003 - Medical expert faces inquiry - Times Online - "SIR ROY MEADOW, the expert whose evidence helped to convict at least three mothers of murdering their children, first came to prominence in the late Seventies...He claimed that many parents deliberately harmed their babies in order to draw attention to themselves, the condition known as Münchausen syndrome by proxy."

December 11, 2003 - Rules on medicines 'need big shake-up' - Anti-depressant ban for children reveals flaws in system, says Mind - The Guardian, UK - "'It is totally unacceptable that for a significant period 50,000 children and adolescents in the UK have been prescribed anti-depressant drugs that were not licensed for use but it is only now being demonstrated that they do not help and can indeed cause harm,'  said Richard Brook, Mind's chief executive."

December 10, 2003 - Drugs for depressed children banned - The Guardian, UK - "Modern antidepressant drugs which have made billions for the pharmaceutical industry will be banned from use in children today because of evidence, suppressed for years, that they can cause young patients to become suicidal."

December 3, 2003 - Study Questions Some PSA Prostate Tests - AP via Yahoo! - "Almost a third of men over 75 undergo laboratory blood tests each year to check their prostate health, but a new study questions the value of using the PSA test to screen men that old for prostate cancer (news - web sites)...'There is no evidence that screening men of this age would be beneficial to them, so this may not be the best use of health care resources,' said Dr. Siu-Long Yao, a genital-urinary oncologist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, N.J. He is senior author of the study appearing this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites)."

Comment:  That's certainly an understatement.  If "there is no evidence that screening men of this age would be beneficial to them", why have they been doing it?

Statins For Children - This Is Madness - by RFD Columnist, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick - www.redflagsdaily.com  - "The first thing that I have to point out here is that, in primary prevention trials, statins have never been found to reduce the risk of death. I don’t care if they have been found to reduce the rate of heart disease. Does it really matter if someone is saved from dying of heart disease, only to die of something else?"

December 9, 2003 - Glaxo sees red over 'clanger' - www.thisismoney.com - "GlaxoSmithKline went on the warpath over accusations that one of its top scientists made a gaffe in admitting that most prescription drugs do not always work."

December 8, 2003 - Demolished: the myth that allows drugs giants to sell more - The Independent, UK - "For years, the drugs industry has grown fat on a myth - the false belief that all drugs will work on just about everybody...That has essentially been the rationale for a culture that has encouraged doctors to prescribe first and ask questions later - at a cost to the NHS of £7.2bn a year in medicines."

Comment: There is some overlap between this article and the one below.

December 8, 2003 - Glaxo chief: Our drugs do not work on most patients - The Independent, UK - "Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them...It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs boss has gone public." 

December 8, 2003 - Attention Deficit Drugs May Have Long-Term Effects - Reuters via ABC News - "Drugs given to children to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could have long-term effects on their growing brains, studies on rats suggest."

March 1998 - Give us this day our daily germs (Volume 19)- journal article (Immunology Today) - "Modern vaccinations, fear of germs and obsession with hygiene are depriving the immune system of the information input upon which it is dependent. This fails to maintain the correct cytokine balance and fine-tune T-cell regulation, and may lead to increased incidences of allergies and autoimmune diseases. If humans continue to deprive their immune systems of the input to which evolution has adapted it, it may be necessary to devise ways of replacing it artificially."

Comment:  This just about says it all.  I would imagine, however, that the drug companies are chomping at the bit to "devise ways of replacing it artificially".  What say we instead stop this madness before it gets any worse?

Comment:  I am reposting this because the original link did not work.  You can now access it via PubMed, and/or the March 1998 issue of Volume 19.

December 11, 2003 - Cannings cleared of smothering her two sons - The Herald, UK

December 3, 2003 - Advocates for limiting Washington malpractice suits promise retribution against opponents - AP via The Olympian - "The Washington State Medical Association and other advocates for reining in lawsuits promised Tuesday an aggressive push in the Legislature next year and vowed to unseat vulnerable lawmakers who dare to stand against them."

December 14, 2003 - What Caused Small Town's Leukemia? - Fox News

Nutrition - NEW!

December 10, 2003 - Group Seeks Toss of Patient Privacy Rules - The Washington Post - "A group of doctors and patient advocates asked a federal judge Wednesday to throw out new health care privacy rules, claiming they're inadequate...The federal regulations, which took effect in April, were designed to tighten patient privacy protections. But the group said they instead leave patients powerless to stop disclosures of sensitive information."

December 13, 2003 - Drug firms fund disease awareness - www.smh.com.au - via Spin of the Day @ PR Watch.org - "Pharmaceutical companies are pouring millions of dollars into patient advocacy groups and medical organisations to help expand markets for their products...They are also using sponsorships and educational grants to fund disease-awareness campaigns that urge people to see their doctors."

December 11, 2003 - Rules on medicines 'need big shake-up' - Anti-depressant ban for children reveals flaws in system, says Mind - The Guardian, UK - "'It is totally unacceptable that for a significant period 50,000 children and adolescents in the UK have been prescribed anti-depressant drugs that were not licensed for use but it is only now being demonstrated that they do not help and can indeed cause harm,'  said Richard Brook, Mind's chief executive."

December 9, 2003 - Merck to submit 5 vaccines, drugs over next 3 yrs - Reuters via Forbes

December 9, 2003 - Merck Talks Up New Drugs To Address Research Doubts (requires subscription) - Wall Street Journal - "In the shorter term, Merck's strongest area is vaccines. It said it plans to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2005 for a vaccine against the human papilloma virus, which research chief Peter Kim called "the predominant cause of cervical cancer death" in women. Other vaccines that Merck expects to market in the next few years would prevent shingles, a painful viral infection of the nerve roots, and infection with rotavirus, which is a serious problem especially in less-developed countries."

December 8, 2003 - Holyrood accused of toeing Westminster line on hepatitis C infection - The Scotsman - "Although the Executive has suggested payouts to those infected, patients say the amounts are derisory and far below those recommended by an expert committee chaired by Lord Ross...They have accused the health committee of letting them down by deciding to stop considering their cause, which includes demands for an independent inquiry. They are also angry the decision was taken in private."

Moms Against Mercury - Two Moms Fighting For Truth & Justice For Our Children...And Yours - website - BILLBOARD

December 4, 2003 - Kids' Medicine Dosage Test Law Signed  - President Bush on Wednesday signed legislation giving the government the ability to require drug companies to test medicines to ensure that dosages are appropriate for children. -  AP via The Herald News

December 3, 2003 - Study Questions Some PSA Prostate Tests - AP via Yahoo! - "Almost a third of men over 75 undergo laboratory blood tests each year to check their prostate health, but a new study questions the value of using the PSA test to screen men that old for prostate cancer (news - web sites)...'There is no evidence that screening men of this age would be beneficial to them, so this may not be the best use of health care resources,' said Dr. Siu-Long Yao, a genital-urinary oncologist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, N.J. He is senior author of the study appearing this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites)."

Comment:  That's certainly an understatement.  If "there is no evidence that screening men of this age would be beneficial to them", why have they been doing it?

December 8, 2003 - For hospitals, dirty hands still a danger - Infections: Although the importance of washing was discovered more than 100 years ago, busy health care workers often forget to scrub.- www.sunspot.net

Comment:  There is simply no excuse for this. Is it laziness?  Is it misplaced faith in, and an over-reliance on, drugs to solve the problems caused by their own bad behavior?  If so, have they not noticed that another "bad behavior", i.e.,  over- and incorrect use of antibiotics, has severely limited antibiotic usefulness and may have even destroyed the "miracle"?

December 10, 2003 - Vaccines caused my three children's neuro disorders (letter) - The Illinois Leader - "The pharmaceutical companies are so large and almighty that bringing them down is a challenge but one that I and many other parents are slowly doing...I'm not anti-vaccine. I am for safe vaccines - vaccines without known neurotoxins such as thimerosal, and other additives such as aluminum, aborted fetus cells, and formaldehyde."