Feel free to leave comments on what YOU think...
Friday, April 29, 2011
Obama long form birth certificate is a FRAUD
When Obama's birth certificate document is opened up in Photoshop, the layers which are present show how this certificate is a forgery. No one knows why, but it is clearly a fake.
Feel free to leave comments on what YOU think...
Feel free to leave comments on what YOU think...
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Do you know where your milk comes from?
There has been a lot of talk regarding radiation which could be making its way to the U.S. from the Japan nuclear catastrophe. Some people have suggested to stop drinking milk. With this in mind, I thought it would be helpful for us to be able to find out where our dairy products are coming from. Here is a handy tool which can do just that. All you have to do is locate the code printed on your milk, butter, yogurt, etc., punch it in, and you'll see the location from which it originated.
Below are two links. The first is to find the location for your dairy products. The second is for the radiation network site, so that you can see the radiation levels which have been recorded closest to the origins of your dairy products.
Where is my milk from?
Radiation Network
Below are two links. The first is to find the location for your dairy products. The second is for the radiation network site, so that you can see the radiation levels which have been recorded closest to the origins of your dairy products.
Where is my milk from?
Radiation Network
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
FDA System Approves Nonexistent Product from Nonexistent Company for Human Testing
by Heidi Stevenson 10 January 2011 gaia-health
The FDA farms out drug and medical device testing. It’s in the hands of the companies hoping to gain approval for their products, but they must first get approval before doing tests on humans. Even here, though, there’s a catch. The FDA doesn’t review the testing plans. That’s done by more for-profit companies, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). But it gets worse. The IRBs are paid by the companies hoping to gain FDA approval for their products. So, it’s a conflict of interest on top of a conflict of interest.
The First Sting
Congress became suspicious, so they got together with the General Accountability Office (GAO) to set up a sting. They sent out an application for testing of a nonexistent product, Adhesiabloc, by a nonexistent company, Device Med-Systems.
Subtlety is apparently not one of the GAO’s strong suits. Adhesiabloc was described as a gel that would be poured into a patient’s stomach after surgery to collect the bits and pieces left over from the operation. The instructions were to pour more than a liter into the wound.
Not one of the IRBs bothered to check the credentials of Device Med-Systems. Not one noted that the company’s headquarters was listed as a post office box in a shopping mall. The doctor who was supposed to have been leading development, Jonathan Q. Kruger, didn’t exist either. Not one checked to see if the product had ever been registered in development. Even so, two of the IRBs turned them down. Apparently, they actually read the testing protocol. The board member of one stated that it was the “riskiest thing I’ve ever seen on this board,” and an employee of the other simply called it “junk”.
Coast IRB LLC of Colorado Springs apparently didn’t see any value in reading the documentation. Their board members, several of whom were MDs, approved it unanimously, describing it as “probably very safe”.
The Second Sting
If that isn’t bad enough, the GAO did a second sting—and this one was on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the parent of the FDA.
You have to wonder how an IRB as sloppy as Coast was licensed in the first place. This sting shows us. They put together an application to set up an IRB and sent it to HHS. They named their sting Trooper, after a three-legged dog of a congressional staffer. (Some reports state that the company name or the CEO was Trooper, but that doesn’t fit the scheme, as you’ll see.)
The name of the fake company was Phake Medical Devices. The names of the principals were April Phuls,Timothy Witless, and Alan Ruse. The company’s location was listed as Chetesville, Arizona.
The application sailed through.
The Response
Daniel Dueber, Coast IRB’s CEO, was subpoenaed to testify to congress. That must have clued him in that something might be wrong. Apparently, he or someone else in his company went through their files to search for irregularities. Adhesiabloc popped out. Oops! This was five months after the approval. They went into action. They reported the fraud. They ordered the immediate termination of the nonexistent trial. And Dueber testified:
Dueber went on the aggressive, saying that sting operations are illegal unless they’re approved by the courts. He went into high dudgeon, playing the poor innocent. He claimed that congressional investigators had “perpetrated an extensive fraud against my company.” Coast IRB further stated that they were “violating wire fraud, mail fraud, and state laws against fraud and false credentialling”.
Ummm…Exactly what was Coast doing? Wasn’t that fraud? And on a much grander scale—one that can result in the deaths of huge numbers, like Vioxx, and Avastin, and Hormone Replacement Therapy, and so many others.
Finally, he told the congressional committee, “We got hoodwinked.” Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan responded, “You didn’t get hoodwinked. You took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.”
The FDA never moved against Coast. However, the good news is that the company didn’t survive. Their business dried up.
Regarding the sting again HHS, Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon was displeased, and on the day of the inquiry, stated, “Nobody picked up on names like Phake Medical Devices, April Phuls, Timothy Witless and Alan Ruse—in the town of Chetesville, Arizona?” Representative Joe Barton of Texas exclaimed to an HHS official, “Do you have any sense of outrage?”
The saddest part of this tale is that none of this is news. This happened nearly two years ago. Nothing has been done to resolve an obviously corrupt system. The stings revealed an obvious and utter lack of concern for the quality, safety, and efficacy of drugs and medical products by the agencies tasked with overseeing them.
Not a single step has been taken to safeguard the public. Not even lip service has been paid.
In fact, the opposite has happened. Instead of pulling power away from HHS, the FDA, and companies they’ve authorized, they’ve been given even more power. And they’ve used that power recklessly against innocents and healthy products, such as raw milk producers and their customers, health food products and stores, and other healthy products, like walnuts. They’re doing this while allowing more and more truly dangerous and useless products to continue to be produced and sold by those who hold the real power over them: Big Pharma and Big Medicine.
The FDA supports the profits of Big Pharma and Big Medicine over the rights and health of the people.
HHS supports the profits of Big Pharma and Big Medicine over the rights and health of the people.
Other than a little showboating, Congress supports the profits of Big Pharma and Big Medicine over the rights and health of the people.
Commentary from Health Freedom Alliance:
The FDA describes themselves as being in place to protect the American public. Most people these days know better, especially when reports like the following display to citizens the sort of malicious folly carried out on the daily by the agency. In stings set up by Congress with the General Accountability Office (GAO), the FDA displayed its lack of attention to obvious dangers and fraud by approving medical testing for a ridiculous device and approving a company with laughingly phony names as one of its Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) which are the for-profit companies that really do the testing of products.
The medical device that was approved by one of these established IRBs of the FDA? Adhesiabloc was presented by a nonexistent company, Device Med-Systems, and described as a gel that would be poured into a patient’s stomach after surgery to collect the bits and pieces left over from the operation; the instructions were to pour more than a liter into the wound. Even though there was no record of the company and the doctor who was supposed to be leading development was fake, the item was approved to be tested on humans.
Yikes, and now the FDA is poised to gain more money and power with legislation passed by the current administration. Where is the line drawn when it comes to gross neglect of duties? Why is the administration, instead of going through an intensive review process, allowed even more jurisdiction over the health of the American people when they have already been clearly neglecting their proposed responsibilities?
~Health Freedoms
Original article can be found at Coto Report.
A sting nailed a company the HHS authorized to oversee human drug trials. The absurdities in the application are belly laugh funny, but in their rush to keep the money coming, they approved it.
The FDA farms out drug and medical device testing. It’s in the hands of the companies hoping to gain approval for their products, but they must first get approval before doing tests on humans. Even here, though, there’s a catch. The FDA doesn’t review the testing plans. That’s done by more for-profit companies, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). But it gets worse. The IRBs are paid by the companies hoping to gain FDA approval for their products. So, it’s a conflict of interest on top of a conflict of interest.
The First Sting
Congress became suspicious, so they got together with the General Accountability Office (GAO) to set up a sting. They sent out an application for testing of a nonexistent product, Adhesiabloc, by a nonexistent company, Device Med-Systems.
Subtlety is apparently not one of the GAO’s strong suits. Adhesiabloc was described as a gel that would be poured into a patient’s stomach after surgery to collect the bits and pieces left over from the operation. The instructions were to pour more than a liter into the wound.
Not one of the IRBs bothered to check the credentials of Device Med-Systems. Not one noted that the company’s headquarters was listed as a post office box in a shopping mall. The doctor who was supposed to have been leading development, Jonathan Q. Kruger, didn’t exist either. Not one checked to see if the product had ever been registered in development. Even so, two of the IRBs turned them down. Apparently, they actually read the testing protocol. The board member of one stated that it was the “riskiest thing I’ve ever seen on this board,” and an employee of the other simply called it “junk”.
Coast IRB LLC of Colorado Springs apparently didn’t see any value in reading the documentation. Their board members, several of whom were MDs, approved it unanimously, describing it as “probably very safe”.
The Second Sting
If that isn’t bad enough, the GAO did a second sting—and this one was on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the parent of the FDA.
You have to wonder how an IRB as sloppy as Coast was licensed in the first place. This sting shows us. They put together an application to set up an IRB and sent it to HHS. They named their sting Trooper, after a three-legged dog of a congressional staffer. (Some reports state that the company name or the CEO was Trooper, but that doesn’t fit the scheme, as you’ll see.)
The name of the fake company was Phake Medical Devices. The names of the principals were April Phuls,Timothy Witless, and Alan Ruse. The company’s location was listed as Chetesville, Arizona.
The application sailed through.
The Response
Daniel Dueber, Coast IRB’s CEO, was subpoenaed to testify to congress. That must have clued him in that something might be wrong. Apparently, he or someone else in his company went through their files to search for irregularities. Adhesiabloc popped out. Oops! This was five months after the approval. They went into action. They reported the fraud. They ordered the immediate termination of the nonexistent trial. And Dueber testified:
We are doing our level best to ensure protection for subjects of clinical trials under our review, an objective we share with the Food and Drug Administration. We are legally and morally obliged to report any unlawful conduct we find occurring in a clinical trial and, so, fulfilled that responsibility in this case.Right.
Dueber went on the aggressive, saying that sting operations are illegal unless they’re approved by the courts. He went into high dudgeon, playing the poor innocent. He claimed that congressional investigators had “perpetrated an extensive fraud against my company.” Coast IRB further stated that they were “violating wire fraud, mail fraud, and state laws against fraud and false credentialling”.
Ummm…Exactly what was Coast doing? Wasn’t that fraud? And on a much grander scale—one that can result in the deaths of huge numbers, like Vioxx, and Avastin, and Hormone Replacement Therapy, and so many others.
Finally, he told the congressional committee, “We got hoodwinked.” Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan responded, “You didn’t get hoodwinked. You took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.”
The FDA never moved against Coast. However, the good news is that the company didn’t survive. Their business dried up.
Regarding the sting again HHS, Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon was displeased, and on the day of the inquiry, stated, “Nobody picked up on names like Phake Medical Devices, April Phuls, Timothy Witless and Alan Ruse—in the town of Chetesville, Arizona?” Representative Joe Barton of Texas exclaimed to an HHS official, “Do you have any sense of outrage?”
The saddest part of this tale is that none of this is news. This happened nearly two years ago. Nothing has been done to resolve an obviously corrupt system. The stings revealed an obvious and utter lack of concern for the quality, safety, and efficacy of drugs and medical products by the agencies tasked with overseeing them.
Not a single step has been taken to safeguard the public. Not even lip service has been paid.
In fact, the opposite has happened. Instead of pulling power away from HHS, the FDA, and companies they’ve authorized, they’ve been given even more power. And they’ve used that power recklessly against innocents and healthy products, such as raw milk producers and their customers, health food products and stores, and other healthy products, like walnuts. They’re doing this while allowing more and more truly dangerous and useless products to continue to be produced and sold by those who hold the real power over them: Big Pharma and Big Medicine.
The FDA supports the profits of Big Pharma and Big Medicine over the rights and health of the people.
HHS supports the profits of Big Pharma and Big Medicine over the rights and health of the people.
Other than a little showboating, Congress supports the profits of Big Pharma and Big Medicine over the rights and health of the people.
Commentary from Health Freedom Alliance:
The FDA describes themselves as being in place to protect the American public. Most people these days know better, especially when reports like the following display to citizens the sort of malicious folly carried out on the daily by the agency. In stings set up by Congress with the General Accountability Office (GAO), the FDA displayed its lack of attention to obvious dangers and fraud by approving medical testing for a ridiculous device and approving a company with laughingly phony names as one of its Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) which are the for-profit companies that really do the testing of products.
The medical device that was approved by one of these established IRBs of the FDA? Adhesiabloc was presented by a nonexistent company, Device Med-Systems, and described as a gel that would be poured into a patient’s stomach after surgery to collect the bits and pieces left over from the operation; the instructions were to pour more than a liter into the wound. Even though there was no record of the company and the doctor who was supposed to be leading development was fake, the item was approved to be tested on humans.
Yikes, and now the FDA is poised to gain more money and power with legislation passed by the current administration. Where is the line drawn when it comes to gross neglect of duties? Why is the administration, instead of going through an intensive review process, allowed even more jurisdiction over the health of the American people when they have already been clearly neglecting their proposed responsibilities?
~Health Freedoms
Original article can be found at Coto Report.
Radiation Expert: "Sr-90 and Uranium and Particulates Will Be Building Up in the USA and Europe ... For Now I Think It Prudent To Stop Drinking Milk"
Preface: I take very seriously any warning about consuming a product which is important for the local economy. But when a respected radiation expert issues this type of warning, I have to pass it on.
I wrote to radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby to ask him if he thought people living outside of Japan should take any actions to try to reduce their radiation exposure:
Busby - Fukuparticles2
Busby - Dont Panic
Link to original article: Washington's Blog.
Disclaimer: I am not a health professional or radiation expert.
I wrote to radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby to ask him if he thought people living outside of Japan should take any actions to try to reduce their radiation exposure:
Epidemiologist Dr. Wing thinks people outside of Japan shouldn't do anything to attempt to reduce radiation exposure: Leading Epidemiologist: Instead of Trying to Avoid Japanese Radiation, Put Your Energy Into Demanding a Saner Energy Policy
But the French anti-nuclear NGO CRIIAD says that pregnant women and infants should take steps to reduce exposure: French Nuclear Group Warns that Children and Pregnant Mothers Should Protect Themselves from Radiation
I've also researched the scientific literature, and found that antioxidants can help a little: Can Vitamins or Herbs Help Protect Us from Radiation?
What's your advice for people outside of Japan?Professor Busby replied:
I attach my "don't panic" paper. However, since then I have re-thought this advice as the thing is still fissioning and releasing 10 to the fourteen becquerels a day. This will mean that Sr-90 [strontium 90] and Uranium and particulates will be building up in the USA and Europe. I will assess this later but for now I think it prudent to stop drinking milk. I also attach the particulates note.
Busby - Fukuparticles2
Busby - Dont Panic
Link to original article: Washington's Blog.
Disclaimer: I am not a health professional or radiation expert.
Dept of Justice snared in fraud over Pfizer prosecution: ‘Too big to nail!
By Rady Ananda
Last September, we reported “Pfizer slapped with $2.3 billion fine for illegally dealing drugs.” No one went to jail and Pfizer paid a tiny portion of its profits from illegally dealing Bextra from 2001 thru 2005. In 2005 alone, Pfizer made $1.7 billion on that drug. Now, CNN has revealed that the Department of Justice allowed Pfizer to set up a dummy corporation to take the rap, so that Pfizer could maintain its Medicare and Medicaid contracts.
On April 2nd, CNN reported, “when it came to prosecuting Pfizer for its fraudulent marketing, the pharmaceutical giant had a trump card: Just as the giant banks on Wall Street were deemed too big to fail, Pfizer was considered too big to nail.
“Why? Because any company convicted of a major health care fraud is automatically excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. Convicting Pfizer on Bextra would prevent the company from billing federal health programs for any of its products. It would be a corporate death sentence.”
Money trumps law, public safety
“Prosecutors said that excluding Pfizer would most likely lead to Pfizer’s collapse, with collateral consequences: disrupting the flow of Pfizer products to Medicare and Medicaid recipients, causing the loss of jobs including those of Pfizer employees who were not involved in the fraud, and causing significant losses for Pfizer shareholders.”
No wonder Shakespeare said, “First, let’s kill all the lawyers.” When did federal prosecutors gain the legal right to take monetary consideration into mind when laws have been broken? ‘Too big to nail’ is as bogus as is ‘too big to fail.’
MORE PFIZER FRAUD REVEALED IN ITS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED AIDS-LIKE VIRUS PROGRAM
In another stunning legal matter, Pfizer recently lost an employment claim when scientists became infected with a genetically-engineered AIDS-like virus, reports Raw Story. Pfizer supervisors threatened to falsify an employee’s reviews if she didn’t keep quiet about safety violations, eventually firing her.
“Becky McClain, [an award-winning] molecular biologist from Deep River, Connecticut, filed a lawsuit against Pfizer in 2007, claiming she had been wrongly terminated for complaining about faulty safety equipment that allowed a ‘dangerous lentivirus’ to infect her and some of her colleagues.”
In one instance, reports Steve Zeltzer, the virus was left “on a counter outside the lab where workers ate and drank.”
“If a worker in a plant as sophisticated as Pfizer is becoming infected with a genetically engineered virus, then I think the potential is everywhere,” said Jeremy Gruber, president of the Council for Responsible Genetics,” reports Hartford Courant.
McClain was awarded a paltry $1.37 million, plus punitive damages yet to be announced.
Honest citizens have to wonder about any corporation with this propensity for fraud being allowed anywhere near our health care system. We have yet another example that the US federal government is run by criminal interests.
Link to original article here.
Last September, we reported “Pfizer slapped with $2.3 billion fine for illegally dealing drugs.” No one went to jail and Pfizer paid a tiny portion of its profits from illegally dealing Bextra from 2001 thru 2005. In 2005 alone, Pfizer made $1.7 billion on that drug. Now, CNN has revealed that the Department of Justice allowed Pfizer to set up a dummy corporation to take the rap, so that Pfizer could maintain its Medicare and Medicaid contracts.
On April 2nd, CNN reported, “when it came to prosecuting Pfizer for its fraudulent marketing, the pharmaceutical giant had a trump card: Just as the giant banks on Wall Street were deemed too big to fail, Pfizer was considered too big to nail.
“Why? Because any company convicted of a major health care fraud is automatically excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. Convicting Pfizer on Bextra would prevent the company from billing federal health programs for any of its products. It would be a corporate death sentence.”
Money trumps law, public safety
“Prosecutors said that excluding Pfizer would most likely lead to Pfizer’s collapse, with collateral consequences: disrupting the flow of Pfizer products to Medicare and Medicaid recipients, causing the loss of jobs including those of Pfizer employees who were not involved in the fraud, and causing significant losses for Pfizer shareholders.”
No wonder Shakespeare said, “First, let’s kill all the lawyers.” When did federal prosecutors gain the legal right to take monetary consideration into mind when laws have been broken? ‘Too big to nail’ is as bogus as is ‘too big to fail.’
MORE PFIZER FRAUD REVEALED IN ITS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED AIDS-LIKE VIRUS PROGRAM
In another stunning legal matter, Pfizer recently lost an employment claim when scientists became infected with a genetically-engineered AIDS-like virus, reports Raw Story. Pfizer supervisors threatened to falsify an employee’s reviews if she didn’t keep quiet about safety violations, eventually firing her.
“Becky McClain, [an award-winning] molecular biologist from Deep River, Connecticut, filed a lawsuit against Pfizer in 2007, claiming she had been wrongly terminated for complaining about faulty safety equipment that allowed a ‘dangerous lentivirus’ to infect her and some of her colleagues.”
In one instance, reports Steve Zeltzer, the virus was left “on a counter outside the lab where workers ate and drank.”
“If a worker in a plant as sophisticated as Pfizer is becoming infected with a genetically engineered virus, then I think the potential is everywhere,” said Jeremy Gruber, president of the Council for Responsible Genetics,” reports Hartford Courant.
McClain was awarded a paltry $1.37 million, plus punitive damages yet to be announced.
Honest citizens have to wonder about any corporation with this propensity for fraud being allowed anywhere near our health care system. We have yet another example that the US federal government is run by criminal interests.
Link to original article here.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Allen West: Obama "A Low Level Socialist Agitator"
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) states that Obama is a "low level socialist agitator", who has never even "ran a lemonade stand." All I can say is wow. I love this guy. I love people who aren't worried about political correctness and 'popularity'. Speak the truth and say what is in your heart. If someone's feelings get hurt in the process, then tough. Where's my Allen West 2012 t-shirt? I need to find one.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The low down on rotavirus in the United States
The following article provides some interesting insight into the statistics for the rotavirus illness in children. It also goes into detail about the vaccines which have been developed for this illness. It is a very interesting read, especially if you have children who fall in the age range for the childhood immunization schedule.
Rotavirus is reported to be the leading cause of diarrhea among children, causing upwards of 55,000 hospitalizations per year in the US. Symptoms consist of vomiting and diarrhea, usually lasting between 3-8 days. Subsequent bouts of rotavirus are usually milder.
When this vaccine made its debute in 1998, I’ll admit to some skepticism. I laughed and said,“Really? Now it’s death by diarrhea!” When the first Rotavirus vaccine (RotaShield) was recalled in 1999, for causing intussusception, I felt justified in my stance. Especially when I found out that intussusception caused by this vaccine is a “compensable injury” and is paid for out of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. (1) (Intussusception is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the intestine gets blocked or twisted. One portion of the intestine telescopes into a nearby portion, causing the intestinal obstruction. The most common site is where the small intestine joins the large intestine.)
In 2006, a new rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) was approved by the FDA. My family doctor and most of those around me were all strongly recommending the new vaccine, so I turned my attention towards some research.
First, the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. The epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhea in the United States: surveillance and estimates of disease burden (2) was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in 1996 and the statistics look similar to the CDC’s. 55,000 children per year hospitalized due to Rotavirus. Alas, if you look a little closer you’ll notice some details you might otherwise have missed.
According to said article:
I couldn’t seem to pin the numbers down!
I found Global Illness and Deaths Caused by Rotavirus Disease in Children (3) on the CDC website, but its description of the method of estimation left me with even more questions. Here’s an excerpt:
I abandoned my search to pinpoint exact numbers. Instead, I turned my attention to the question: Why create a vaccine for a population in which lightening strikes (<62 per year) are a more likely cause of death than rotavirus (<40 per year)?
The Journal of Pediatrics from February 2004 (Volume 144 Issue 2) article, Safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity of a live, quadrivalent human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine in healthy infants, (4) served up more than I’d expected. Down at the very bottom of the page I found:
I found my answer in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Cost-effectiveness Analysis of a Rotavirus Immunization Program for the United States (5) was published in 1998 discussing the merits of implementing the rotavirus vaccine into the current immunization program.
This study was written to demonstrate how much money this vaccine will save our economy. Also from this study, I was served up a little nugget of heaven. At last, I’d found a cumulative incidence of deaths due to rotavirus among children.
What most people don’t know is that the rotavirus vaccine contains live viral cells. These cells can ‘shed’ from the body for days (even weeks) after vaccination, and consequently give people rotavirus disease. Rotavirus in particular is well known for shedding, specifically in fecal matter. It is imperative that the utmost attention be paid to hygiene during the shedding period so that cross-contamination/infection does not occur.
Another interesting tidbit was found in the study titled Serum antibody as a marker of protection against natural rotavirus infection and disease (6) which was published in the Journal of Infectious Disease in 2000. Apparently, children are gaining natural immunity from rotavirus after 2 consecutive infections whether or not they demonstrated symptoms.
Vaccine complications:
*ORS being oral rehydration solutions such as pedialyte. Breastfed infants should continue nursing on demand.
To summarize, less than 20 children per year die from rotavirus. Rotavirus is manageable with at-home care. We gain natural immunity from repeated exposure to infection, whether or not we show symptoms, and the side effects caused by the vaccine are remarkably similar to actual rotavirus infection.
Why are we vaccinating for this, again? Death by diarrhea indeed.
Original article can be found here.
1)Rotavirus Vaccine Coverage Under VICP
2)Epidemiology of Rotavirus in the US
3)Global Illness and Deaths caused by Rotavirus Disease in Children
4)The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 144, Issue 2, February 2004, Pages 184-190
5)Cost Effectiveness Analysis
6)Serum antibody as a marker of protection against natural rotavirus infection and disease
7)CDC’s Rotavirus Pinkbook, Page 1-2
8.) Managing Acute Gastroenteritis Among Children
Rotavirus: Death by Diarrhea?
Rotavirus is reported to be the leading cause of diarrhea among children, causing upwards of 55,000 hospitalizations per year in the US. Symptoms consist of vomiting and diarrhea, usually lasting between 3-8 days. Subsequent bouts of rotavirus are usually milder.
When this vaccine made its debute in 1998, I’ll admit to some skepticism. I laughed and said,“Really? Now it’s death by diarrhea!” When the first Rotavirus vaccine (RotaShield) was recalled in 1999, for causing intussusception, I felt justified in my stance. Especially when I found out that intussusception caused by this vaccine is a “compensable injury” and is paid for out of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. (1) (Intussusception is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the intestine gets blocked or twisted. One portion of the intestine telescopes into a nearby portion, causing the intestinal obstruction. The most common site is where the small intestine joins the large intestine.)
In 2006, a new rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) was approved by the FDA. My family doctor and most of those around me were all strongly recommending the new vaccine, so I turned my attention towards some research.
First, the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. The epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhea in the United States: surveillance and estimates of disease burden (2) was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in 1996 and the statistics look similar to the CDC’s. 55,000 children per year hospitalized due to Rotavirus. Alas, if you look a little closer you’ll notice some details you might otherwise have missed.
According to said article:
“From 1968 to 1985, diarrhea-related deaths among US children <5 years old declined from 1100 to 300/year. This decline was associated with the disappearance of winter peaks for diarrhea-related deaths previously associated with rotavirus infection among children 4-23 months old. From 1979 to 1992, however, hospitalizations for diarrhea averaged 186,000/year and retained their winter peaks, which have been linked to rotavirus infections. Each year an estimated 54,000-55,000 US children are hospitalized for diarrhea, but <40 die with rotavirus.”So, deaths went down but hospitalizations went up. Less than 40 deaths a year didn’t seem “vaccine-worthy” either. Strange. Still, this didn’t give me an ACTUAL number for hospitalizations or deaths. There are averages, estimations, and less than. I needed more. There must be more, right? Additionally, what did the numbers look like between 1992-1998 when the first rotavirus vaccine was released?
I couldn’t seem to pin the numbers down!
I found Global Illness and Deaths Caused by Rotavirus Disease in Children (3) on the CDC website, but its description of the method of estimation left me with even more questions. Here’s an excerpt:
“Rotavirus-Associated Deaths
To estimate the total number of child deaths from diarrhea, we plotted (for each country with available data) the fraction of deaths of children <5 years of age attributable to diarrhea against per capita gross national product (GNP). Countries were classified on the basis of GNP per capita into World Bank Income Groups (low[<U.S. $756], low-middle [U.S. $756-$2,295], high-middle [U.S. $2,2996-$9,265], high [>U.S. $9,265]) (9). For each income group, we calculated the median proportion of deaths of children <5 years of age attributable to diarrhea. We then multiplied the median proportion for each income group by the total number of deaths of children <5 years of age for each country in that income group to yield country-specific estimates of the mortality rate from diarrhea. These country-specific estimates were added to calculate the global mortality rate from diarrhea.
To estimate the fraction of diarrhea deaths attributable to rotavirus, we plotted the proportion of rotavirus infection detected in children hospitalized for diarrhea that was, by virtue of the need for hospitalization, presumed to be severe. These figures were again plotted against per capita GNP for each country to yield median rotavirus detection rates for countries in the four World Bank income groups. Previously estimated diarrhea mortality rates for each country in an income group was multiplied by the median rotavirus detection rate for that income group to yield the estimated number of rotavirus deaths by country. These figures were added to yield the number of global deaths from rotavirus diarrhea. For each income strata and overall, the risk of death from rotavirus diarrhea by 5 years of age was calculated by dividing the total number of live births by the total number of deaths from rotavirus.”Estimations based on presumptions and more estimations. Yet, still no death statistics for the US. Why couldn’t I find any definite answers?
I abandoned my search to pinpoint exact numbers. Instead, I turned my attention to the question: Why create a vaccine for a population in which lightening strikes (<62 per year) are a more likely cause of death than rotavirus (<40 per year)?
The Journal of Pediatrics from February 2004 (Volume 144 Issue 2) article, Safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity of a live, quadrivalent human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine in healthy infants, (4) served up more than I’d expected. Down at the very bottom of the page I found:
Drs H. Fred Clark, David I. Bernstein, Penelope H. Dennehy, Paul Offit, Michael Pichichero, John Treanor, and Richard L. Ward received funding for research or for clinical investigation from Merck & Co, Inc. Drs Clark and Offit are coholders of the patent on the human reassortant rotavirus vaccine. Dr Dennehy also is a member of Merck’s Speakers Bureau. Drs David L. Krah, Alan Shaw, Michael J. Dallas, Karen M. Kaplan, and Penny Heaton are current employees and Drs Joseph J. Eiden and Nathalie Ivanoff are former employees of Merck & Co, Inc.What’s so important about this name? Dr. Paul Offit was a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices. This means his job was to recommend or reject vaccines for use in the routine immunization program. I understand Dr. Offit stood down from the official vote on this vaccine, however, here we see an example of him holding a patent for RotaTeq, participating in the study (paid for by Merck) demonstrating that RotaTeq is safe and it works AND amazingly it is recommended for use through the CDC. Conflict of interest? Maybe? What other reasons could I find for the rotavirus vaccine’s recommended use?
I found my answer in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Cost-effectiveness Analysis of a Rotavirus Immunization Program for the United States (5) was published in 1998 discussing the merits of implementing the rotavirus vaccine into the current immunization program.
“Context.— Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children, and a live, oral vaccine may soon be licensed for prevention.
Results.— A routine, universal rotavirus immunization program would prevent 1.08 million cases of diarrhea, avoiding 34000 hospitalizations, 95000 emergency department visits, and 227000 physician visits in the first 5 years of life. At $20 per dose, the program would cost $289 million and realize a net loss of $107 million to the health care system—$103 per case prevented. The program would provide a net savings of $296 million to society. Threshold analysis identified a break-even price per dose of $9 for the health care system and $51 for the societal perspective. Greater disease burden and greater vaccine efficacy and lower vaccine price increased cost-effectiveness.”
Finally, about 20 deaths occur each year due to rotavirus diarrhea among children younger than 5 years,1, 6 for a cumulative incidence by age 5 years of 0.000005 (1 in 195000 children).Armed with the knowledge that only about 20 children die per year due to rotavirus, I was off to investigate the vaccine itself.
What most people don’t know is that the rotavirus vaccine contains live viral cells. These cells can ‘shed’ from the body for days (even weeks) after vaccination, and consequently give people rotavirus disease. Rotavirus in particular is well known for shedding, specifically in fecal matter. It is imperative that the utmost attention be paid to hygiene during the shedding period so that cross-contamination/infection does not occur.
Another interesting tidbit was found in the study titled Serum antibody as a marker of protection against natural rotavirus infection and disease (6) which was published in the Journal of Infectious Disease in 2000. Apparently, children are gaining natural immunity from rotavirus after 2 consecutive infections whether or not they demonstrated symptoms.
“Protective antibody titers were achieved after 2 consecutive symptomatic or asymptomatic rotavirus infections. These findings indicate that serum anti-rotavirus antibody, especially IgA, was a marker of protection against rotavirus infection and moderate-to-severe diarrhea.”This is supported by documents at the CDC showing that 95% of children have had rotavirus by age 5 and that after just one natural infection, 87% of children are protected against severe diarrhea. (7) Additionally, complications from severe rotavirus infection and rotavirus vaccination are compared. Allow me to share:
Rotavirus complications:
severe diarrhea
dehydration
electrolyte imbalance
metabolic acidosis
Immunodeficient children may have more severe or persistent disease
Vaccine complications:
VomitingAs for treatment, even the the CDC believes that acute gastroenteritis can be properly cared for at home (8):
Diarrhea
Nasopharyngitis
fever
Home Management of Acute Diarrhea
Treatment with ORS is simple and enables management of uncomplicated cases of diarrhea at home, regardless of etiologic agent. As long as caregivers are instructed properly regarding signs of dehydration or are able to determine when children appear markedly ill or appear not to be responding to treatment, therapy should begin at home. Early intervention can reduce such complications as dehydration and malnutrition. Early administration of ORS leads to fewer office, clinic, and emergency department (ED) visits (37) and to potentially fewer hospitalizations and deaths.
To summarize, less than 20 children per year die from rotavirus. Rotavirus is manageable with at-home care. We gain natural immunity from repeated exposure to infection, whether or not we show symptoms, and the side effects caused by the vaccine are remarkably similar to actual rotavirus infection.
Why are we vaccinating for this, again? Death by diarrhea indeed.
Original article can be found here.
1)Rotavirus Vaccine Coverage Under VICP
2)Epidemiology of Rotavirus in the US
3)Global Illness and Deaths caused by Rotavirus Disease in Children
4)The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 144, Issue 2, February 2004, Pages 184-190
5)Cost Effectiveness Analysis
6)Serum antibody as a marker of protection against natural rotavirus infection and disease
7)CDC’s Rotavirus Pinkbook, Page 1-2
8.) Managing Acute Gastroenteritis Among Children
Friday, April 1, 2011
Vaccine Nation
Vaccine Nation - Full Length Movie
Free documentary
2008
Documentation of the death of a child, which was quite possibly vaccine related, even though no official would admit it.
Free documentary
2008
Documentation of the death of a child, which was quite possibly vaccine related, even though no official would admit it.
More reported side effects regarding the H1N1 vaccine
The Link Between an H1N1 Vaccine and Narcolepsy
An interesting article from healthland.time.com...
By Meredith Melnick
Vaccines have been associated with any number of bizarre side effects — but putting people to sleep? That's a new one.
Last week, a preliminary Finnish study found that the H1N1 flu vaccine may have contributed to a spike in narcolepsy cases in that country Among 4-to-19-year-olds. In 20o9-10, health officials said, 60 children and adolescents in that age group had developed narcolepsy, and 52 of them had received the flu vaccine Pandemrix.
Based on the early data, Finnish officials said, people who received the injection had a nine-fold increased risk of narcolepsy over those in the same age group who had not been vaccinated.
Use of the vaccine was halted inFinland Finland
On Tuesday, a World Health Organization panel said that genetic factors may have played a role inFinland Finland Europe
To date, 12 of the 47 countries that used the vaccine, includingSweden Iceland
WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety said in a statement Tuesday that it agreed with Finnish authorities that there was a "strong association" between the vaccination, the genetic makeup of the patients, and the narcolepsy cases.But since a coincidental correlation cannot be ruled out, and as narcolepsy after swine flu vaccination has been reported in only a few countries so far, the panel recommended that Pandemrix continue to be administered to children.
Narcolepsy is a rare and chronic neurological disorder that causes extreme fatigue and unexpected episodes of sleep. But the cases reported inFinland
An increased risk of narcolepsy has not been observed in association with the use of any vaccines whether against influenza or other diseases in the past. Even at this stage, it does not appear that narcolepsy following vaccination against pandemic influenza is a general worldwide phenomenon.
Pandemrix is not available in theUnited States U.S.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/10/the-link-between-an-h1n1-vaccine-and-narcolepsy/#ixzz1IIAgUaRj
By Meredith Melnick
Vaccines have been associated with any number of bizarre side effects — but putting people to sleep? That's a new one.
Last week, a preliminary Finnish study found that the H1N1 flu vaccine may have contributed to a spike in narcolepsy cases in that country Among 4-to-19-year-olds. In 20o9-10, health officials said, 60 children and adolescents in that age group had developed narcolepsy, and 52 of them had received the flu vaccine Pandemrix.
Based on the early data, Finnish officials said, people who received the injection had a nine-fold increased risk of narcolepsy over those in the same age group who had not been vaccinated.
Use of the vaccine was halted in
On Tuesday, a World Health Organization panel said that genetic factors may have played a role in
To date, 12 of the 47 countries that used the vaccine, including
WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety said in a statement Tuesday that it agreed with Finnish authorities that there was a "strong association" between the vaccination, the genetic makeup of the patients, and the narcolepsy cases.But since a coincidental correlation cannot be ruled out, and as narcolepsy after swine flu vaccination has been reported in only a few countries so far, the panel recommended that Pandemrix continue to be administered to children.
Narcolepsy is a rare and chronic neurological disorder that causes extreme fatigue and unexpected episodes of sleep. But the cases reported in
An increased risk of narcolepsy has not been observed in association with the use of any vaccines whether against influenza or other diseases in the past. Even at this stage, it does not appear that narcolepsy following vaccination against pandemic influenza is a general worldwide phenomenon.
Pandemrix is not available in the
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/10/the-link-between-an-h1n1-vaccine-and-narcolepsy/#ixzz1IIAgUaRj
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