Search This Blog

Friday, October 31, 2008

In the News

Teenager's death spurs vaccination questions, fears http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/30691

The Vaccine Debate http://www.kspr.com/news/local/33616254.html

Keep On Self-Incriminatin' http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/keep-on-self-in.html

New Jersey and Autism Perfect Together! http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/new-jersey-and.html

New Jersey To Mandate Cradle Past Grave Vaccination!http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/new-jersey-to-m.html

The Third Rail of Pediatrics http://tinyurl.com/67lzzn

Death Threats, Hate Mail: Autism Debate Turns Ugly http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=6150482&page=1

New Jersey should not mandate flu shots for schoolchildren http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2008/1030/letters/012.html

Parents everywhere need more vaccination choices for children http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2008/1030/letters/010.html

The most heavily vaccinated are the most sick http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2008/1030/letters/009.html

People should be informed about the science, dangers of vaccines http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2008/1030/letters/011.html

Green our vaccines and administer them with greater care http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2008/1030/letters/013.html

Autism Is Political: Bob Wright and a UK Perspective http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/the-panel-from.html

PTA Pushes Flu Shots for Kids (US News & World Report) http://tinyurl.com/5z6m28

Military Wife Asks Obama About Vaccination Beliefs http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/military-mom-as.html

76% of Americans Unaware Flu Shots Contain Mercury http://tinyurl.com/6rovpc

Autism and Politics: We're On The Island of Misfit Toys http://tinyurl.com/6j4uoa

Three Generations of Sorrow: Vaccine-Induced Autism, Chronic Disease andDisability, SIDS, & Parents' Right to Choose http://bit.ly/40SgaC (scroll down left side to select audio)

Robert Krakow Interview with Newsweek http://tinyurl.com/632elv

David Kirby: What I Said at the Vaccine Forum http://www.ageofautism.com/

New Study: Mercury, Other Toxins May Cause Autism (HuffPo) http://tinyurl.com/5klj6m

Not immune to concern http://tinyurl.com/5ot5vv

NBC's Snyderman: Vaccine-Autism Link 'Not Controversial' http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081030121246.aspx

Snyderman/Offit video http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27453507#27453507

Don't buy the vaccines-autism myth http://tinyurl.com/5bead8

Vaccinations' benefits proved; enforce the law http://tinyurl.com/5fbru5

Mandatory flu vaccines now available http://tinyurl.com/6gauzd


Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

In the News

Miracles or menaces?
http://tinyurl.com/6l9mle

Vaccines and flu shots: Worth the risk?
http://tinyurl.com/5aclve

Avoidable
http://tinyurl.com/58rtz6

Six Good Reasons to Avoid the Flu Shot
http://tinyurl.com/6zvauu

'Flying syringe' mosquitos, other ideas get Gates funding
http://snipurl.com/4oocw

Doctors: The flu shot is safe
http://tinyurl.com/6x7mkm

CNN Helps Autism Debacle Blow Up in Government's Face
http://tinyurl.com/6326gc

SPOTLIGHT: Vaccination law fails to touch all kids
http://tinyurl.com/6y4u7t

Get Your Flu Shot
http://tinyurl.com/6xlnbw

Massive flu vaccine dose protects elderly better
http://tinyurl.com/6xtx2o
Share/Bookmark

Saturday, October 25, 2008

In the News

Parents, doctors air vaccine worries at hospital forum
http://tinyurl.com/6d7x9a

Prominent Scientist Warns of HPV Vaccine Dangers
http://tinyurl.com/5fwwdc

End of the Innocence: McCain, Obama and Vaccines. Oh My!
http://tinyurl.com/5hpuxx

Huh? CDC Claims Gardasil Vaccine Has Zero Side Effects
http://tinyurl.com/5fnmsg

Parents home-school to avoid vaccinations
http://tinyurl.com/6mou8j

Flu Shots Leave Heart Failure Patients at Risk for Infection
http://tinyurl.com/5ucdju

Canadian Man Paralyzed for 5 Months After Flu Shot
http://tinyurl.com/5e2l7s

Flu Vaccine: Right To Know!
http://tinyurl.com/6lmqq8

Parents should decide on flu vaccine for kids
http://tinyurl.com/5pav33

Vaccine Given To Babies Could Increase The Risk Of Childhood Asthma
http://tinyurl.com/67j8ra

GlaxoSmithKline in $550M deal to develop Alzheimer's vaccines
http://tinyurl.com/5hlwx2

Infection control group: Flu shot should be required for doctors
http://tinyurl.com/6c64kt
Share/Bookmark

Thursday, October 23, 2008

In the News

McCain Addresses Vaccine Safety, Obama Silent
http://tinyurl.com/5fm73p

McCain Senior Policy Advisor Responds To Autism Questionnaire
http://tinyurl.com/6zfuog

The Need For A Balanced View on Vaccines
Register for online webcast (today 10/23 1:30-5 PM)
http://www.dienviro.com/index.aspx##

N.J. parents should have vaccine choices
http://tinyurl.com/5hjudp

Parents fight for vaccination choice
http://tinyurl.com/5wansb

Parents homeschool to avoid vaccinations
http://tinyurl.com/5wdo2y

Chiropractor says flu shots worthless, dangerous
http://tinyurl.com/56emyt

Vaccines have not been proven safe (halfway down)
http://tinyurl.com/6pvwhu

Merck's Gardasil Isn't Linked to Risks in U.S. Study
http://tinyurl.com/6n2r4f
http://tinyurl.com/62mnae

Flu Vaccine for Preschoolers
http://tinyurl.com/57gafo
Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Parents fight for vaccination choice

http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2008/1022/front_page/020.html

When the hundreds of protesters in front of the statehouse Oct. 16 applauded a speaker, seven-year-old Alex Wurmser started screaming.
Wurmser who was diagnosed with autism after receiving a series of what are considered routine vaccinations, is easily startled by loud noises. However, he accompanied his mother MaryTara to the protest so together they could oppose the mandating of more vaccines for children in New Jersey and to support the passage of A260/S1071, legislation that would provide a conscientious belief exemption to mandatory vaccination.

New Jersey children that attend any public or private school or day care facility are currently required to have 35 doses of 13 vaccines, including an annual flu shot starting at the age of 6 months old. The New Jersey government mandates more vaccines than any other state in the country and is the first government in the world to mandate flu and meningococcal shots.
"I want parents to be able to call the shots and to be able to make an informed decision about vaccinations," Alex's mother MaryTara, of Brick Township, said. "I also want the shots to be cleaned up of toxins ingredients like mercury and aluminum."

New Jersey parents currently have two means of objecting to the state's vaccination schedule for children. They can provide a medical exemption from a licensed physician or nurse practitioner that indicates a specific time period in which the child cannot receive specific vaccinations and reasons for medical contraindication enumerated by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Parents can also seek religious exemption by explaining how immunizing agents conflict with bona fide practice of their religious tenets. The school administrator/principal makes the decision to accept or reject a religious exemption and a school or local health department may choose to challenge the credibility of the filed exemption for children attending a public school.

Parents who violate the vaccination man- date can fall subject to penalties of not less than $50 or more than $1,000, recovered by the state in a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Sandra Holbrok, of New Providence, said she had no choice but to declare religious objection to avoid having her three-year-old vaccinated to attend preschool.
"We want to be able to conscientiously choose when and how our children receive vaccinations," Holbrok said.

Robert Krakow, executive director of Autism United and the father of a vaccine-injured child, said 19 other states in the country have conscientious objection exemption from vaccinations. He said supporters of conscientious objection are not necessarily anti-vaccinations and often have children who are fullyor partly-vaccinated.

Hightstown's Olivia Middleton said the problem with religious exemption is that parents who declare it have to opt out of all vaccinations for their child.
"That's an issue because if you are a parent who doesn't want your child to have a flu vaccine because you don't think the flu is a deadly disease, with the present law it's not possible to opt out," she said. "Conscientious objection simply allows you to submit, upon entrance to school, paperwork for a philosophical exemption from or for your own personal conscience that you have chosen to give certain vaccinations and not others or not at all. It's the parents choice."
Proponents of conscientious objection believe that a one size fits all vaccination program is not tenable in this society, according to Middleton.
"Family history and the individual history of the child is paramount," she said. "To sacrifice a subset of the population to death and other chronic diseases is not the answer so that others can avoid possible diseases."

John Gilmore, cofounder of Autism United, said the number of children with autism, juvenile diabetes and other vaccination related injuries continues to increase.
Gilmore said in the last eight years the autism rate in New Jersey jumped from 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 95 children, with Garden State boys facing an autism rate of 1 in 65.
"My son has autism," he said. "He was developing normally until his first vaccination, when he developed a high fever and stopped talking and starting spitting."
Gilmore continued, "We've seen an autism explosion and the number of vaccinations in the United States tripled during that time. We need an aggressive review of vaccinations not done by the vaccination industry themselves."

Gilmore took issue with politically-appointed boards making the vaccination decisions for New Jersey children. He noted that there are more recorded deaths of children who had the newly mandated meningococcal vaccination than there have been deaths of children from meningitis.
"How come our children still have to receive it?" he asked. "It's not about protecting the kids. It's about helping vaccine manufacturers."
Gilmore said pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey donated over $1 million to politicians during the last 12 months.
"I know money talks but votes talk even more and we're being watched now so we got to keep the pressure on," he said. "If we do, we will win."

Middleton said the vaccination mandates are not about children's health.
"I believe the government and big pharmacies are in bed together," Middleton said, adding that if the state cared about children's health it would demand "green vaccines" that do not contain neurotoxins and carcinogens such as thimerosal, formaldehyde, mercury and aluminum.

Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R District-39), the primary sponsor of the conscientious objection bill, said federal law exempts vaccine manufacturers from liability. She said the federal government compensates those parents who can establish a firm timeline between a vaccination and a resulting injury or death and has paid $910 million toward vaccination-damaged children. She said as of Oct. 1, the federal government had 988 vaccination-related deaths on file.
"What about the products causing the deaths of these children?" Vandervalk asked. "They're still on the market. Even worse, these products are being mandated for use."
Vandervalk said New Jersey parents should have the choice to make medical decisions for their children and they have a right to keep their children free from risk.
"New Jersey parents have basic human rights," she said.

Maria Pinho, of Toms River, said, "As parents, we brought our children into this world and we should be able to consent to any medical intervention that they should receive. Currently, I have to consent to surgery, why shouldn't I have to consent to vaccinations?"
Pinho, who has a son who developed language issues after he received two doses of three vaccines, said she had her child tested for toxins and discovered aluminum and arsenic toxicity.
"I believe the environment is a catalyst for these issues and the vaccinations pull the trigger," she said.
She said there is a need for vaccinations but more research needs to be done regarding ingredients, interactions and scheduling.
"I believe our doctors aren't getting the proper education," Pinho said. "They're being told how to administer a shot but they aren't getting a full education about vaccines."

On the packaging for the Influenza Virus Vaccine Fluarix, Glaxosmithkline states that the product has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or for impairment of fertility.

"We need independent research, not research by the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or paid for by the pharmaceutical companies," Pinho said.
Damani Parran, who has a Ph.D. in toxicology and is a board certified toxicologist, said the safety information being presented about vaccinations is contradictory. For example, he said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children ages 6 to 59 months get flu shots, which contain mercury levels that are 50 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's safety level for mercury in seafood.
Parran also said that only 6 percent of the flu shots offered in New Jersey are mercury free because most contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative. According to the Food and Drug Administration, mercury causes neurological problems in children.
"As a parent, if I am being forced to vaccinate my child, I want insurance that my child will be safe," Parran said.

Currently, A260/S1071, which would provide for conscientious objection to vaccinations, has 34 sponsors and cosponsors in legislative districts across the state. The proposed legislation is a bipartisan effort backed by both Republicans and Democrats, including local Senator (D-30) Robert Singer and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (D-13).
Share/Bookmark

Saturday, October 18, 2008

NJCVC Member response to Star Ledger Article

The best shot against flu
Friday, October 17, 2008

"Please take the time to research the flu shot. Even though the CDC claims 36,000 people a year die from the flu if you check their own vital statistics approximately 1,300 a year die from the flu. There are serious side effects associated with the flu shot. It contains 25 micrograms of mercury, a known neurotoxin along with aluminum and formaldehyde. Are you willing to accept financial responsibility for "the negative consequences" that may show up? Doctors and the Pharmaceutical Industries are exempt from lawsuits regarding vaccines. 

New Jersey has only had 2-4 flu deaths in young children in the past several years. While any death is tragic, should every child in NJ be vaccinated with a toxic mix of chemicals to avoid 1 death. Where has common sense gone. The only sense here is cents, dollars and cents made by the vaccine industry with these mandates."

- Lisa Smith
NJCVC Member

Share/Bookmark

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Breaking NJ Vaccination News

10/9: Here is the full video of our segment on Fox & Friends this morning:
http://tinyurl.com/3nmgqb

At the last second, their staff doctor declined to go on the show (she was only prepared to talk about the bill, not about the flu shot).  We think this is why they cut the segment much shorter than expected.  However, they interviewed us for a longer segment right afterwards for their internet show - click on Thursday’s “After the Show Show.”  We were able to discuss the Trenton rally details.  We also challenged Senators Obama and McCain to take up this issue more prominently and mentioned the requests of the vaccine safety and autism communities for two Executive Orders to be made by the next President within their first 100 days of office (moratorium on all new childhood vaccines until the current schedule is proven safe and removal of thimerosal from all vaccines by 1/1/2010). 

Barbara Loe Fisher from NVIC http://www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com told Louise today that it is unprecedented in recent history to have this kind of discussion among three "young" moms on national TV.

Hopefully we’ll have information for you about another Fox segment the day of the rally.  They are considering either an early morning show or having a truck on-site to cover the event. 

10/9: We just learned that Governor Corzine called a Special Session of the entire Senate and Assembly at 12pm on 10/16, the precise date and start time of our rally.  Caucuses will probably begin 11:00 or 11:30am.  I will find out more and share it with everyone.  

10/8: Rich Krajewski wrote a terrific Letter to the Editor of the Jersey Journal http://www.nj.com/opinion/jjournal/letters/index.ssf?/base/letters-3/12234423187721.xml&coll=3 

10/6: A reminder that human nature is, well… always with us. http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/10/06/pediatricians-would-admit-error-only-half-the-time.html 

10/5: Watch the poignant vaccination story of beautiful Max Majeski and his mom’s lessons learned http://njvaccinationchoice.org/channel.html or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YswnGsfZsQI.  It is Max and too many hundreds of thousands of other children who are pushing us to do this urgent work.


Share/Bookmark

Monday, October 6, 2008

High court: Atlanta couple can sue over vaccination

Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari can take case to court over son’s disabilities

Monday, October 06, 2008
An Atlanta couple’s lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers can go to trial on claims a childhood vaccine caused neurological damage to their young son, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In a landmark decision, the state high court unanimously ruled that Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari’s lawsuit is not barred by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. The court upheld a prior decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which was the first appellate court in the nation to make such a ruling.

When the Ferraris’ 18-month-old son, Stefan, received his vaccines, he was a healthy verbal boy. Now 10, Stefan has not spoken since, according to court records.

A year after Stefan received his vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that thimerosal, a preservative used for multi-dose vaccine vials, be removed from childhood vaccines. The Ferraris filed suit, contending that the manufacturers should have made vaccines without the preservative before Stefan was vaccinated.

The companies argued that the 1986 vaccine act shields manufacturers from liability in civil lawsuits for damages caused by vaccines given after Oct. 1, 1988.

In Monday’s ruling, written by Justice George Carley, the state Supreme Court said the vaccine act “clearly does not preempt all design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers.”

Instead, it provides “that a vaccine manufacturer cannot be held liable for defective design if it is determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the injurious side effects of the particular vaccine were unavoidable,” the ruling said.

Share/Bookmark