Reneging on Gardasil mandate in the Lone-Star State is an admission of guilt
and should not be forgiven or forgotten.
By Leslie Carol Botha
PRLog (Press Release) – Aug 22, 2011 – According to VAERS analyst and SANE Vax team member Janny Stokvis, Governor Rick Perry should have been aware and taken action on the mounting injuries from Gardasil in Texas before an attempt to mandate the vaccine. VAERS reports one girl died post-Gardasil vaccination, there were 14 life-threatening situations and 31 girls became disabled after Perry’s attempt to issue an executive order. The effort to introduce the drug into Texas schools turned into one of Perry’s greatest defeats. His admission of a ‘mistake’ five years later is reprehensible.
Perry’s order would have become effective in 2008 and girls would be involuntarily immunized unless they ‘opted out’ upon entry to the 6th grade. Texas was the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against a multi-strain virus to prevent ‘cervical cancer.’ Unfortunately, the National Cancer Institute has not directly linked the virus to cervical cancer.1
Is this poor judgment from a man running for president?
During a 16 month investigation of Gardasil, side effects were documented in a disturbing number of cases to VAERS including 3,589 during a 16 month period.2Even though thousands of girls reported adverse reactions to the vaccine, Perry found no reason to modify or withdraw his executive order. Those numbers have now risen to over 22,000 and yet, it took political posturing for Perry to admit his ‘mistake.’
In addition the executive order mandated that the Department of State Health Services make the HPV vaccine available through the Texas Vaccines for Children program for eligible young females up to age 18, and the Health and Human Services Commission shall make the vaccine available to Medicaid-eligible young females from age 19 to 21. 3
Medicaid? That means that the private sector that refuses to buy into the HPV vaccine scheme would now pay for Merck’s Gardasil hoax.
Is this a man in bed with Big Pharma?
According to VAERS, Texas has had its fair share of reports of adverse reactions:
As of July 12, 2011 the total number HPV vaccine adverse events reported to VAERS is 22,619 – with an estimated 1 to 10% of the HPV vaccine injured population reporting.4
19,170 reports are from the U.S. – 3,127 of those events are from unknown locations.
914 reports out of the 19,170 reports are from Texas. But considering the fact that 3,127 reports have an unknown location, this number could be higher.5
Gardasil Adverse Events in Texas:
• One death report of a 26 year old woman who died Nov 20076
• 67 reports are listed as serious7
• 14 reports of Life threatening situations8
• 433 reports of emergency room visits9
• 45 reports of hospitalization10
• 10 reports extended hospital stay11
• 174 reports where the girls did not recover from their injuries12
• 31 reports of girls now disabled13
Is this a man who ignores his constituency in favor of Big Pharma?
Even after the issuance of the executive order, and the challenge by the Texas Legislature, Perry defended his position. At a press conference, he played a video message from a 31-year old cervical cancer patient hooked to an oxygen tube, who was too sick to testify earlier at the statehouse. Perry declared:
‘I challenge legislators to look these women in the eyes and tell them, `We could have prevented this disease for your daughters and granddaughters, but we just didn’t have the gumption to address all the misguided and misleading political rhetoric…’14
Is this a man who has been corrupted by Big Pharma?
In fact – Rick Perry’s previous Chief of Staff worked as a lobbyist for Merck at the time and Perry and eight other Republican law makers received donations of $6000.00 from Merck lobbyists just a few days before the executive order was issued.
Now that Perry has declared his candidacy for President he told reporters in New Hampshire that he regretted his handling of the vaccine, explaining: “I signed an executive order that allowed for an opt out, but the fact of the matter is that I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry.” Too little – too late, Governor Perry.
SANE Vax Inc. believes that every governor should be looking at the number of Gardasil adverse reactions in their respective states. It is time that other politicians admit their ‘mistakes’ to their constituents as well.
Source:
1. National Cancer Institute – Cervical Cancer Prevention, Health Professional Version http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/cervic …
2. Judicial Watch http://www.judicialwatch.org/story/2008/may/judicial-wat …
3. Politics News http://politicsnews.tumblr.com/post/8893735384/rick-perr …
4. MedAlerts http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4
5. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=STA&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4
6. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&DIED=Yes&STATE[]=TX
7. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&SERIOUS=ON&STATE[]=TX
8. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&L_THREAT=Yes&STATE[]=TX
9. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&ER_VISIT=Yes&STATE[]=TX
10. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&HOSPITAL=Yes&STATE[]=TX
11. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&X_STAY=Yes&STATE[]=TX
12. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&RECOVD=No&STATE[]=TX
13. MedAlerts
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=AGE&GROUP2=SEX&EVENTS=ON&VAX[]=HPV&VAX[]=HPV2&VAX[]=HPV4&DISABLE=Yes&STATE[]=TX
14. Malia Litman Blog http://malialitman.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/perrys-executive-order-on-gardasil-proves-he-is-a-corrupt-bastard/
# # #
SaneVax believes only Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices should be offered to the public. Our primary goal is to provide scientific information/resources for those concerned about vaccine safety, efficacy and need.
Read Release Here…..http://www.prlog.org/11631783-perrys-gardasil-mistake-cost-girls-their-lives.html
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
SANE Vax Inc. Celebrates 1st Anniversary with New Web Site Launch
Safe, Affordable, Necessary and Effective vaccines message captures global attention
PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 15, 2011 - SANE Vax Inc. was incorporated in August of 2010, to raise awareness of the science and research behind growing concerns regarding vaccine safety and efficacy. One year later – the SANE Vax message and the research we have compiled has gone global and shared with educators, medical and legal professionals, researchers, journalists and medical consumers world-wide.
To date visitors from 110 countries have visited the web site. Map below can be found on the new SANE Vax site http://sanevax.org under ‘Who’s Online.’ Perhaps pharmaceutical companies, governments and pro-vaccine ‘cults’ will finally begin to understand that vaccine safety and efficacy is a global issue.
SANE Vax Inc. founders, Norma Erickson, President, Rosemary D. Mathis, Vice President of Victim Services, Leslie Carol Botha, Vice-President of Public Relations, Janny Stokvis, Vice President of Research, Freda Birrell, Secretary, and Linda Thompson, Treasurer, would like to express our sincere gratitude to the multitudes of vaccine safety advocates and medical professionals who have provided research and assistance in furthering our endeavors. SANE Vax now has developed a strong network of dedicated professionals, medical consumers and media contacts who understand that the vaccine industry may pose more health risks than the benefits they have promoted for the past 40 years.
The SaneVax Team would also like to thank our colleague, and natural cycle researcher, David Katzmire – http://kalarhythms.org/ for his expertise and countless hours of volunteer work on the development of our web sites.
Rosemary Mathis believes the site has helped vaccine damaged children and their families find research necessary to back up their claims of injury for physicians, attorneys and other professional advocates. Many families of Gardasil victims have found the site and contacted Mathis looking for information to assist them while on the terrifying journey to help their loved ones recover.
Prior to the organization’s formation, the SANE Vax team had lengthy discussions about the name and mission statement ‘to promote Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices through education and information.’ In the end we decided this was the most appropriate message to reach medical consumers and professionals who are just starting to question vaccine safety and efficacy. Approximately 10,000 people visit the Sane Vax site monthly.
Science – in particular neuro-science – is just beginning to catch up with the concerns parents of vaccine-damaged children have observed for far too long. In order for medical consumers to be able to grant informed consent for vaccine compliance, they need to be aware of the often minimized potential risks of adverse events as well as the potential vaccine benefits. Medical consumers need to know what to do in case of adverse reaction. SANE Vax fills the need for that information.
‘What is most distressing,’ states Botha, ‘is negative studies on vaccine practices, ingredients, and methodology, many on the US government’s PubMed.gov site, have been conducted and known by the pharmaceutical companies and the government for years. Yet they continue to promote vaccines.’
In the past year, members of the SANE Vax team were invited to present research and data on the HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix at the British Society for Ecological Medicine Conference in London. They had an opportunity to privately discuss vaccine concerns with Dr. Andrew Wakefield, as well as other eminent professionals, researchers, vaccine safety advocates and medical consumers.
SANE Vax, Truth About Gardasil, and ThinkExist Productions cooperatively raised $42,000 in donations from medical consumers and professionals for the production of the One More Girl documentary – a compelling film documenting the stories of HPV vaccine victims, their families and professional experts. One More Girl will be released in the summer of 2012.
The SANE Vax team has also published over 100 articles and news releases countering Merck’s claim that Gardasil is safe, affordable, necessary and effective. These articles have been posted on innumerable sites around the globe, prompting interviews by several prominent radio show hosts in the U.S., Panama, and The Netherlands.
Norma Erickson states, “Our message is quite simple. If it is not Safe, Affordable, Necessary and Effective, medical consumers do not need it. Now is the time for scientific proof of manufacturers’ claims. Show us independent scientific validation. Prove your vaccines are SANE.”
# # #
SaneVax believes only Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices should be offered to the public. Our primary goal is to provide scientific information/resources for those concerned about vaccine safety, efficacy and need
PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 15, 2011 - SANE Vax Inc. was incorporated in August of 2010, to raise awareness of the science and research behind growing concerns regarding vaccine safety and efficacy. One year later – the SANE Vax message and the research we have compiled has gone global and shared with educators, medical and legal professionals, researchers, journalists and medical consumers world-wide.
To date visitors from 110 countries have visited the web site. Map below can be found on the new SANE Vax site http://sanevax.org under ‘Who’s Online.’ Perhaps pharmaceutical companies, governments and pro-vaccine ‘cults’ will finally begin to understand that vaccine safety and efficacy is a global issue.
SANE Vax Inc. founders, Norma Erickson, President, Rosemary D. Mathis, Vice President of Victim Services, Leslie Carol Botha, Vice-President of Public Relations, Janny Stokvis, Vice President of Research, Freda Birrell, Secretary, and Linda Thompson, Treasurer, would like to express our sincere gratitude to the multitudes of vaccine safety advocates and medical professionals who have provided research and assistance in furthering our endeavors. SANE Vax now has developed a strong network of dedicated professionals, medical consumers and media contacts who understand that the vaccine industry may pose more health risks than the benefits they have promoted for the past 40 years.
The SaneVax Team would also like to thank our colleague, and natural cycle researcher, David Katzmire – http://kalarhythms.org/ for his expertise and countless hours of volunteer work on the development of our web sites.
Rosemary Mathis believes the site has helped vaccine damaged children and their families find research necessary to back up their claims of injury for physicians, attorneys and other professional advocates. Many families of Gardasil victims have found the site and contacted Mathis looking for information to assist them while on the terrifying journey to help their loved ones recover.
Prior to the organization’s formation, the SANE Vax team had lengthy discussions about the name and mission statement ‘to promote Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices through education and information.’ In the end we decided this was the most appropriate message to reach medical consumers and professionals who are just starting to question vaccine safety and efficacy. Approximately 10,000 people visit the Sane Vax site monthly.
Science – in particular neuro-science – is just beginning to catch up with the concerns parents of vaccine-damaged children have observed for far too long. In order for medical consumers to be able to grant informed consent for vaccine compliance, they need to be aware of the often minimized potential risks of adverse events as well as the potential vaccine benefits. Medical consumers need to know what to do in case of adverse reaction. SANE Vax fills the need for that information.
‘What is most distressing,’ states Botha, ‘is negative studies on vaccine practices, ingredients, and methodology, many on the US government’s PubMed.gov site, have been conducted and known by the pharmaceutical companies and the government for years. Yet they continue to promote vaccines.’
In the past year, members of the SANE Vax team were invited to present research and data on the HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix at the British Society for Ecological Medicine Conference in London. They had an opportunity to privately discuss vaccine concerns with Dr. Andrew Wakefield, as well as other eminent professionals, researchers, vaccine safety advocates and medical consumers.
SANE Vax, Truth About Gardasil, and ThinkExist Productions cooperatively raised $42,000 in donations from medical consumers and professionals for the production of the One More Girl documentary – a compelling film documenting the stories of HPV vaccine victims, their families and professional experts. One More Girl will be released in the summer of 2012.
The SANE Vax team has also published over 100 articles and news releases countering Merck’s claim that Gardasil is safe, affordable, necessary and effective. These articles have been posted on innumerable sites around the globe, prompting interviews by several prominent radio show hosts in the U.S., Panama, and The Netherlands.
Norma Erickson states, “Our message is quite simple. If it is not Safe, Affordable, Necessary and Effective, medical consumers do not need it. Now is the time for scientific proof of manufacturers’ claims. Show us independent scientific validation. Prove your vaccines are SANE.”
# # #
SaneVax believes only Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices should be offered to the public. Our primary goal is to provide scientific information/resources for those concerned about vaccine safety, efficacy and need
Monday, August 8, 2011
Vaccine victims
After witnessing her daughter's widespread suffering, a mother works to spread the word about the potential dangers of Gardasil.
NORTH WILKESBORO --
At night, in the family's basement den, Rosemary Mathis would softly slip in bed beside her sleeping daughter, listening for breath, watching her chest move up and down.
"I was honestly afraid," Mathis said, "that she was going to die in her sleep."
Mathis kept that routine for more than a year as Lauren, her once sunny and energetic 13-year-old daughter, struggled with severe stomach pains, headaches, fever, depression and dementia, causing her to miss most of her eighth-grade year at North Wilkes Middle School.
Mathis felt certain that Lauren's undiagnosed illness could be traced to Gardasil, a vaccine used to prevent genital warts and cervical cancer caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus or HPV, a virus passed on through sexual contact.
During those long nights, as Lauren slept, Mathis immersed herself in prayer.
"I promised God that I would help others if He would take care of her," she said.
More than two years later, with Lauren slowly regaining her health, Mathis remains committed to her end of the promise, transforming herself into an activist who is devoted to spreading the word about a vaccine that she believes endangered her daughter and other young women.
She can't and won't give specific medical advice, but her goal is to simply inform others of what happened to her daughter, confirmed by two doctors as being one of the rare people who are seemingly hurt, instead of helped, by a vaccine. Her two websites are www.truthaboutgardasil.org and www.sanevax.org. Gardasil, which is manufactured by Merck pharmaceuticals, was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 to prevent HPV infection, specifically some of the types that cause genital warts and cervical cancer.
Jennifer Allen Woodruff, a spokeswoman for Merck, said her company is "confident in the safety profile of Gardasil."
"There are health organizations throughout the world that have reviewed safety information about Gardasil and continue to recommend its use," she said.
HPV hits nearly half
About half of all people who are sexually active will acquire HPV at some point in their lives, making it the most common sexually transmitted infection, said Dr. Laura Bachmann, an infectious-disease specialist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Most people don't know they are infected because there are no signs or symptoms. In 90 percent of the cases, the body's immune system typically clears the virus on its own.
"For reasons we don't understand, some infections are persistent, and persistent infection is the key to developing these complications, and by that I mean cancer," Bachmann said.
Some women may develop precancerous lesions, which eventually lead to cervical cancer. Of the 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year, more than 10,000 are related to HPV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gardasil was developed to protect the body from four of the 100 different types of HPV — two that cause genital warts and two that lead to cervical cancer.
Bachmann sees Gardasil and Cervarix, another recently developed vaccine, as important tools in the battle against cervical cancer, which claims more than 4,000 women each year.
While regular pap smears have drastically reduced the number of cervical cancer deaths, no diagnostic test is perfect, she said. Pap smears also don't detect some of the other cancers, such as vulvar and vaginal, that may develop from HPV.
Upon Gardasil's approval by the FDA, the CDC's immunization advisory council recommended routine vaccination of girls as young as 9. The vaccine is most effective in girls before they become sexually active.
It was tested on 29,000 males and females in clinical trials around the world before it was approved, according to the CDC.
'I'm not anti-vaccine'
Mathis, a wife, mother of two and finance manager for Lowe's Home Improvement, was unfamiliar with Gardasil when she took Lauren to the doctor one day in February 2008 for a routine checkup.
Lauren, a seventh-grader at the time, was enrolled in classes for the academically gifted and enjoyed playing piano in church and for her friends.
Her doctor talked to Mathis about Gardasil, describing it as a series of three shots — spread over about six months — that may cause redness at the site of injection.
"I've always been for vaccinations. I'm not anti-vaccine at all," Mathis said. "The kids always had their vaccines."
She decided that Lauren should have this vaccination as well.
Two weeks later, Lauren complained of stomach pains and body aches and missed about two weeks of school.
Doctors said she had flu.
In April 2008, Lauren got her second shot.
Two weeks later, she was sick again with severe stomach pains and nausea.
Mathis asked the doctor about the vaccination. She was told Lauren had picked up a virus, a diagnosis that seemed plausible to Mathis.
Again, Lauren recovered after a few weeks.
A few months later, weeks before the start of eighth grade, Lauren had her third and final shot.
"It put her flat on her back," Mathis recalled. "By then, I knew what it had to be."
Stomach pain, diarrhea, cramps, depression and panic attacks left her bedridden. School was out of the question.
"I hit a state of depression," Lauren said. "I tried to go to school and just couldn't. I was scared and mad about it. All the doctors felt like I was making it up."
In between work and taking care of Lauren, Mathis connected with an online support group for mothers whose daughters became ill after getting the shots.
Their stories terrified Mathis.
"We would talk to each other and figure out what to do. A lot of them had the same symptoms of Lauren," Mathis said. "And then their child would die. I was honestly scared to death."
Vaccine injury confirmed
She scoured the Internet for information late into the night, worked from her home, tried to keep Lauren up-to-date on her schoolwork and took her to various specialists at Brenner Children's Hospital at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, some of whom told her they suspected she was injured by the vaccine.
A doctor at Duke University Medical Center also confirmed that Lauren was "vaccine injured."
In February 2009, a year after her first shot, Lauren began to recover, with the help of antibiotics and high doses of vitamins, her mother said.
Rather than resume her previous life, Mathis plunged into her role as activist. Using a math acumen that serves her well in her job at Lowe's, she compiled charts and graphs using numbers provided by the CDC to illustrate what she believes is a high rate of adverse events that follow Gardasil shots.
"This is the kind of work I do all day," Mathis said. "The other mothers I would meet really couldn't do this, and I had the ability. I believe that God gives you talent for some reason, and I have the talents to help others, and that's what I'm trying to do."
With help from Marian Greene, a Boone woman whose daughter also became ill after taking Gardasil, she started the website www.truthaboutgardasil.org, which serves as a site for people to share their stories about the vaccine. Mathis also started www.sanevax.org, a nonprofit organization that focuses on educating people about vaccines.
Mathis has also met with FDA officials and recently participated in a documentary about the drug that was financed in part by people who claim Gardasil injured a loved one.
The documentary, "One More Girl," is being produced by Ryan and David Richardson of Hawaii. They became interested in the subject after their sister suffered from fatigue and nausea for a year after getting one shot of Gardasil.
Mathis, who spends about 15 hours a week on issues related to the vaccine, said her work as a crusader is out of character. A devout member of Bethany Baptist Church and a Sunday-school teacher, Mathis called herself a strict mother who always tried to do the right thing for her kids. She urges parents not to rely just on their doctors for vaccine information.
Seeking independent data
Bachmann encourages parents to educate themselves, too. And she believes that if parents look at independent data, they will see that Gardasil is a safe vaccine that can prevent warts and several types of cancers and help patients avoid procedures that may result from abnormal pap smears.
She pointed to data from the CDC that indicate 35 million doses of Gardasil had been distributed in the U.S. by June 22, with 18,000 adverse effects reported, 92 percent of which were labeled "non-serious events," such as fainting and headaches.
There have also been 68 reports of death after a Gardasil shot, according to the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, commonly known as VAERS. Thirty-two of the deaths have been confirmed and 36 are unconfirmed because of lack of patient information provided to the reporting system.
The CDC and Bachmann caution that the deaths shouldn't automatically be linked with Gardasil. Of the 32 deaths, there wasn't a pattern to suggest they were caused by the vaccine, according to the CDC.
"It's very difficult when you hear about bad things, but if you were to objectively look at the data right now, there is nothing that is creating a flag," Bachmann said.
Still, Mathis believes that the wider the information swath about Gardasil, the better.
"I'd like to see parents research vaccines before they get them and not go in blindly like I did," she said.
lo'donnell@wsjournal.com (336) 727-7420
NORTH WILKESBORO --
At night, in the family's basement den, Rosemary Mathis would softly slip in bed beside her sleeping daughter, listening for breath, watching her chest move up and down.
"I was honestly afraid," Mathis said, "that she was going to die in her sleep."
Mathis kept that routine for more than a year as Lauren, her once sunny and energetic 13-year-old daughter, struggled with severe stomach pains, headaches, fever, depression and dementia, causing her to miss most of her eighth-grade year at North Wilkes Middle School.
Mathis felt certain that Lauren's undiagnosed illness could be traced to Gardasil, a vaccine used to prevent genital warts and cervical cancer caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus or HPV, a virus passed on through sexual contact.
During those long nights, as Lauren slept, Mathis immersed herself in prayer.
"I promised God that I would help others if He would take care of her," she said.
More than two years later, with Lauren slowly regaining her health, Mathis remains committed to her end of the promise, transforming herself into an activist who is devoted to spreading the word about a vaccine that she believes endangered her daughter and other young women.
She can't and won't give specific medical advice, but her goal is to simply inform others of what happened to her daughter, confirmed by two doctors as being one of the rare people who are seemingly hurt, instead of helped, by a vaccine. Her two websites are www.truthaboutgardasil.org and www.sanevax.org. Gardasil, which is manufactured by Merck pharmaceuticals, was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 to prevent HPV infection, specifically some of the types that cause genital warts and cervical cancer.
Jennifer Allen Woodruff, a spokeswoman for Merck, said her company is "confident in the safety profile of Gardasil."
"There are health organizations throughout the world that have reviewed safety information about Gardasil and continue to recommend its use," she said.
HPV hits nearly half
About half of all people who are sexually active will acquire HPV at some point in their lives, making it the most common sexually transmitted infection, said Dr. Laura Bachmann, an infectious-disease specialist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Most people don't know they are infected because there are no signs or symptoms. In 90 percent of the cases, the body's immune system typically clears the virus on its own.
"For reasons we don't understand, some infections are persistent, and persistent infection is the key to developing these complications, and by that I mean cancer," Bachmann said.
Some women may develop precancerous lesions, which eventually lead to cervical cancer. Of the 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year, more than 10,000 are related to HPV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gardasil was developed to protect the body from four of the 100 different types of HPV — two that cause genital warts and two that lead to cervical cancer.
Bachmann sees Gardasil and Cervarix, another recently developed vaccine, as important tools in the battle against cervical cancer, which claims more than 4,000 women each year.
While regular pap smears have drastically reduced the number of cervical cancer deaths, no diagnostic test is perfect, she said. Pap smears also don't detect some of the other cancers, such as vulvar and vaginal, that may develop from HPV.
Upon Gardasil's approval by the FDA, the CDC's immunization advisory council recommended routine vaccination of girls as young as 9. The vaccine is most effective in girls before they become sexually active.
It was tested on 29,000 males and females in clinical trials around the world before it was approved, according to the CDC.
'I'm not anti-vaccine'
Mathis, a wife, mother of two and finance manager for Lowe's Home Improvement, was unfamiliar with Gardasil when she took Lauren to the doctor one day in February 2008 for a routine checkup.
Lauren, a seventh-grader at the time, was enrolled in classes for the academically gifted and enjoyed playing piano in church and for her friends.
Her doctor talked to Mathis about Gardasil, describing it as a series of three shots — spread over about six months — that may cause redness at the site of injection.
"I've always been for vaccinations. I'm not anti-vaccine at all," Mathis said. "The kids always had their vaccines."
She decided that Lauren should have this vaccination as well.
Two weeks later, Lauren complained of stomach pains and body aches and missed about two weeks of school.
Doctors said she had flu.
In April 2008, Lauren got her second shot.
Two weeks later, she was sick again with severe stomach pains and nausea.
Mathis asked the doctor about the vaccination. She was told Lauren had picked up a virus, a diagnosis that seemed plausible to Mathis.
Again, Lauren recovered after a few weeks.
A few months later, weeks before the start of eighth grade, Lauren had her third and final shot.
"It put her flat on her back," Mathis recalled. "By then, I knew what it had to be."
Stomach pain, diarrhea, cramps, depression and panic attacks left her bedridden. School was out of the question.
"I hit a state of depression," Lauren said. "I tried to go to school and just couldn't. I was scared and mad about it. All the doctors felt like I was making it up."
In between work and taking care of Lauren, Mathis connected with an online support group for mothers whose daughters became ill after getting the shots.
Their stories terrified Mathis.
"We would talk to each other and figure out what to do. A lot of them had the same symptoms of Lauren," Mathis said. "And then their child would die. I was honestly scared to death."
Vaccine injury confirmed
She scoured the Internet for information late into the night, worked from her home, tried to keep Lauren up-to-date on her schoolwork and took her to various specialists at Brenner Children's Hospital at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, some of whom told her they suspected she was injured by the vaccine.
A doctor at Duke University Medical Center also confirmed that Lauren was "vaccine injured."
In February 2009, a year after her first shot, Lauren began to recover, with the help of antibiotics and high doses of vitamins, her mother said.
Rather than resume her previous life, Mathis plunged into her role as activist. Using a math acumen that serves her well in her job at Lowe's, she compiled charts and graphs using numbers provided by the CDC to illustrate what she believes is a high rate of adverse events that follow Gardasil shots.
"This is the kind of work I do all day," Mathis said. "The other mothers I would meet really couldn't do this, and I had the ability. I believe that God gives you talent for some reason, and I have the talents to help others, and that's what I'm trying to do."
With help from Marian Greene, a Boone woman whose daughter also became ill after taking Gardasil, she started the website www.truthaboutgardasil.org, which serves as a site for people to share their stories about the vaccine. Mathis also started www.sanevax.org, a nonprofit organization that focuses on educating people about vaccines.
Mathis has also met with FDA officials and recently participated in a documentary about the drug that was financed in part by people who claim Gardasil injured a loved one.
The documentary, "One More Girl," is being produced by Ryan and David Richardson of Hawaii. They became interested in the subject after their sister suffered from fatigue and nausea for a year after getting one shot of Gardasil.
Mathis, who spends about 15 hours a week on issues related to the vaccine, said her work as a crusader is out of character. A devout member of Bethany Baptist Church and a Sunday-school teacher, Mathis called herself a strict mother who always tried to do the right thing for her kids. She urges parents not to rely just on their doctors for vaccine information.
Seeking independent data
Bachmann encourages parents to educate themselves, too. And she believes that if parents look at independent data, they will see that Gardasil is a safe vaccine that can prevent warts and several types of cancers and help patients avoid procedures that may result from abnormal pap smears.
She pointed to data from the CDC that indicate 35 million doses of Gardasil had been distributed in the U.S. by June 22, with 18,000 adverse effects reported, 92 percent of which were labeled "non-serious events," such as fainting and headaches.
There have also been 68 reports of death after a Gardasil shot, according to the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, commonly known as VAERS. Thirty-two of the deaths have been confirmed and 36 are unconfirmed because of lack of patient information provided to the reporting system.
The CDC and Bachmann caution that the deaths shouldn't automatically be linked with Gardasil. Of the 32 deaths, there wasn't a pattern to suggest they were caused by the vaccine, according to the CDC.
"It's very difficult when you hear about bad things, but if you were to objectively look at the data right now, there is nothing that is creating a flag," Bachmann said.
Still, Mathis believes that the wider the information swath about Gardasil, the better.
"I'd like to see parents research vaccines before they get them and not go in blindly like I did," she said.
lo'donnell@wsjournal.com (336) 727-7420
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Honey, I Shrink-Wrapped the Kids! Merck Declares No Health Risk - Research Shows Otherwise
In the interest of public health and safety, SaneVax Inc. formally requests the FDA release the lot numbers, number of affected doses and destination of all contaminated vials. This data must be compared to the adverse reactions in VAERS reports.
Aug 04, 2011 - According to Katherine Hobson of the Wall Street Journal: ‘The latest pharma world example of wow-that-really-shouldn’t-be-in-there comes from Merck & Co.’ Last week, reports circulated around the Internet primarily in business/stock market sections of newspapers of yet another FDA investigation exposing the discovery of charred bits of plastic shrink wrap in vials of vaccines made at a plant in West Point, Pa.
According to the Dow Jones Newswires the contaminated vaccines include Gardasil for the prevention of HPV infection, Varivax for chicken pox, Pneumovax for pneumococcal disease, Zostavax for shingles and MMR II for measles, mumps and rubella.
Merck’s official position is the problem is rare and they aren’t aware of any adverse health events associated with the problem. The company remains confident in the safety and efficacy of its products.
Where is the logic – the science – the protection – the ‘do no harm?’ How can injecting vaccines with known contaminants into human beings be an acceptable practice?
This time, it appears the shrink-wrap wasn’t removed from incoming glass vials prior to washing and was charred during the sterilization process, leaving burnt residue in the vials at Merck’s West Point plant.
The FDA has been tracking problems at the West Point plant since 2008. A series of inspection reports have chronicled the issues — most of which have been resolved, according to Merck. Twelve incidents of shrink wrap contamination have been reported since 2009. Merck has responded by moving away from the use of shrink wrap in favor of cardboard trays. Some vials are still shrink-wrapped, however, and the company says it hopes to phase these out by the end of the year, according to Dow Jones.
Merck says there are no reports of adverse health problems, though theoretically the particles could cause a reaction at the injection site. How would Merck know what kind of ‘charred plastic reaction’ that would cause? Have there been any studies conducted to determine whether injecting particles of charred plastic is safe?
Has anyone considered that the real culprit behind the adverse reactions may be invisible toxic chemical emissions interacting with the vaccine?
According to Chem Tec Publishing: ‘Plastic when heated emits volatile organic compounds that contribute to the deterioration of ambient air quality in terms of odors and pollutants…. These contaminants are of particular concern in confined spaces such as car interiors, houses and offices.’1
What about the confined space of a vaccine vial?
What happens to the structure/integrity of a vaccine when exposed to toxic gas? Where are the scientific studies?
So what is shrink wrap made of?
Shrink and stretch wrapping can be quite complex in structure. Most packaging films used for shrink and stretch wrapping are from the polyolefin range. The materials are produced from oil based chemicals by what is called a polymerization process, which basically means getting the right molecules and atoms to club together in a way that is required or desirable for a particular application. The most common plastic materials are polyethylene, polypropylene and poly vinyl chloride.2
What happens when one of these plastics becomes charred? Polymer Plastics emit carbon dioxide and depending on the plastic, the combustion stage produces flames (which can propagate), charred surface layers and can be accompanied by the emission of smoke and toxic gases.3
Polyethylene
In a 2006 Material Safety Data Sheet from Inhance/Fluoro-Seal, Ltd. states that Polyethylene is not classified as hazardous by OSHA standards although it does emit toxic fumes that ‘may include carbon monoxide and other organic vapors’ when burned. However the safety sheet states ‘No adverse health effects are anticipated from the reasonable use of this product.’
This specific product has not been tested for exposure effects on eyes, skin, upon inhalation or ingestion. Nor has it been tested for chronic health effects or potential aggravation of current medical conditions.4
Polypropylene
An environmentally-friendly product, polypropylene is made from carbon and hydrogen, manufactured without any dangerous emissions. When burnt or incinerated, polypropylene will only give off water vapor or carbon dioxide, which is converted by photosynthesis (chlorophyll).5
Poly vinyl chloride
PVC production involves the creation of many toxic chemicals. Dioxins, including TCDD (one of the most toxic synthetic chemicals known) and furans are inescapable by-products of the production of the basic feedstock of PVC, vinyl chloride monomer. PVC needs a host of additives to make it useable. Lead, cadmium or organotins are used as stabilizers. Phthalates are used as softeners in PVC and other chemicals used as colorants, fire-retardants and anti-oxidants. Many of these are released into the environment.
When PVC is incinerated it releases its chlorine content and again causes the release of dioxins which are formed when chlorinated organic compounds, or a mixture of inorganic chloride and organic matter are burned.
Toxic chemicals released during the production, use and disposal of PVC threaten the environment and human health. Dioxins - known carcinogens and hormone disrupters, persist for many years and accumulate in the fatty tissues of living organisms.
Politicians assure us that certain levels are not harmful. Scientists are divided. Arguments about safe levels and tolerable daily intakes miss the point. Mothers should not be forced to feed any level of carcinogenic, or potentially hormone disrupting chemicals to their children.6
Nor should parents be expected to expose their children to contaminated vaccines. When adverse reactions from Gardasil include increased rates of cancer, hormone disruption, infant death post- breast feeding one has to begin to wonder what part of this vaccine is safe and efficacious – not only in terms of listed ingredients but also those that “fall into the mix” during the manufacturing process.
The SaneVax Team is demanding the FDA hold Merck accountable for this new chemical contamination atrocity. Vaccine safety and efficacy cannot be proven until contamination is eliminated. In the interest of public health and safety, release all of the information on the vaccines contaminated with charred plastic. Prove you mean what you say about 'transparency' in government. Medical professionals and consumers alike have a right to know.
Sources:
1. Emissions from Plastics - ChemTec Publishing
http://www.chemtec.org/proddetail.php?prod=978-1-85957-386-0
2. Shrink Wrapping and Stretch Wrapping- ENVIS-ICPE India
http://www.icpeenvis.nic.in/icpefoodnpackaging/pdfs/26_s ...
3. Flammability of Polymers – Zeus Technical White Papers
http://www.zeusinc.com/UserFiles/zeusinc/Documents/Zeus_ ...
4. Material Safety Data Sheet - Inhance/Fluoro-Seal, Ltd. http://www.inhanceproducts.com/msds/MSDS_PE_Films.pdf
5. Polypropylene An Environmentally Responsible Product - Ambro Plastics http://www.ambroplastics.com/getfile.php?location=/ambroplastics/content/UK/text/downloads/polyprop/polyprop.pdf&filename=polyprop.pdf
6. What’s Wrong with PVC? Green Peace
http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/reports/whatswrong.pdf
# # #
SaneVax believes only Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices should be offered to the public. Our primary goal is to provide scientific information/resources for those concerned about vaccine safety, efficacy and need.
Aug 04, 2011 - According to Katherine Hobson of the Wall Street Journal: ‘The latest pharma world example of wow-that-really-shouldn’t-be-in-there comes from Merck & Co.’ Last week, reports circulated around the Internet primarily in business/stock market sections of newspapers of yet another FDA investigation exposing the discovery of charred bits of plastic shrink wrap in vials of vaccines made at a plant in West Point, Pa.
According to the Dow Jones Newswires the contaminated vaccines include Gardasil for the prevention of HPV infection, Varivax for chicken pox, Pneumovax for pneumococcal disease, Zostavax for shingles and MMR II for measles, mumps and rubella.
Merck’s official position is the problem is rare and they aren’t aware of any adverse health events associated with the problem. The company remains confident in the safety and efficacy of its products.
Where is the logic – the science – the protection – the ‘do no harm?’ How can injecting vaccines with known contaminants into human beings be an acceptable practice?
This time, it appears the shrink-wrap wasn’t removed from incoming glass vials prior to washing and was charred during the sterilization process, leaving burnt residue in the vials at Merck’s West Point plant.
The FDA has been tracking problems at the West Point plant since 2008. A series of inspection reports have chronicled the issues — most of which have been resolved, according to Merck. Twelve incidents of shrink wrap contamination have been reported since 2009. Merck has responded by moving away from the use of shrink wrap in favor of cardboard trays. Some vials are still shrink-wrapped, however, and the company says it hopes to phase these out by the end of the year, according to Dow Jones.
Merck says there are no reports of adverse health problems, though theoretically the particles could cause a reaction at the injection site. How would Merck know what kind of ‘charred plastic reaction’ that would cause? Have there been any studies conducted to determine whether injecting particles of charred plastic is safe?
Has anyone considered that the real culprit behind the adverse reactions may be invisible toxic chemical emissions interacting with the vaccine?
According to Chem Tec Publishing: ‘Plastic when heated emits volatile organic compounds that contribute to the deterioration of ambient air quality in terms of odors and pollutants…. These contaminants are of particular concern in confined spaces such as car interiors, houses and offices.’1
What about the confined space of a vaccine vial?
What happens to the structure/integrity of a vaccine when exposed to toxic gas? Where are the scientific studies?
So what is shrink wrap made of?
Shrink and stretch wrapping can be quite complex in structure. Most packaging films used for shrink and stretch wrapping are from the polyolefin range. The materials are produced from oil based chemicals by what is called a polymerization process, which basically means getting the right molecules and atoms to club together in a way that is required or desirable for a particular application. The most common plastic materials are polyethylene, polypropylene and poly vinyl chloride.2
What happens when one of these plastics becomes charred? Polymer Plastics emit carbon dioxide and depending on the plastic, the combustion stage produces flames (which can propagate), charred surface layers and can be accompanied by the emission of smoke and toxic gases.3
Polyethylene
In a 2006 Material Safety Data Sheet from Inhance/Fluoro-Seal, Ltd. states that Polyethylene is not classified as hazardous by OSHA standards although it does emit toxic fumes that ‘may include carbon monoxide and other organic vapors’ when burned. However the safety sheet states ‘No adverse health effects are anticipated from the reasonable use of this product.’
This specific product has not been tested for exposure effects on eyes, skin, upon inhalation or ingestion. Nor has it been tested for chronic health effects or potential aggravation of current medical conditions.4
Polypropylene
An environmentally-friendly product, polypropylene is made from carbon and hydrogen, manufactured without any dangerous emissions. When burnt or incinerated, polypropylene will only give off water vapor or carbon dioxide, which is converted by photosynthesis (chlorophyll).5
Poly vinyl chloride
PVC production involves the creation of many toxic chemicals. Dioxins, including TCDD (one of the most toxic synthetic chemicals known) and furans are inescapable by-products of the production of the basic feedstock of PVC, vinyl chloride monomer. PVC needs a host of additives to make it useable. Lead, cadmium or organotins are used as stabilizers. Phthalates are used as softeners in PVC and other chemicals used as colorants, fire-retardants and anti-oxidants. Many of these are released into the environment.
When PVC is incinerated it releases its chlorine content and again causes the release of dioxins which are formed when chlorinated organic compounds, or a mixture of inorganic chloride and organic matter are burned.
Toxic chemicals released during the production, use and disposal of PVC threaten the environment and human health. Dioxins - known carcinogens and hormone disrupters, persist for many years and accumulate in the fatty tissues of living organisms.
Politicians assure us that certain levels are not harmful. Scientists are divided. Arguments about safe levels and tolerable daily intakes miss the point. Mothers should not be forced to feed any level of carcinogenic, or potentially hormone disrupting chemicals to their children.6
Nor should parents be expected to expose their children to contaminated vaccines. When adverse reactions from Gardasil include increased rates of cancer, hormone disruption, infant death post- breast feeding one has to begin to wonder what part of this vaccine is safe and efficacious – not only in terms of listed ingredients but also those that “fall into the mix” during the manufacturing process.
The SaneVax Team is demanding the FDA hold Merck accountable for this new chemical contamination atrocity. Vaccine safety and efficacy cannot be proven until contamination is eliminated. In the interest of public health and safety, release all of the information on the vaccines contaminated with charred plastic. Prove you mean what you say about 'transparency' in government. Medical professionals and consumers alike have a right to know.
Sources:
1. Emissions from Plastics - ChemTec Publishing
http://www.chemtec.org/proddetail.php?prod=978-1-85957-386-0
2. Shrink Wrapping and Stretch Wrapping- ENVIS-ICPE India
http://www.icpeenvis.nic.in/icpefoodnpackaging/pdfs/26_s ...
3. Flammability of Polymers – Zeus Technical White Papers
http://www.zeusinc.com/UserFiles/zeusinc/Documents/Zeus_ ...
4. Material Safety Data Sheet - Inhance/Fluoro-Seal, Ltd. http://www.inhanceproducts.com/msds/MSDS_PE_Films.pdf
5. Polypropylene An Environmentally Responsible Product - Ambro Plastics http://www.ambroplastics.com/getfile.php?location=/ambroplastics/content/UK/text/downloads/polyprop/polyprop.pdf&filename=polyprop.pdf
6. What’s Wrong with PVC? Green Peace
http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/reports/whatswrong.pdf
# # #
SaneVax believes only Safe, Affordable, Necessary & Effective vaccines and vaccination practices should be offered to the public. Our primary goal is to provide scientific information/resources for those concerned about vaccine safety, efficacy and need.
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