... I was the staff lead on the original House Oversight Committee’s investigation looking into concerns about vaccine injuries in 1999: "Because the government is abridging the freedom of Americans with these vaccine mandates, I anticipated that because it was a group of drugs that almost every American would receive, that the bar on approval – the safety requirements for approval – would be elevated.
Imagine my surprise and disgust to find just the opposite.
There seemed to be a rush to get something approved and in the marketplace so that manufacturers could make their investment back. (Yes that was a discussion in one of the advisory meetings!) Both the FDA and the CDC Advisory committee membership were replete with conflicts of interest that were either ignored or waived – meaning that individuals participating in the approval process of drugs or their recommendations for inclusion on the recommended schedule (to be mandated by the states), had financial ties to the makers of vaccines. The CDC was so lax in its management of their advisory committee that they simply granted everyone a waiver ‘whether they needed it or not...We gathered tens of thousands of pages of documents, conducted numerous hearings, prepared reports, etc. We were thorough in our attempt to gather information and speak to experts. We were repeatedly frustrated and often had the impression that officials from our health agencies were less than forthcoming. (Which is a polite way of saying, I felt like they were lying, but were masterful at it.) It was obvious that witnesses had been well rehearsed by agency lawyers in how to respond to questions and not really answer them...."
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Not only did I feel that we were not getting the whole truth (and I was not alone in that feeling), but I watched scientists from NIH, CDC, and FDA promote weak, poorly designed scientific studies on a host of topics as if they were solid, conclusion drawing research. Nowhere to my knowledge, except in this discussion, has population based epidemiology been used to answer toxicological questions. Always, the more ‘hard’ science of laboratory work and animal studies would be top priority.
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At every stage were obvious irregularities in process, from the manipulation of the thimerosal data to wash out links to autism; to changing the instructions to the IOM; to data from Denmark from studies that were fatally flawed from the outset being touted as reasons to end the debate. I heard scientists quoted in the media say that it was ‘settled science’ and that no other funds should be devoted to asking the question. Science is never ‘settled’. And yet, this notion was put forward and adopted because it was convenient for those who wanted this uncomfortable topic to fade out.
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Over the last 15 years, I have watched parents be attacked and ridiculed by medical professionals and government officials for reporting their own personal experience with a child who was vaccine injured. I have watched a group of Special Masters express disdain for petitioners in the VICP and issue rulings with such bias that I am shocked when they are not rejected by the judges who review them on appeal.
I have watched the orchestrated opposition take aim at all who dare speak out about vaccine injury. Does anyone recall what happened to Representative Bachmann during the presidential election cycle when she dared discuss vaccine injury? While members of Congress have not expressed fear of that type of retaliation, I have had Congressional staff express real concern that their bosses will be so attacked. There is a real fear to engage on this issue because of the risks of retaliation.
These truths are simple – some people have no problem with vaccines, while others have serious adverse reactions. Some children are born completely healthy and suffer serious adverse reactions to vaccines, or vaccine ingredients, and regress into the condition known as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Some children born with genetic or environmental factors that leave them susceptible for vaccine injury and regress into autism after one or more vaccines. Not all autism is vaccine related, but some cases are. How large a percentage is not known.