Fri May 18, 2012
Pat Crowe II, AP Images
The Real H1 N1 Problem
Brittany Van Ness, Washington, D.C. October -2009
Pandemic seems an appropriate designation for the H1N1 Swine Flu virus. First appearing in Mexico last spring, it has since spread around the world sickening over 254,206 people and killing 2185. In the U.S., the Obama administration has been ablaze with proactive vigor and has allocated over six billion dollars to influenza preparedness.
With thousands of cases of infection and three deaths reported on college campuses already this fall, schools are trying to combat this epidemic by prepping students with information to reduce the spread of the disease, making hand sanitizers, masks, disposable thermometers available and readying “isolation rooms” for those who get sick.
Although the number of people who get Swine flu influenza is likely to be high, Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, says that much of the panic over H1N1 is not only unfounded, but based on false information.
For over 30 years, NCIV has researched the efficacy and the safety of vaccines, often uncovering shocking information such as the link between the DTP vaccine and autism. “[We have] made it our business to do the research – not just take what the government says…we try to find the truth and communicate it to the public.”
Their current crusade is aimed at informing the public about the potentially dangerous H1N1 vaccine. While Fisher acknowledges that all 50 states have reported cases of H1N1 Swine Flu and 23 states have said they have widespread infection, she says, “[H1N1] is causing mild to moderate illness – it’s not a lethal pandemic…the CDC has admitted [the virus] is fully adapted at this point, with no evidence that it is going to mutate into a more lethal form.”
Even so, larger concerns loom for Fisher. Despite the fact that JAMA and other professional medical journals confirm NVIC’s findings, the U.S. is operating under a National Public Health Emergency, which the government has activated for the first time since 9/11. A National Public Health Emergency allows government at the state and federal levels to exercise enormous powers and sovereignty over the American public – much in the same way as it would if the U.S. were attacked with a chemical or biological weapon.
“The power resides with federal and state officials to mandate these vaccinations and to use the police powers of the states to enforce vaccines and use quarantines and isolation,” says Fisher.
Moreover, under this National Public Health Emergency, drug companies that develop the vaccines and doctors who administer them are shielded from any liability as is stated in federal Bio Shield legislation passed in 2004 and 2006. Of the six billion dollars allotted to research and production thus far, there is no contingency plan to compensate any individuals affected adversely by the H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine.
So far, only the State of Massachusetts has responded to the declaration of a National Health Emergency by passing a bill in the Senate and House that authorizes local law enforcement to mobilize forces, vaccinate the public, enter property and destroy it… all without a warrant or court order. Fines for up to $1000 a day for disobedience or imprisonment for up to 30 days are also included in the bill that may become a template for legislation across the country.
If S. 2028 is signed by the Massachusetts Governor, then state officials will have the power to mandate and enforce mass immunizations and quarantines.
Equally troubling is a confidential letter from the Health Protection Agency to neurologists that was leaked by the publication The Daily Mail, linking the H1N1 vaccine to Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). The July 29 letter warns doctors to be alert to the possibility that this brain disorder could be triggered by the 2009 H1N1 vaccine.
GBS is a serious disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system and can lead to paralysis among other symptoms such as muscle weakness, tingling sensations and sometimes death.
In 1976, more people died from taking the influenza vaccine than from the actual flu and over 500 cases of GBS were detected. The US Government had to pay millions of dollars to those who developed GBS – millions that are not available for compensation this year should complications arise.
When asked why the possibility of developing GBS was kept from the public Fisher said, “[the government believes] it’s better to prevent transmission of infection than not to use the vaccine and to potentially prevent casualties from the vaccine – that’s the trade-off they have accepted…it’s the price of doing business”.
Fisher, who often challenges government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the FDA, also states, “Certainly a vaccine is important for those who are in high risk categories and who chose to use it, but to be operating under a public health emergency declaration and recommending mass vaccinations in schools and stores and drive-by kiosks – it’s just not justified by the type of influenza we are seeing.”
Her findings seem to be aligned with global results such as in Australia where the flu season has already ended. Statistics there reveal that H1N1 has caused fewer deaths and complications than other influenza viruses that spread over the last decade.
Pressing public advocacy, Fisher says the vaccine that could be administered to as many as 200 million American citizens this year has undergone inadequate research – having been tested only on a few thousand healthy adults and children. Further, there is no data to determine if the benefits outweigh the danger for high-risk populations with compromised health conditions such as pregnant women, small children and those with weak immune systems, who are being targeted for vaccination.. “I think [this] has to do with politics and not good scientific evidence,” she says.
She argues that the possible perils of swine flu do not merit the risk. “This is a moderate influenza…if it were a highly efficient killer and causing wide-spread mortality among those who get sick – that would make the benefit-risk ratio different.”
After a meeting at the FDA, Fisher came away frustrated with what seems to be a constant stream of “bad science.” “Every time something bad happens in a clinical trial – [the drug company] convenes a group of ‘outside experts’ who evaluate bad outcomes that occur after vaccination – like cases of brain inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, blood clots - and write [them] off as coincidence.”
So far, getting the H1N1 vaccine is still a choice – although Fisher would argue a very risky one. “Really, you roll up your sleeves at your peril because we just don’t have the science base that we should in order for people to make proper benefit-risk analysis for themselves and their children.”
Ultimately, Fisher says it should be a personal choice to determine what it means to be healthy – whether that means getting sick every once in a while to let the immune system operate the way it was designed or trying to prevent all experience with infectious disease with the use of many vaccines.
Perhaps the most important issue, however, is preserving the freedom of choice. As Americans it is at the core of our societal framework to have the freedom to obtain information, the freedom to choose, and what Fisher tirelessly fights for – the ability to make informed vaccination choices free from government control.
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