ALERT - Bill Limiting Vaccine Liability - Keep up the Pressure on Congress!
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:39 am
"The problem is getting copies of the bill drafts. Congressional
Leadership is hiding them from the public and even from their
colleagues in Congress. "
Shame! They snuck immunity language in After the Joint Conference meeting!
Keep up the Pressure on Congress!
TAKE ACTION:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
You can find your reps contact info here:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/dbq/officials/
Congress is engaged in a shameful legislative maneuver! Tell them you
won't take it!
Update: We are being heard and our allies in congress are telling us to
step up the pressure!
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
The Congressional Leadership Wants to Suspend the Rules so our
Representatives won't know what they are voting on. Some in Congress are
speaking up. They need to hear more from us.
Our latest information is that the Department of Defense Appropriations
Bill Conference Report has been completed and will be filed within the next
couple of hours. We are informed that the bill definitely contains some
appropriations of money for avian flu vaccine development but LIABILITY
LANGUAGE WAS KEPT OUT of the bill! Agreement on compensation language
could not be worked out so immunity for drug companies was kept out of the
bill.
The bill hasn’t been filed yet so we can’t independently confirm this
information. We have been told to watch the Authorization Bill and Budget
Reconciliation too. The problem is getting copies of the bill drafts.
Congressional Leadership is hiding them from the public and even from their
colleagues in Congress. We think the Senate vote on the Department of
Defense Appropriations will take place tomorrow so there is still the
chance that a Senate "leader" will force sneak the liability language back in.
The calls, faxes, emails -- the pressure -- is working. Believe it or not
a group of parents with sick children is beating back the Pharma lobby and
the Congressional leadership. If we do, it won't be the first time, and it
won't be the last, because we have no choice to keep fighting for our
children's lives.
If we can get past these shameful secret legislative maneuvers we can beat
the Bozos. The Congressional leaders know immunity legislation for drug
companies cannot pass on their own because such legislation cannot
withstand public scrutiny. The American people will not stand for it.
So, once again, TAKE ACTION!
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
We need to keep the pressure so Take Action Now. Send a message or find
your representatives telephone number on A-CHAMP's legislative directory
and call your representative. You can find your Senator or Representative's
contact information:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/dbq/officials/
Tell your representative that you oppose insertion of language giving
pharmaceutical companies immunity against vaccine injury claims into the
Department of Defense Appropriations Conference Report.
It is crunch time so ACT NOW!
Go to this url to send a message:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
For more information go to www.a-champ.org
Some telephone numbers and contact information are listed below.
Thanks - The A-CHAMP Legislative Action Team
Sample Letter and telephone and fax numbers of key United States Senators:
Dear _________:
I respectfully request that you act to protect the rights of
vaccine-injured children by opposing the unfair liability immunity giveaway
proposed for drug companies.
There are ten or more bills pending in Congress that contain language that
severely limits the rights of children injured by vaccines. I am shocked to
learn that one of these provisions may be slipped into proposed legislation
– the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill Conference Report - in a
manner similar to the provisions snuck in the dead of night into the
Homeland Security bill in 2002. If any of these provisions is enacted, a
vaccine-injured child's right to have his or her day in court will be
unnecessarily and unfairly taken away. Enactment of this legislation will
be a dark day for the tradition of fair play and equity in the American
justice system, not to mention that such action will violate the Seventh
Amendment’s preservation of every American’s right to a jury trial.
As a voter who cares deeply about children injured by vaccines, I oppose
legislation that will provide unprecedented immunity to a vaccine industry
that has caused tragic injury to some children. Such liability protection
is unnecessary. There has been minimal number of vaccine lawsuits over the
past 30 years - current laws adequately protect vaccine manufacturers. The
apparent lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity in our country is not due
to lawsuits but to other causes, such as the consolidation of
pharmaceutical industry via merger and market factors that pose economic
barriers to vaccine production. Liability concerns have little to do with
vaccine manufacturing problems — eminent public health experts like the
NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Walter Orenstein, formerly of the CDC’s
National Immunization Program, have said so. Liability is not the problem.
In addition, representatives of biotechnology companies have through the
use of the latest technology that eliminates dangerous protein contaminants
vaccines can be produced more safely than through the methods used by the
major drug companies. These biotech companies say that they do not need
liability protection in order to move ahead to manufacture the new
generation of safe vaccines. Biotech firms using new technology have
sufficiently high confidence in the safety of their product that they are
not worried about lawsuits.
I urge you to place the interests of injured children above those of the
pharmaceutical industry. Along with many of voters across the country, I
am deeply concerned that should unnecessary liability protection be enacted
vaccine manufacturers will cease to have an incentive to make their
products safe. Lack of vaccine safety endangers all Americans.
Please act to protect Americans and ensure that safety is our vaccine
program's highest priority.
Sincerely,
_____________
CALL ALL of these Senators (and one House Member) ASAP!!!
Senator Thad Cochran (MS) (Chairman) Phone: (202) 224-5054 Fax: (202)
224-9450
Senator Ted Stevens (AK) Phone: (202) 224-3004 Fax:(202) 224-2354
Senator Arlen Specter (PA) Phone: 202-224-4254 Fax: 202-228-1229
Senator Pete Domenici (NM) Phone: (202) 224-6621 Fax: (202) 228-3261
Senator Christopher Bond (MO) Phone: (202) 224-5721 Fax: (202) 224-8149
Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499
Senator Richard Shelby (AL) Phone: (202) 224-5744 Fax: (202) 224-3416
Senator Judd Gregg (NH) Phone: (202) 224 – 3324 Fax: (202) 224 - 4952
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Phone: 202-224-5922 Fax: 202-224-0776
Senator Conrad Burns (MT) Phone: 202-224-2644 Fax: 202-224-8594
Senator Daniel Inouye (Ranking Member) (HI) Phone: 202-224-3934 Fax:
202-224-6747
Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV) Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002
Senator Patrick Leahy (VT) Phone: 202-224-4242 Fax: 202-224-3479
Senator Tom Harkin (IA) Phone: (202) 224-3254 Fax: (202) 224-9369
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-1193
Senator Richard Durbin (IL) Phone: (202) 224-2152 Fax: (202) 228-0400
Senator Harry Reid (NV) Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327
Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954
Senator Barbara Milkulski (MD) Phone: 202-224-4654 Fax: 202-224-8858
Senator Edward Kennedy (MA) Phone: 202-224-4543 Fax: 202-224-2417
Senator Olympia Snowe (ME) DC Phone: 202-224-5344 Fax: 202-224-1946
Senator Susan Collins (ME) Phone: 202-224-2523 Fax: 202-224-2693
Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) Phone: 202-224-4822 Fax: 202-228-0325
Senator Lincoln Chaffee (RI) Phone: 202-224-2921 Fax: 202-228-2853
Senator John McCain (AZ) Phone: 202-224-2235 Fax: 202-228-2862
Senator Lindsay Graham DC Phone: 202-224-5972 Fax: 202-224-3808
======================================================
--------------------------------------------------------
Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm
Leadership is hiding them from the public and even from their
colleagues in Congress. "
Shame! They snuck immunity language in After the Joint Conference meeting!
Keep up the Pressure on Congress!
TAKE ACTION:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
You can find your reps contact info here:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/dbq/officials/
Congress is engaged in a shameful legislative maneuver! Tell them you
won't take it!
Update: We are being heard and our allies in congress are telling us to
step up the pressure!
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
The Congressional Leadership Wants to Suspend the Rules so our
Representatives won't know what they are voting on. Some in Congress are
speaking up. They need to hear more from us.
Our latest information is that the Department of Defense Appropriations
Bill Conference Report has been completed and will be filed within the next
couple of hours. We are informed that the bill definitely contains some
appropriations of money for avian flu vaccine development but LIABILITY
LANGUAGE WAS KEPT OUT of the bill! Agreement on compensation language
could not be worked out so immunity for drug companies was kept out of the
bill.
The bill hasn’t been filed yet so we can’t independently confirm this
information. We have been told to watch the Authorization Bill and Budget
Reconciliation too. The problem is getting copies of the bill drafts.
Congressional Leadership is hiding them from the public and even from their
colleagues in Congress. We think the Senate vote on the Department of
Defense Appropriations will take place tomorrow so there is still the
chance that a Senate "leader" will force sneak the liability language back in.
The calls, faxes, emails -- the pressure -- is working. Believe it or not
a group of parents with sick children is beating back the Pharma lobby and
the Congressional leadership. If we do, it won't be the first time, and it
won't be the last, because we have no choice to keep fighting for our
children's lives.
If we can get past these shameful secret legislative maneuvers we can beat
the Bozos. The Congressional leaders know immunity legislation for drug
companies cannot pass on their own because such legislation cannot
withstand public scrutiny. The American people will not stand for it.
So, once again, TAKE ACTION!
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
We need to keep the pressure so Take Action Now. Send a message or find
your representatives telephone number on A-CHAMP's legislative directory
and call your representative. You can find your Senator or Representative's
contact information:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/dbq/officials/
Tell your representative that you oppose insertion of language giving
pharmaceutical companies immunity against vaccine injury claims into the
Department of Defense Appropriations Conference Report.
It is crunch time so ACT NOW!
Go to this url to send a message:
http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/ ... 31&type=ML
For more information go to www.a-champ.org
Some telephone numbers and contact information are listed below.
Thanks - The A-CHAMP Legislative Action Team
Sample Letter and telephone and fax numbers of key United States Senators:
Dear _________:
I respectfully request that you act to protect the rights of
vaccine-injured children by opposing the unfair liability immunity giveaway
proposed for drug companies.
There are ten or more bills pending in Congress that contain language that
severely limits the rights of children injured by vaccines. I am shocked to
learn that one of these provisions may be slipped into proposed legislation
– the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill Conference Report - in a
manner similar to the provisions snuck in the dead of night into the
Homeland Security bill in 2002. If any of these provisions is enacted, a
vaccine-injured child's right to have his or her day in court will be
unnecessarily and unfairly taken away. Enactment of this legislation will
be a dark day for the tradition of fair play and equity in the American
justice system, not to mention that such action will violate the Seventh
Amendment’s preservation of every American’s right to a jury trial.
As a voter who cares deeply about children injured by vaccines, I oppose
legislation that will provide unprecedented immunity to a vaccine industry
that has caused tragic injury to some children. Such liability protection
is unnecessary. There has been minimal number of vaccine lawsuits over the
past 30 years - current laws adequately protect vaccine manufacturers. The
apparent lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity in our country is not due
to lawsuits but to other causes, such as the consolidation of
pharmaceutical industry via merger and market factors that pose economic
barriers to vaccine production. Liability concerns have little to do with
vaccine manufacturing problems — eminent public health experts like the
NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Walter Orenstein, formerly of the CDC’s
National Immunization Program, have said so. Liability is not the problem.
In addition, representatives of biotechnology companies have through the
use of the latest technology that eliminates dangerous protein contaminants
vaccines can be produced more safely than through the methods used by the
major drug companies. These biotech companies say that they do not need
liability protection in order to move ahead to manufacture the new
generation of safe vaccines. Biotech firms using new technology have
sufficiently high confidence in the safety of their product that they are
not worried about lawsuits.
I urge you to place the interests of injured children above those of the
pharmaceutical industry. Along with many of voters across the country, I
am deeply concerned that should unnecessary liability protection be enacted
vaccine manufacturers will cease to have an incentive to make their
products safe. Lack of vaccine safety endangers all Americans.
Please act to protect Americans and ensure that safety is our vaccine
program's highest priority.
Sincerely,
_____________
CALL ALL of these Senators (and one House Member) ASAP!!!
Senator Thad Cochran (MS) (Chairman) Phone: (202) 224-5054 Fax: (202)
224-9450
Senator Ted Stevens (AK) Phone: (202) 224-3004 Fax:(202) 224-2354
Senator Arlen Specter (PA) Phone: 202-224-4254 Fax: 202-228-1229
Senator Pete Domenici (NM) Phone: (202) 224-6621 Fax: (202) 228-3261
Senator Christopher Bond (MO) Phone: (202) 224-5721 Fax: (202) 224-8149
Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499
Senator Richard Shelby (AL) Phone: (202) 224-5744 Fax: (202) 224-3416
Senator Judd Gregg (NH) Phone: (202) 224 – 3324 Fax: (202) 224 - 4952
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Phone: 202-224-5922 Fax: 202-224-0776
Senator Conrad Burns (MT) Phone: 202-224-2644 Fax: 202-224-8594
Senator Daniel Inouye (Ranking Member) (HI) Phone: 202-224-3934 Fax:
202-224-6747
Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV) Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002
Senator Patrick Leahy (VT) Phone: 202-224-4242 Fax: 202-224-3479
Senator Tom Harkin (IA) Phone: (202) 224-3254 Fax: (202) 224-9369
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-1193
Senator Richard Durbin (IL) Phone: (202) 224-2152 Fax: (202) 228-0400
Senator Harry Reid (NV) Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327
Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954
Senator Barbara Milkulski (MD) Phone: 202-224-4654 Fax: 202-224-8858
Senator Edward Kennedy (MA) Phone: 202-224-4543 Fax: 202-224-2417
Senator Olympia Snowe (ME) DC Phone: 202-224-5344 Fax: 202-224-1946
Senator Susan Collins (ME) Phone: 202-224-2523 Fax: 202-224-2693
Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) Phone: 202-224-4822 Fax: 202-228-0325
Senator Lincoln Chaffee (RI) Phone: 202-224-2921 Fax: 202-228-2853
Senator John McCain (AZ) Phone: 202-224-2235 Fax: 202-228-2862
Senator Lindsay Graham DC Phone: 202-224-5972 Fax: 202-224-3808
======================================================
--------------------------------------------------------
Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm