Measure Eases Vaccine Rules-Would Shield Manufacturers

[Sheri Nakken]

"Congress is considering a bill that would allow the government to order
that vaccines be given to every U.S. citizen in a national emergency, even
if a vaccine has previously harmed some people.

The bill would also make it almost impossible for anyone harmed by these
substances to sue the manufacturer or drug researchers."

http://tinyurl.com/95xkf

Measure Eases Vaccine Rules

Would Shield Manufacturers
October 27, 2005
By THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, Courant Staff Writer
Congress is considering a bill that would allow the government to order
that vaccines be given to every U.S. citizen in a national emergency, even
if a vaccine has previously harmed some people.

The bill would also make it almost impossible for anyone harmed by these
substances to sue the manufacturer or drug researchers.

Supporters say protecting producers from potential liability would bring
more drug makers to the table. Opponents warn the proposal would render
everyone little more than a "guinea pig" for the drug industry.

"[This new] legislation provides liability protection for individuals and
entities who engage in countermeasure or pandemic/epidemic technology
development, manufacturing or administration," said Michael B. Enzi He is
an official with the Biotechnology Industry Organization that represents
more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions and related
organizations.

"Current law," he said, "provides inadequate protections; thus companies
have been reluctant to enter the bio-defense market."

"This is a drug company stockholder's dream and a consumer's worst
nightmare," said Barbara Loe Fisher, director of the National Vaccine
Information Center. "It is a sad day for this nation when Congress is
frightened and bullied into allowing one profit-making industry to destroy
the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing citizens their day
in court in front of a jury of their peers."

These contrasting views are helping to shape the next phase of the nation's
bio-defense program in which seven federal agencies appropriated or spent
nearly $25 million between 2003 and 2005.

The measure would give the secretary of health and human services power
over what information, if any, the public can know about what drugs people
could be made to take against their will. It would also shield
manufacturers, universities and other drug research institutions against
liability when drug products lead to illness, disability or death.

Had this proposed bill been in place, the six deaths linked to BioThrax,
the controversial vaccine the Defense Department bought to protect soldiers
against an attack by anyone using airborne anthrax spores, and ordered them
to take, might never have been disclosed publicly. The HHS secretary could
have decided that the information could harm national security.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been reviewing the deaths of five
other service members to determine whether their deaths were also linked to
the vaccine.

Information about the drugs' effectiveness or its potential to do harm
could not be obtained through normal federal Freedom of Information
channels. Manufacturers would be immune from lawsuits arising out of
negligence claims in cases where people have been made sick or have died.

Since the public would have trouble obtaining documents proving a drug is
causing adverse reactions, Fisher said, there is little chance of
challenging a drug company in court.

"The last resort for ordinary Americans who are victims of corporate
negligence, is the civil justice system. So, we are against any proposal
that leaves people without a just remedy [like this one]," said Erin
Mayton, deputy director and counsel of communications for the American
Trial Lawyers of America.

The new bill's controversial provisions were discussed over several days
inside and outside the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Committee, which approved the bill.

Doug Heye, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr [R-N.C.], the bill's
sponsor, said initial language that would have barred all public access to
information has been eliminated. The newer version allows the secretary of
HHS to block the release of any information that would hurt national
security, he said.

"We must ensure the federal government acts as a partner with the private
sector, providing the incentives and protections necessary to bring more
and better drugs and vaccines to market faster," Burr said.

If the bill passes in the Senate, it goes to the House for further action,
and if approved there, would need President Bush's signature.

"We feel it is very important to have liability protection for the
companies as part of any bio-defense bill," said Allen Abney, a Bush
spokesman, who declined to comment on the bill's public information
restrictions.

Despite this presidential approval, some doctors believe this bill would
turn U.S. citizens into guinea pigs.

"The concept of streamlining product development is left very loose,
potentially allowing for any safety requirement to be bypassed," said Dr.
Meryl Nass, a Maine physician who has studied experimental vaccines and
testified before Congress and in the courts about them.
"This [bill] ignores the Nuremberg Code," said Nass, "in essence requiring
American civilians to become guinea pigs for untested products for which
their manufacturers have little incentive to assure optimal safety."

Nass said she sees a conflict in the HHS secretary's reviewing of
complaints about drugs whose use the secretary authorized by declaring a
national emergency. Furthermore, if a drug company disagrees with the
secretary's ruling, it could immediately appeal to the federal court.

Connecticut's two Democratic senators have differing opinions on the
proposal.

Rob Sawicki, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said
Lieberman supports Burr's bill and its restrictions on the release of
information to protect national security.

Last spring, Lieberman favored passage of legislation giving drug companies
protection from lawsuits, tax incentives, drug patent protections and fast
track government drug licensing approvals.

"There is no market for these [drugs and vaccines]," said Lieberman,
"unless there is a national disaster, so there is no normal market to
encourage drug development in this bio-threat area."

The state's other Democratic senator, Chris Dodd, said although the new
legislation is sound in attempting to prepare the public for a biological
attack, he will not support it in its present form.

"Sadly," Dodd said, "the need for legislation to protect people from
biological threats has in crucial respects been placed as a secondary
priority behind special protections for special interests in the drug and
health care industries. Some limited liability protection is reasonable,
but it must be done in a way that doesn't unfairly hurt people affected by
potential health crises - or by potential treatments for those crises.

"The bill also gives drug companies exclusive rights to manufacture drugs
and vaccines that could increase prices just when people need these drugs
most," he said.

Already former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson has used his emergency powers,
created by initial Bioshield legislation, to force voluntary use of
BioThrax vaccine for service members. He did so after a federal judge
enjoined its mandatory use last April. The vaccine supposedly protects
soldiers from enemy attacks by airborne anthrax spores.

BioThraxis manufactured by BioPort Corp. of Lansing Mich. Federal inquiries
of its adverse effects show the vaccine can cause lymphoma, lupus, multiple
sclerosis, seizures and even death.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, acting on complaints that the vaccine
was not properly licensed, said the law requires that service members give
their consent to be vaccinated.

But Sullivan said he did not have the power to overrule Thompson's
emergency vaccine use authorization even though it was issued following
Sullivan's ruling. Defense Department lawyers would not tell Sullivan the
factual details about the department's basis for asking for Thompson's
emergency order saying the details are classified secret. They were,
however, able to convince Thompson there is an imminent threat of a
biological anthrax spore attack.

In 1998, former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen ordered forced
anthrax vaccine inoculations of all 2.4 million service members. Since
then, disputes over its licensing, its safety and the need for its use have
been a constant source of public debate.

BioPort's vaccine is utilized almost exclusively for soldiers, has already
demonstrated an adverse reaction rate 100 times the figure initially stated
on the label. Adverse reactions include immune disorders, muscle and joint
pain, headaches, rashes, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, chills and fever. At
least half a dozen deaths and a number of birth defects have been
attributed to its use. BioPort is shielded from lawsuits over adverse
reactions through a defense department authorization.

Now the HHS is stockpiling the vaccine and other developing drug products,
not yet approved, to use on civilians in the event of a terrorist anthrax
spore attack. Under initial Bioshield acts passed by Congress in the past
two years, HHS and other federal agencies are working on still other new
unlicensed drugs and vaccines that in theory will protect the public in the
event of a biological attack.
--------------------------------------------------------
Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath
Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK
$$ Donations to help in the work - accepted by Paypal account
vaccineinfo@tesco.net voicemail US 530-740-0561
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Vaccines - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm
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ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL
OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.
******
"Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down.
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy
knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information
and religions destroy spirituality" ....Michael Ellner

[Melanie Climis]

Is there a simple article written for lay people that explains how vaccines work (and why the proposed measure is empty of usefulness) that we can send on to our representatives?

Melanie Climis
dancesynergy@earthlink.net

"Once Upon a Time, a community of people came together to change the world" - Sandra Ingerman
"The alternative to transcendence is violence." - Joseph Chilton Pearce

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Tanya Marquette]

well, this seems to be round 2 (or maybe round 3) on this issue since
9-11. actually many States have already passed emergency measures
that would demand enforced vaccination or quarantine people who will
not comply. this new effort is an escalation of the issue.

the smallpox episode after the attacks on the WTC failed due to the
medical professions refusal to go along with the plan and the mass media
covering the deleterious effects of the vaccine.

the anthrax scare dissipated pretty quickly once the evidence was being
traced back to the CIA/army connections.

but not to fear. it is being raised again assuming the short term memory of
most people, including the press

tanya
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http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccineclass.htm
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