June 12, 2009

From Louise Kuo Habakus

MMR IS LIKE A BAG OF M&M’S - OUR NEXT MERCK CAMPAIGN

Merck recently told us that it will resume making monovalent measles, mumps and rubella vaccines in 2011. The implication, of course, is that there are complex manufacturing exigencies that need to be unwound. Having already implemented their decision to stop making the individual doses five months ago, the unstated assumption is that it now takes time to redirect the Titanic.

Two years to resume the individual shots? This makes about as much sense as an announcement from Mars saying that they only have bags of mixed M&Ms and cannot deliver single bags of green, blue, red, yellow... you get the idea. To make combination MMR, you start with individual doses of M, M and R and, well, you just add them together. It’s that simple. In fact, making a combination shot requires an additional step. If they want to simplify things, they can stop making combination MMR.

With Merck’s announcement to reverse their decision and resume making the individual vaccines, we can only assume it is because they acknowledge that parents are concerned and there could be potential brand fallout. They received our letters and responded. This is a good thing. So let’s help them understand that they are taking a good thing and turning it into another disappointment. There is no legitimate reason why it should take two years. It seems they need more letters.

So here’s round two of our letter writing campaign to Merck. Click HERE to read my letter. Feel free to modify it. Or you can cut and paste it as is and send it directly to Merck. By now, you know the drill. Add your full name, address and the date. Don’t forget to sign it, too! If you prefer to e-mail it, consider scanning the letter so they can see your signature. If you have time, please complete steps #1 through #4:

1) Send the letter to: Mr. Richard T. Clark, CEO, Merck & Company, One Merck Drive, PO Box 100, Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889-0100

2) Fax the same letter to 908-735-1244 (back up fax 908-735-1500 or 215-993-1220)

3) E-mail the same letter to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and copy This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you attach a word document, be sure to resave it with your name, address and date.

4) Call them and deliver the message in person: 908-423-1000 and ask for the Office of the CEO. Or use their back up number (800) 672-6372, press 2, then press 3.

Tell Merck that this is important enough to resume making these individual vaccines now and we will keep writing them until they do.

IT’S OFFICIAL – THE FIRST FULL-FLEDGED PANDEMIC IN 41 YEARS

The World Health Organization announced yesterday, June 11, 2009, that we are at pandemic phase 6, the highest alert level. The virus is considered unstoppable. You can read about it HERE. I want to share a few "first degree of separation" stories as a way of helping to set the stage for what we might come to expect this Fall.

1) NJ children experiencing any flu-like symptoms are automatically labeled “suspected” swine flu cases and are required to stay home for 7 days. Parents are being told that there is no testing available to confirm whether their children have swine flu. No testing.

2) A friend who works in a NJ hospital says that the State of NJ wants to be the gatekeeper for all H1N1 testing. No independent testing.

3) Last month, my girlfriend spent her entire Disney vacation locked up in a hotel room. Before the cruise ship set sail, mom took her five year old daughter to the ship’s doctor to check out a low-grade fever. She was immediately labeled a suspected swine flu case and the entire family was summarily escorted off the ship. They were quarantined, limited to room service, and monitored by regular phone calls to make sure they were still there. It took one week for test results to verify that she did not have swine flu. Testing.

Testing was available last month. Now it’s not. Why could that be? If you can’t test, you can’t know if you had swine flu. If you don’t know that you had swine flu, you can’t argue that you have immunity and shouldn’t be required to get the swine flu vaccine series coming this Fall.

Further, if we don’t test, then the numbers of swine flu cases will remain relatively low until testing is permitted again. If I were cynical, I’d concoct the following scenario. Keep swine flu numbers down. Move up the regular flu vaccine promotion to late summer/early fall and encourage everyone to get their regular flu shot as usual. With flu on the brain, more people will want the protection. Some may even think it will protect them against H1N1, too. Some states may choose to follow NJ’s lead and mandate the shot for daycare and preschool. After the regular flu campaign has concluded, authorities will permit independent swine flu testing again. The numbers suddenly spike. Gasp! Swine flu pandemic is upon us. Enter, stage left, the swine flu vaccine series of two shots. Ta dah! People line up again. In this wya, they will have succeeded in getting many of us to receive three flu vaccines this “flu season.” But don’t despair… there’s a silver lining. With over $1 billion pledged for vaccine development, testing and manufacture, it’s nothing short of another stimulus package, a sort of stealth TARP for pharmaceutical firms. Lucky us.

There are many potential scenarios for how this will all play out. Consider the components of a national healthcare plan with health care and immunization registries, introduced during a time of heightened pandemic preparedness. More new vaccines. More mandates. More sick children. More families seek the religious exemptions in states without vaccination choice. Public health officials, the AAP, AMA and vaccine industry close ranks and increase pressure on state legislators to rescind the personal belief and religious exemptions because they place us all at risk. I can’t deliver the message more strongly than this. It’s time. If you care about vaccination choice, you must get involved right now. Derive precious little comfort from the freedoms you have now because they are under attack. If they aren’t worth defending, we will deserve what we get. Take this step right now: register for NVIC’s public conference on vaccination in October.

NJ LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 7 FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS

District 7 is shaping up to be a critical battleground in the fight for vaccination choice in NJ. The Chairman of the NJ Assembly Health Committee hails from Delran Township and he, along with the entire NJ Assembly, is up for re-election (or dismissal) this November. Please email me as soon as possible if you live in one of the following NJ towns:

Beverly City, Burlington City, Burlington Township, Cinnaminson Township, Delanco Township, Delran Township, Edgewater Park Township, Florence Township, Maple Shade Township, Merchantville Borough, Mount Holly Township, Palmyra Borough, Pennsauken Township, Riverside Township, Riverton Borough, Westampton Township, Willingboro Township.

We’ll be holding a series of vaccination choice events and need local families to help us find venues and spread the word.

LIFE HEALTH CHOICES WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT - WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We’re making connections, forming alliances and brainstorming up some brilliant ideas. The Life Health Choices website has to be launched ASAP! We’re making good progress but I need your help. If you have web design and programming ability, please volunteer a little of your time. Everyone else, forgive me in advance because I know it’s unorthodox, but please send $5 via paypal to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . On this list, we’re nearly 5,000 people strong and a very small amount from many of you will make a difference. If you’ve attended one of my events, asked for my help or support my work, I need your help now. And thanks to many of you who have volunteered to help in other ways. As soon as we get the site launched, I’ll be in touch! And please e-mail me if you want to write a testimonial.

NEWSWEEK: PARENTS’ RIGHTS, JUDGES’ RULES – WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Kate interviewed me yesterday for this piece but declined to print my comments which didn’t quite fit into her preconceived world of Establishment Knows Best. She stated that obviously reasonable people were in agreement about areas in which legal precedent had been established, such as chemo. She did say that vaccines were a gray area but she still touts party line and read carefully… you can see where our religious exemption argument is likely to be going:

When it comes to mandating vaccines, an issue state medical agencies largely try to tiptoe around by placing the onus on the school system, the question is one of public health: failing to vaccinate your child may not injure her, but it could put the rest of the classroom at risk.

One of the arguments used is that this isn't the decision of the child. You can't really say the child has a religious interest, because the child is too young to formulate a significant religious interest, and therefore the parents are imposing religion on their child," says Carl E. Schneider, a professor of law and internal medicine at the University of Michigan. However, he also points out the inherent problems with this argument, since the constitution places the responsibility for the religious upbringing of children in the hands of their parents.

Troubling part, that darn constitution… pesky parents get in the way. The chemo family (mom and son) were on the lam for a week but changed their minds. The latest? Daniel is angry and depressed at being forced to undergo chemo. A spokesman describes him as not responding well to treatment.

NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T: CASE OF THE MISSING VACCINE INJURY

In the vaccine injury compensation table from July 2005, you will note Adverse Event A, "intussusception," under XII (live, oral, rhesus-based rotavirus). Intussusception is a severe bowel obstruction associated with severe pain, red currant jelly stool (mixed with blood and mucus), necrosis, perforation and sepsis. If not treated early, it will cause death. The first rotavirus vaccine caused an unacceptable level of intussusception and was removed from the market in 1999.

Adverse Event A, "intussusception" is still there, in the injury table from February 2007.

Now, take a look at the updated table from November 2008. Intussusception is nowhere to be found, even though intussusception has also been reported as an adverse reaction to the currently licensed rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq. Yes, the very same RotaTeq that is the source of Paul Offit's roughly $30 million windfall which he described to Newsweek as "like winning the lottery."

So, what's going on? Who gets to decide that intussusception is no longer a "table injury?" We can be sure that this will make it more difficult for families affected by vaccine-induced intussusception to receive compensation from our government. Keep an eye on this and other vaccine adverse events by clicking HERE.

BREAKING NEWS AND OTHER NEWS STORIES

4/6: Putting patient privacy in peril, have you thought about the implications? (Businessweek) 4/14: Polio infection from oral vaccine discontinued 9 yrs agotakes decades to eradicate
4/28: MA Senate permits flu quarantine, building evacuation, investigation of private property
5/6: US may offer three flu shots in the fall (Washington Post)
5/15: Youth awarded $250,000 in compensation for GBD (Guillain-Barre) from flu vaccine
5/17: 10% of autistic children recover, funded by National Institute of Mental Health
5/18: Vaccine risk symposium in Charleston highlights autism-vaccine link, recovery stories 5/19: Call for immediate moratorium on all GE foods, pregnant women, babies at great risk
5/19: Vermont law restricts drug makers’ gifts to doctors (NYTimes.com)
5/19: Flu severity obesity link, 2/3 hospitalized had underlying medical condition
5/19: Deadly medical errors continue to plague U.S., more than 100,000 die from iatrogenesis 5/20: Children who get flu vaccine have 3x risk of hospitalization for flu
5/21: "This is going to be a PR trust-your-government-and-health-officials' campaign”
5/23: Middletown, NJ to have park, organic farm run by autism group
5/24: Public comment hearings intimidating, process confusing, effectively excludes public
5/25: Risperdal, drug of choice… the only Rx for autism/ADD (graphic content)
5/25: Read or hear about the sixth extinction. Dinos were fifth, are humans next?
5/26: Children who don't get pertussis shot face 20x higher risk of illness (and asthma?)
5/27: MUST READ: Olmsted on Autism - How To Completely Miss The Story
5/27: Drugmakers may limit doses, add warnings for Tylenol (gee, why is that?)
5/29: America’s Freest States. NJ ranks #49, guess who's #50.
5/29: UK compulsory vaccination imminent (the entire vaccination schedule)
5/29: Swine flu vaccine possible by Oct, CDC: 8,500 probable/confirmed US cases
5/29: Dr. Sears on the financial incentives for doctors to vaccinate
6/1: France considers mandatory flu vaccinations, militarization of public health?
6/3: Gary Null et al on the rise of autism in America (companion paper to his film)
6/3: Emory School of Medicine toughens ethics policy
6/5: MDs urgently need autism training
6/5: Teen girl defies teacher, shares vaccine info with friends during recess
6/5: WHO - diarrhea vaccine for all, co-inventor claims 80-90% reduction in US
6/5: WHO pandemic declaration should also include severity
6/5: Top US panel says some vaccine-autism research appropriate, worthwhile (oh really?)
6/6: Parents who decline MMR aren't thoughtless/stupid; they're unconvinced.
6/7: Special schools needed for MMR dodgers?
6/7: Marine bravely fights leukemia and smallpox vaccine infection.
6/7: New Orleans mayor quarantined in China, says experience was "surreal and dull"
6/7: Surging autism rates challenge schools profoundly (but it's all better diagnosis?)
6/7: Cracking down on vaccine (non)compliance in Georgia schools.
6/7: Two boys, best friends, one with autism had adverse MMR reaction
6/8: Radioactive metals found in recliners, handbags due to recycling contamination
6/9: Every child in Scotland to be vaccinated against swine flu
6/10: Parental knowledge of vaccines important (safety and effectiveness not adverse events)
6/10: FDA strengthens Gardasil warnings (fainting girls, finally concerned two years later)
6/11: New report forecasts doubling of vaccine sales by 2013 (need I say more?)
6/11: Eli Lilly ghostwrote studies to promote drug associated with diabetic coma, death
6/12: Katie Wright, first woman to use V word on Oprah, lambastes Newsweek (thanks, Katie) 6/12: Panicked parents in Philly, alarming numbers of kids kept home from school

Now: Speak Now For Kids health reform campaign, voice your concerns directly to Congress 10/08: Offit excoriates bad science but admits his autism expertise from reading newspapers
5/09: A Broken Trust: Lessons from the Vaccine–Autism Wars (Public Library of Science)
5/09: US, Canada, Australia moving towards synchronized genetically engineered (GE) wheat (nearly all US corn, soybeans, cotton, canola grown are GE). Take action, read more. Want better oversight over GE crops?

UPCOMING EVENTS:

6/14: North Brunswick, NJ – 6:30-8:30pm, Omega Diner, 1337 Route 1 South. Vaccine choices seminar. Refreshments, no charge, limited seating, see flyer for details.

6/15: Radio interview with the Natural Nurse and Dr. Z, 10-11am ET, airs live and is archived on Gary Null's Radio Network

6/18: New York, NY – 6-8pm, Bonobo’s Vegetarian Restaurant, 18 E 23rd Street at Madison Ave . I’ll be speaking about grassroots advocacy and Life Health Choices. Advance registration.

6/22: Webinar with Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, Claudine Liss and me on vaccine choices, 8-9pm, advance registration.

7/9-7/12: Los Angeles, CA – USAAA International Conference. Check out the great speakers and this great deal. I’ll be speaking with Dr. Ken Stoller on 7/11.

7/13: Radio interview with Ellen Kamhi, RN, PhD, 7:00-7:30pm ET, airs live on 90.3 FM WHPC, Garden City, NY.

7/16: Radio interview with Giorgio Repeti, 8:10-9:00pm ET, listen live or download the archived show.

7/22: Colts Neck, NJ – 7:00-9:30pm, Colts Neck Reformed Church, 72 Highway 537 West. Movie screening –Autism: Made in the USA. Suggested donation $5. PROUD members no charge. Refreshments, no charge, limited seating, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

7/24: Radio interview on Natural Alternatives, airs 6-7pm ET on 90.1FM, WUSB Stony Brook, NY and simulcast where it is archived for one week.

9/12-9/13: Newark, NJ – Saving Our Kids Healing Our Planet expo. UMDNJ and the Newark Mayor’s office are sponsors. Life Health Choices will be there and I’ve been invited to speak about something other than vaccines – stay tuned!

10/1-10/4: Reston, VA – NVIC’s Fourth International Public Conference on Vaccination, Hyatt Regency Hotel, $195 early bird registration ends 6/30. I’ll be closing out the conference on 10/4, the day before we march on Capitol Hill. Grab a friend, road trip, share a hotel room. Trust me, this will be a timely issue. If you need an engraved invitation to get involved, e-mail me and I’ll send you one!

10/17: Basking Ridge, NJ – Holistic Moms Network Natural Living Conference, 8:30am-4:30pm, Dolce Conference Center.

10/25: Freehold, NJ – 1:15-3:00pm, IZFNA Bait-ul-Wali-Asr, 235 Georgia Road. Vaccine choices seminar. Refreshments, no charge, limited seating, mosque rules must be followed, see flyer for details. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register.

Please get involved. Write Merck. Attend an event. Screen a film. Sponsor a talk. Write your legislators. Contribute towards our website development. Tell your friends. Send me your ideas. And stay tuned for Food Choices, the next topic in our series of health empowerment seminars.

Louise Kuo Habakus