posted 05-03-2002 11:31 AM            

Florida Bill Threatens Civil Liberties,
Gives Unprecedented Power to Unelected Officials

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) today urged Gov. Bush to veto SB 1262, a bill that gives the State Public Health Officer powers to declare a public health emergency and to order forced drugging and treatment under the guise of responding to terrorism. In a letter sent to the Governor, Jane M. Orient, Executive Director, writes: "AAPS is totally opposed to SB 1262…imposing medical treatments on unwilling citizens at gunpoint, or with threats of taking children from their parents, or with other coercive measures - obliterating informed consent and due process of law. Medical consequences…could be disastrous. "This bill gives the State Health Officer the sole, unbridled power to issue a public health advisory and 'take any action appropriate to enforce any public health advisory,' without oversight or accountability…The Legislature has abdicated its authority with respect to the alleged emergency altogether."

AAPS first sounded the alarm about these types of bills last December, gathering thousands of signatures on a letter of opposition to President Bush.. The Model State Emergency Powers Act (MEPHA) was drafted by the CDC and promoted to the states by the Department of HHS -- with promises of federal dollars for new programs, and threats of withholding funding for current ones. The bills are so alarming that many legislators in other states are publicly opposing them, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's largest bipartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators. "We must take a much more deliberative approach in crafting effective policy without sacrificing the rights and liberties of individuals and families," ALEC's Director of the Health and Services told AAPS. The letter to Gov. Bush continues: "The Florida legislation is even more frightening. It bypasses the ballot box altogether, giving life and death powers to an unelected bureaucrat…it is highly dangerous to entrust any human being with unlimited power. "The State Health Officer could use 'any means necessary' to force vaccination or treatment on unwilling citizens, if 'there is no practical method to quarantine' such individuals, and 'if the individual poses a danger to the public health.' The degree of force, the assessment of what is 'practical,' and the definition of 'danger to public health' are all at the sole discretion of this Officer."

AAPS is also concerned that these powers could be used to invalidate all vaccine exemptions - including religious and medical -- that are now legal choices for parents who choose not to subject their children to dozens of immunizations required under blanket vaccine mandates for school attendance. Dr. Orient raises medical issues that the legislation fails to take into account, including:
The bill fails to mention smallpox by name, even though it is the only contagious disease that is a credible biological warfare threat and for which a reasonably effective vaccine exists. "In an outbreak of measles or whooping cough, with several dozen cases, is an unvaccinated child a 'danger to public health'?"

There are many scientifically valid arguments against mass smallpox immunization campaigns -- serious adverse effects, including death.

posted 05-03-2002 11:37 AM            

Emergency Health Powers Act
Railroaded Through In Wisconsin
From Friends
friends@xprs.net
5-2-2

This Emergency Health Bill - Mandated Vaccination and other demands, is pending (or passed) in every state, but under different names.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said that all Americans should know that they "have their name on a vaccine shot in our inventory." Hope you can stop this in your state-- we couldn't.

Sponsored by Rep. Greg Underheim and Rep. Frank Urban-Wisconsin The Assembly Bill # 849, 850 without a name or titled, (Mandated Vaccinations/Emergency Health Powers Act ) was passed under Rep. Greg Underheims directions. Underheim deserves all the credit for the passage hence we should call it the "Underheim Black Helicopter Bill." It his words, "We don't care what you think, the bill will be attached to the budget bill.

For those in states, in which this bill has not been passed, this is how they did it in Wisconsin. Underheim sent out a fax approximately 3 weeks ago, calling it then the Bio-Terrorism Bill relating to the Emergency Health Bill. However, the bill did not come out of the Legislative Bureau until Monday night, 2/25. It was posted on the Internet on Tuesday, 2/26. On Wednesday morning 2/27 it passed.

The hearing started Wednesday morning with Underheim waving people into two groups, one the professionals, made up of public health officials, funeral directors, and attorneys. With a sardonic, arrogant tone and temper by Underheim, the mood was set. "For those who believe in Black Helicopters sit over there." Underheim kept dashing in and out of the hearings, and at the end of the short hearing, again he cited, "It doesn't matter what you think, it's going to be attached to the budget bill." This is how the bill was passed in Wisconsin. No further hearings, it's cut and done, not any of the other elected representatives and Senators will vote on it.

One of the requirements of this bill is: "The Wisconsin Department of Health Services may order any vaccination series and may isolate anyone who does not take the vaccinations, or unwilling to take them. It calls for a $10,000 fine and/or nine months in prison for those who do not get vaccinations."

For those of us who wonder who some of these elected representatives are and what they represent, well they answered this question. Perhaps Rep. Underheim should appear on statewide television and tell the people that they will received vaccines or face mandatory prison and/or $10,000 fine if they refuse. But like pre-war Germany, there will be no announcements, only dictates. Underheim alluded to the fact that he was being called a Nazi. Well whoever called him, well they're close to that mark.

Being caught up in political correctness, one has to be attuned to the fact, that emergencies to one group may mean the complete loss of freedom to another. There are many questionable programs initiated by the Federal Government, and when our government uses terrorism to remove our Constitutional ways of life, and our legislators accede to their demands, well then the terrorist have won. ___

If You Are Still Considering Taking The Mandanted Vaccinations Here's Information That Might Change Your Mind >From Robert Lederman Lederman note: And if you're still considering taking these new vaccines here's some info from Vaccination Liberation that might change your mind 20 Reasons Not To Take the New Smallpox Vaccine by Amy Worthington

1. George W. Bush has said of smallpox vaccination: "One of my concerns if we were to have universal vaccination, some might lose their life." ~The Times (in London), November 09, 2001

2. For each million people vaccinated with the smallpox vaccine, as many as 250 could die, according to the American Medical Association. Multiply 250 times 285 (millions of Americans) and the possible deaths from universal smallpox vaccination could equal 71,250. ~ Journal of the American Medical Association, June 9, 1999, Vol. 281, No. 22, p. 2132

3. "The American Medical Association said on Tuesday it was not in favor of an immediate mass U.S. smallpox vaccination program, saying the potential threat of a bioterror attack did not warrant inoculating every American against the disease." ~Reuters, December 12, 2001

4. "Right now the risk of getting the vaccine is higher than the benefit. You could get a secondary infection, a full-blown systemic infection." ~Marie Rau, Panhandle Health District nurse, quoted by The Spokesman-Review, November 20, 2001

5. CDC director Jeffrey Koplan has admitted that universal smallpox vaccination could unleash a significant number of side-effects. He said that because many parts of our population do not have a "robust immune system," a fair number of people could have serious reactions. ~Koplan speaking on the PBS special "Bioterror Propaganda" aired by WETA, November 14, 2001

6. If the entire nation were to receive a smallpox vaccine, several thousand people would likely develop encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. ~Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2001

7. Roger J. Pomerantz, chief of the infectious disease department at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said that doctors have no idea what the smallpox vaccine might do to people at the extremes of life--less than 2 and older than 65. He said that an even greater concern would be its effect on people with weakened immune systems from HIV infection, chemotherapy or transplants. ~Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2001

8. "Researchers have been reluctant to recommend a new vaccination program which would use the smallpox vaccine for the local population because the vaccine can cause disease and death in persons with inadequate immune systems." ~ Science, Vol. 277, July 18, 1997, pp. 312-13.

9. Routine smallpox vaccination in the United States ended in 1972. Officials are hesitant to resume the immunizations because the vaccine is the most reactive of all and has been linked to serious side effects, including death. ~ Reuters, November 29, 2001.

10. Eight printed pages of medical studies documenting the many serious side effects of smallpox vaccination can be obtained at: www.whale.to/vaccines/smallpox.html See "smallpox vaccine adverse reactions 66-76." [Note: go to the home page above and put "smallpox vaccine adverse reaction" in the search engine.] Repercussions include serious brain and heart diseases, autism, abnormal chromosomal changes, diabetes, various cancers and leukemias, plus demyelination of nerve tissue years after vaccination.

11. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that vaccination must not be forced on persons whose physical condition would make such vaccination "cruel and inhuman." In other words, the state has no right to command that an individual sacrifice his life in the name of public health. ~Jacobsen V. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905).

12. By the 1920s, several British medical researchers documented that smallpox was not only more common among the VACCINATED, but that the DEATH RATE from smallpox was actually higher among those who had been vaccinated. This indicates that the vaccine was ineffective and predisposed vaccinated persons to more lethal disease. ~Vaccination, Dr. Viera Scheibner, Australia, 1993, pp. 205-220.

13. Getting a vaccination does not guarantee immunity. ~CDC, January 28, 1994.

14. By 1987, scientific evidence indicated that the World Health Organization's 13-year global smallpox vaccination campaign may have awakened dormant HIV infection in many vaccinees. ~Times (in London) May 11, 1987.

15. Vaccines made from animal substrate contain animal viruses that are impossible to filter out. By 1961, scientists discovered that animal viruses in vaccines, including smallpox, could act as a carcinogen when given to mice in combination with cancer-causing chemicals, even in amounts too small to induce tumors alone. They concluded that vaccine viruses function as a catalyst for tumor production. ~Science, December 15, 1961.

16. Some of the new smallpox vaccine doses will be created with animal substrate. Because the vaccine will incorporate vaccinia, the cowpox virus, many wonder about possible mad-cow contamination. Fifty-five million doses of the new vaccine will be created using a cell line dating back to 1966 and cultured from the lung tissues of an aborted human fetus. ~World Net Daily, December 4, 2001.

17. The new smallpox vaccine will be genetically engineered. Many scientists believe that genetically engineered vaccines may be responsible for the global epidemic of auto-immune disease and neurological dysfunction. ~American College of Rheumatology, annual meeting, Nov. 8-12, 1998. Merck's genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Recombivax HB, is a classic example. According to Dr. Bonnie Dunbar of Baylor College of Medicine, many thousands of reported adverse reactions to the hepatitis B vaccine include: chronic fatigue, neurological disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and MS-like disease. ~Testimony of Dr. Dunbar to Texas Dept. of Health, March 12, 1999. Over 15,000 French citizens sued the French government to stop mandatory hep B injections for school children because of resulting auto-immune diseases. ~Science, July 31, 1998. Dr. John Classen has published voluminous data showing that the hepatitis B and other vaccines are closely linked to the development of insulin dependent diabetes. ~Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice, October 22, 1997

18. The British vaccine manufacturer Medeva has a horrendous record of contamination and blunders. In 2000, the FDA found that Medeva was making vaccines in conditions of filth, resulting in contaminated products. Medeva had been illegally using bovine medium to culture its polio vaccines, then lied about it. Medeva also used the blood of a Creutzfeldt-Jakob victim (mad cow) to manufacture 83,000 doses of polio vaccine used for (against?) Irish children. Nevertheless, the FDA allowed the USA to accept Medeva's flu vaccine (Fluvirin) for the year 2000. ~London Observer series: October 20-26, 2000

19. In 2001, the British socialized health care system was reported to be in a state of collapse, with many hospitals and labs operating in abysmal filth. Five thousand people die each year from infections contracted in British hospitals; 10,000 become deathly ill from such infections. Sterilization procedures are barely adequate and said to be risking the spread of mad cow disease. Government ministers are reportedly trying to hush up the scandal. ~www.itn.co.uk/ Jan 06, 2001; The Sunday Times of London, November 12, 2001.

posted 05-03-2002 07:24 PM               

I wonder if the smallpox vaccine will be just as safe as this Alzheimer's vaccine was?

Test of Alzheimer's Vaccine Is Halted
12 Volunteers Said to Be Seriously Ill With Brain Inflammation
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 22, 2002; Page A01

Twelve volunteers inoculated with a highly touted experimental vaccine designed to reverse the course of Alzheimer's disease have fallen seriously ill with brain inflammation, forcing the vaccine's manufacturer to stop giving the shots and raising doubts about the product's clinical potential, according to sources familiar with the study.

The vaccine, made by the Irish pharmaceutical company Elan and known by its code name AN-1792, had generated unusually intense enthusiasm among scientists and patient advocates during the past two years, as experiments in mice suggested it could halt the progression of Alzheimer's and perhaps even cure the deadly disease.

Alzheimer's gradually robs people of their minds. It affects 2 million to 4 million elderly Americans and is expected to affect 15 million by 2030. Even the best treatments today have a very modest impact.

Taking an unprecedented immunologic approach to treating a brain disease, the vaccine aims to elicit an immune system attack against "beta amyloid," the brain protein believed to be at the root of Alzheimer's.

Although animal studies and early human safety studies suggested the vaccine was reasonably safe, the strategy was controversial. Immune reactions typically cause inflammation, and inflammation in the brain can cause serious problems or death.

Company officials have released few details about the problems. A spokesman said an independent committee is reviewing data from the study, which has enrolled about 360 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's in four European countries and 11 U.S. sites.

But sources familiar with the study, including some who have been in contact with Elan officials, said there is little question the vaccine triggered the brain reactions, which some called encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain) and another called "meningoencephalitis," an inflammation of the brain and surrounding membranes.

Both syndromes can cause symptoms ranging from fever, headache and vomiting to altered consciousness, muscle weakness and seizures.

Some scientists had warned that the vaccine might trigger such complications or even exacerbate Alzheimer's, a disease some believe is caused by natural inflammatory processes.

One such critic, Trey Sunderland, chief of the geriatric psychiatry branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, said yesterday that the vaccine may have caused the encephalitis in volunteers directly or it may have caused a disruption of blood vessels in the brain. That would allow viruses or other infectious agents to enter and cause encephalitis.

Elan, which is developing the vaccine with Wyeth, a pharmaceutical division of American Home Products Corp. of Madison, N.J., would not say yesterday how quickly it had halted inoculations after the first few patients were diagnosed. The company also would not say what, if any, information was being shared with other volunteers who might be at ongoing risk of encephalitis.

A company spokesman said only doctors at individual test sites could speak to that issue, but officials at several sites yesterday said they had been told by the company not to talk to reporters.

Even when things go well, experts said, clinical trials involving people with cognitive deficits pose extraordinary challenges to the notion of "informed consent" -- the requirement that volunteers be made aware of all the risks of a study and of any changes in those risks during the course of a study.

An Elan spokesman yesterday said the company "follows all appropriate clinical standards to ensure the well-being of all patients in studies and is working closely with their physicians." All those who experienced ill effects "have been treated and are responding appropriately," said the spokesman, who refused to characterize their health further.

The company first mentioned the emerging problem Jan. 18, in a low-profile "update" posted on its Web site. In the second paragraph of the update, the company noted that four patients in the high-profile study had "clinical signs consistent with inflammation in the central nervous system," and that further dosing of patients in the multicenter international trial had been "temporarily suspended." It did not say when the diagnoses were first made.

Since then, the number has climbed to 12, at several test sites, according to sources in contact with Elan officials. One of those, William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs at the Alzheimer's Association, said he still believes the general approach of immunotherapy for Alzheimer's has a promising future, though details of the vaccine might have to change.

Elan has said it is developing products that are similar to AN-1792 but more refined.

"I think everyone is puzzled" about why the problems happened, said Marilyn Albert, an Alzheimer's researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, who heads the Alzheimer's Association's medical and scientific advisory council. But in all likelihood, Albert said, "they can't go forward with this formulation."

It is the second major setback for Elan this month. The company announced earlier that certain officers and directors were being sued by shareholders alleging violations of U.S. securities laws, and that the company was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

_____Correction_____

posted 05-05-2002 08:55 PM               

From the infectious Diseases in Children Web Site

Some doses distributed in the past two years may not have contained the recommended amount of vaccine.
April 2002

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — An unknown number of children may need revaccination if they received Merck’s hepatitis A vaccine (Vaqta) within the past two years, Merck announced recently.

The vaccine is not harmful, the manufacturer said, but a number of lots were recalled recently because the doses may not have been potent enough to protect against hepatitis A virus. Merck is offering to pay for recipients to be tested to see if they were adequately protected by the vaccine or else be revaccinated, but individual physicians might charge for the office visit for administration of the vaccine, the CDC said.

Adults who received Vaqta in prefilled syringes since May 29, 2001, and children who received Vaqta since June 16, 1999, may not have received an adequate dose, according to the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) of the CDC.

There is a chance that any individual who received a dose from the recalled lots can still contract hepatitis A. Although most of the syringes in the lots contained a full dose and most people can develop immunity from one dose, some of the prefilled syringes contained a decreased antigen content, below the established minimum specification. The NCID has advised patients to contact providers to see if they received a dose from the recalled lots.

Batches of Vaqta packaged in vials and all lots packaged in syringes not indicated by Merck are not affected by the recall, according to Merck. Providers with questions regarding batches of Vaqta are encouraged to contact the Merck Order Management Center.

Vaqta, indicated for use in pediatric populations, and Vaqta K, the adult version, are distributed in 27 nations, including the United States, and in Latin America, Asia and parts of Europe. The products are packaged in Britain by Evans Vaccine, a division of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, and distributed around the world.

In December 2001, a unit of the French pharmaceutical company Aventis, which has a marketing agreement with Merck for distribution throughout Europe, starting recalling batches of prefilled syringes because they were believed to be defective. It is unknown how many people received the possibly faulty doses produced between December 1999 and December 2001.

The problem looks to be most widespread in Brazil, where local newspapers have warned that more than 60,000 children might need to receive the vaccine again. There were about 117,000 doses distributed throughout Brazil over the last two years, mostly in private clinics in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, according to Merck.

posted 05-18-2002 07:33 PM            

----- Original Message -----
From: Sarah
----- Original Message -----
From: Ingri Cassel
To: Recipient list suppressed mailto:Recipient list suppressed

Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 12:39 PM

Subject: URGENT!
Florida MSEHPA happening NOW!

Dear Members and Friends -
If you are in Florida OR know ANYONE in Florida, please share the following
far and wide:

TODAY [Friday] IN THE PALM BEACH POST 5/17/2002

FRONT PAGE ARTICLE:

A SUSPECTED CASE OF SMALLPOX -
THAT TURNED OUT TO BE CHICKENPOX WAS CAUSE TO URGE
GOV JEB BUSH TO SIGN LEGISLATION S1262 INTO LAW.

S1262 IS THE FLORIDA VERSION OF THE MODEL STATE EMERGENCY
HEALTH POWERS ACT.

I EMAILED THE GOV AND CALLED HIS OFFICE TO URGE HIM TO VETO THE BILL. PLEASE DO THE SAME.
THANK YOU.

Gov Bush's email address: fl_governor@eog.state.fl.us
Gov Bush's phone number: 850-488-7146
Gov Bush's fax number: 850-487-0801
Gov Bush's address: The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL 32399

Just a reminder...........

The unAmerican / Nazi-like qualities of this bill are:

Upon declaring an emergency, the government could:

Force you to take a vaccination or a medical treatment decided by the Governor -- or be arrested;

Herd you into a public quarantine or isolation facility;

Seize any of your property that the
government decided was necessary to cope with the emergency, such as real estate, fuel, food, clothing, and communication devices;

Destroy property alleged to be hazardous without compensation and without recourse;

Conscript you or your business into State service;

Impose rationing, price controls, and quotas, and control the transportation or use of any item deemed "reasonable and necessary for emergency response,"
specifically including firearms;