The federal government has developed and propagated a narrative on vaccines, primarily through the CDC. Additionally, CDC vaccine recommendations have been used as the basis for mandatory vaccinations in many states. But relying solely on the federal government’s storyline could give an incomplete picture of the vaccine issue.
Currently, the federal government has not attempted to impose any federal vaccine mandates, but there could be a push for them in the future. There are a number of facts that are often left out of the CDC’s vaccine messaging. Following are a number of issues surrounding vaccines that should be taken into account.
The government has removed liability for vaccine manufacturers and those administering vaccines.
Although almost all U.S. manufacturers are subject to product liability, the federal government has lifted this burden from those manufacturing most of the vaccines Americans receive. Liability has also been lifted for those administering the vaccines.
This resulted from the 1986 passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) and subsequent amendments to the Act, along with the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth. [1]
The 1986 Act also created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), a special system outside of the normal litigation process for claims of harm caused by vaccines, in which the government is the defendant, not the vaccine manufacturers. Any compensation granted by the NVICP is paid by the public, through a surcharge on vaccines, and not by vaccine manufacturers. Over $4 billion has been paid out under this system. [2]
The lack of liability for vaccine manufacturers creates an obvious disincentive to make vaccines as safe as possible.
The normal rules of discovery don’t apply to vaccine manufacturers.
During product liability litigation, companies generally must respond to discovery. This requires them to produce relevant records, such as e-mails and research records, and to answer interrogatories and requests for admissions.
Discovery is the process through which damaging evidence has come to light in recent high-profile product liability cases, such as those involving Bayer/Monsanto’s Glyphosate, Johnson & Johnson’s talc products and Merck’s Vioxx. Despite how useful discovery is in uncovering damaging evidence, the government has also given vaccine manufacturers a pass in this area. Discovery is not permitted in the NVICP process and, pursuant to the NCVIA, vaccine manufacturers cannot be made to submit to discovery in connection with claims of vaccine injury. Like the lack of product liability, this lack of claimants’ right to discovery is nearly unique to the vaccine industry.
Both childhood and adult CDC vaccines schedules exist and could potentially be mandated.
It’s often assumed that the CDC only has a childhood vaccine schedule and that, for this reason, the debate about whether vaccines should be mandated only concerns childhood vaccines. However, these assumptions are wrong. In fact, the CDC has both childhood and adult vaccine schedules. [3]
Therefore, mandating vaccines in accordance with CDC recommendations could potentially involve compelling vaccinations upon both children and adults. Many may be shocked to learn that, according to the current CDC schedules, a person receiving all of the recommended doses on the childhood schedule and all of those on the adult schedule would receive a lifetime total of approximately 149 vaccine doses. [4]
Further, hundreds of new vaccines are in the developmental process and it is expected that many will be added to the CDC’s schedules.
Childhood vaccine mandates exist at the state level and exemptions from the mandates are being eliminated.
In the U.S., no state adult vaccine mandates currently exist, but all states mandate childhood vaccines. State laws vary with regard to exemptions from these mandates. Generally, three types of exemptions exist, with states historically permitting some or all of these: 1.) religious; 2.) philosophical; and 3.) medical. An orchestrated effort is underway to eliminate state exemptions and the pharmaceutical industry is highly involved in the effort. The industry’s actions have included, among other things, serving as information resources for state legislators, lobbying legislators and even drafting pro-mandate legislation. [5]
Throughout the country, exemptions are being rolled back and/or eliminated at an increasing pace. Recent examples of states losing exemptions are Maine, New York and Washington. [6] In California, changes were recently made to the state’s last remaining exemption, the medical exemption. The new law will severely restrict its use. [7]
Future mandates may come from the federal level.
As discussed above, under current law, vaccine mandates exist only for children and they are issued at the state level. However, the federal government has clearly indicated its intention to increase vaccinations in the U.S. population, including in adults, and has set this goal forth in the National Vaccine Plan, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2010. [8] Further, there is reason to believe that this will be accomplished through federal mandates.
In February of 2019, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, then Commissioner of the FDA, made comments to CNN indicating a belief that the federal government has the authority to mandate vaccines and could step in with mandates if states don’t require more children to get vaccinated. [9] Gottlieb resigned as FDA Commissioner in May of 2019 and in June of 2019, he joined the Board of Directors of Pfizer, Inc., a vaccine manufacturer. [10] His departure from a high-level CDC position into a high-level position with a vaccine manufacturer was not unusual. Julie Gerberding is an earlier example of this “revolving door.” She was the director of the CDC from 2002 to 2009 and accepted a highly paid position as president of Merck’s vaccine division only about a year after leaving the CDC. [11]
The number of vaccines and the number of doses of vaccines on the schedules is growing significantly.
Not surprisingly, since liability was removed from vaccine manufacturers in 1986, the number of vaccines recommended by the industry and the CDC has risen sharply. For example, the CDC currently recommends 70 doses of 16 vaccines by age 18. [12] This is a significant increase from the 24 doses of 7 childhood vaccines recommended by the CDC in 1983. [13]
Vaccines safety testing is far less rigorous than for other pharmaceutical products.
The public would likely be surprised to learn that the safety testing required of vaccines, a product mandated to be injected into children, is far less rigorous than that required for drugs. The FDA has classified vaccines as “biologics” rather than “drugs,” thereby allowing vaccine manufacturers to forego the multi-year, double-blind inert placebo-controlled studies required for drug approval. [14] [15] Additionally, vaccines are subject to very short periods of monitoring for adverse reactions, often of 14 days or less. [16] [17]
The history of vaccines you were taught by public schools is incomplete and inaccurate.
If you delve into any historical or political subject, you soon find that much of the history you were taught in public school is false. For example, you’ll often come across historical myths you were taught concerning the Federal Reserve or U.S. military interventions. Although we understand that facts about conflicts of interest, corruption and cronyism are often left out of public-school history lessons, we’re often resistant to the idea that this may also be the case with regard to vaccines.
In fact, the myths and misinformation taught about vaccines in public schools are on par with those taught about the monetary system and war. They’re too voluminous to fully address in the instant article. However, as an example, one researching beyond the state-sanctioned version of vaccine history would learn that, contrary to popular belief, death rates from infectious diseases plummeted in the U.S. before the widespread use of vaccines. [18] They would also learn that the decline in death rates was primarily due to advances in the standard of living, such as improved hygiene, improved sanitation, improved nutrition, the use of sewage systems, the availability of electricity, the chlorination of water, the use of refrigeration and pasteurization. [19]
This history is thoroughly documented in Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines and the Forgotten History, a book by co-authored by Dr. Suzanne Humphries, a medical doctor, Internist and Board-Certified Nephrologist. [20] The book includes, in part, a discussion of the misinformation surrounding the polio and smallpox vaccines, the two vaccines whose histories are perhaps the most distorted.
Other information about vaccines generally not taught in public schools includes the following: their risks of adverse reactions [21]; their toxic or concerning ingredients (such as aluminum, mercury, antibiotics, formaldehyde, Polysorbate 80, MSG and aborted human fetal tissue) [22]; their surprisingly low effectiveness rates [23] [24]; their diminished effectiveness with subsequent doses [25]; the strain replacement and strain enhancement they can cause [26] [27]; the existence of vaccine strains of viruses [28]; the viral shedding that can occur following some vaccinations [29] [30]; evidence linking them to conditions such as autism [31] [32], autoimmune disorders [33] [34], allergies [35] and other medical conditions; and how their use for one infectious disease can increase the incidence of other infectious diseases, such as the incidence of shingles increasing from use of the chickenpox vaccine [36]. This list is not exhaustive.
Additional Reading
The websites and books below contain additional information.
- Children’s Health Defense. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/
- The HighWire with Del Bigtree. https://thehighwire.com/
- Informed Consent Action Network. https://www.icandecide.org/
- National Vaccine Information Center. https://www.nvic.org/
- Vaxxter. https://vaxxter.com/
- Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers by Neil Z. Zimmer [37]
- Vaccines – A Reappraisal by Dr. Richard Moskowitz [38]
- How to End the Autism Epidemic by J.B. Handley [39]
- Dissolving Illusions – Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History by Dr. Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk [40]
- Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illnesses by Dr. Thomas Cowan [41]
NOTES
[1] https://www.nvic.org/injury-compensation/nvic-position-on-1986-childhood-vaccine-injury-act.aspx
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/index.html
[4] Moskowitz, Richard, Vaccines – A Reappraisal. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017. 241-242. Print.
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3483914/
[6] https://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx
[7] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB276
[8] https://vaxxter.com/healthy-people-2020-and-the-decade-of-vaccines/
[9] https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/20/health/vaccine-exemptions-fda-gottlieb/index.html
[13] https://www.nvic.org/cmstemplates/nvic/pdf/downloads/1983-2017-vaccine-schedules.pdf
[14] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/vaccines-and-the-liberal-mind/
[15] Moskowitz, Richard, Vaccines – A Reappraisal. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017. 29-31. Print.
[16] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/vaccines-and-the-liberal-mind/
[17] Moskowitz, Richard, Vaccines – A Reappraisal. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017. 31-42. Print.
[19] Humphries, Suzanne, and Roman Bystrianyk. Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines and the Forgotten History, 2013. Print.
[20] Humphries, Suzanne, and Roman Bystrianyk. Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines and the Forgotten History, 2013. Print.
[22] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/toxic-vaccine-ingredients-the-devils-in-the-details/
[26] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/worse-than-nothing-how-ineffective-vaccines-enhance-disease/
[27] https://www.jeremyrhammond.com/2015/09/14/the-ugly-untold-truth-about-the-pertussis-vaccine/
[28] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/vaccines/measles-measles-everywhere/
[29] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/vaccines/measles-measles-everywhere/
[31] https://jbhandleyblog.com/home/2018/4/1/international2018
[32] Handley, J.B., How to End the Autism Epidemic. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. Print.
[34] Cowan, Thomas, Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illnesses, White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. Print.
[37] Miller, Neil Z., Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers, Santa Fe, New Mexico: New Atlantean Press, 2016. Print.
[38] Moskowitz, Richard, Vaccines – A Reappraisal. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017. Print.
[39] Handley, J.B., How to End the Autism Epidemic. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. Print.
[40] Humphries, Suzanne, and Roman Bystrianyk. Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines and the Forgotten History, 2013. Print.
[41] Cowan, Thomas, Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illnesses, White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. Print.
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