SWINE FLU REVIEW:

The Case for Reforming U.S. Emergency Health Laws

© By Alan Phillips, J.D., Director, Pandemic Response Project

May be reprinted only with permission of the author.

Periodically Revised. Original: August 22, 2010. This version: August 22, 2010

http://www.pandemicresponseproject.com

1. INTRODUCTION

The 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic is officially over, but many serious risks remain—not so much from the flu, but from the flu vaccines and America’s emergency health laws. Current laws allows states to mandate fast-tracked, untested emergency vaccines and other emergency medical protocol without exemptions during declared emergencies, despite the existence of safer, viable alternatives; those who refuse vaccines can be quarantined in government facilities. This Report documents the problems and the need for prompt, proactive legislative solutions.

1. BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2. 1976 “Swine Flu Fiasco”

In 1976, the Ford Administration projected up to one million deaths from the swine flu. President Ford claimed on national T.V. that the 1976 swine flu was the same virus as the 1918 Spanish flu that killed ½ million Americans and 20 million people internationally. In response, Congress allocated money for swine flu vaccines, guaranteed vaccine manufacturers a profit, and indemnified vaccine manufacturers from harm from the vaccines.

Ford’s 1976 vaccine campaign went against the recommendation of government scientists. There had been only one swine flu death—a soldier from Fort Dix. That flu season turned out to be the mildest flu season on record. CBS news later reported 4,000 vaccine damage claims for $3.5 billion. Two thirds of the claims were for neurological harm or death from the vaccines.

1. 2005 Bird Flu Hoax

In early October of 2005, the Bush Administration warned that bird flu could kill from 200,000 to 2,000,000 Americans. In late October of 2005, the Centre for Research on Globalization revealed that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld would profit from the “bird flu hoax.” No pandemic materialized, but the U.S. spent $2 billion on Tamiflu.

1. 2009 Contaminated Vaccines

In February of 2009, American vaccine manufacturer Baxter sent vaccines contaminated with live avian bird flu virus throughout Europe. Media in the Czech Republic, where the contamination was first discovered, reported that it was “virtually impossible” for this to have been an accident, given the Biosafety Level 3 laboratory protocols used, and questioned whether this was an attempt to start a deliberate pandemic. The vaccine mixture of the deadly-but-not-easily-spread H5N1 bird flu virus and the benign-but-easily-spread seasonal flu virus could have been a lethal airborne biological weapon that could have triggered contracts internationally for the production and sale of vaccines to address such a pandemic. [Nor was this an isolated instance in which an American pharmaceutical company deliberately introduced disease into a foreign country. In the mid-1980’s, Bayer knowing dumped HIV-tainted drugs on other countries after being forbidden to sell them in the U.S. Many innocent people died as a result.]

Baxter first denied the 2009 European vaccine contamination, then later claimed it was an accident. Baxter has had over 44 Class I recalls since 2003, yet has developed flu vaccines fully funded by the federal government. “Class I Recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] are the most severe type of FDA recall. In a Class-I recall there is a potential for serious injury or death.”

1. THE 2009-2010 SWINE FLU PANDEMIC:
   Disconnect Between Policy and Reality
2. Pandemic Declaration

On May 18, 2009, over a dozen countries, including Japan, the U.K. and China urged the World Health Organization (WHO) not to use a new definition of “pandemic.” On June 11, 2009, Margaret Chan, WHO Director General, declared a level 6 pandemic using the new definition, which allowed a much milder disease to meet the level 6 classification. The declaration triggered contract provisions with countries around the world for the purchase of massive quantities of emergency H1N1 vaccines, most of which were never administered.

1. Incidence Tracking and Emergency Declarations

On July 10, 2009, a month after the level 6 declaration, the WHO stopped collecting confirmed swine flu cases. In late July of 2009, the CDC abruptly advised states to stop testing for swine flu, to “stop wasting resources.” Some public health officials privately disagreed. On October 21, 2009, Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News reported that swine flu cases had been overestimated by 90%. She based this on data obtained directly from states, since the CDC refused to provide it; diagnoses had been based on symptoms and risk factors only. Despite this, two days later, President Obama declared a National Swine Flu Emergency.

Between April and October of 2009, swine flu emergencies were declared in 11 U.S. states, American Samoa, Washington D.C., and even individual counties, sometimes based on very few or even no confirmed swine flu cases, e.g.: Virginia 4-4-09: 0 cases; Ohio 4-28-09 and Nebraska 4-30-09: 1 case;  New York 4-26-09, 8 cases. But there was no emergency. Even high-end estimates for swine flu deaths were ultimately only a fraction of what the CDC claims occurs from the seasonal flu.

1. Pandemic Hoax, Misguided U.S. Policy

In January of 2010, Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, epidemiologist and former chair of the subcommittee on health of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, publicly announced that the 2009 swine flu pandemic was a “hoax.”But barely month later on March 5, 2010, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius extended the U.S. swine flu emergency prospectively for another two years, through the end of February 2012.

1. Slippery Statistics

The WHO reported international swine flu deaths totaling 25,174 as of late spring 2010. According to the CDC, the US—which has approx. 5% of the world’s population—had 10,837 swine flu deaths, or 43% of the world’s swine flu deaths. Britain, with about 1% of the world’s population, reported 2% of the world’s swine flu deaths. Poland, with 0.6% of the world’s population, reported swine flu deaths equal to 0.06% of the world’s total. In other words, the U.S. had over 8 times its proportional share of swine flu deaths and the U.K. 2 times its share, while Poland had only 1/10 of its proportional share. Disturbingly, this closely correlates with reported swine flu vaccination rates: The US reportedly administered vaccines to about 30% of the population, and the U.K. about 8% of theirs, while Poland refused swine flu vaccines altogether.

VACCINATION RATE VS. PROPORTIONAL DISEASE DEATHS

True statistics are simply not available, and estimates vary. The CDC reports laboratory confirmed flu deaths (swine and seasonal) in the U.S. for the 2009-2010 flu season were 2,117, and the WHO’s death total for swine flu 18,337 for the world. The CDC’s latest estimate of U.S. swine flu deaths is 8870 – 18,300, while Flu Tracker (Rhiza Labs) estimates 4642 fatal U.S. swine flu cases based on “data from official sources, news reports and user-contributions.” The truth is, we have no idea what the actual death total is, and this leaves room for authorities to manipulate data to favor special interests. Independent researchers saw early on that authorities were “manipulating data to justify a worldwide public health emergency.”

U.S. FLU DEATHS 2009-2010

1. Vaccine Safety Problems

According to the package inserts, the safety of the four swine flu vaccines initially licensed by the FDA is based on prior studies of trivalent, seasonal flu vaccines. That is, for vaccine safety purposes, the swine flu component was a simple “strain change.” However, for vaccine promotion purposes, the CDC and WHO repeatedly referred to the swine flu virus as a “novel strain” capable of serious harm. The character of the swine flu was apparently malleable to suit the objectives of the vaccine manufacturer industry, with national and international government agencies promoting their products.

As for seasonal flu vaccines, former FDA Chief Vaccine Control Officer Dr. J. Anthony Morris has stated: "There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them, anyway." Tom Jefferson of the non-profit, independent Cochrane Collaboration is widely recognized as the world’s leading authority on flu vaccine literature. He has stated that the “vast majority of [flu vaccine] studies were deeply flawed,” and “calls them ‘rubbish.’” A 2008 Cochrane Review of more than 50 studies involving 294,000 children concluded that the vaccines were no better than a placebo in children six months to two years of age.^, So how could we have expected emergency flu vaccines to be any more effective? CSL package inserts admit that “there have been no controlled clinical studies demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination” with its AFLURIA vaccines for 6-month old children. Nevertheless, the CDC now recommends the swine flu vaccine for everyone from the age of six months, and 2010-2011 seasonal flu vaccines include a swine flu component. Meanwhile, other studies bring into question the effectiveness of seasonal flu vaccines for virtually all age groups.

As the 2009-2010 pandemic played out, reports of swine flu vaccine adverse events including disability and death poured in from around the globe. Perhaps most disturbing was the alarming number of miscarriages following swine flu vaccination. Doctors reportedly have refused to investigate individual cases, attributing them to coincidence. This raises a serious ethical question, as coincidence can only justify general statistical claims; it is not a valid scientific explanation for any specific, individual case. The National Coalition of Women, using capture-recapture statistical methods, found up to 3200 swine flu vaccine-related miscarriages in the U.S. this past flu season. This dwarfs the alleged increased risk that the swine flu allegedly posed for pregnant women.

The federal government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports, as of May 28, 2010, a total of 11,180 adverse events following swine flu vaccination. Of these, 868 were “serious” reactions and 60 were deaths. However, the FDA and CDC have admitted that reported events represent as few as 1-10% of events actually occurring, possibly even less than 1% according to former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, so the truth is, we really have no idea what the true scope and severity of swine flu vaccine adverse events was, or of that of any vaccine, for that matter. What we can say with reasonable certainty is that swine flu vaccine adverse events are substantial, likely many times that of official reports, and that this fact is vastly under-acknowledged and denied by health authorities.

H1N1 vaccine adverse events will not be compensated under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) that compensates some of the harm from routine immunizations. Swine flu adverse events may be compensated under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), but that program won’t be taking applications for months, “because the administrative policies and procedures for handling them have not yet been approved,”^, despite the nearly 5 years that have passed since the program’s creation under the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act in December of 2005. So, it could be years before swine flu vaccine victims are compensated, and the amount of compensation may be more limited than what the VICP pays for routine immunization adverse events. However, this same Act ensured that the swine flu vaccine manufacturers have virtually no liability for the adverse effects of their products. Compensation for the adverse events from the new mixed seasonal-swine flu vaccines may be difficult to obtain, since there are different programs compensating the adverse events caused by each of these different components. As it stands now, applicants may have to show which component caused the adverse reaction in order for the government to determine which program must compensate the vaccine victim.

1. Corruption and Conflicts of Interest

December of 2009, Julie Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., announced her job change from CDC Director (where she promoted vaccines) to President of Merck Vaccines. The implications are disturbing. Government agency personnel, in order to be considered as candidates for higher paying jobs in the private sector, will necessarily feel pressured to make relevant agency recommendations and decisions favoring vaccine manufacturers. This is not speculative; we now know that this is exactly what happened with the 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic.

Corruption exists at the highest levels. For example, in December of 2009, the WHO reported on its website: “Corruption in the pharmaceutical sector occurs throughout all stages of the medicines chain, from research and development to dispensing and promotion.” On February 21, 2010, the Epoch Times reported that the FDA’s conflict of interest in vaccine approval had been confirmed. On June 3, 2010, the British Medical Journal revealed the existence of undisclosed, serious conflicts of interest in the WHO along with scientifically unsupportable distortions of information from the WHO concerning the swine flu pandemic. The Journal’s Editor in Chief advised: “The current leadership of WHO may need to resign . . . We must create a world in which the best experts are those that are free from commercial influence…” On June 4, 2010, The UK’s Guardian shared a report that condemns “WHO Swine Flu Experts’ Ties to Big Pharma.” The WHO itself did not volunteer any conflict of interest information until August 11, 2010.

1. Government Waste = Pharmaceutical Windfall

An estimated $18 billion USD worth of swine flu vaccines were sold over the course of a few months. However, the vast majority of them were never administered. To illustrate:

1. U.S.: Ordered 229 million doses; distributed 162 million; administered 90 million; and had 71 million doses left over. 40 million doses expired for a $260 million loss.

2. France: Purchased 94 million doses for €700 million; only 8% vaccinated (5 million citizens); attempted sale of surplus.

3. Germany: Ordered 50 million doses. 30% cancelled, 30 million were left over for a
loss of €250 million.

4. United Kingdom: Ordered 90 million doses for £540 million (spent £1.24 billion preparing for the pandemic); used only 5.1 million, while 20 million went unusedfor a £300 million loss.

5. Australia: Purchased 19 million doses for $100 million; 7.5 million went unused (~$39 million wasted).

6. Japan: Anticipates $853 million vaccine loss (US dollars).

1. Vaccine vs. Virus: The Alternatives

In the fall of 2008, Cuba used homeoprophylaxis to protect 2.5 million Cuban residents from a Leptospirosis outbreak following tropical flooding. (Homeoprophylaxis is the use of homeopathic remedies to prevent disease; Leptospirosis is a fever disease that recurs in Cuba following flooding from tropical storms). The protective effect profoundly exceeded that of conventional immunizations—10 infections and no deaths with homeoprophylaxis vs. thousands of cases with deaths in prior years with conventional immunization—and for about 1/15th of the cost of immunization. This was reportedly possible since “Cuba is not under the yoke of the pharmaceutical juggernaut” and Cuba “has no multi-nationals to stop them,” and was achieved “with full scientific verification.” Numerous other instances of successful homeoprophylaxis have been reported around the world over the past 200 years, including in the U.S. An added bonus of homeoprophylaxis is that adverse events are virtually non-existent.

A recent Japanese study found that “Vitamin D [is] better than vaccines at preventing flu,” and experts say that vitamin D toxicity fears are unwarranted. Immunizations may be profitable for the pharmaceutical industry, but they are severely lacking compared to other safer, proven, more effective and less costly means of addressing infectious disease concerns.

1. EMERGENCY HEALTH LAWS

48 U.S. states have philosophical and/or religious exemptions to routine immunizations, and all have medical exemptions. However, most states can require exempt persons to be immunized during outbreaks and emergencies. Many of these laws were enacted in the years following the publication of the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act in December of 2001, shortly after 9/11. This model law would give states sweeping authority to mandate emergency vaccines and other emergency medical protocols during declared emergencies—without exemptions—and to quarantine those who refuse, potentially in government facilities against their will, among other overreaching powers. Despite the criticism of many organizations, states around the country have enacted various portions of the Model Act. However, since we now know that pandemics and emergencies can be declared even when they don’t exist, and that vaccines can be mandated during such false emergencies (e.g., New York temporarily mandated H1N1 vaccines for healthcare workers in the fall of 2009), and given the documented harm caused by emergency vaccines, laws clearly need to be enacted that enable citizens to make informed choices in government-declared emergencies.

1. THE PANDEMIC IS OVER, BUT IS THE EMERGENCY?

On August 10, 2010, the WHO declared the H1N1 Pandemic was over. However, the U.S. state of emergency continues until February, 29, 2012.

1. CONCLUSIONS
2. Epidemics and Emergencies can be declared when they do not exist.
3. Untested, fast-track, experimental vaccines can be mandated without exemptions in a false emergency.
4. True totals for pandemic-disease-deaths and emergency-vaccine-deaths are unknowable. Therefore, a reliable risk-benefit analysis is impossible to calculate.
5. Mortality from the swine flu “pandemic” was disproportionally high for some vaccinating countries (e.g., U.S. and Britain), and disproportionally low for a non-vaccinating country (Poland)—substantially so. Therefore, pandemic vaccines may be counterproductive.
6. Corruption and conflicts of interest occurs at the highest levels of government and the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, governments should not assume absolute authority over or during healthcare emergencies.
7. Individual citizens MUST have the right to make their own informed decisions about vaccines and other medical protocols in declared emergencies. But this will not occur unless enough citizens unite and take appropriate action.

WHAT TO DO

The Pandemic Response Project (PReP), founded by Attorney Alan Phillips, J.D. is dedicated to reforming America’s emergency health laws to allow greater freedom of choice in declared emergencies. Join the PReP mailing list for up-dates and support for reform in your state. E-mail PReP at ncprepmanager@gmail.com. Read and share this report and The Model Self-Shielding Act, available at the PReP website, with your state representatives and others. Join the Pandemic Response Project’s Volunteer Pool or Professional Panel. There is no obligation, but your participation brings clout and credibility to our mission. Together, we can advance the cause of informed choice. www.pandemicresponseproject.com