OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Feb. 15, 2019) – A bill introduced in the Oklahoma Senate would require informed consent for administering childhood vaccines and push back against anticipated federal vaccine mandates.
Sen. Joseph Silk (R-Broken Bow) and Rep. Tom Gann (R) introduced Senate Bill 535 (SB535) on Feb. 4. The bill would require that informed consent be obtained, in writing and verbally, from a child’s legal representative before the administration of any vaccine on the Vaccine Injury Table established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It would also require that relevant information be provided regarding the benefits and risks of the vaccine, as well as information concerning the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).
Further, for injections which consist of multiple vaccines, SB535 would require informed consent for each vaccine contained in the injection. The bill states that providing a copy of the Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) and making available for review the CDC’s “Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases: Vaccine Excipient and Media Summary” (the pink book) would constitute a minimum standard of relevant information.
VISs are information sheets produced by the CDC that explain the benefits and risks of a vaccine. The pink book includes a chart of the ingredients in each vaccine. Strict statutes of limitations exist for filing vaccine injury claims with the personal injury attorney rancho cucamonga ca and, therefore, SB535’s requirement to provide notice of the existence of VICP would make it less likely that parents would miss deadlines for filing claims of vaccine injury.
Vaccination is a medical intervention that carries a risk of injury or death and mandated vaccines are in direct opposition to informed consent, the number one tenet of the Nuremberg Code: that the voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. [1]. The Nuremberg Code was introduced in 1947 after the Nuremberg trials, in which Nazi doctors were convicted of crimes committed during human experiments on concentration camp prisoners without the prisoners’ consent.
EFFECT ON FEDERAL POLICY
Passage of SB535 would push back against federal vaccine narratives and make it more difficult for the feds to enforce federal vaccine mandates in the future. Mandates generally have their basis in vaccine schedules recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Many states currently mandate vaccines on the CDC’s childhood schedule, with some states allowing exemptions from the mandates on medical, religious and/or philosophical grounds. It is anticipated that, in the future, the federal government will mandate vaccines on both the CDC’s childhood and adult schedules, with no right, or extremely limited right, for exemption.
The CDC makes vaccine recommendations in an environment fraught with conflicts of interest. The CDC relies heavily upon research sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, the very industry that will profit from vaccines being recommended and used. Vaccines are the most lucrative product sold by the pharmaceutical industry because, unlike with other products, the pharmaceutical industry is shielded from liability for harm caused by federally recommended and state-mandated vaccines.
This is due to a law passed by Congress in 1986 as a result of extensive lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry. The law created the VICP to hear claims of harm caused by vaccines and any compensation granted by the VICP is paid by the public, through a surcharge on vaccines, and not by vaccine manufacturers. Further, although discovery is a right afforded to litigants in most other legal forums, discovery is generally not permitted in the VICP process. By being deprived of the right to conduct discovery, complainants are unable to unearth potentially damaging evidence concerning vaccines. Through discovery in other forums, information unfavorable to the pharmaceutical industry has come to light, such as damaging e-mails which were required to be produced in litigation concerning the drug Vioxx. [2]
With liability removed from vaccine manufacturers and vaccine manufacturers heavily influencing the CDC’s recommendations, the number of vaccine doses recommended by the CDC is steadily rising. In 1983, the CDC recommended that children receive 23 doses of 7 vaccines but, by 2017, the number of vaccines it was recommending rose to 69 doses of 16 vaccines starting on the day of birth to age 18, with 50 doses of 14 vaccines given before age 6. [3] Furthermore, an increasing number of doses are being added to the CDC’s adult schedule. [4]
With a strong conflict of interest influencing the federal government’s vaccine recommendations, it is critical that states have the power to reject federal vaccine mandates.
Contrary to the widely held view, there are many reasons to question vaccine safety. Although the ingredients in each type of vaccine differ, generally, vaccines contain a myriad of concerning substances, such as aluminum, antibiotics, formaldehyde, Polysorbate 80, bovine extract, egg protein, monosodium glutamate (MSG), squalene, and aborted human fetal tissue. [5], [6]. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is Chairman of Children’s Health Defense and its website contains extensive information concerning the potential dangers of vaccines, with sections of the website specifically devoted to federal government failures in the area of vaccine safety (entitled “Federal Failures” and “Government Corruption”). [7] Additionally, several recently published books set forth scientific information which calls into question vaccine safety. For example, over 400 peer-reviewed scientific studies raising concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy are discussed in the book Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers by Neil Z. Miller. [8] In another example, Dr. Richard Moskowitz, a family physician with over fifty years of experience, discusses a wide body of research indicating potential harm caused by vaccines in his recent book Vaccines – A Reappraisal. [9] In the book, Dr. Moskowitz discusses surprising facts concerning vaccine safety testing, including that vaccines are generally tested without a control group of untreated (unvaccinated) individuals for comparison and that monitoring for adverse reactions generally occurs for a very short period of time, often of fourteen days or less. [10] J.B. Handley’s book How to End the Autism Epidemic also contains a wealth of scientific information concerning potential harm caused by vaccines, particularly focusing on aluminum, a toxic metal used as an adjuvant in many vaccines, and on evidence of a causal link between vaccines and autism. [11]
There is no consensus in the scientific community about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines or the necessity for them. Accordingly, states must resist federal vaccine mandates.
As we have seen with marijuana and industrial hemp, a federal regulation becomes ineffective when states enact contradictory policies. If multiple states ban mandatory vaccinations or pass laws which conflict with the CDC’s recommended schedules, it will become extremely difficult for the federal government to enforce any kind of future federal mandates. Such state laws will also undermine the federal narrative and make it harder for the feds to generate support for nationwide mandatory vaccine policies.
By passing SB535, Oklahoma has the opportunity to lead on this important issue and to become the potential standard bearer for resisting federal vaccine policy at the state level.
WHAT’S NEXT
SB535 was referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee where it must pass by a majority vote before moving forward in the legislative process.
NOTES
[1] The Nuremberg Code. https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/international/ethical-codes-and-research-standards/index.html
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/business/jury-finds-merck-liable-in-vioxx-death-and-awards-253-million.html
[3] National Vaccine Information Center. “A Guide to Reforming Vaccine Policy and Law.” www.nvic.org. Web. Accessed 2019. https://www.nvic.org/CMSTemplates/NVIC/pdf/NVIC_Vaccine_Law_Reform_Guide.pdf
[4] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/adult-compliant.html
[5] Imus, Deirdre. “Toxic Vaccine Ingredients: The Devil is in the Details.” www.ChildrensHealthDefense.org. Web. Accessed 2019.
[6] National Vaccine Information Center. “New Human Fetal Cell Lines Available for Vaccine Production.” www.nvic.org. Web. Accessed 2019. https://www.nvic.org/nvic-vaccine-news/january-2018/new-human-fetal-cell-lines-for-vaccine-production.aspx
[7] www.ChildrensHealthDefense.org. Web. Accessed 2019.
[8] Miller, Neil Z., Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers, Santa Fe, New Mexico: New Altantean Press, 2016. Print.
[9] Moskowitz, Richard, Vaccines – A Reappraisal. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017. Print.
[10] Moskowitz, Richard, Vaccines – A Reappraisal. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2017. 29-41. Print.
[11] Handley, J.B., How to End the Autism Epidemic. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. Print.
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