“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
As vaccine-related bills are being introduced into state legislatures this month, a bill (HB1090) has been proposed in the Virginia legislature to require school children to receive every dose of all current and future vaccines added to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) appointed by the U.S. Centers […]
Story Highlights The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was created by Congress in 1986 as part of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Although health care providers are required by federal law to report specific vaccine reactions to VAERS, less than one percent of adverse events following vaccination are reported. Doctors, medical workers, adult patients […]
In July 2019, drug and French vaccine manufacturer Sanofi signed a deal with Roche Pharmaceuticals to obtain exclusive over-the-counter (OTC) rights for Tamiflu (oseltamivir), an antiviral drug licensed for the treatment of influenza infections. Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, currently sells Tamiflu in the United States only for prescription use.1 Tamiflu is a […]
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), the delayed, potentially fatal red meat allergy acquired through tick bites, has increased dramatically in the United States, and cases have also been reported in Sweden, Germany and Australia.1 As of 2013, more than 5,000 people in the Southwest U.S. have been diagnosed with the condition.2 In 2007, Scott Commins, MD, an […]
Opinion | Bills to either remove or restrict vaccine exemptions have been filed across the U.S. in 2019. One of the most striking was New York’s A2371, which eliminated the religious exemption to vaccination in one day, with no public hearings. Soon after, New York state health officials eliminated the ability of doctors to grant medical […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (BLA) for the Fluzone high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine for use by adults 65 years of age and older. Fluzone is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. of France.1 2 The Fluzone high-dose influenza vaccine was approved by the FDA in 2009 as […]
Opinion | Flu season is creeping up on us again and there are widespread calls to get your annual flu shot, despite the fact that, year after year, this strategy turns out to have an abysmal rate of effectiveness across the board. One group that consistently turns out to draw the short end of the stick […]
Prescription drugs help many people and even save lives. But use of prescription drugs as prescribed is also a leading cause of death in the U.S. Are some pharmaceutical companies skirting TV ad rules so that they don’t have to disclose side effects of some vaccines and other prescription medicine? Some critics say “yes.” And […]
On Aug. 6, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement saying that Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG submitted a biologics license application (BLA) for the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) gene therapy Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) with manipulated data and failed to inform regulators until June 28, 2019—more than a month after the […]
This year has brought a great deal of attention to mandated vaccines. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spend billions in taxpayer money trying to convince consumers that vaccines are safe and effective—yet they are neither safe nor effective for all. The continued […]