Doctors in India and U.S. Get Big Money and Gifts from Pharma
The Madras High Court in India stated that 8,667 pharmaceutical companies have claimed income tax deduction on the freebies they give to doctors as “sales promotion expenses” and “gifts” in their tax return for the year 2019-20.1 In January 2020, the Court had taken suo motu cognizance (when courts in India take a case on […]
Infant Boy in India Dies After Getting Pentavalent Vaccine
Three-month-old Rohan Kumar died on Feb. 6, 2020 after receiving the “5-in-1” pentavalent (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B) vaccine at a government health center in Ramgarh, India.1 2 An investigation into the infant boy’s death was ordered by the local health department. A rural child health officer was tasked with […]
Infant Boy in India Dies Day After Receiving Pentavalent Vaccine
A two-month-old infant boy died on Jan. 11, 2020, a day after receiving the “5-in-1” pentavalent (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B) vaccine at a rural child care center in Hunshyal, India. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital after he fainted, but he died on the way.1 The child, […]
Samoa Measles Emergency Extended
On Dec. 20, 2019, the government of Samoa announced that 94 percent of the island nation’s population of about 200,000 people had been vaccinated against measles as part of a government-led mandatory, mass vaccination campaign. As of Dec. 20, the Samoan Ministry of Health (MOH) had confirmed 5,463 reported cases with 1,762 hospitalizations and 78 […]
‘Unethical’ Clinical Trials of Vaccines Pose Threat to Human Lives
Opinion | Primum non nocere—“first, do no harm”—is a basic tenet of medical ethics. That is about to change in India. “Controlled Human Infection Method” (CHIM) studies are planned to be introduced here. Humans are to be deliberately infected with diseases to test the efficiency of experimental vaccines. It will provide a shortcut to vaccine licensing […]
Infant Girl in India Dies Day After Receiving Oral Polio and Pentavalent Vaccines
Two-month-old Priyanka Biswal died on Sept. 5, 2019, a day after receiving the live attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV), pentavalent (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B) vaccine and vitamin supplements at a Community Health Center (CHC) in Naranapur, India.1 2 A report by the Orissa Post noted, “after intake of the polio […]