Kenya Launches Malaria Vaccine Pilot Program
Kenya has become the third African country, along with Ghana and Malawi, to launch a pilot program for the world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, which has been developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The vaccine is available to children from six months of age in specific locations in Kenya due to its phased pilot introduction.1 2 Malaria […]
Ice Cream for Flu Shots That Don’t Work
I recently ran across a sign in a CVS drugstore offering money to encourage people to get the influenza vaccine. The sign read: “Flu season has arrived! Get your flu vaccine today! Visit Pharmacy for details! -Receive $5 off $25 coupon! *Avoid the Sniffles!” Apart from the excessive use of exclamation points, the sign caught […]
Medical “Experts” Were Wrong About the Safety of Opioids
Story Highlights Addiction to and death from prescription painkillers is now a public health crisis in the United States. In the early 1990s, medical “experts” and “thought leaders” made claims convincing the medical community and the public that prescription painkillers were non-addictive when used in the long-term. Financial conflict of interest between opioid manufacturers and […]
The Pill Pitch
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 […]
Executive Order Creates Influenza Vaccine Task Force to Promote “National Security and Public Health”
On Sept. 19, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order, “Modernizing Influenza Vaccines in the United State to Promote National Security and Public Health.” Describing mass use of influenza vaccines “to combat seasonal flu” and influenza pandemics as “strengthening our Nation’s public health and security,” he announced the establishment of a National Influenza Vaccine […]
A Glimpse of the World Before Vaccines
A common historical theme has emerged in many recent articles about this year’s measles outbreak in the United States. It is perhaps best exemplified by the headline in an opinion piece in National Geographic magazine: “The world before vaccines is a world we can’t afford to forget.” The theme is meant to emphasize the importance […]