2 Nat News articles on vaccines

[Guest guest]

Merck Targets Low Income and Minority Women in HPV Vaccine Study

Thursday, September 25, 2008 by: Joanne Waldron

(NaturalNews) Merck, manufacturer of the controversial Gardasil vaccine, has

awarded a research grant of $79,000.00 to two Indiana University Kelley School

of Business professors to study the effect of two interventions on acceptance of

the HPV vaccination among low-income and minority women, according to a press

release by the university. One professor, Dena , will examine how consumers

make health care decisions. Another professor, , will explore how

consumers evaluate the risk factors involved when considering medical

treatments.

Researchers are Business Experts, Not Medical Doctors

Eli Lilly Fellow Dena , who will serve as the principal investigator on the

study, was previously a microbiologist before receiving a doctorate in marketing

from the University of Houston. , co-investigator for this study, has

a Ph.D. in marketing from Indiana University. Note that neither of these

researchers are medical doctors. According to the press release, it is their job

to " seek the most effective ways to present HPV vaccine risk and benefit

information to low-income Hispanic, African-American and White women, so that

they can make informed HPV vaccination decisions. "

How Does One Convince Low Income/Minority Women to Get HPV Shot?

One may wonder what Merck's idea of an " informed HPV vaccination decision " is.

Given Merck's marketing campaign for Gardasil has included ad spots during

televisions shows like American Idol and the Oprah Winfrey Show and during

movies like Sex in the City, one can only presume that an " informed HPV

vaccination decision " is one in which the women in question agree to allow

themselves to be given the Gardasil jab. This is why the study is being

conducted by marketers and not medical doctors. Make no mistake about it. The

purpose of the study is to determine the best ways to convince these low income

and minority women to get this vaccine.

Public Starting to Question Vaccine

If the vaccine is so great, why does Merck have to spend so much money marketing

the vaccine and hiring researchers to determine the best ways to encourage young

women to get it? The CDC still insists that the Gardasil vaccine is safe and

effective. Why isn't the public buying it?

The truth is that Gardasil has been in the news quite a bit lately, and the

press has not been good. Parents and young women are questioning the safety and

efficacy of the vaccine and rightly so. When there are constantly news stories

running about Gardasil linked to things like paralysis, death, and pancreatitis,

it is no small wonder that Merck is busy getting business experts to study how

to push this vaccine on low income and minority women.

Thousands of Families Sue Over Vaccine Link to Autism

Thursday, September 25, 2008 by: Gutierrez(NaturalNews) The U.S. Court of

Claims is hearing a series of arguments from parents who charge that vaccines

gave their children autism.

The claims court is considering arguments from 4,900 parents who say that the

vaccines produced autism or neurological problems in their previously normal,

healthy children. While the disorder normally develops before the age of three,

many of the parents claim that their older children only developed the condition

after being vaccinated.

In order to deal with the large number of claims, the court's Office of Special

Masters ordered lawyers for the families to select three test cases for each of

the three vaccine-autism arguments that have been put forward.

The group currently being heard claims that autism was produced by a

preservative thimerosal, which contains mercury. The vaccine caused mercury to

build up in children's brains, the lawyers say, reversing their normal mental

development when brain cells became chronically hyperactive in order to try and

purge the metal.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is known to cause a variety of developmental

and brain problems, especially in children.

" In some kids, there's enough of it that it sets off this chronic

neuroinflammatory pattern that can lead to regressive autism, " attorney Mike

said.

In the past, many children's vaccines were made with the thimerosal. Although

the FDA denies that the thimerosal in vaccines is dangerous, it ordered the

chemical phased out of childhood vaccines in 1999. It is currently found only in

adult vaccines and in certain multi-dose flu vaccines that are also given to

children.

Another group of parents, which went before the court in 2007 and has yet to

hear a verdict, argued that autism was produced not only by thimerosal, but also

by the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, which does not contain the chemical.

A third group, to be heard in September, alleges that only the MMR vaccine

produced autism in their children.