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MedImmune, Wyeth, and the CDC

What Flu Shot Shortage?

Are MedImmune, Wyeth, and the CDC bringing us a phony flu shortage to increases sales?

I just wrote an article on the Flu shot shortage scam which I am resending here along with some updated info on a phony story going around on the flu shortage below. This story is being passed around to shamelessly get votes for Bush and win favor of current legislation on tort reform. It is good to be suspicious, better to be informed, I hope this helps.

1 - Regarding the claim that John Edwards secured a $5 million judgment against a U.S. pharmaceutical company on a flu vaccine case, while it is true he had a highly successful legal career representing individuals who had been badly harmed by malfunctioning products or the mistakes of doctors and hospitals, at this point it's not known if he ever litigated a flu vaccine case, or if so, what the outcome of such a trial was.

2 - Litigation against vaccine manufacturers (not over flu vaccine specifically, but vaccines in general, particularly those that used thimerosal (contains Mercury as a preservative) did create some shortages prior to the mid-1980s, but the passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 eliminated most of those lawsuits through the creation of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), a no-fault compensation alternative to suing vaccine manufacturers for people injured or killed by vaccines. According to a 2003 report by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), "vaccine shortages do not appear to be liability related". The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) enacted in the late 1980s has been of immense value in stabilizing the vaccine market.
Taken from - http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/flushot.asp

The story states that the case Edwards supposedly tried and won was in the late 80's - the VICP Act that ended the frivolous law suits that Edwards is being accused of passed in 1986. Today the US Dep't of Health claims the vaccine shortage is not related to liability law suits.

So the story that is being passed around about Edwards being the blame for our flu shortage is patently false. This story is a bogus way to win votes for Bush and more than this it is a way for a drug companies like Wyeth and MedImmune to make its case to justify increased and guaranteed profits. Read my article titled "What Flu Shortage?" below to get more on this story.

Dear Friends - healthy friends,

I have been a longtime advocate of NO vaccinations. This year's flu shot shortage helps me put this diabolical disease of greed into perspective. Yes, vaccines are a disease of corporate greed and they are an example of how a government can become a manipulated slave to corporate profits.

The worst thing about vaccines is that people actually get the shots.

Here are some reasons why ----

Flu facts:

only about 20% of people with flu symptoms actually have the flu

flu vaccines provide only a temporary immunity as compared to actually allowing the body to work its way through a flu attack which insures a longer lasting immunity if not permanent

the flu vaccine contains the Mercury preservative thimerosal. Mercury has been associated with brain damage in newborns and autism in children. The CDC recommends pregnant mothers get vaccinated

side-effects from flu vaccines can include brain damage, nerve disorder, muscle weakness, Alzheimers, paralysis and food allergies (especially eggs)

A big problem arises as vaccinated people become shedders and spreaders of the flu to those that do not get the vaccine.

Flu vaccines are a deadly way to make a buck; buyer beware - http://www.909shot.com/VaxNews/vaxnews.htm

History - it used to be that only our seniors and the most vulnerable received these shots - now it is recommended for children and the rest of our population; basically it is recommended for whoever is afraid enough of getting the flu. Here are some facts on the flu vaccine story.

There are hundreds of flu viruses in this world and the vaccine covers three. Studies have shown that the promise of "cross protection" against the other strains of influenza has been found to be false as people are virtually unprotected from the other strains

The drug companies MedImmune and Wyeth are spending over $100 million in three years advertising the campaign to immunize 160 million Americans. In 2003 MedImmune sold its flu-mist for between $46 to $150 a dose through WalMart stores, hospitals and doctors offices. A good old flu shot costs $15. MedImmune estimated that it would make from $120-$140 million a year in sales off their FluMist nasal vaccine. Their stick went up.

In December 2003 (last year) the first influenza death of the year was a 20 month old boy in Colorado. Although he had been vaccinated, the story didn't focus on this, the story went into fear mode backed up by our CDC and talked about a possible flu epidemic, especially in children. The boy was vaccinated, did anyone think that he may have died from his vaccination?

In spite of all the hype the FluMist vaccine sold about 400,000 doses of the 4 million produced. They ended up giving away the balance and even then they could not get rid of all their doses and had to destroy many of them. MedImmune made only about $55 million of its projected $140 million. But there was still hope for success, on January 28, 2004, a bill was passed in Congress to reimburse flu vaccine manufacturers when they produce more vaccinations than used by the public. The bill is called the "Flu Protection Act 2004" and requires our Center for Disease Control to purchase back from the manufacturers their unused doses of flu vaccine at the end of the flu season. It also requires the CDC to conduct public awareness campaigns that stress the importance of receiving the flu vaccine for the safety and good of the public. In other words the government guarantees the sale of the vaccines that can kill little boys in Colorado, and it also markets the vaccines for the drug companies. The CDC is shilling for profits for huge pharma companies.

A good way to sell something is to create an image that there is a shortage and a great need. This year (2004) some 85 million people will get a flu shot, and soon the CDC will expand its recommendations to more age groups to get a flu shot. The CDC expects the number of flu shots to triple to 185 million; good marketing in a climate of fear. Remember the SARS scare of 2003? One can only assume that with a faked flu shortage and a population running scared that business is good for MedImmune and Wyeth - MedImmune reports record revenues - $33 million from FluMist, http://investor.medimmune.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=83037&p=IROL-SingleRelease&t=Regular&id=633774& and MedImmune Expands Production Plans For FluMist - http://investor.medimmune.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=83037&p=IROL-SingleRelease&t=Regular&id=634486& ; but it gets even better for the drug companies.

The manufacturers are also protected from law suits for compensation for any personal injuries from the vaccines. Stick that in your tort reform pipe and smoke it. Why isn't this discussed in the great presidential debates? Instead we have two dudes touting how they are better at tort reform than the other. What they are doing is taking away the peoples' right to sue companies that sell a bad product and further protecting the corporate interests of their lobbies.

What's ahead? Vaccinations for measles, hepatitis, chicken pox, and pneumonia. These and other CDC recommended vaccinations will be provided with a government voucher (government subsidized health industry) that will mandate insurance companies to cover these diseases. Healthy Americans that do not believe they need or want a vaccination will pay twice for something they do not get: once through higher insurance premiums and again through their federal taxes.

There is talk in Congress about mandating an annual flu vaccine for all 280 million Americans. With a guaranteed market and a guaranteed profit, the flu vaccine will become the most profitable vaccine in history - http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-02-24-flu-usat_x.htm

NO forced vaccinations - Not in America!

I hope this eases your pain about the shortage of flu shots this year.

Michael Tivana
tribalmessenger.org

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Here is the story being curculated to blame the flu shortage on trial lawyer and specifially John Edwards.

FLU VACCINE SHORTAGE....WHY?

How the vaccine works:

Influenza vaccine is produced by growing the virus in eggs. The virus is killed and processed to create the vaccine, which is given by injection under the skin. The body then produces antibodies to the virus over the next two to four weeks. If the immunized person then comes into contact with the influenza virus, the antibodies attack and kill the virus before it has a chance to cause infection. The vaccine contains the 3 most likely strains to be active during the "flu season"

Why the shortage:

Almost half of the nation's flu vaccine will not be delivered this year. Chiron, a major manufacturer of flu vaccine, will not be distributing any influenza vaccine this flu season. Chiron was to make 46-48 million doses vaccine for the United States. Chiron is a British company. Recently British health officials stopped Chiron from distributing and making the vaccine when inspectors found unsanitary conditions in the labs. Some lots of the vaccine were recalled and destroyed.

Why is our vaccine made in the UK and not the US?

The major pharmaceutical companies in the US provided almost 90% of the nations flu vaccine at one time. They did this despite a very low profit margin for the product. Basically, they were doing us a favor. In the late 80's a man from North Carolina who had received the vaccine got the flu. The strain he caught was one of the strains in that years vaccine made by a US company. What did he do? He sued and he won. He was awarded almost $5 million! After that case was appealed and lost, most US pharmaceutical companies stopped making the vaccine. The liability out weighed the profit margin. Since UK and Canadian laws prohibit such frivolous law suits UK and Canadian companies began selling the vaccine in the US.

By the way...the lawyer that represented the man in the flu shot law suit was John Edwards.

 

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