Press Release For Immediate Release Contact: Bobbie Manning 716-713-6625
Historical Move Made By Congressman Dave Weldon
Washington, DC - U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-FL) to introduce a bill that would give responsibility for the nation’s vaccine safety to an independent agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, removing most vaccine safety research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Currently, the CDC has responsibility for both vaccine safety and promotion, which Weldon believes has created a conflict of interest. Across the federal government we have worked to eliminate similar conflicts of interest, but with regard to mandatory childhood vaccines we allow this conflict to persist unchecked.
The most notorious example of the CDC and its history of manipulating its own vaccine data is the Simpsonwood, Georgia meeting. A closed door secret meeting convened by the CDC in the year 2000, in Simpsonwood, Georgia, after the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 1999 the removal of thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, from all childhood vaccines.
Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Safeminds, a non-profit organization which supports research on the potential harmful effects of mercury and thimerosal, was able to obtain the meeting transcript which clearly indicated that the CDC recognized the serious danger of the continued use of thimerosal/mercury in vaccines, even through their own study, however, did not want to disclose this information to the public and allowed the continued use of thimerosal to be injected into infants and children by consistently manipulating their own data.
Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, a CDC Epidemiologist, used the CDC’s internal database, the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), for their own study which showed a statistically significant relationship between the amount of mercury children were receiving through vaccines and neurological disorders. No matter how he tried to run the numbers, he wrote, the association “just won't go away”.
The CDC ultimately released a report in which they said thimerosal/mercury in vaccines had no causal effects.
Many private, independent researchers have been denied access to the VSD to conduct their own studies. The only private researchers able to receive access had tremendous difficulty in doing so and their research uncovered the same horrifying results as Dr. Verstraeten’s original study.
“There’s an enormous conflict of interest within the CDC and if we fail to move vaccine safety out of the CDC, public confidence in the safety of vaccines will continue to erode,” said Weldon. “This bill will provide the independence necessary to ensure that vaccine safety research is robust, unbiased, and broadly accepted.”
Bobbie Manning, Congressional Liaison for A-CHAMP, a national organization dedicated to advancing public policy issues for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, has been invited to participate. Through grassroots efforts, A-CHAMP has been very successful in helping vaccine injured children.
"This nonsense has continued for long enough. It is time the power of the CDC be diminished in the area of vaccine safety studies. How unbiased can they be on vaccine safety while promoting these same shots for America's children?", states Manning.
"We are so thankful for the hard work and dedication of Rep. Dave Weldon and his office. He has been very supportive and active in finding fair, honest answers for our vaccine injured children", says Amy Carson, Co-Founder of Moms Against Mercury, a non-profit organization that advocates for safer vaccines.
"This is what we needed decades ago, and I for one, am proud that Rep. Weldon has the courage to stand up and fight for our vaccine injured children", she adds.
Weldon’s move comes as the Senate considers legislation that reforms the way the FDA evaluates drug safety issues, but explicitly omits vaccines from further safety reviews.
The press conference will be held Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at 9:00am in US Capitol Room H-144.
Seems like a good idea on paper. But it's another branch of the government that's looking over the government, and there's just too much federal back-scratching going on. It's really beginning to feel like the feds are more worried about "protecting the sheeple because we know best" than "working for the people because you pay our check."
(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)
In my inbox from Amy Carson of Mom's Against Mercury:
Seems like a good idea on paper. But it's another branch of the government that's looking over the government, and there's just too much federal back-scratching going on. It's really beginning to feel like the feds are more worried about "protecting the sheeple because we know best" than "working for the people because you pay our check."