Big Pharma’s vaccines: Naked profit over safety

By Lee Hieb, M.D.

At a time we are worried about school shootings and gun violence, keep in mind the FDA/CDC Pharma consortium is getting away with mayhem and murder on a much larger magnitude. And only the victims are paying attention and the price.

This story begins years ago, when, after serving in the U.S. Navy during Desert Shield, I was a member of the Naval Research Advisory Committee. At that time, around 1993, I had the opportunity to meet with a former colleague of mine who was the lead researcher assigned to figuring out the truth of Gulf War Syndrome (GWS). Initially, it was thought the disorder was most likely due to stress. They decided this because of the strange and variable manifestations of the disease, and the fact that both victims and non-victims appeared to have the same exposures to environment and to vaccines. Also, although, most GWS victims were reservists, most in-theater personnel were full active duty members with more environmental exposure. So, they reasoned at the time, the stress of being unexpectedly jerked out of private life into a combat zone played a causative role in GWS.

Later, it was determined that Gulf War Syndrome victims had received anthrax vaccine from different production lots than the non-victims. Much sleuthing was required because the military purposely did not record all anthrax vaccines in service records, and when they did so, often it was as “Vac A” or “Vac B.” Some of the lots had squalene adjuvant MF59, and some did not. (An adjuvant is a substance put into a vaccine to boost the immune response.)

Several years later, after consistent complaints from GWS victims and their families, more studies were done. A study at Tulane University revealed that nearly 100 percent of victims of GSW had anti-squalene antibodies, whereas NONE of the non-victims had such antibodies. [Asa PB, et al. Antibodies to squalene in recipients of anthrax vaccine. Randomized Controlled trial. Exp Mol Pathol 2002, Aug 73(1): 19-27] Other large studies confirmed the statistically significant positive association between certain vaccines and GWS.

So, squalene received a black eye for a number of years and was taken out of U.S. vaccines. As people became aware of the issue and complained to various agencies, in 2009, Patricia El Hinnawy, a spokesperson for the FDA, said, “There is no squalene in any FDA-approved vaccine in the U.S. There is no squalene in any kind of seasonal flu vaccine or in the H1N1 vaccine.” She was quoted in Wired Magazine to “shatter the myths” and stop those irrational fear mongers. [“Shattering the Myths about Squalene in Vaccines”, Wired.com, Oct. 28, 2009]

But not so fast. Squalene was put into this year’s influenza vaccine Fluad! And the vaccine, in defiance of all scientific and moral rationality, was fast-tracked by Novartis. In other words, the FDA gave the drug company a special dispensation to rush the vaccine to market, without the usual time for human trials, public comment and independent scientific review.

In an attempt to block the fast-tracking this vaccine, Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of nonprofit NGO National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), challenged the FDA by saying that Novartis failed to demonstrate that Fluad with squalene was more effective or safer than an equivalent non-squalene vaccine in the small clinical trial being used to justify accelerated licensure. In fact, Fluad was far more reactive.

“Compared to Agriflu [a non-squalene flu vaccine], Fluad produced a much higher number of pain, tenderness, redness and swelling reports; a higher number of systemic adverse event reports and more deaths and cases of new onset chronic disease.” She questioned, “Why does Fluad need to be fast tracked to licensure for the elderly without additional evidence? There is public concern that fast-tracking Fluad is really about fast tracking MF59 to licensure so it can be added to lots of new vaccines targeting infants, pregnant women and every American without adequate evidence for safety or effectiveness.” [Public Comment, Barbara Leo Fisher, FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, Sept. 15, 2015, published online at NVIC.org]

Even for the most die-hard vaccinators, those who put their full faith in FDA honesty, this story should give food for thought and hopefully concern. The evidence for squalene as the causative agent for Gulf War Syndrome has been accepted into mainstream literature and, along with other known adjuvant-induced diseases, now falls under the rubric of ASIA or Autoimmune Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants. In fact, since November 2017, 142 cases of vaccine injury have been reviewed and compensated by the federal government, and of these 63 were for the flu vaccine, making it the most dangerous vaccine to date.

To put this in perspective, there is no perfectly safe existence, and scientific understanding changes over time. So, the use of squalene years ago when anthrax on the battlefield was a real potential threat and time was limited may not constitute criminal negligence. But today, adding squalene while ignoring the growing body of scientific literature, dismissing the irredeemable damage done to veterans and impugning the reputation of honest doubting physicians who take their Hippocratic Oath seriously, is totally reprehensible. Consider, also, how Novartis sneaked squalene in by using a code name (MF-59), by fast-tracking its release, giving less time for public/scientific response, and after assuring the American public years ago that it had removed all squalene from its drugs. And today, civilians, not just military personnel, have lost their rights to avoid taking the vaccine if they want to keep their jobs. That should induce more not less caution during vaccine development.

Why is this happening? Look at the big picture. The big pharmaceutical industries are the biggest money on the block. They give more bucks to politicians than anyone else. They pay for more advertising than anyone else. And they put their people into positions of authority in the government agencies that influence them. According to a recent study, approximately 60 percent of the FDA reviewers were former researchers with grants from the government. Julie Geberding, was a former director of the CDC when the agency was caught over-reporting flu deaths, under-reporting spontaneous abortions in women taking the flu vaccine, and during the time Gardasil was being pushed over the objections of many and despite the deaths and sterility that had occurred. Where did she go after her work was done at the CDC? She became the head of the Merck Vaccine unit. You can’t make this stuff up.

Big Pharma execs have brilliantly created a “pentagon of profit”: 1. They produce the drugs; 2. They own the FDA, which regulates their industry; 3. They own the heads of the CDC, which promotes the need for their drugs; 4. They lobby the federal legislators who have returned the favor by totally indemnifying them against being sued for any injury related to vaccines; and 5. Now they have spent money on state-level politicians, who then mandate all sorts of vaccines for entry into public schools. It’s a perfect, corrupt profit scheme.

I recently had to sign a form explaining why I refused the flu vaccine this year. I put down “MF-59” and am waiting to be asked to explain the answer. I could as easily have put down “corruption” or “Crony Capitalism” or “a violation of the Nuremberg principles.” The whole vaccination enterprise is not about public safety or ethical medical care. It is about naked profit. Don’t be deceived.

Lee Hieb, M.D.

Dr. Lee Hieb is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery. She is past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a free market medical organization and author of the new book "Surviving the Medical Meltdown: Your Guide to Living Through the Disaster of Obamacare." Read more of Lee Hieb, M.D.'s articles here.


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