The Brockovich Report

I'd like to take a moment here to remember, Jenny Tetlock, whose story has been publicized. Jenny Tetlock received the Gardasil shot at 15, was paralyzed and God rest her soul, passed last week.

Bless you Jenny. Your story is heartbreaking, and we all feel your loss.

And Jenny, we want to find answers. Who knows where to look? Not to the CDC. Maybe to Spain. Why Spain?

A month ago, Spain recalled 76,000 doses of the HPV vaccine when two adolescent girls got seriously sick after getting their shot. We've had more than two girls get sick, and to my knowledge NO doses of the vaccine were ever recalled here. The issue is that two girls got sick and Spain responded immediately.

Has our FDA done anything? Not to my knowledge.

If we came across 50, 40, 30 or even a single dead person in the woods, our agencies would send out alerts; they would investigate. They would search and search and search for the answers until they were found. The VAER Database Gardasil line reports that list more than a dozen deaths among the serious adverse events of otherwise healthy girls should be enough of an alert that someone among us should step up and search and search and search for the answers until they were found. There is a common denominator that we haven't yet exposed. That's my point. We must uncover that lethal factor; we must identify it so that no more girls die needlessly.

But here it is in black and white Spain withdraws cervical cancer shot after illnesses.

Let's let it pass that Gardasil is an HPV vaccine, not a cancer shot. (That's a marketing angle to avoid talking about the percentages. Let's let it pass that while it is marketed as a cancer preventative, it only goes after 4/30 of the HPV strains that cause 70% cervical cancers. Would you use a prophylactic that only guards against a percentage of pregnancies? Should we let people go around thinking they're protected when they're 91% vulnerable?) Let's let all that pass, for now, and think about the human cost of rushing to market.

The two girls in Spain who had the vaccine both went into convulsions. They both went into convulsions within hours of taking the vaccine.

So Spain has decided to recall 76,000 doses of Gardasil after two girls had seizures. But the FDA has not --after more than two girls have died. Does Spain love its daughters more than the US?

Why hasn't the FDA acted on the incidents which have happened here? Are the FDA and CDC really on top of things? Is the US looking at the VAERS LIST to see how many girls in the US have had adverse reactions after taking Gardasil, let alone those who have died?

But in Spain, 2 girls had seizures--only seizures, they didn't die--and in Spain 76,000 doses of Gardasil were recalled.

VAERS Reports are available online. You can run them yourself here. The results show significantly more than 2 incidents related to Gardasil. All girls had one thing in common; the Gardasil shot.

Spain has recalled 76,000 doses of Gardasil. Meanwhile the US is trying to mandate its use. What is wrong with this picture?

At the very least, the use of Gardasil should be elective. Its use should be a matter of choice. As Americans, our young girls and their parents should have the choice to make their own decisions, good decisions, for the sake of their health. To avoid becoming statistics, to safeguard their health, they should go into making that choice armed with the knowledge of all of the contraindications and negative interactions. Shouldn't the FDA and CDC at least be LOOKING for contraindications and negative interactions?

And of course, we still have the unanswered questions of why so many American girls have had adverse reactions and died after taking Gardasil. They and their families deserve an answer. But for the seven women I know whose daughters have died after taking Gardasil, and for Jenny, no matter how soon the answer is found, it is too late.

There are so many irons in the fire this week that I hardly know where to start. But I'll start with the last thing I was talking about before...Gardasil. Gardasil has been associated now with grand mal seizures, paralysis, coma, Anaphylactic shock. And of course death. Just read the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System reports. They are scary.

The Gardasil vaccine claim is about as big a tort reform as I have ever seen. I do not believe the big drug companies should be able to do what they want to do, unchecked. The high ceiling of damages is about the only thing that can touch, reach and affect a huge corporation. The problem with tort reform is that it is legislation designed to reduce liability costs through limits on damages and modification of liability rules. Simply, that means reducing the damage to fat cat Merck who has made upward of a billion and a half in profits, leaving behind a marketing battlefield scattered with the shells of sick and dying girls. (Even ONE is too many--what if she were YOUR daughter?) This kind of reform is meant to protect the corporation and allow them keep raking in money hand over fist--over the bodies of our injured daughters.

The safety and effectiveness of Gardasil is very much in question, as well it should be. Currently there are girls with damaged--and lost--lives whose very real issues are being dismissed as "anecdotal evidence." Such evidence should be evaluated for further research, rather than being dismissed as useless. Scientists talk about everything needing scientific proof, but the reality is that everything hinges on the interests or bias of the researchers.

Talking about scientific proof reminds me that Gardasil is not my only issue--I am reminded of the justification I felt last year when scientists finally at last found tangible proof that swallowing hexavalent chromium is as harmful as inhaling it. After a two-year animal study, the National Toxicology Program said there is "clear evidence of carcinogenic activity" if the chemical is consumed in drinking water.

Yes, my old nemesis hexavalent chromium is still around. That same chemical is an issue here in the US, Greece, Italy and Australia. In fact--I just got an interesting problem in from Australia concerning a large group of paramedics whose dyed clothing contains hexavalent chromium, and they are all getting sick. But I will let everyone know more about what is going on there after I start investigating. I mentioned Greece--HVC-contaminated sites in Greece cover a huge area. Remember the Asopos River has 400,000 times the amount of HVC that should be in groundwater. The Greek government made public promises to update their freshwater and wastewater handling, and fined twenty companies 1.4 million for illegal dumping; but some of the companies are protesting the fines. And the river and groundwater are still contaminated. I mentioned Italy. In Italy, there is some research on controlling HVC contamination with the use of activated carbon filtration, but people are dying of cancer there--like the fourteen employees of PM Galvanica di Tezze sul Brenta. If that doesn't convince you there's an Italian problem with HVC, do an internet search on Samanta Di Persio's book Morti Bianche, (White Death.) It's a harrowing account of pollution, corruption, exploitation and loss.

Hexavalent Chromium is like a disease that keeps spreading. No wonder the film Erin Brockovich rocked the boat. It opened Pandora’s box. It opened the door.

It opened our eyes.

Not only could it and did it affect the families featured in the film...
Not only could and did it affect my neighbors...
Not only could and did it affect people a world away...
It can and is affecting you and me right now.

It's not like Hexavalent Chromium is the only dangerously mishandled chemical there is. There are more mishandled toxic chemicals out there than any of us would like to consider. But we have to consider them all. This is our wake up call. Not a call to arms, but a call to Green.

It is time for us to live as Green as possible. That means corporate and personal responsibility. It means not spreading toxic chemicals, not causing destruction. As human beings, we can choose to live gently on the land. We can choose to give back instead of take.

Because the philosophy of being green is not so strange. It is just the philosophy of life. We have to consider what is important to us as human beings.

Do we worship at the altar of the Mighty Corporation? I say no. If we don’t address these issues, if we don’t stand up against tort reform, we lose our only defense against Industry. Public health and safety will be sacrificed. We the people are the only thing in the way; and we the people are only thing that will be reformed. And not in a good way.

Also, I wanted to reassure some of you, in case some of you may have noticed a change in my presence on the web. I'm just in the process of consolidating my resources, and putting together a new web page. I'm still here, and trust me, I'm not giving up or going away any time soon.

Stick-to-it-iveness is still my motto.

We have been spending our days getting all our ducks armed for bear and in a row--all of our anti-Gardasil ducks, that is. From checking my various areas on the internet, to finding moderators to listening to the tragic and painful stories of victims of the Gardasil vaccine, it has been a very busy time for me and my team.

Gardasil, as you should know by now, is an HPV vaccine sold by MERCK, a vaccine with a flawed marketing campaign targeting young girls. The premise is that the vaccine will protect young girls from cervical cancer, as well as a couple of varieties of HPV. But the vaccine is NOT a cancer preventative, and it has not been thoroughly tested. Not only does Gardasil not protect everyone, it does not prevent all types of cervical cancer. According to current science, there are fifteen types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but Gardasil only counters HPV types 16 and 18. The vaccine requires three doses to start and scientists don't even know how frequently boosters will be needed. They don't know because they did not adequately research this before putting the vaccine out on the market using our young girls as guinea pigs.

MERCK was even pushing to have this untried vaccine REQUIRED by states. Governer Perry of Texas--who bypassed the state legislation with an executive order--has ties to Merck. Mike Toomey, Perry’s former chief of staff is one of the drug company’s three lobbyists in Texas. The governor also received $6,000 from Merck’s political action committee during his re-election campaign. "Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12." As a mother, should I have to sign a waver to protect my daughter from having a potentially dangerous vaccine forced on her?

What makes this vaccine so terrible? It's not just the fear that some parents have that administering a vaccine against stds to nine year olds will encourage sexual activity. The concern is based on much more concrete issues than that. 7195 of them, in fact.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) now has 7195 individual adverse reactions listed--and as it is a database not everyone knows about, not all of the adverse reactions are being reported. The Centers for Disease Control report over 9,000 adverse reactions for Gardasil. There is a rising total of deaths connected with the administration of this vaccine; as well as have been reports of seizure activity, tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs. There is serious question about girls initially having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders; and there is serious question about administering this vaccine at the same time as others.

Gardasil is a vaccine developed by Merck to prevent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). HPV is known to cause cervical cancer. Although Merck has claimed that Gardasil has no significant side effects, reports filed with the FDA suggest otherwise.

The FDA Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System has more than 8,000 incidents associated with Gardasil. The most serious complications reported include death and the development of blood clots.

If you or a loved suffered a serious adverse event, such as death, disability or blood clot following the administration of Gardasil, please contact me erin@brockovich.com. I will have one of our staff of experienced attorneys review your claim to advise you about your rights.

Erin Brockovich

Anyone who has been affected by Gardasil, feel free to visit this new group and join to speak your peace.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/gardasilwatch/

Take a look at 6697 reports of issues with the HPVR vaccine, familiarly known as Gardasil. Those are a lot of reports, especially as it is a known fact that not all people follow up with reporting their reactions.

Did you have a reaction from your Gardasil inoculation? If so, l want to know about it.

Now, bear in mind that these reactions include developing hives or a big red spot at the site of the vaccination. In fact, they include pregnancy, headache, dizziness, pain, fainting, shaking, loss of consciousness, pallor, fever, flu, dry eyes--and that is just on the first page. Database reports run the gamut. Ok, to be completely fair, the pregnancy was a "false pregnancy report" apparently caused by the vaccine. Dizziness fainting and pain are not unexpected for anyone with any kind of doctor phobia. (And I'd like to know what is NOT natural about having symptoms of dread about strange people in white coats poking you with sharp needles?)

But to get back to the topic--you can revisit the reports and find 103 events where HPV4 reactions are considered life-threatening. Life threatening reports are a whole other thing. There were some anaphylactic reactions that were life-threatening, and at least 5 deaths--though it isn't always clear from the report what caused some of those deaths.

But let's never mind all that.

Let's go back to the beginning of Gardasil. Let's go back to Dr. Diane Harper. If you aren't familiar with her, Harper is the Dartmouth Medical school doctor who helped develop Gardasil. If anyone is an expert on the vaccine, it is she. What does SHE think of how Gardasil is being marketed as a cancer preventative? She's not a happy camper.

Take at a couple of quotes from this FW Daily News article by CINDY BEVINGTON.
Not only does Harper say that it is silly for states to be mandating Gardasil for younger girls. She says, "Giving it to 11-year-olds is a great big public health experiment." It isn't helpful and it might be harmful.

Furthermore, she says the same thing I have been saying all along.

"There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue."

Shouldn't we be considering safety first? But, remember that Dr. Diane Harper is not a Marketing Whiz. She's just one of the scientists who created the vaccine which is effective against 4 of 20 strains of HPV. In her opinion, the vaccine is not for 9 year old girls. (Go on, read the article.)

Harper is also concerned about the adults. She goes on to say, "Also, the public needs to know that with vaccinated women and women who still get Pap smears (which test for abnormal cells that can lead to cancer), some of them will still get cervical cancer."

What? Did I hear that right? Merck has been telling us the vaccine is supposed to make us all "ONE LESS." You know Merck. Merck & Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company that tells the world it is all about putting patients first. But if that is the case, why is this vaccine aimed at an age group not recommended by one of the vaccine's developers; and why is it acting as if it has found the preventative for cancer?

Maybe we need one less Pharmaceutical company. Or at least one less Marketing Department.

Don't forget about Gardasil if I don't talk about it every week. They won't talk about it in Australia, either. Hundreds of Australian girls have experienced paralysis, dizzy spells and seizures and more. Australian records are not to my knowledge made public as they are in the US.

Gardasil is a vaccine that claims to be partially effective against some strains of HPV, some of which may cause cancer. Look at all of that equivocation: partially effective against some strains which might...

Weigh that against the ad campaign about wanting to be one woman less who has cancer.
There's a huge leap between partially effective against some...especially when there's some indication that taking the vaccine may be related to Acute Demyelinating Encephalomyelitis. Don't believe it? Look up "Brittany bell" and Gardasil.

How did MERCK push its way thru the FDA approval process and get put on the market before it had completely complied with U.S. protocols and procedures? We know at least one reason why: they were in a rush to beat a competitive European product before it hits the US. Market.

Before you jump in with all four feet defending this vaccine as a cancer preventative, please remember that drug companies are NOT all about protecting our daughters. They are all about selling products. The vaccine has not been fully tested. No one has been studying it long enough to know what the LONG TERM consequences are. They don't even know how long the vaccine is effective or how frequently it will require boosters. How can anyone be talking about requiring ALL our young girls to be vaccinated with such an unknown quantity? What about the side effects? What are they?

Before my daughter ingests or is exposed to any chemical, I want to know it has been fully tested and is judged completely effective as well as completely safe.

After 5758 documented complaints of adverse reactions and up to 8 DEATHS, I believe a safety check is warranted. Individuals with Lyme disease, for example, had especially adverse reactions; and there are a lot of undiagnosed cases of Lyne disease out there.

And frankly, even if it is safe, it is NOT effective. *"Protective efficacy of this vaccine against different types of human papillomavirus was very low and the protection may be because of sub-clinical infection with human papillomavirus or antigenically related viruses." Pendru Raghunath, Senior Research Fellow.

And why is it not approved for use in males? Males get HPV, even if they do not get cervical cancer. Is it possible that marketing it to boys would remind people that the vaccine is not really a cancer preventative but a partially effective measure against a sexually transmitted disease?

The National Vaccine Information Center issued a press release that Gardasil MERCK'S GARDASIL VACCINE NOT PROVEN SAFE FOR LITTLE GIRLS National Vaccine Information Center Criticizes _FDA for Fast Tracking Licensure. The issues include flawed science, marketing strategy, and a need to show apparent results in a race for research grants.

Shades of Orwell and Doublespeak.

Are those the drug companies claim to be helping today actually tomorrow's victims?

There are Unidentified Flying Objects. There are Unidentified Submarine Objects. Now there are Unidentified Cutaneous Objects. (For those of us without an MD, and even for those WITH an MD, cutaneous means relating to or existing on or affecting the skin.) These "UCO" are classified officially as Delusional Parasitosis since the Center for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't know what they are, or even IF they are. And of course, what they don't know about must be delusional.

I suppose whenever humankind faces something new, it is a throwback to the day when we believed we lived in a geocentric universe in which the sun and everything else revolved around us, and everyone who was anyone said the world was flat. Just like those long ago days, now they're all having a whopping case of denial. And I'm not talking about that river in Egypt. I'm talking about Morgellons syndrome. It IS denial when a scientist won't even look at the problem. Not investigating. . . that is not scientific method.

Maybe it is a scary thing when we have to admit there's something new out there in the big bad world. After all, we humans are creatures of habit. Most of us would like to be able to take a snapshot of things and be able to relax and say "This is how it is." But the world keeps turning. We keep discovering new things about our old world. Our body of knowledge keeps on growing, in spite of denial. Things grow. Things change, even if we say they don't.

You'd think a researcher would be thrilled to find something new. But they (the official powers that be) spent years denying the existence of Morgellons syndrome. It is a debilitating condition which wears down those afflicted by it, a condition which is characterized by itching skin, the sensation of crawling or biting on or below the skin, skin lesions, and weird fibers that grow below the skin.

In fact, experts don't agree on anything about this condition. Is it a single parasite? Are there misdiagnoses in addition to legitimate cases? Is Morgellons a collection of other conditions mislabeled and lumped into a single category? Is the syndrome imaginary? Is it a mental illness?

For now, it is classified as an Unexplained Dermopathy; at least it's been acknowledged to the point of being investigated in epidemiological studies by the CDC. For the past few years, sufferers have had http://www.morgellons.org/ which is working toward getting more money for more research centers. Because of Morgellons Org., there are some legitimate researchers getting involved: Oklahoma State University, California State University – Hayward, State University of NY – Stonybrook, a microbiologist at Clongen Laboratories, and possibly others.

So, how is the research going? Some scientists think that the fibers are consistent with substances created by the body. They've discovered half of the people they've investigated who have symptoms of Morgellons also have Lyme disease. At least they're looking at the problem. There may not yet be a light at the end of the tunnel, but at least they're admitting there is a tunnel, and not declaring it hysterical spelunker syndrome.

Links
On Wikipedia
Morgellons Research Foundation
Study seeks clues on skin-crawling Morgellons