Saturday, March 31, 2012

Legislature passes bill on personal-care homes but stalls on one to regulate pill mills as doctors lobby hard

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

The effort to quash "pill mills" that feed one of Kentucky's worst problems, prescription drug abuse, stalled on the next-to-last day of the General Assembly's session and faces cloudy prospects on April 12, when the legislature returns to conclude its business. But the legislature gave final passage to a bill aimed at limiting the admission of mental patients to personal-care homes.

The snag in the pill-mill bill stems from the Kentucky Medical Association's opposition to moving the state's electronic prescription-tracking system to the attorney general's office from the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, which is controlled by doctors and has been found to go easy on them, compared to other states. The bill includes several other measures, including a requirement that pain clinics must be owned by doctors.

After Sen. Carroll Gibson, R-Leitchfield, failed in a parliamentary maneuver to make the bill more difficult to pass, and Senate President Pro Tem Katie Stine, R-Southgate, ruled that his motion had lost on a voice vote, Majority Floor Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, "said it might be better to consider the bill April 12, but Sen. Ray Jones, D-Pikeville, said delaying a vote on it would give its opponents more time to try to kill it," report John Cheves and Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Stivers called for party caucuses to meet to discuss the issue. After the caucus meetings, the Senate adjourned and Stivers said lawmakers would work on the bill for possible consideration April 12."

The session's final day is scheduled to give the legislature a chance to override any vetoes by Gov. Steve Beshear, so a bill passed then could be killed by a veto. That might seem unlikely, since Beshear has been among those pushing for stronger action against pill mills. However, if he were unhappy with a bill the legislature sent him, he could veto it and call a special legislative session to pass one more to his liking. That possibility, and his power to set the agenda of a special session, could make him a player in the negotiations between now and April 12.

The bill’s sponsor, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, downplayed the problem. He blamed it on "confusion over a provision that limits the amount of drugs that may be supplied to a patient at any one time," Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal reports. "Some lawmakers feared that limits on prescriptions would cause more patient co-pays, but a simple fix to the bill’s language could allay those concerns, Stumbo said."

Also on Friday, the legislature sent Beshear a bill that would "require potential residents at personal-care homes to be screened for brain injuries by medical professionals," the Herald-Leader reports. "Personal care homes provide long-term care for people who do not need full-time nursing care but need some assistance."

Senate Bill 115 "stems from the death last year of Larry Lee, a brain-injured resident who disappeared from a personal care home and was found dead four weeks later on the banks of the Licking River, not far from the Falmouth Nursing Home in Pendleton County," the Herald-Leader notes. "There are about 2,500 to 3,000 people in 82 free-standing personal care homes across Kentucky," and many are mentally disabled or mentally ill. Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, a watchdog state agency, released a report last week saying that said placement of the mentally ill in personal-care homes violates federal disability laws. (Read more)

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

Friday, March 30, 2012

How Corporations Corrupt Science Compromising Public Health

Federal decision makers need access to the best available science in order to craft policies that protect our health, safety, and environment.

Unfortunately, censorship of scientists and the manipulation, distortion, and suppression of scientific information have threatened federal science in recent years.

This problem has sparked much debate, but few have identified the key driver of political interference in federal science: the inappropriate influence of companies with a financial stake in the outcome.

A new UCS report, Heads They Win, Tails We Lose, shows how corporations influence the use of science in federal decision making to serve their own interests.

Methods of Abuse

The report describes five basic methods that corporations use to influence the scientific and policy-making processes:

How Do They Game the System?
Let Us Recount the Ways


Heads They Win, Tails We Lose is full of real-world examples of the ways corporations interfere with science. Here are just a few of the highlights:


Suppressing Research:
Hog Farm Emissions


After pork producers contacted his supervisors, a USDA microbiologist was prevented from publishing research showing that emissions from industrial hog farms contained antibiotic-resistant bacteria.


Corrupting Advisory Panels:
Childhood Lead Poisoning


A few weeks before a CDC advisory panel met to discuss revising federal lead standards, two scientists with ties to the lead industry were added to the panel. The committee voted against tightening the standards.


Ghostwriting Articles:
The Pharmaceutical Industry


A 2011 analysis foundevidence of corporate authorship in research articles on a variety of drugs, including Avandia, Paxil, Tylenol, and Vioxx.

Corrupting the Science.
Corporations suppress research, intimidate scientists, manipulate study designs, ghostwrite scientific articles, and selectively publish results that suit their interests.

Shaping Public Perception. Private interests downplay evidence, exaggerate uncertainty, vilify scientists, hide behind front groups, and feed the media slanted news stories.

Restricting Agency Effectiveness. Companies attack the science behind agency policy, hinder the regulatory process, corrupt advisory panels, exploit the "revolving door" between corporate and government employment, censor scientists, and withhold information from the public.

Influencing Congress. By spending billions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions, corporate interests gain undue access to members of Congress, encouraging them to challenge scientific consensus, delay action on critical problems, and shape the use of science in policy making.

Exploiting Judicial Pathways. Corporate interests have expanded their influence on the judicial system, used the courts to undermine science, and exploited judicial processes to bully and silence scientists.

Progress Made (and Still To Be Made)

In his 2009 inaugural address, President Obama promised to "restore science to its rightful place." His administration has made progress toward that goal on several important fronts—elevating the role of science in government, ordering agencies to develop scientific integrity policies, improving transparency, and strengthening conflict-of-interest policies.

Despite these positive steps, much remains to be done. The report identifies five key areas where further federal commitments to protect science from undue corporate influence are needed: protecting government scientists from retaliation and intimidation; making government more transparent and accountable; reforming the regulatory process; strengthening scientific advice to government; and strengthening monitoring and enforcement.

Beyond Government


Corporations, nonprofits, academic institutions, scientific societies, and the media also have critical roles to play in reducing abuses of science in federal decision making. These institutions should:

  • promote honest scientific investigation and open discussion of research results;
  • refrain from actual or perceived acts of scientific misconduct;
  • embrace transparency and avoid conflicts of interest.
Inappropriate corporate interference in science extends its tentacles into every aspect of federal science-based policy-making. Addressing this interference will require overcoming high hurdles, but they are not insurmountable. With strong leadership and a sustained commitment, both the federal government and the private sector can rise to the challenge.

'Meds for meth' bill is about to become law despite heavy lobbying campaign by pharmaceutical companies

The bill to limit purchases of a popular cold medicine used to make methamphetamine passed the General Assembly today and Gov. Steve Beshear said he would sign it.

The Senate voted 29-8 to approve changes the House made in Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Senate Majority Floor Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, left. The bill would require a prescription to buy more than 7.2 grams of pseudoephedrine in a month and 24 grams in a year. "A generic box of pseudoephedrine with 48 pills, each with a 30-milligram dosage, contains 1.44 grams of the medicine," Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. ""Gel caps and liquid pseudoephedrine would be excluded from the limits in SB 3 because making meth from those forms is considered more difficult."

The bill’s sponsors had wanted lower limits, an initially a prescription for any amount, "but they compromised with opponents who worried about inconveniencing cold and allergy sufferers," Brammer notes. "The pharmaceutical industry has lobbied aggressively against the state requiring prescriptions for pseudoephedrine at any level," ranking first in reported lobbying expenses without even counting its extensive advertising campaign. The industry apparently viewed Kentucky as a sort of firewall, the absence of which could make passage of similar "meds for meth" bills in other states. Only Oregon and Mississippi now have such legislation.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Makers of Sudafed, similar cold medicines again lead in legislative lobbying expenses, and that doesn't count their radio ad campaign

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which is fighting legislation that would limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that could be bought without a prescription, remained the leading spender among lobbying interests at the General Assembly in February, the state Legislative Ethics Commission said in its monthly newsletter.

CHPA, which represents manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter medicines, spent $192,985 on lobbying in February, and a total of $388,000 for the first two months of the session. Those amounts do not include an extensive radio advertising campaign, which from all indications has cost more than the spending that had to be reported.

Other health-care interests were among the top spenders in February. Ranking second through 11th were the Kentucky Hospital Association ($38,422, for a two-month total of $74,543); the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce ($30,056, two-month total $63,404); Altria (Philip Morris) Client Services ($28,129, two-month $50,434); the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation ($24,805, total $38,655); AT&T ($24,199, total $47,432); the Kentucky Medical Association ($21,958, total $42,731); the Kentucky Education Association ($21,629, total $45,249); the Kentucky Retail Federation ($21,191, total $45,452), which also opposes the meds-for-meth bill; Kentuckians for the Commonwealth ($18,317, total $34,188) and the Kentucky Optometric Association ($18,227, total unavailable).

State of Health of Unvaccinated Children vs Vaccinated Children


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Estado de salud de los niños no vacunados enfermedades Resultados en Español

Illnesses in unvaccinated children

The survey is an ongoing project, so if you have unvaccinated children or are unvaccinated yourself, please fill in thequestionnaire.

If you have vaccinated children as well please go to the questionnaire for vaccinated children. We started to do a comparative study of the two groups.

Thank you for your support!

The results of our survey with currently 11004 participants show that unvaccinated children are far less affected by common diseases than vaccinated children. Due to the fact that the majority of children in the survey are between 0 and 2 years of age and some diseases generally do not appear in this age group, the results are subdivided into different age groups (you can see that by clicking on the chart). Information about country, gender, age, age distribution, breastfeeding, preferred treatment can be found here.


Atopic diseases among unvaccinated children


Asthma, hayfever and neurodermatitis are seen very frequently today. A recent German study with 17461 children between 0-17 years of age (KIGGS) showed that 4.7% of these children suffer from asthma, 10.7% of these children from hayfever and 13.2% from neurodermatitis. These numbers differ in western countries, i.e. the prevalence of asthma among children in the US is 6% whereas it is 14-16% in Australia (Australia’s Health 2004, AIHW)

The prevalence of asthma among unvaccinated children in our study is around 2.5%, hayfever 3% and neurodermatitis 7%.


According to the KIGGS study more than 40% of children between the ages of 3 and 17 years were sensitized against at least one allergen tested (20 common allergens were tested) and 22.9% had an allergic disease. Although we did not perform a bloodtest, around 10% stated that their children had an allergy.


By clicking on the graphic you can see the age distribution of the selected diseases.

If you want to compare the results with the results of the survey on our German website impfschaden.info gohere.


ADS, Hyperactivity, Autism, Sleeping problems, concentration problems and migraine

ADS and Hyperaktivity is between 1 and 2 % in our survey, the prevalence of ADHD in Germany is 7,9% and another 5,9% which were not yet diagnosed, but were borderline cases(KIGGS).


By clicking on the graphic you can see the age distribution of the selected diseases.

There are also autism cases in unvaccinated children. Among all participants there were 4 severe autism cases.


Of these 4 children one tested very high for metals(mercury, aluminum, arsenic), in another case the mother was tested very high for mercury.

Otitis media, Sinusitis, Herpes, Warts, Polyps and fungal infections


KIGGS showed that 12.8% of the children in Germany had herpes and 11% suffer from otitis media (an inflammation of the middle ear). If you compare this to unvaccinated childen you can see that herpes among unvaccinated children is very rare (less than 0.5%).


The prevalence of sinusitis in young children has gone up as high as 32% (Albegger KW. Banale Entzüngen der Nase und der Nasennebenhöhlen. In: Berendes J, Link JR, Zöllner F, eds. Hals, Nasen-,OhrenHeilkunde in Praxis und Klinik. Band I. Obere und untere Luftwege. Stuttgart: G Thieme Verlag, 1979: 11.1–11.32.)
In our survey less than 1% of the children have problems with sinusitis, in around 2% it happened only once or rarely.


In young kids under the age of 3 warts are very rare. Above the age of three years however the prevalence is rising. In the ages between 4 and 6 years, 5-10% of the kids have warts, in the age group 16-18, 15-20% have warts.(http://www.netdoktor.at/health_center/dermatologie/warzen.htm)
Only 3% of unvaccinated children in our survey have warts.

By clicking on the graphic you can see the age distribution of the selected diseases.

Fine motor skill problems, dentificvation problems, growth pains and scoliosis

By clicking on the graphic you can see the age distribution of the selected diseases.

Diabetes, Epilepsy and seizures, neurological and autoimmune diseases, thyroid disorders


The national institute of health in the USA states that 23.5 % Americans suffer from autoimmune disease. This is aprevalence of more than 7% of children.

Diabetes affects 0.2% of the children under 20 years of age in the USA (National Diabetes Fact Sheet)


The KIGGS study showed prevalences of epilepsy with 3.6%, prevalence of Diabetes in Germany with 0.1% and diseases of the thyroid gland with 1.7%.

By clicking on the graphic you can see the age distribution of the selected diseases.

Other disorders and diseases


As we included open questions in our survey we evaluated the prevalence (of the first 10070 participants) of some other disorders and illnesses. Unvaccinated children show very low prevalences of the following disorders:

Dyslexia0,21%
Speech delay/articulation problems0,38%
Sensory Processing disorder0,28%
Anxiety0,25%
Depression0,12%
Bedwetting0,12%
Celiac disease0,12%
Gluten sensitivity0,41%
GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease)0,06%

Direct comparison KIGGS study and vaccineinjury.info-survey (September 2011)

Quotes from parents about the state of health of their unvaccinated children

Lot of parents gave some additional information of their children. Here are some typical quotes:


"I am 27 years old and am completely unvaccinated. I am very healthy and only get a cold maybe once every year or two."

"My son is mostly vaxxed, my daughter not. They both were exposed to a recently vaccinated family member and me and my son contracted whooping cough. His lasted much longer than mine (he has various health issues primarily caused by vaccine) which was expected. My unvaccinated daughter coughed once the entire length of our illness and the second time we were exposed - same situation- she wasn't affected at all."

“I am one of 10 children from the same mother and father. None of us were vaccinated. Our ages are 38-59. We were all allowed to have childhood diseases to boost our immune systems. Most of our children were not vaccinated either. Most of all none of the non-vaccinated children in our family have major illness.”


“I will put the health of my three unvaccinated children up against the health of a vaccinated child any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”


“My 3 year old child is in a 5 year old class, and is even advanced for that grade. She has not been near as sick as a lot of her friends. She is considered very advanced for her age. Her two oldest siblings had both been injured by vaccinations and have been recovering for the last 6.5 years.”


“My two boys are both uncircumcised, unvaccinated, including no vitamin K shot at birth, and no PKU newborn blood screening, and no painful procedure of any kind. I gave birth drug-free and naturally in an upright kneeling position, after walking throughout my entire labor and transition. Both boys are extremely healthy, intelligent, kind, and beautiful. I breastfed my older son until he turned 4 years, and I'm currently breastfeeding my 2 year old.”


“My 3 vaccinated children were sick often during their first 2 years, suffered from ear infections repeatedly for which the doctor was constantly prescribing antibiotics, which would never work on the 1st round. They'd go through 3 separate rounds of antibiotics before the infection would be gone, meanwhile they'd develop diarrhea and candida diaper rash. They got every "bug" that was going around and strep and tonsilitis on several occasions. They all have skin conditions which the doctor has diagnosed as keratosis pylaris. My unvaccinated child has never been sick beyond a slight, short-lived cold. Never had an ear infection and has no skin issues either.”


“We chose not to vaccinate for various reasons, and have never tried to create an antiseptic environment for the children. We live on a small mid-western farm and the children seldom wear shoes in the warmer months (warmer than freezing)so that is most of the time. They are subject to occasional cuts from various metals, glass, etc. and have not had any infections to speak of. Not only that, but they get bitten by various animals, cats, mice,(they're always catching mice)garden snakes, and the like, insects of all kinds, with no adverse affects. All but the first were home-birth, all were breast fed, and none of the last 8 have ever seen a doctor, (or MacDonalds).”


“I fully vaccinated his sister. She died at age 5 mos 14 days after suffering many symptoms of mercury poisoning including eczema, milk allergy and hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes as well as dilated pupils. Her death was labeled "SIDS". I know it was vaccine induced. I also suffered a severe reaction to smallpox vaccine and have other family history of severe vaccine reactions. My unvaxed son has never needed an antibiotic, never had an ear infection, and has not seen a doctor since he was 2 and that was for an eye issue that resolved itself.”


“He has never had an ear infection or serious illness that required medication and he turned 2 in Dec 2010. Vaccinated kids I know, including my 8 year old, were always sick. Croup, eczema, RSV, Scarlet fever, strep, roseola, thrush, ashthma, food allergies, other allergies, and most of all ear infection after ear infection. Comparing my daughter's health records she was on antibiotics over 14 times her first 2 years of life. She was SOOO sick all the time...doc said it was normal and compared to friends kids it was. Everyone had sick kids ALL the time. It is considered normal in kids under 3. She was not in daycare...so that argument of picking it up at daycare does not work. I could not take her anywhere of she was sick. Even pneumonia!


"Amazed at the overall health compared to all the kids her age, she gets the same cold/flu and has extremely mild symptoms compared to the other kids who are experiencing severe infections resulting in urgent care visits and prescriptions. All of the milestones were met early is able to read words before 2 1/2 years of age."


"My father is a MD and when time came for my daughter vaccination he asked me for the schedule and after reading it recommended to me not to do it.I myself when kid, was asthmatic and my dad was worried about the effects of the vaccines on her. She is a super healthy teen, never has been on antibiotic, resists all flu season without a problem and her immune system is super strong. Her brother is just the same"

"When she was a baby, I was kicked out of 2 pediatrician offices due to them thinking we were neglectful. One of them threatened to go to authorities. We wound up with a pediatrician who thought it was her obligation to care for her even more than her other patients due to our non-vaccine status. When Sarah was 18, her doctor said she was healthier than most of her patients, but a little underweight."

"We have three incredibly healthy children in our family that have all grown into highly effective professionals. The children have never had headaches, nosebleeds, vaginal infections, gut issues... none of the common ailments that people believe are normal, but are actually signs of disease."

"My son was born out of hospital at a nurse midwife birthing center 6 min. from a major medical facility, all natural and he has been breastfed up to 2+ yrs of life. He's an incredibly astute young toddler with a very active imagination and great sense of humor. He knows his alphabet and is approaching learning to put together words already. He's amazing and I attribute it to his lack of medical "care" involvement. I'm a health care professional and very attuned to the faults in our system here in the US."

"Trust in strong immune system. Use natural foods diet, homeopathy, vitamin C and herbs to strengthen immunity.
Child has had chicken pox, swine flu and whooping cough without serious complications."

"She(17 years) is very healthy, and most are shocked that she never had an ear infection in her lifetime."

"S. is 21 now in 4th year of university. He is extremely bright and healthy man.
He was always the healthiest child in his classes through grade school and high school. rarely even a cold. maybe once a year a 3 days cold.
he has never taken an antibiotic, steroid or other allopathic medicine. i would give him an A+ in over all health."

"I am actually a 63 year old Baby Boomer who has never had any of those childhood vaccinations, simply because we lived in such a rural, remote area, "they" could not effectively get to me, and my mother, with her naive intuition didn't want them to "hurt me." Wow. Understatement. My heart aches for kids today. Stories like mine, of people never vaccinated, growing up and living a life of health and vigor, are ignored. It might be helpful to open up the survey to broader age groups."

"I didn't start J. on vaccines until she was 3 because i wanted her to be able to talk well first. The thought of having to inject something that could cause death into your child scared me but i thought it was required. She wasn't nearly as sickly or mentally handicapped as my son that HAD to recieve each vaccine on time because we lived on a military installation. But her health doesn't even compare to our son who never received any vaccinations as he's never been on any antibiotics in his 9 yrs!"


"My first child has the most vaccines. The second has some. The last had none. The overall healthiest with the least problems is the one who got no vaccines. I have my masters degree in Nursing. I read all sorts of stuff cause I really wanted to believe vaccines are safe and ok but they are not. So my intensive research swayed me the other way."

"J. is our eighth child and the first to remain almost completely undamaged by the medical system. We did not even allow any newborn testing (such as PKU, etc...), nor did we allow a hearing screening, or vitamin k, or even the antibiotics in the eyes. He did not leave our sight in the hospital, because we did not trust the nurses to respect our desire to protect him from testing, vaccines, etc.... In fact, we would have avoided the hospital altogether if I did not have to deliver by c-section. J. is more alert and healthier than any of our other children. He is almost two and has not needed medical care yet. He is rarely sick, and has never had an ear infection. If fourteen years ago, before we had our first child, our pediatrician (or anyone for that matter) had given us a list of vaccine ingredients, including an understanding as to how they are made, and perhaps the opportunity to view the warning label (although the ingredi ent list would have done it for me), we would have NEVER vaccinated any of our children, ever. It should be mandatory that ingredients and warning labels be read by parents before a doctor is allowed to administer a vaccine. We are lied to and deceived by our government and our medical doctors/establishment. We did not question our doctors, because we were raised to believe that they existed for our good and we were to trust them. Well, we have paid the price, along with countless others. We stopped vaccinating three years ago. Shortly after my seventh child was born. She had only a few vaccines, but still a few too many. Several of my other children also came out only partially vaccinated. When I first learned of the ingredients of vaccines and how they were made, I was devastated and in shock that I had been so foolish to believe the doctors and cause such irreversible harm to my children. I am still grieved about it. People need to be told the truth!"

For more stories go to: http://www.vaccineinjury.info/results-unvaccinated/personal-stories.html

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