The U.S. Senate held a hearing on March 5, 2019: Vaccines Save Lives: What Is Driving Preventable Disease Outbreaks?
I watched the hearing and saw pictures of the lines of parents that hoped to attend the hearing.There were more security guards on site than those present for the Kavanaugh confirmation. Parents were being herded into a separate room.
The committee chairman read an opening statement that claimed vaccines were completely safe. Senator Rand Paul was the only Senator who acknowledged BOTH benefits and risks of vaccines. The only citizen witness was a teenage boy who painted concerned parents as mothers picking up wild ideas from facebook.
The truth is that scientists, some doctors, nurses and parents have concerns about the current vaccine schedule and the risk/benefit assessment. They have invested much time in research.
The government vaccine court has paid out more than 4 billion dollars to parents whose child died or is severely disabled following a vaccine. In 1986 legislation was passed to remove all liability from the pharmaceutical companies. If the vaccines they produced caused side effects and injury, the pharmaceutical companies could not be sued. Instead parents could petition the vaccine injury court and be compensated with tax payer dollars.
Another provision of the 1986 bill was that Health and Human Services was to review the vaccines every two years, identify the children that were at greater risk of injury and make reports to congress. This never happened.
I am ashamed of the ignorance shown by Senators who stated vaccines are completely safe. I hope that they will read this open letter to Senator Romney. http://fearlessparent.org/dear-senator-romney-vaccine-coercion-political-leadership/
This morning I spent some time in prayer and decided to look on the CDC site for contraindications for some vaccines. I was surprised to find a page that was in direct contradiction to the way the Senate Hearing took place.
When a parent or patient initiates a discussion about a perceived vaccine adverse reaction, the health care provider should discuss the specific concerns and provide factual information, using appropriate language. Effective, empathetic vaccine risk communication is essential in responding to misinformation and concerns, with health care providers recognizing that risk assessment and decision-making can be difficult and confusing. Certain vaccines might be acceptable to a parent who is resistant to other vaccines. This partial acceptance can be used to facilitate additional communication. Their concerns can be addressed using the VIS and offering other resource materials (e.g., vaccination information from CDC).
The hepatitis B vaccine had long term side effects for one of my children. I am wondering why this vaccine is required for a child to attend public school.
All pregnant women are tested for hepatitis B to ascertain that they do not pass it along to the baby. Hepatitis B is an infection that is passed along through contact with infected blood, or by sexual intimacy with an infected person. It is not a disease that can be readily passed to another child.
Parents must be allowed to question vaccine policy. Parents are responsible for caring for their child. They are the ones that deal with vaccine injuries. Why is there a movement to shut down all questions and muzzle concerns?
