For immediate release: Nov. 27, 2009
Swined, Swooned & Swindled?
BC’s Provincial Health Officer
refuses live interview to discuss H1N1 vaccine manufacturer’s safety
warnings
Kari Simpson, Co-host of RoadKillRadio.com has written to
BC’s Provincial Health Officer (PHO), Dr. Perry Kendall, after he refused
to appear on RoadKillRadio to answer questions regarding the H1N1
Vaccine—questions specifically addressing the at-best-questionable
testing of the vaccine, and whether British Columbians can truly provide
“informed consent” when they agreed to the vaccination.
The questions refer to the vaccine
manufacturer’s own information, contained in their Product
Information Guide (PIG). This leaflet was published Oct. 21, 2009
by GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of the ASO3-Adjuvanted H1N1 Pandemic
Influenza Vaccine.
In her letter to Dr. Kendall, Mrs. Simpson asks:
Question 21 -
Hypothetically speaking, if a PHO does not fulfill the duty to provide crucial
information to the citizenry, thus resulting in thousands of men, women and
children ignorantly subjecting themselves to a medical procedure/experiment
that the PHO knows (or should know) is unproven and potentially dangerous, in
your opinion should he or she:
a.
Advise the public of the facts and resign
b.
Resign
c.
Continue to communicate information that fails to provide
the facts, thus knowingly endanger the lives of British Columbians
On behalf of British Columbians, Mrs. Simpson also
asks this question concerning data collection:
“GlaxoSmithKline states in the PIG on page 23:
“‘Children
6—35 months: 0.25mL/dose (NO clinical
data are
available
for influenza vaccines with ASO3 in this age group,’
Question 3 - Have you—in keeping with your legislative mandate to
“provide information” and to “report”—stated
anywhere on the public record GlaxoSmithKline’s admission, as quoted
above concerning 6-35-month-old babies and toddlers, that “no clinical
data are available for influenza vaccines with ASO3 in this age group”?
Question 4 - Have you, on the public record, warned parents that their
children were being used in an experiment? If so, please provide details of
where and when this has been stated or recorded.
Question 5 - Some media personalities (e.g., Christy Clark on CKNW)
have called those who may refuse to inject this toxic, experimental concoction
into their bodies, and/or their children’s bodies, “bad
Canadians.” Do you agree with her? Or is she being irresponsible?
As RoadKillRadio co-host, Kari Simpson interviewed Dr.
Christopher Shaw, a neuroscientist and a Professor at the University of British
Columbia, about the HI1N1 vaccine. Dr. Shaw has
researched the available data—what little there is—and told
RoadKillRadio he has concerns about “the lack of testing and the efficacy
of the vaccine.”
Dr. Shaw, when asked, said he would welcome the
opportunity to appear on RoadKillRadio with Dr. Perry Kendall. (Click here to listen to
Dr. Shaw on RoadKill Radio.)
Nov. 17 Kari Simpson contacted Dr. Kendall’s
office to request an interview with PHO Dr. Kendall, in person or by phone,
whichever suited him best. The proposed show date was for Nov. 24, a full week
later.
Ms. Simpson received a return call within minutes,
advising that Dr. Kendall was unavailable. Ms. Simpson then offered: “Any
Tuesday then, pick one.”
The answer was: “Dr Kendall would not be able to
do that long of an interview” (45 minutes).
Ms. Simpson, wanting to accommodate Dr. Kendall, then
offered to shorten the time, or pre-tape the interview, or have another
spokesperson from his office on the program. She was advised that she would be
called back.
Jeff Groot, a senior public affairs official with BC
Healthy Living, contacted Mrs. Simpson asking what the proposed interview would
be about.
Mrs. Simpson advised him there was growing concern
about the information being asserted by Dr. Kendall about the H1N1
vaccine’s safety, in light of the lack of testing. She also explained
that issues around informed consent should be explored.
Mr. Groot said Dr. Kendall would not appear, but was
willing to respond to written questions; he provided an e-mail address.
Ms. Simpson has written to Dr. Kendall, including a
total of 23 questions that need to be asked and answered promptly. She has
requested that he respond by Dec. 1, 2009. His responses will be featured on
www.RoadKillRadio.com, which is accessible at that address live every Tuesday
from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., with previous programs archived for access at any time.
A copy of the questions sent to Dr. Kendall is
attached to this release. The documents referred to in the letter are
hyperlinked for the convenience of those seeking the facts.
The November 24, 2009 interview on RoadKillRadio.com
with Dr. Christopher Shaw is available on archive. Click here to listen.
contact:
Kari Simpson
Co-Host, RoadKillRadio.com
Tel:
604.514.1614
E-mail: RoadKillRadio@live.ca
______________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Perry Kendall
Provincial Health Officer, Province of British
Columbia
via Jeff Groot’s (Senior Public Affairs Officer)
e-mail: jeff.groot@gov.bc.ca
November 23,
2009
RE: Questions about the H1N1 Pandemic and the H1N1 Influenza Vaccine
Dear Dr. Kendall:
We appreciate the opportunity to submit these
important questions to you on behalf of British Columbians. We regret that you
were unavailable to appear personally on RoadKill
Radio.Com, despite our willingness to accommodate your
schedule in any capacity that worked for you or anyone else from your office.
Mr. Groot, Senior Public Affairs Officer for the
Ministry of Healthy Living, has assured me during our telephone call that you
will answer these questions relating to the H1N1 vaccine so the public can gain
a better understanding of the governmental decision-making that has taken place
during this so-called “pandemic.”
According to your government profile, The Health Act
outlines your role as the Provincial Health Officer (PHO). As senior medical
health officer for British Columbia (BC), your responsibilities are said to
include:
• advising the
Minister and senior members of the ministry on health issues in BC and on the
need for legislation, policies and practices concerning those issues;
• monitoring the
health of the people of BC;
• providing
information and analyses on health issues;
• reporting to the
public on health issues, the need for legislation, a change of policy, or
practice respecting health in BC.
I trust that you are
familiar with the Product
Information Guide (PIG), a leaflet published by
GlaxoSmithKline the manufacturer of the ASO3—Adjuvanted H1N1 Pandemic
Influenza Vaccine. On page 2 of the PIG (October 21, 2009) it states:
Health Canada has authorized the
sale of Arepanrix H1N1
based on limited testing in humans
under the provision of
an Interim Order (IO) issued October
13, 2009.
Question
1 - Have you read the Product Information Guide Published by GlaxoSmithKline?
Question
2 - Where in the public record have you advised British Columbians that the
testing for this vaccine differs from the usual rigorous standards applied to
vaccines, due to the “pandemic” categorization of H1N1 as defined
by the World Health Organization (WHO)?
I applaud GlaxoSmithKline for
clearly stating in their PIG that testing of this vaccine is in some cases
minimal, and in others so deficient that “no clinical data” were
available. An example of this is found on page 23 of the PIG concerning dosages
for children 6—35 months. It states:
“Children 6-35 months:
0.25mL/dose (NO clinical data are
available
for influenza vaccines with ASO3 in this age group”
Question
3 - Have you—in keeping with your legislative mandate to “provide
information” and to “report”—stated anywhere on the
public record GlaxoSmithKline’s admission, as quoted above concerning
6-35 month old babies/toddlers, that “no clinical data are available for
influenza vaccines with ASO3 in this age group”?
Question 4 - Have you, on the public record,
warned parents that their children were being used in an experiment? If so,
please provide details of where and when this has been stated or recorded.
Question 5 - Some media personalities (e.g.,
Christy Clark on CKNW) have called those who may refuse to inject this toxic,
experimental concoction into their bodies, and/or their children’s
bodies, “bad Canadians.” Do you agree with her? Or is she being
irresponsible?
On page 22 of the PIG there are some assertions that warrant
clarification. Under the heading “Interactions with this vaccine”
GlaxoSmithKline responsibly states:
“There is no information on the
administration of AREPANRIX H1N1 with other vaccines.”
Question
6 - Have you—in keeping with your legislative mandate to “provide
information” and to “report”—stated anywhere on the
public record that there is “no information available” about the
interaction of this vaccine with other vaccines?
Question
7 - Have you at any time asserted that the vaccine is safe, knowing that the
majority of British Columbians have previously received vaccines and the
interactions of these combined compounds have yet to be tested?
The term “pandemic”
incites considerable concern and in the past the established criteria
warranted such a response.
Question
8: Where in the public record have you enlightened or educated British Columbians about the WHO redefining
the criteria of the term “pandemic” in 2003, by eliminating terms
that once justified global concerns but now define only a fluid, ill-defined
and changeable terminology?
As a Public Health Officer (PHO) you are
legislatively mandated to inform and educate. Public confidence in our medical
system is in part rooted in the public’s ability to trust the PHO.
Informed consent, which I note is required by law and
is a right of each individual, is defined by the patient being fully aware of
both the risks and potential benefits of any medical procedure. A medical
doctor, Dr. Roby Mitchell M.D.,
has gone very public in the United
States in retracting his advice to health
care professions to get the H1N1 vaccine citing their right to informed
consent. After researching the vaccine, he in good conscience and as a
professional, had to advise his patients of the facts and risks of the vaccine.
Question 9 - What are you doing to
insure that those who are getting the H1N1 vaccination are making their
decision based on informed consent?
The BC Centres for Disease Control has published a
guide called ImmunizeBC,
a guide supposedly designed to assist individuals in educating themselves about
vaccines including the “Pandemic Influenza A/H1N1. I have reviewed this
document. Question 7 in ImmunizeBC
asks: “Is the
vaccine safe?” The response states:
Yes. Vaccine safety is a priority. Clinical trials of
the
adjuvanted vaccine in adults have been conducted and
other trials in other age and risk groups are being
done.
All results to date indicate safety of this vaccine.
The
non-adjuvanted vaccine which can be used in pregnancy
and in children under 3 years old is formulated the
same
way as seasonal vaccines and is expected to have the
same
safety profile as seasonal vaccine.
Question
10 - In consideration of GlaxoSmithKline’s own admissions contained in
their own PIG as it relates to the vaccine, do you, in your capacity as PHO
believe that the BC Centre for Disease Control is providing factual and
accurate information concerning this vaccine?
I refer again to the ImmunizeBC guide. Question 16 in the guide
again refers to the safety of the AS03 vaccine. It asks: “Is the AS03
adjuvant safe?” The response asserts:
“The ASO3 adjuvant has been tested in
over 45,000 people around the world and has been evaluated by Health Canada as part
of the review of the related A/H5N1 avian influenza pre-pandemic vaccine. No
safety concerns regarding the use of the adjuvanted vaccine have been
seen.”
Question
11 - If you agree with this assertion, that this adjuvant is
“safe”, please detail the test you rely on for determining what is
“safe”.
According to the GlaxoSmithKline PIG
leaflet, several million Canadians could be adversely affected if injected with
this vaccine. Under their own classifications:
“Common” (may occur with up to 1 in 10
doses) adverse reactions include: injection site bruising, itching. Then there
is also fever, swollen lymph nodes, feeling sick, diarrhea. This means that if
32 million Canadians are vaccinated, 3.2 million are expected to have adverse
reactions.
Question
12 - Should Canadians seek medical treatment for these types of reactions?
“Uncommon” adverse effects are projected
at a rate of 1 in 100 doses. These include: Dizziness, feeling unwell, unusual
weakness, vomiting, stomach pain, uncomfortable feeling in the stomach,
belching, inability to sleep, tingling, numbness of hands or feet, shortness of
breath, chest pains, rash, itching, pain, stiffness of muscles, muscle spasms.
If 32 million Canadians were to be vaccinated, we can expect 320,000 Canadians
suffer with these concerning symptoms/complications.
Question
13 - Should Canadians seek medical treatment for these types of reactions
and/or symptoms?
“Rare” (may occur in 1 in 1000
doses)—If 32 million Canadians are injected with this vaccine, 32,000 may
experience these reactions: Allergic reaction causing dangerous decrease of
blood pressure, which if untreated may lead to shock. Other reactions include:
Fits, severe stabbing or throbbing pain along nerves, low blood platelet count
resulting in bleeding/bruising.
Question
14 - Should Canadians seek medical treatment for these types of reactions?
“Very Rare” 1 in 10,000 doses =
3,200 Canadians. These lucky, hopefully “informed” Canadians can
look forward to Vasculitis (inflammation of
the blood vessels which can cause skin rashes, joint pain and kidney problems) and Neurological disorders such as
encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the central nervous system), neuritis
(inflammation of nerves) and a type of paralysis known a Guillain-Barré
Syndrome (GBS).
Question
15 - Should Canadians seek medical treatment for these types of reactions?
Question
16 - If you answered “Yes” to any of the above scenarios as
projected by the vaccine manufacturer, what would the estimated (ball park) costs
be to our medical system?
Projected cumulative total of probable
adverse reactions if all Canadians are vaccinated: more than six and three-quarter
million!—not including deaths from the vaccine (which, in
1976, were reported to be more than the number of deaths from the swine flu
itself).
Question
17 — Are people who get the vaccination allowed to drive themselves home, even
though these estimates project that more than 3-and-a-half million people will
have reactions, a quarter to half of which (e.g, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea,
etc) would render them dangerous to others on the road?
Question 18 - What is the projected
number of illnesses and deaths from H1N1 flu if no one is vaccinated?
I have spoken to a number of
British Columbians about the vaccination, they seem to be unaware of
GlaxoSmithKline’s stated and acknowledged risks associated with the
vaccine. Most are shocked and feel betrayed when they read for themselves the
truth about this experimental vaccine. Others are angry.
Question
19 - Who in BC is responsible for informing individuals about the known risks
associated with this vaccine?
Question
20 - Have you published any statistics associated with the reporting of
adverse reactions to the H1N1 vaccination? If so where?
Question
21 - Hypothetically speaking, if a PHO does not fulfill the duty to provide
crucial information to the citizenry, thus resulting in thousands of men, women
and children ignorantly subjecting themselves to a medical procedure/experiment that the PHO knows (or should know)
is unproven and potentially dangerous, in your opinion should he or she:
a.
Advise the public of the facts and resign
b.
Resign
c.
Continue to communicate information that fails to provide the facts, thus knowingly
endanger the lives of British Columbians
Question
22 - Do you personally own or have shares in, directly or indirectly, any
stock, or other material interest in any pharmaceutical corporation?
Question
23 - Are you as PHO required to disclose any (or any potential) financial
conflicts of interest prior to accepting this office?
Thank you for your willingness to answer these
questions. On behalf of many Canadians and British Columbians, I look forward
to your responses to these important questions, and sharing them with our
audience.
Yours sincerely,
Kari Simpson.
Co—Host RoadKill Radio