FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, April 1, 2011
Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota
Contact – Jennifer Larson (952) 956-4999
HEALTH COMMISSIONER’S STATEMENTS CHALLENGED BY VACCINE SAFETY COUNCIL
Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota (VSCM) challenges statements by Minnesota Health Commissioner
regarding vaccine risks.
Trust in public health officials is rapidly deteriorating due to public policy that downplays the documented adverse effects of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and dismisses parental reports of immediate seizures and developmental regression following the MMR as “coincidence.” Additionally, on two occasions this week public health officials have presented biased information about the risks of vaccination.
March 26, 2011, the Minnesota Department of Health hosted a “Somali Educational Forum on Measles and MMR Vaccination.” Six of the Eight speakers made the false claim that vaccines do not cause autism despite governmental and judicial evidence to the contrary.
VSCM presents the following information questioning this claim:
• On July 20, 2007 the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program of the U.S. Federal Courts ruled that the MMR vaccine alone had caused autism in petitioner Bailey Banks “both caused-in-fact and proximately caused by vaccination.”
• VSCM co-founder Patti Carroll spoke with MN Department of Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger before Saturday’s forum. She stated, “I was shocked to learn that Dr. Ehlinger, the top health official in the state, acted unaware that the head of the CDC acknowledged three years ago that vaccines can cause autism in susceptible individuals.”
March 28, 2011, Health Commissioner Ehlinger stated in an interview with Gary Eichten of Minnesota
Public Radio News “We have a safe & effective vaccine” when referring to the MMR vaccine.
VSCM presents the following information to question this claim:
• VAERS, the national vaccine safety surveillance program sponsored by the CDC and FDA, reported on the MMR vaccine “166 cases of encephalopathy [brain inflammation] occurring 6-15 days after vaccination have been identified.”
During the MPR interview, Dr. Ehlinger responded to a caller who questioned the practice of giving multiple vaccines at once to a child. Dr. Ehlinger assured this caller that it was perfectly safe to give many vaccines at one time.
VSCM presents the following information in questioning this claim:
• Safety studies have never been done on the long-term side effects of multiple vaccines for the recommended 2011 schedule that are given at the same time.
Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota understands that parents who have witnessed adverse effects of
the MMR with neurological damage are justifiably reluctant to give the vaccine to their other children, and we encourage medical professionals to acknowledge the truth of the parent’s experiences as well as their concerns about additional vaccines and safety. “Transparency from our health officials regarding the benefits AND risks of vaccines is the right of every individual” says co-founder Libby Rupp.
Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota advocates for:
• Full disclosure by government and health officials of both the benefits and risks of vaccines
• Promoting individual consumer safety through the use of vaccines that are free from mercury and other known neurotoxins
• Complete transparency by government in vaccine policy-making decisions
• Providing awareness and education for parental choice, informed consent and fair labeling
• Ensuring that conflict of interest-free safety studies are done on every vaccine and every possible combination of vaccines that the government recommends for our children
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