Clinton Shills for Flu Vaccine Manufacturers and CDC

[Guest guest]

Last Friday a group of parents and I met with a staffer of Senator Clinton, who represents my state in the US Senate, one of the parents has been meeting with this staffer for several years trying to get some sort of action from Clinton. And what do we see: nothing

Clinton has no time or interest in autism, mercury poisoning, vaccine safety, or justice for those afflicted with autism, but read the press release below. She is doing every thing she can for flu vaccine manufacturers, including shielding them from any liability and placing the burden on you the taxpayer. The staffer even tried to explain to me why it was OK to spend $53,000 in federal money for every diagnosed case in the US of HIV/AIDS and $45 of federal money on every case of autism, more than 1000 times as much per sick individual.

They discuss the vaccine "shortage" last year as if it were a natural disaster instead of the outcome of the CDC contracting half the US supply of flu vaccine to an incompetent manufacturer, Chiron, that allowed it's manufacturing facility to become contaminated with bacteria. And don't forget that thimerosal is added to flu shots exactly to prevent that kind of thing. Obviously, thimeorsal is not effective at performing its purported fucntion. And look who is supporting the bill: Chiron. Clinton parrots back all the usual lies the CDC uses to promote its ineffective and dangerous flu vaccines. It provides funds to focus on "high priority" groups, i.e. small children, in which it is well established in the peer reviewed medical literature that the flu vaccine doesn't even work

You would think they may have attempted to use this bill to provide an incentive to get rid of thimerosal, or better safety measures, but they can't be bothered because they don't care. Beware of the language equating vaccine production from national security, how far can we be from the government equating dissent on vaccine issues to treason?

This shamelessly shilling for the pharmaceutical companies makes me sick, and it is beyond belief that she could be the potential leader for the party that gave us FDR and Kennedy.

October 6, 200

Senators Clinton and Introduce Legislation to Ensure Adequate Flu Vaccine Supply

Washington, DC - With the threat of a worldwide flu pandemic and an avian flu outbreak that would require rapid mobilization of our existing vaccine delivery infrastructure, it is more critical than ever to ensure that our basic seasonal flu vaccine production and distribution system is capable of delivering vaccines to all who need them. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) and Pat (KS) today introduced legislation to help prevent recurring shortages of flu vaccine and strengthen our vaccine delivery infrastructure so that we are able to respond to a crisis. “Despite three shortages of seasonal flu vaccine since 2000, we still don’t have the flu vaccine production and distribution infrastructure we need to ensure a stable supply and demand for seasonal flu vaccine, raising serious concerns about our ability to respond to a flu pandemic or an outbreak of avian flu,” said Senator Clinton. “Last fall, we witnessed senior citizens lining up for hours to obtain flu vaccine, unscrupulous distributors attempting to sell scarce vaccine to the highest bidder and millions of Americans delaying or deferring necessary flu shots. We cannot handle the threats we face today with a broken flu vaccine system. We need to act now to stop shortages of seasonal flu vaccine before they occur and make sure our vaccine infrastructure can respond to these crises.” “I think we learned a good lesson from Hurricane Katrina: we must be prepared at all levels to deal with a large-scale public health emergency such as pandemic flu. As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture and Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committees, I take this threat of flu pandemic very seriously and view it not only as a public health concern, but also a national security concern. I am pleased to introduce this legislation with Senator Clinton today to strengthen our public health infrastructure and make sure our vaccine manufacturers have the tools necessary to produce and deliver vaccines for both seasonal and pandemic flu. Without these resources, the U.S. is extremely vulnerable in the event of a future vaccine shortage or a large-scale avian flu outbreak,” said Senator . In the midst of last year’s flu season, one of only two suppliers of flu vaccine withdrew from the United States market, resulting in a severe flu vaccine shortage and underscoring the inadequacy of our current vaccine production and delivery capability. The flu vaccine supply last year was approximately half of the supply needed, leading to a severe breakdown in the delivery system and widespread confusion about who should receive vaccines and how to obtain them. Approximately 36,000 Americans die of the flu each year, with another 200,000 hospitalizations resulting from flu. These deaths and hospitalizations are largely preventable if we increase immunizations, create a stable vaccine market and increase public awareness of the importance of flu vaccines.

The Clinton- bill, the Influenza Vaccine Security Act, addresses the causes of the influenza shortage by bringing increased stability to our nation’s seasonal flu vaccine market. The bill provides a framework through which our public health officials can track vaccines to ensure we have an adequate supply and to make sure high priority populations are vaccinated. The bill also provides technical assistance to companies that wish to produce vaccine domestically, and it will increase education about the importance of obtaining seasonal flu vaccines. The legislation will also strengthen the underlying public health infrastructure in order to heighten our ability to respond to both seasonal and pandemic influenza. The bill is supported by the Trust for America's Health, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the American Lung Association, and Chiron.

### The Influenza Vaccine Security Act

Since 2000, the nation has experienced three shortages of its annual flu vaccine supply, yet the underlying causes of this vaccine shortage remain unaddressed. Approximately 36,000 Americans die of the flu each year, and these deaths are largely preventable. The Influenza Vaccine Security Act addresses the causes of the influenza shortage by bringing increased stability to our nation’s seasonal flu vaccine market, providing a framework through which our public health officials can track vaccines, and increasing education about the importance of flu vaccines. It would also strengthen the underlying public health infrastructure in order to heighten our ability to respond to both seasonal and pandemic influenza. The bill contains the following provisions: Market guarantees The bill would allow HHS, through discussions with manufacturers and based upon the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, to set annual targets for influenza vaccine production. The Secretary is authorized to engage in both stockpiling and buyback activities, and can purchase antiviral medications. Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors wishing to participate in this buyback program must submit information to the CDC that would enable the agency to track the distribution of vaccine from the point of manufacture to the point of delivery. Manufacturers must also provide at least 12 months notice to the Secretary before purposefully discontinuing production of influenza vaccine. Regulatory assistance to manufacturers The bill would allow the FDA to strengthen its technical assistance activities. Technical assistance grants shall be available to companies that wish to enter the U.S. market with domestic-based production facilities or improve their ability to remain within the U.S. market. The FDA is directed to provide additional training opportunities for its employees to develop expertise in regulation in these areas. HHS would develop a regulatory roadmap to coordinate agency-wide activities for the purpose of facilitating approval and distribution of vaccine during periods of emergency use authorization, including the development of a model standing order to facilitate administration of influenza vaccine to patients in long-term care facilities and children’s hospitals and by home health aides. Increased research into vaccine development alternatives The bill would provide additional financing for NIH research into alternative methods of vaccine development, like cell based cultures and a permanent flu vaccine. The National Immunization Program of the CDC shall be charged with coordination of education, outreach and communication on influenza vaccine activities of HHS, including those pertaining to increasing vaccination rates and the current state of vaccine research, as well as any other messages deemed important by the Secretary. Establishment of a vaccine tracking system This bill would establish, within two years of the date of enactment, an electronic tracking system by which we can determine, on a county-by-county basis, the amount of influenza vaccine available for distribution to patients and the number of high priority patients in each county. Within four years of the date of enactment, the Centers for Disease Control shall upgrade its flu surveillance system to incorporate flu surveillance reporting mechanisms into the flu vaccine tracking system. Such a system will also assist users in accessing influenza educational materials. The CDC shall work with state and local health departments and state licensing boards to develop a registry of medical personnel who can provide services in the event of a health emergency, including a flu vaccine shortage. It shall also provide demonstration grants to health care institutions to assist them in information technology upgrades that will allow such institutions to improve their ability to report and track flu vaccine dissemination. Increased outreach and education on flu vaccine This bill would increase education and outreach activities with the goals of improving overall rates of vaccination, achieving vaccination of all high-risk individuals and full use of each season’s influenza vaccine supplies, providing information on influenza prevention, and any other influenza educational efforts deemed appropriate by the Director of the CDC. Grants shall be provided to state and local health departments to encourage them to carry out activities that increase vaccination. They will be encouraged to collaborate on these projects with health care providers, health insurance providers, health care institutions, and groups representing high priority populations. Pandemic vaccine liability Although seasonal influenza vaccine is covered under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), this section of the bill would help both manufacturers and public health with liability concerns over products prepared specifically for pandemic influenza strains. The Secretary of HHS shall have the authority to designate pandemic vaccine products as qualifying technologies for liability protections for limited time periods. Health care professionals, manufacturers, distributors, and health care institutions will be deemed to be employees of the Public Health Service, with the government assuming liability for personal injury or death resulting from the manufacture, administration, or use of qualified pandemic influenza technologies. Claims shall be adjudicated under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Nothing in this section will supersede the authority of the VICP in relation to the other vaccines covered through that program, such as trivalent influenza vaccine.