Harper's Magazine - Viral Marketing The selling of the flu vaccine

[Guest guest]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but I thought many of you

might like to see a two-page article published in the latest

Harper's Magazine. Unfortunately, I don't have a link to the

article, just the cover and table of contents. In his latest

article, Doshi considers the possibility that the CDC has

repeatedly exaggerated the facts regarding the dangers of the flu to

motivate vaccine uptake. Mr. Doshi uses Dr. Glen Nowak's

presentation at the 2004 National Influenza Vaccine Summit

(including actual pages from the presentation) to support his

position.

Viral Marketing

The selling of the flu vaccine

By Doshi

Harper's Magazine

http://www.harpers.org/MostRecentCover.html

Here's an excerpt from the article -

" But in the CDC's aggressive marketing of the [flu] shots, the

agency has employed dubious statistics and questionable methods,

leaving Americans less equipped than ever to gauge the threat

rationally. The recipe, as Nowak revealed, relies on

creating `concern, anxiety, and worry' - its main ingredient, in

other words, is fear. "

And in questioning the efficacy of the vaccine itself, Mr. Doshi

states, " And because flu shots contain some level of toxic mercury,

there is concern that for some the vaccine might do more harm than

good. "

Mr. Doshi's closing remarks:

" In this season's pandemic scare, Congress has responded to Bush's

call by passing a bill that allows the government to confer blanket

immunity from liability on makers of vaccines. As the wages of fear

accrue to pharmaceutical companies, Americans are made into a

captive market for vaccines of questionable worth. "

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Here is the link to Dr. Nowak's 2004 presentation

Planning for the 2004-05 Influenza Vaccination Season: A

Communication Situation Analysis

Presentation by Dr. Glen Nowak, Associate Director for Communications

National Immunization Program

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2004 National Influenza Summit

April 13th and 14th, 2004

Atlanta, Georgia

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/36/2004_flu_nowak.pdf

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Also from Doshi—

Are US flu death figures more PR than science?

British Medical Journal

December 10, 2005

http://tinyurl.com/r34mw

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Enjoy,