Trust?
How confident can we
be when we learn the government is so intimate with pharmaceutical
companies? Do they really watch out for our children’s best interest? No
individual who stands to gain financially should be on this
committee. When you
wonder how the rotavirus made its way into our babies, refer to the
prior pages statements. When you wonder how thimerosal and Aluminum
containing vaccines are administered to our children, refer to the prior
page's statements. If you wonder who is minding the public health as
the FDA allows drug companies to produce vaccines grown on animal tissue
cultures, when they are not sure if this practice is facilitating cross
species transfer of animal viruses into man, please refer to the prior
page's statements.
There are huge amounts of money being
made by these people who no longer worry about the consequences of their
inadequate clinical
trials or substandard products. In fact, today the FDA cannot even
tell health scientists the truth about vaccine contaminants and their
likely effects. The agency is bound and gagged by proprietary laws and
non-disclosure agreements forced upon them by the pharmaceutical
industry.
"The drug industry is stealing from us
twice," said Frank Clemente, director of Public citizens Congress Watch.
"First it claims that it needs huge profits to develop new drugs, even
while drug companies get hefty taxpayer subsidies. Second, the companies
gouge taxpayers while spending millions from their profits to buy access
to lawmakers and
defeat pro-consumer prescription-drug legislation. Drug makers spent
$262 million during the 1999-2000 election, which includes $177 million
on lobbying, $65 million on issue ads and $20 million on campaign
contributions.”
The federal affairs staff at PhRMA has
quadrupled, to 20 employees today from 5 in 1999. The organization plans
to spend $5 million for outside lobbyists at the federal level. In their
campaign contributions, drug
companies have favored Republican candidates. But PhRMA has retained a
diverse group of lobbyists to ensure access to politicians of both
parties.
Its
Democratic lobbyists, listed in recent reports to Congress, include
former Representative Vic Fazio of California; David W. Beier, who was
chief domestic policy adviser to Vice President Al Gore; Joel P.
Johnson, who was a top aide to President Bill Clinton and to Senator Tom
Daschle, the minority leader; and Nick Littlefield, former chief counsel
for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
Republicans who reported lobbying for
PhRMA include former Representatives Vin Weber of Minnesota and Bill
Paxon of New York; Dave Larson, former health policy adviser to Bill
Frist, now the Senate majority leader; Edwin A. Buckham, former chief of
staff to Tom DeLay, now the House majority leader; and Scott Hatch, the
son of Senator Hatch.
For a list of all the government/pharma
ties go to http://www.opensecrets.org/
There are also
news organizations with strong ties to
pharmaceutical companies. Is it any wonder we never get the truth about
the dangers of vaccines?
Reuters
Take a look at how
Bill Gates
makes money by supposedly helping fight disease through vaccination.
Profits
Four
doses of Pneumococcal Conjugate for each child costs $242.00
approximately seven million children are targeted to receive this
vaccine in the U.S. alone. It is also being advertised on television to
insure more sales. This will also test public opinion for the upcoming
American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of the Prevnar vaccine,
and the subsequent requirement by the
CDC. According to the news agency
Reuters, this is expected to deliver sales of $300 to $500 million a
year for Wyeth-Lederle vaccines. One annual report I found was from
Smithkline Beecham with annual sales of $278 million for Hepatitis
Vaccines and Merck with annual sales of $860 million with vaccine
biologics. The promotion of vaccines is a 30 Billion dollar industry.
Just
found this:GlaxoSmithKline Operating and financial review and prospects
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