By Peter Holleran, DC


   "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight, then you win." - Gandhi

   The following, in a briefer form, was submitted to the Pacific Sun newspaper in response to a letter to the editor called "The Needle and the Damage Not Done", by a writer who said that he had never seen a convincing argument not to vaccinate. If you have read my two-part article on vaccination on this website (and you are strongly urged to do so), by now you know many such reasons. However, the threat to our medical liberty is once again imminent, and this aspect of the issue need stressing. Currently, the California State Senate is poised to hold hearings on a bill the would do away with once and for all - and for ANY vaccine - the right to refusal guaranteed by the personal or philosophical vaccine exemption. The implications of this are much bigger than most people imagine. Few in our country understand what it would be like living under a regime with medical tyranny. And sadly, few are educated enough to understand this, or to really care. Unfortunately, this is how the elite wants it. An ignorant public is easily swayed by the 'authorities', with the threat of any impending crisis - whether true or not - into accepting something they never would have before. This crisis-reaction-solution tactic is played out almost daily before our eyes. And it works well, as it always has. Here then are two additional compelling reasons for the urgency of retaining the personal exemption, and not being swayed by emotion or spurious arguments such as that the expert authorities would only be taking it away "for our own good."

   First, there are known risks. According to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) there are 25,000 adverse vaccine events reported each year (by MD’s). The CDC estimates 10%, the FDA only 1%, of these events are actually reported. Most doctors refuse to admit such things happen. That means between 250,000 to 2,500,000 occur each year. Many are mild and not too debilitating, but others are not. According to the Merck Manual, the Physicians Desk Reference, and the vaccine package inserts themselves, known side effects for many vaccines - which physicians are REQUIRED to inform you of - include seizures, encephalitis, meningitis, Guillain Barre syndrome, and death. These sources also list precautions and contraindications to vaccines, i.e., no one with any history - or family history - of seizures or neurological problems, is supposed to get the DPT shot. This has been WHO policy for thirty years. The rest of the developed world is on board with it. Yet the AAP is on record as stating, “we do not see any need for screening.” Has your doctor screened your child? Or ever not given all the scheduled vaccines, no matter what? This is one area where the personal exemption is a safeguard against unchecked medical license.

   Second, while current talk is all about measles, the great overlooked danger is that giving up the right to refuse mandatory injection means FOREVER giving up the right to refuse ANY of the two dozen problematic post 9-11 vaccinations (some not for imminent threats of infection, or even for childhood diseases, yet still mandated for infants), but even more importantly, any of the more than THREE HUNDRED NEW VACCINES ALREADY IN THE DEVELOPMENTAL PIPELINE!! Who in their right mind would place this much faith in what is basically a criminal syndicate using their immense financial power to legitimize and make illegal anything but their version of healthcare? It is strange indeed that anyone would believe the situation with vaccine development and promotion would be any different than that involved with drugs, as is evidenced by the nightly spectacle enacted on television of a never-ending barrage of miracle pills with endless adverse drug-reaction disclosures. After all, the same players are involved with drugs and vaccines, why should things be different? Surveys show that more than 80% people distrust drugs - yet oddly somehow believe that vaccines are sacrosanct. This is not reasonable. Giving up the personal right of refusal of any vaccination is a surrender of liberty based on trust in the altruism of companies who pay out hundreds of millions, even billions, in fines for damages on a regular basis! And the fact is that almost every vaccine from polio on down the line has been released on the public (without adequate and independent testing for safety and efficacy),have caused serious injury/deaths, been recalled, retooled, and tried again. The science is not “settled.” In fact, that very concept is scientifically absurd. Science is NEVER settled! It is constantly changing and being supplanted by new knowledge. Those who say "the science is settled" are shamefully engaged in promoting their own particular version of medical truth. They use a war chest billions of dollars to influence government, academia, and the public into accepting a drug-based paradigm of disease care (not health care), while using the power of the law to legalize and mandate it. All doctors are not so naive about this:

   “[The pharmaceutical industry is] now primarily a marketing machine to sell drugs of dubious benefit, this industry uses its wealth and power to co-opt every institution that might stand in its way, including the US congress, Food and Drug Administration, academic medical centers, and the medical profession itself.” - Marcia Angell, MD, for 20 years editor of the new England Journal of Medicine.

   It is illuminating to examine how a vaccine gets approved and mandated. It is NOT by an unbiased process, free of financial ties to industry; rather, manufacturers lobby the advisory board (the ACIP) at the FDA, many or most of whom have direct monetary ties to the vaccine companies (for example, Paul Offit, MD, was patent holder for Rototeq), and without public oversight a vaccine gets quietly slipped into the childhood - and adult - vaccine schedule. There is a HUGE conflict of interest here, which is not going away anytime soon, and for which the retention of the personal exemption is a crucial minimum safeguard. To those who believe we should do away with vaccine exemptions, the question is asked, "do you really think that you will never wish too question the need or safety of any of potentially thousands of vaccines the industry wants to foist upon you? Isn't this attitude INSANE?

   Some of the roots of this huge problem lie in a dangerous precedent started in 1986 when the Reagan administration made it illegal to sue a vaccine manufacturer for injury. Prior to this time millions had been paid out in damages. Doctors were actually somewhat circumspect in recommending some vaccines. But the drug industry lobbied hard for immunity to safeguard profits. We are the ONLY country in the world with such a carte blanche for the industry. In 1988 the government created a Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which has paid out over two billion dollars claims. To deny this is a reality - and deny such injuries when they happen, as is common practice among doctors - is a sickening betrayal on the part of our medical caregivers.

   “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Benjamin Franklin