Show Us the Science

By Lisa Reagan
Issuse 105, March/April 2001

"Science for Hope and Healing: Challenging the Status Quo," the Second International Public Conference of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), was held September 8 to 10, 2000, in Arlington, Virginia. Thirty distinguished scientists from the US, Canada, and Europe, including immunologists, molecular and cell biologists, epidemiologists, gastroenterologists, pediatric neurologists, microbiologists, and internal medicine specialists, presented and discussed the biological mechanisms and possible high-risk factors for adverse responses to vaccination. The conference drew nearly 500 representatives from 37 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. Representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health also were in attendance; they answered questions during breaks but did not make any presentations.

"The purpose of this conference is...to provide a forum for an open discussion and debate about the science, policies, and ethics of vaccination," said Barbara Loe Fisher, president and co-founder of NVIC, in her opening remarks. "NVIC has a long public record of working to institute safety and informed consent reforms in the mass vaccination system. We believe that a child who dies from a vaccine is just as important as a child who dies from an infectious disease. We believe that a humane society will place equal emphasis on preventing both kinds of deaths and injuries. We support the rights of all healthcare consumers to know what is and is not known about vaccines. We are not antivaccine. We are pro-education."

The first NVIC conference for scientists and scientific inquiry into vaccine safety, the International Scientific Workshop, held in 1989, evaluated the neurological complications of pertussis and the whole-cell pertussis vaccine. Over 70 percent of compensation claims to the national Vaccine Injury and Compensation Program [VICP] have been for the whole-cell pertussis part of the DPT. In 1996, the NVIC realized a major goal when the FDA licensed an improved pertussis vaccine known as the acellular pertussis (DTAP) vaccine.

In 1997, the NVIC held the First International Public Conference on Vaccination, which brought more than 500 doctors, scientists, health officials, lawyers, ethicists, journalists, and parents from 34 states and five foreign countries to Washington, DC. Many scientists who spoke at this conference felt they could be risking their careers for presenting their views. One speaker, Andrew Wakefield--the eminent British scientist who postulated a link between the measles viral infection, either from the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine or from natural measles, and autism--was threatened professionally and personally after presenting his findings at the conference.

Since 1997 concerns over vaccine safety have continued to escalate. The three-year interim between the NVIC's two public conferences witnessed a parade of nine US congressional hearings, British Parliament inquiries, and international media articles. All have questioned vaccine safety, the lack of long-term scientific safety research, and the inherent ethical conflicts of interest between vaccine manufacturers and the policy makers of the compulsory, mass vaccination system. Many parents, doctors, scientists, and vaccine safety advocates also believe that the lack of informed choice for parents in a government-mandated vaccination system has led to a lack of accountability and progress in vaccine safety research.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
The NVIC's long history of working for vaccine safety and informed consent began in 1982, when parents of vaccine-injured children formed the group Dissatisfied Parents Together (DPT). DPT's first major victory came in 1986, when Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. DPT's goal was to create a centralized reporting system for vaccine injuries and a fair and quick compensation process for injured children. These goals were included in the law.

The resulting national Vaccine Injury and Compensation Program, VICP, required vaccine providers to give benefit and risk information to parents before their children were vaccinated; to keep written records of vaccine manufacturer names and lot numbers for each vaccination given; and to report adverse events following vaccination to the government. (For additional information on the VICP, see their website at www.hrsa.dhhs.gov/bhpr/vicp or contact them at National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, Parklawn Building Room 8A-46, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857; 800-338-2382.)

The 1986 act also established the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). VAERS is a passive system; reporting an adverse event to VAERS is not required, therefore only 1 to 10 percent of injuries are reported. Reporting a vaccine injury does not automatically file a claim for compensation with the VICP. Anyone, even parents, may report an adverse reaction to a vaccine to VAERS. (To do so, see their website at www.vaers.org/ where you may print out a postage-paid report form. Or call them at 800-822-7967.)