Gone After Gardasil: Acceptable Collateral Damage?
By Freda Birrell and Norma Erickson, SaneVax Inc.
According to government health authorities, medical ‘experts,’ and the pharmaceutical industry adverse events after vaccinations are extremely rare. The attitude of these organizations toward individuals who do experience an adverse reaction to vaccines was recently summed up quite clearly in an article titled, The Value of Life, Statistically Speaking by Rick Jones, CFO magazine which stated:
“Inoculating children to prevent infectious disease transmission is good for society from both health and financial perspectives, but some initially healthy children may suffer adverse reactions, injury, or even death. For vaccines, the enormous societal benefits trump the tragedies of the few.”
In other words, those who suffer adverse reactions, injury and even death are viewed as acceptable collateral damage, nothing more than statistics. Allow us to introduce you to a small sample of the statistically ‘rare’ adverse events after receiving the HPV vaccine, Gardasil:
Jessie Ericzon: Jessie was one of those rare individuals who truly had a zest for life. In her universe everyone deserved a fair chance and she made it her personal mission to make sure everyone around her had one. She excelled at everything she tried; truly an individual who had the world by the tail.
All of her hopes and dreams came to an abrupt end on February 22, 2008. That is the day her parents discovered her dead on the bathroom floor a mere 40 hours after her third injection of Gardasil.
Jessie’s parents are left to deal with the fact that their precious daughter is indeed ‘One Less’ woman who will have to deal with cervical cancer.’
Chris Tarsell: Chris was discovered dead in her college dorm room bed 18 days after her third dose of Gardasil. Her abrupt departure from this world has left a multitude of people wondering what happened to this sweet, spirited, generous and caring individual who had been such a credit to the human race.Chris’s coroner could not identify a cause of death in this previously healthy girl. Are those left behind supposed to believe some strange, ‘coincidental’ force of nature took her life as alleged by the CDC? Chris's death was not thoroughly investigated by the CDC/FDA. One would think they would at least talk with the family to gather information regarding pre- and post-injection symptoms? Shouldn't they do a statistical analysis of post injection deaths to determine the probability of these deaths being "coincidences"? Such an analysis was done by Dr. James Garrett in a report posted at www.gardasil-and-unexplained-deaths.com . This report concluded it is statistically untenable to claim that none of the reported deaths was related to Gardasil. Where are the government health agencies charged with protecting the health and safety of the people who pay their wages? Why are they using inadequate data provided largely by the manufacturer to track vaccine safety? Why is the fox guarding the hen house?
Annabelle Morin: Annabelle ended up in the hospital with aphasia (the inability to understand spoken or written words) and great difficulty standing 16 days after her first dose of Gardasil. None of her family knew Gardasil had been administered, so no connection was made between her symptoms and the vaccine. 15 days after her second injection, this 14-year-old, French Canadian girl came home from school, had her dinner and went to take a bath and read a book. Half an hour later, with no warning, she was gone.Once again, the coroner could not identify a cause of death. Did this spur a complete investigation to find out what may have caused her death? No! Canadian health authorities seem no more concerned than their counterparts in the United States.
One more precious life cut short leaving family, friends and neighbors wondering why no one seems to care what happened. Why is more investigation done for an accidental death than one that no one, including the coroner, can explain?
Jasmine Renata: Jasmine received her first injection of Gardasil in September 2008. One month later, she developed warts on her hand and very dry skin. The warts were taken care of, but shortly after the second shot, they returned along with bouts of dizziness, numbness and tingling in her hands, abdominal pain and memory losses.On March 17, 2009, Jasmine got her third and final dose of Gardasil. Her condition quickly deteriorated. She became more agitated, continuing to complain of tingling in her hands and feet, along with various other new symptoms. Her memory losses were so severe she could not remember simple things like how to grate carrots. Shortly after, she began to experience chest pains and rapid heartbeat.
Just a little over 6 months after her third injection of Gardasil, this once healthy, hard-working 18 year-old girl died in her sleep. The 22 of September 2009 was the last day of her life. Jasmine’s coroner ruled out drug and alcohol abuse as potential causes of her death. But, much like the other girls, no cause of death could be established. How do the health authorities in New Zealand respond when a young woman dies suddenly with no apparent cause? Unfortunately for the Renata family, they responded much like those in the United States and Canada. They do not appear to be concerned – just another coincidence, apparently.
Megan Hild: At 20 years old, Megan was happy and healthy. She was studying radiology in college and looking forward to her planned marriage after graduation. She held life in the palm of her hand.Megan was living away from home while attending college, so her mother was not totally aware of the health problems she experienced after taking Gardasil. Megan’s new medical conditions included unexplained rashes, severe stomach pains, migraines, extreme fatigue and vaginal bleeding. Imagine the shock when shortly after speaking with Megan on the phone her precious daughter was found on her knees in the shower of her college apartment – dead. Only after her sudden death would mom discover the new medical conditions Megan had after her Gardasil shots.
Megan’s mother will not have the opportunity to watch her daughter’s dreams come true. She, her family and Megan’s fiancé are left with nothing to hold onto but a piece of paper that reads, “Cause of death, unknown.”
Megan’s mother is still trying to grapple with the belief that a vaccine meant to protect her daughter’s future health may have taken her life. She does not understand why no one in a position to investigate seems to care. She does not understand why health officials appear quite content to allow the cause of Megan’s death to remain ‘undetermined.’
These young women represent a small fraction of those who paid the ultimate price following Gardasil vaccination. It is common knowledge that only 1 to 10% of adverse reactions are actually reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Are these young women representative of 50 other devastated families or, 500 others? No one knows.
Try explaining to those left behind that their loss is acceptable for society’s benefit when the only benefit Gardasil is clinically proven to provide is a 0.6% reduction in HPV 16 infections, and a 1.1% reduction in HPV 18 infections in vaccinated women versus unvaccinated women, providing they were not previously exposed to these two types of HPV prior to being vaccinated. (ATHENA study referenced below)
What about the 108 death reports filed with VAERS after HPV vaccine administration? How many others world-wide do they represent? 1,080? 10,800? Once again, no one knows. At what point does the collateral damage become unacceptable?
Explain to these families why they are left to their own devices if they want to know what caused their child’s death. Had these deaths occurred after the use of any product other than a vaccine, the offending product would have been promptly removed from the market pending the outcome of investigations to determine the cause of the problem.
There is no valid excuse for the situation to be different with vaccines. It is high time for the FDA/CDC and every other government health agency worldwide to man-up and actually do the job they are paid to do – protect public health and safety. Investigate each and every death thoroughly. Determine the causes.
It should not be up to the survivors to prove a causal relationship; it should be up to the manufacturer to show that none exists.
References:
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21944226 (see table 3, The ATHENA human papillomavirus study: design, methods, and baseline results.) http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80272698