Cashing In On Our Worst Fears: Swine Flu Fear-Mongering Is All About Big Pharma Profits

The Government (Via Taxpayers) Is Providing the Swine Flu Vaccine for Free to Distributors, Who, In Turn, Are Charging the Same Taxpayers for the Shots

Initially we anticipate that 3.4 million doses of vaccine will be available. We anticipate being able to start receiving orders for the vaccine by early October. The U.S. government is providing the H1N1 vaccine for free to about 90,000 distributors, including doctor's offices, retail chains and state health departments... The United States has ordered 195 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine from five companies -- MedImmune, a unit of AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, Australia's CSL, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis... We estimate that the amount of vaccine that will be available will increase through October... eventually delivery would rise to about 20 million doses a week. - CDC's Dr Jay Butler, September 18, 2009

A Novel H1N1 vaccine will be procured and purchased by the federal government and made available for vaccinators at no cost. - The Centers for Disease Control

One of the area's biggest health insurers says it will cover the cost of H1N1 flu shots when they become available, but how much will the vaccine cost everyone else when it arrives? The federal government will distribute the swine flu vaccine for free, but that doesn't mean the flu shots will be free. - KIRO-TV (Seattle)

Congress passed a supplemental appropriation for $7.5 billion, which President Obama recently signed, to cover the costs of preparing for the virus, which includes a vaccination campaign. - CDC Spokesman Thomas Skinner, U.S. May Need 600 Million Swine Flu Vaccine Doses

The federal government has spent close to $2 billion to buy up to 195 million doses of vaccine and adjuvant, including the standard shots and the newer FluMist nasal spray vaccine made by MedImmune of Gaithersburg. The government is prepared to buy enough to vaccinate every person -- 600 million doses all together -- if the pandemic or demand warrants it. That could increase the cost to $5 billion for the vaccine alone. It would cost at least $9 billion to administer the vaccine to the entire population, according to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Although five companies are racing to produce as much vaccine as possible, the first batches are not expected for two months, in part because the virus grew at about half the projected rate. Production appears to be increasing, but the first 45 million to 52 million doses -- about a third of what officials were anticipating -- won't be ready until mid-October, with about 20 million doses a week expected after that to continue the campaign through the winter. - Rob Stein, BlueCross BlueShield of Maryland, Government Plans Vast Swine Flu Vaccine Effort

Big Pharma Gets Rich on Fear-Mongering

By Melanie Segala, Total Health Breakthroughs
May 13, 2009

Why have so many people at the top levels of government reacted to the “swine flu” as if it were going to wipe out half of the population?

...Yet according to a special report by Dr. Lisa Forgione published last week in Total Health Breakthroughs, this flu strain “is no worse than the seasonal flu that usually strikes every winter.” And in fact it may be nothing more than a late outbreak of the yearly seasonal flu.

The CDC is currently reporting there are only three confirmed deaths in the US from swine flu and 2618 total cases. Compare these numbers to the following:

A Gallup Poll says more than 12 million people are ill from common flu strains on any given day in the US, and another 5,000 Americans die every year from foodborne illnesses like E. coli, Salmonella and Hepatitis A. In comparison, the latter statistics dwarf the number of people that have been affected by swine flu.

Yet, we hear nothing about them.

So, what’s the reason for the worldwide hysteria about swine flu? Could it be that… fear keeps people tuned in to the mainstream media… terrified citizens are easier for governments to control and manipulate… fear is an effective marketing tool when there are enormous profits to be made? — in this case from flu vaccines and medications.

The current wave of fear mongering seems to fit all of the above.

According to Barry Glassner, author of The Culture of Fear: Why Americans are Afraid of the Wrong Things, there is a “fear industrial complex” at work making sure our fears stay at heightened levels. This network is composed of “politicians, activist groups and corporations that all sell us on the idea that they can provide safety from the very dangers they are scaring us about.”

He adds:

“Whenever somebody’s trying to scare us, the question is ‘Are they benefiting from it, and in what way?’ If they’re selling us a product, if they’re selling us their political campaign or their cause or whatever it is, we should ask how big is the danger, really? Is it big, is it small, or is it just that they stand to benefit by making us scared?”

Let’s look at some of the numbers that support Mr. Glassner’s opinion.

In 2008, pharmaceutical giant, Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, reported that sales fell 68% to about $527 million. In their Annual Report, they noted, “Due to a substantially reduced pandemic, stockpiling orders from governments and corporations” went down.

Roche’s fortunes were on the upswing however by May 4, 2009 — company stock rose to $31.72 per share, a 4.34% increase. Perhaps knowing that good financial times were indeed ahead, Roche affiliate Chugai Pharmaceutical Company of Japan in their 2008 Annual Report, projected sales of Tamiflu to reach $536 million in 2009 thanks to government stockpiling — a remarkable increase of 530% from 2008. Fifty-one percent of Chugai is owned by Roche.

The other major flu drug stockpiled by the US government is Relenza, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. Since the swine flu hype went “viral,” their stock is up 7.57% to $31.56 per share.

It’s clear that certain parties have benefited handsomely from the swine flu hype. But now the question remains, 'How many more times can the media, Big Pharma and the government cry wolf before we all stop listening?'

Rest assured, the fear industrial complex will not take the blame when there is really a life-threatening contagious disease and no one takes it seriously. The ultimate responsibility will lie with each and every one of us.

So what do you do?

First and foremost you must stay as healthy as possible and then take sensible precautions to avoid contagious bacteria and viruses. And just as importantly, you must use your better judgment to discern fear mongering for profit from actual threats to your health.

The next time you think “they” are trying to manipulate you, consult with a healthcare professional you can trust who knows the facts and has nothing to gain from keeping you in fear. Remember, you don’t need to let “the powers that be” profit from your fears, nor should you take needless chances with your health.

We can beat them at their own game by remembering the wise words of Sir Francis Bacon, knowledge is power, and taking a proactive approach to your health is the key.

Politics, Profits & Pandemic Fear Mongering

By Barbara Loe Fisher, National Vaccine Information Center
May 1, 2009

Are you grabbing your face mask, stocking up on food and Tamiflu, locking your doors and keeping your TV tuned to the news to find out just how bad the "swine flu pandemic" really is going to get?

While Americans are being scared to death, few are noticing how much of their tax money politicians are giving to drug companies and government health officials to grease the skids to create more experimental flu vaccines and drugs and more effective ways to quarantine or force their mass use whenever a "public health emergency" is declared in the future.

Call me cynical but not clueless. The bird's eye view I have had for the past 27 years at the National Vaccine Information Center has taught me one thing: the global alliance between Big Pharma and Big Public Health is a prescription for disaster that could extend far beyond a bout with the flu.

The international drama playing out right now before our eyes is an example of how citizens around the world can be easily manipulated by doctors and politicians engaging in fear mongering in the name of disease control to forward agendas that have more to do with ideology, power and corporate profits than health.

When the U.S. Director of Homeland Security is the government official doing the talking rather than the U.S. Director of the Centers for Disease Control, put a copy of the U.S. Constitution in your pocket and take a look at federal and state legislation passed since September 11, 2001 to understand which civil rights you don't have anymore when government health officials declare a "public health emergency."

But before we take a look at the threat to civil liberties that pandemic fear mongering poses, let's take a look at how creation of a global human market for influenza vaccines works. It is a blueprint for Successful Marketing 101 (or perhaps it is all just a coincidence).

In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an international call for all nations to do whatever it takes to increase public appetite and demand for annual influenza shots as the main strategy to prepare for an influenza pandemic.

In April 2007, the WHO used money donated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to fund the creation of influenza vaccine manufacturing plants in Mexico and other countries one week after the FDA gave Sanofi Pasteur a license to produce an experimental bird flu (H5N1) vaccine. Sanofi Pasteur is just one of many drug companies the U.S. government has given millions of dollars to for the creation of bird flu vaccines.

On February 19, 2009, the FDA's Vaccines & Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) discussed whether to give approval for the testing of experimental bird flu vaccine on American infants. VRBPAC consumer member, also NVIC's Director of Patient Safety Vicky Debold,PhD, warned that testing of an experimental pandemic bird flu vaccine on infants in the absence of a real epidemic and without assurances that unapproved novel oil based (squalene) adjuvants (AS03, MF59) are safe, could pose unacceptable risks in terms of inducing severe immune dysfunction.

On February 27, 2009 it was confirmed that an influenza vaccine maker, Baxter International, had released a mixture of seasonal influenza viruses mixed with unlabeled live bird flu viruses to facilities in Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Slovenia. Baxter, which is waiting for a license to manufacturer bird flu vaccine, explained it was an "accident" and that no harm was done.

On April 23, 2009, the world heard the first news reports about a mysterious pig (H1N1) and bird (H5N1)and human hybrid influenza virus that was making people sick near a Mexican pig farm. By April 30, the WHO had issued a Phase 5 "Alert" warning that the world was facing an imminent pandemic influenza epidemic on the strength of several hundred cases of "swine" flu and less than 10 confirmed deaths.

The pandemic flu panic that has an especially strong grip on people living in Mexico and the U.S., thanks to the governments of both countries declaring a "public health emergency," has been a good thing for pharmaceutical companies in the pandemic flu business.

Wall Street revealed that the pandemic scare sent stock prices soaring for drug companies making anti-viral drugs, rapid flu diagnosis tests and influenza vaccines. Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax, Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, BioCryst, and Vical are among the drug companies likely to benefit from the world pandemic panic.

In all the chaos that has Americans running to drug stores to buy face masks, closing schools to wipe desks down with rubbing alcohol, and avoiding public transportation, there is action being taken behind the scenes by politicians and government health officials to prepare the way for implementation of future quarantine and mass vaccination of citizens with experimental vaccines and drugs that have by-passed normal FDA regulations for demonstrating purity and potency of pharmaceutical products. A "public health emergency" has become an excuse to grease the skids and rush to market experimental drugs and vaccines that are not subject to product liability in the civil courts.

The creation of this pharmaceutical-company stockholder dream scenario and simultaneous erosion of civil liberties in the name of disease control began in earnest in 21st century America after the tragic events on September 11, 2001.

In a time defined by shock, fear, anger and deep sadness, Congress reacted quickly and passed the Homeland Security Act while CDC officials pulled out model state legislation (Model State Emergency Health Powers Act) that gave sweeping new powers to public health officials to use the militia, if necessary, to quarantine citizens and force them to use experimental drugs and vaccines after the U.S. Secretary of Health declares a "public health emergency."

The stampede in 2001/2002 to re-write long standing public health laws in this country was fueled by reports that terrorists were in possession of weaponized smallpox and anthrax, a fear that was fostered by U.S. government officials and New York Times journalists reporting Iraq had secret stockpiles of weaponized smallpox and anthrax. This myth played a role in public support for the U.S.-Iraq War and persuaded Congress to pass Bioshield and pandemic influenza vaccine legislation that gave billions of dollars to vaccine manufacturers, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to create experimental bioeterrorism and pandemic flu vaccines while protecting drug companies and doctors from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths that will occur.

The mandated, mass use of multiple vaccines has become big business in the last quarter century since the U.S. Congress passed a law in 1986 shielding vaccine makers and doctors from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths, and the numbers of vaccines recommended by the federal health officials for American children multiplied from 23 doses of 7 vaccines to 48 doses of 14 vaccines from birth to age six. For older children and adults, there are several dozen more federally recommended or state mandated vaccinations.

All of this liability protection and government vaccine mandating has been a boon for vaccine profit-making and public health agency empire building. In 1986, four drug companies made and sold vaccines in America and, by 2007, after corporate mergers and acquisitions, there were six drug company giants making and selling vaccines in the U.S. Today, there are more drug companies seeking to enter the lucrative multi-billion dollar U.S. vaccine market as financial predictions for global profits from the worldwide vaccine business by 2010 have climbed to more than $20 billion.

A true global influenza pandemic that could take out projected millions of people is something all nations should prepare for using reasonable strategies to ensure the public health and safety. However, it is a matter of legitimate debate as to whether the primary strategy being urged by the WHO, pharmaceutical companies and government health agencies around the world -- ramping up production and use of seasonal influenza vaccine and fast tracking the creation and human testing of influenza vaccines using novel but potentially risky adjuvants and cell substrates -- is the way to effectively deal with public health or a future influenza pandemic.

Certainly, the loss of the human right to bodily integrity and informed consent to taking pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines that may pose serious health risks is not justified in the name of controlling pandemic influenza or any other infectious disease outbreak.

Politicians should not bow to additional pressure from vaccine manufacturers and public health officials to bypass normal FDA standards in proving safety and efficacy of pandemic flu vaccines and their components for the purpose of rushing them to market in response to the pandemic panic that has been created. The swine flu debacle of 1976 should have taught Congress that lesson.

A rational perspective that reduces pandemic fear and includes common sense advice for staying healthy in every season is being offered by holistic health doctors, such as Joseph Mercola, D.O. and physician Congressman Ron Paul, M.D. The next time you turn on the TV or the radio or search the internet for the latest news on the flu pandemic, take a deep breath and consider all the natural ways to stay healthy and resist influenza or any illness : washing your hands; eating nutritious food; drinking plenty of water; getting enough exercise, rest and sunshine, and lowering stress -- which includes not walking around filled with fear, anxiety and dread.

"Follow the money." ― Deputy Director of the FBI, William Mark Felt, a.k.a "Deep Throat," informant during investigation of the Watergate scandal, 1972.

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Updated 10/8/10 (Newest Additions at End of List)