Crosstalk: January 26, 2016

A year ago the media was buzzing about the measles outbreak at Disneyland. As a result of the media hype over the last 12 months there are a number of states that have introduced legislation calling for mandatory vaccinations and attempting to strip away religious or conscience exemptions. So what is happening in this area of vaccinations and what do you need to know? Joining Jim to discuss this issue was Barbara Loe Fisher. Barbara is president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a non-profit charity she co-founded with parents of DPT vaccine injured children in 1982. For over three decades she has led a national, grassroots movement and public information campaign to institute vaccine safety reforms and informed consent protections n the pubic health system. She has researched, analyzed and publicly articulated the major issues involving the science, policy, law, ethics and politics of vaccination to become one of the world's leading non-medical, consumer advocacy experts on the subject. She is co-author of 'DPT: A Shot in the Dark' and 'The Consumer's Guide to Childhood Vaccines' as well as 'Vaccines, Autism & Chronic Inflammation: the New Epidemic'. According to Barbara there are thousands of reports made to the Federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System every year that was set up under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. That legislation was the government's acknowledgment that vaccines can injure and kill, that doctors can't predict ahead of time who will be harmed and that those who are harmed by government recommended and mandated vaccines should be able to have compensation. More than 3 billion dollars has been awarded to people since the late 1980's. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing new changes to the conditions under which vaccine injured children and adults are going to be able to obtain federal compensation. NVIC submitted both oral testimony in a hearing several weeks ago as well as submitting written testimony today. The NVIC is very disappointed with the way that the 1986 law has been implemented. Ever since the law was passed the health and justice departments have gone in and gutted the terms for compensation and Barbara believes more gutting is taking place regarding the terms under which children and adults will receive compensation for vaccine injury and death. For example, they are trying to further restrict the definition of encephalopathy (brain inflammation) and she feels its an unbelievable attempt to leave people without any financial resources when they have catastrophic reactions to vaccinations that are required by law. From the restricting of those who qualify for a medical exemption to the taking away of the religious and conscience exemptions from vaccine laws combined with restricting the terms under which you can receive compensation if you are injured...what are we to call this? Find out what Barbara calls it along with other news on the vaccine front when you review this important edition of Crosstalk.