by Harold E. Buttram, M.D.
The recent enactments of mandatory vaccinations in Maryland and New Jersey may be the straws in the wind for universally enforced mass vaccine programs. Based on precedents, there can be little doubt that these are being silently planned by those in positions of arbitrary power. There are historical parallels. Our first American Revolution (1756-1783) was sparked by the Stamp Act imposed on the American colonies by our mother country, England, and on the principle of “Taxation without Representation.” The recent arbitrary actions in Maryland and New Jersey may in time prove to be counterparts of the historical Stamp Act.
We are now and for some time have been involved in a struggle for health freedom. This struggle has many parameters, but in my opinion, the mandating of childhood vaccines is the root evil, because it serves as a legal precedent on which other arbitrary actions are being taken in multiple areas having adverse effects on the health and well being of American people, as clearly outlined by Bernard Rimland in his book, Dyslogic Syndrome. (1)(2008)
In a sense we are going through a second revolutionary war of independence, now primarily involving the health field. Considering that it is being brought about largely by mothers and fathers acting in behalf of their children, it is and will remain a nonviolent revolution.
In addition to the medical field, the struggle overlaps into areas of nutrition and the environment, with traditional whole food diets versus commercially processed foods in the former, and environmentally friendly technologies versus those leaving toxic residues in the latter. As with the swinging of a pendulum from one extreme to the other, the results of this (peaceful) revolution will, in areas of health and environment, in all likelihood be no less sweeping than those from our first war of independence by the time it has run its full course.
Many years ago in our medical office we began asking teachers if, during their teaching careers, they had observed a change in children. Without exception, they replied that there had been a dramatic change, most notably since the 1970s. Steadily increasing numbers of children, they reported, were showing autistic-like behaviors, were restless, impulsive, less focused, less able to sustain concentration, and therefore less able to learn.
According to a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, (2) (2-9-07) findings from a U.S. multisite study to monitor the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders revealed an incidence of 1 in every 150 children up to age eight years. Considering that the incidence of autism in boys is roughly four times greater than in girls, this would mean that the incidence in boys would be more than 1 in 100. In New Jersey the over all incidence of autism is 1 in 84.
In 2004 almost five million children ages 3-17 years of age (eight percent of this age group) were classified as learning disabled.(3) This represented a three-fold increase since 1976-7, according to on-line Digest of Education Statistics.(4)
[The U.S. census in 1976 for children of all races, ages 0-17 years, was 66,251,577, compared with a population of 73,294,606 for same age range in 2004, meaning the population quotient from 1976 to 2004 would have seen an increase of 110.06 percent. Compare that to the roughly threefold increase in learning disabilities during that time.]
Comparable increases have taken place in attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) with four and one half million children between ages 3 and 17 being diagnosed with this condition in 2004.(3)
As a summation statistic, in a bulletin sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, January, 2004, with the title, “AUTISM A.L.A.R.M,” in addition to an announcement of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder at that time, it was announced that 1 in 6 American children were diagnosed with a developmental disorder and/or behavioral disorder.
In a similar fashion the incidence of asthma has increased from roughly two and a half million children, ages 0-17 years in 1979(5) to nine million children under ages 0-17 years in 2004 (12 percent of that age group).(3)
[U.S. census in 1979 for children of all races, ages 0-17 years was 64,105,446 compared with a population of 73,294,606 for children ages 0-17 in 2004. Consequently, the population for 1979-2004 would have grown 114 percent, compared to a 360 percent increase in asthma.]
In regard to asthma, four controlled studies, widely separated geographically, have shown that fully vaccinated children had significantly more allergic disorders, including asthma, than children with limited or no vaccines.(6-9)
As a matter of common observation, school budgets are being strained to the breaking points in providing special classes for learning and behaviorally impaired children. Long lines of school children are commonly seen waiting for their medications at nurses’ stations over noon hours, which solemnly testifies to the numbers of children now dependent on medications. Scenes like these were unknown when the author of this paper was growing up in the 1930s.
No society can continue to thrive or even survive with the rate of health attrition that has taken place among our children during the past several generations, which is scarcely a blink of the eyes in the time scale of human existence on this planet, and the process is continuing to advance with no signs of diminishing.
From 1999 to December, 2004, a series of U.S. Congressional Hearings were held on issues of vaccine safety, largely involving concerns about a causal relationship between vaccines and the current epidemic of childhood autism. These hearings were convened by Representative Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Committee for Government Reform. As reviewed by David Kirby,(10) gross deficiencies in vaccine safety tests were disclosed in the course of these hearings.
By definition, comprehensive safety tests should involve before-and-after tests specifically designed to detect adverse effects of vaccines on the immunologic, hematological, neurological, and genetic systems of children, with sufficient numbers of subjects and controls to carry statistical validity. When Dan Burton questioned health agency representatives about the near absence of these tests, they could only reply that the tests would be very expensive. This is unquestionably true, but the cost of not doing them may prove to be infinitely greater in terms of the harm being done to our children in the form of unrecognized vaccine reactions.
In regard to safety tests, the reader should take special notice of the 1984 Eibl study discussed immediately below (reference 11), which could serve as a model or prototype of safety tests that should be taking place, provided the numbers of test subjects and controls are sufficient to carry statistical significance. Unfortunately, the Eibl study was far too small to be significant, but its results provide an important clue that should have been pursued, which has not been the case.
Vaccine proponents would have us believe that mass vaccine programs have been largely responsible for controlling virtually all of the former epidemics of killer diseases in industrialized nations. In my opinion, with the exception of the polio vaccine, the facts do not bear this out. According to records of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, from 1911 to 1935 the four leading causes of childhood deaths from infectious diseases in the USA were diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), scarlet fever, and measles. However, by 1945 the combined death rates from these causes had declined by 95% before implementation of mass vaccine programs.(22) Other statistical information provided much the same pattern.(23) Furthermore, according to a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 30, 1999, improvements in sanitation, water quality, hygiene, and the introduction of antibiotics have been the most important factors in control of infectious diseases in the past century. Although vaccines were mentioned, they were not included among the major factors.(24)
In regard to the global smallpox vaccination program, which took place in the 1960s under the direction of Dr. Donald Henderson, the program successfully eradicated smallpox in developing countries by seeking out nests of smallpox and vaccinating only immediate contacts.(25) In no instance did the vaccination rate exceed 10 percent of the population.
The human newborn infant comes into the world with a relatively undeveloped immune system. The lymph nodes are small, the plasma cells are sparse in bone marrow and lymph nodes, and the immunoglobulin synthesis is low. Normally, soon after birth, the infant begins to respond to multiple antigenic stimuli through the skin and mucous membranes of respiratory and digestive systems, as well as microbial infections. As outlined in the Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, by one year of age all lymphoid structures are mature histologically. Peripheral lymphoid tissue increases rapidly in mass during infancy but does not reach adult size until approximately 6 years age.(26)
As reported by R.L.Haynes et al., (The Journal of Comparative Neurology) (2005) (27) cerebral axons (lengthy extensions of brain cells) achieve approximately one-fourth of adult level from 24 to 34 postconception weeks. High levels of axonal growth and elongation continue between 21 and 64 post-conception weeks. Onset of myelination (myelin is the fatty coating of nerve cells which serves to insulate nerve conduction) commences at 54 weeks postconception with progression to adult-like staining at 72-92 weeks. Why is this information important? Because it is during the first six months of life (40 to 64 postconception weeks) that a minimum of 19 vaccines are administered to infants, according to today’s officially recommended vaccine schedule. Protective myelin formation does not even begin until 14 weeks after birth (54th post-conception week) and is still in its early stages when the fourth in the series of vaccines is administered at six months age (hepatitis B at birth, DTaP, Hib, polio, pneumococcus, and possibly others at two, four, and six months ages). It is also during these first six months that furious brain growth takes place, which does not slow down until 72-92 weeks post-conception, or 32-52 weeks following birth. Whether dealing with bacteria, fungi, or human tissues, it is well known that rapid growth brings heightened vulnerability to damage and cellular death.
The Iraqi grain incident of 1971 provides a tragic example of heightened fetal and infant vulnerability to mercury.(28) As a result of a catastrophic drought, the Iraqi government imported 178,000 tons of drought-resistant wheat seed from Mexico. The grain was treated with organic mercury as fungicides and dyed pink. But in much of Iraq the grain arrived too late to plant as seed. Instead, villagers ground it into flour to make bread. Soon after eating the bread, burning symptoms of the skin and fuzzy eyesight ensued. Next came loss of muscle coordination, blindness, hearing loss, coma, and sometimes death. Most victims were children. One study concluded that the fetus may be ten times more vulnerable to mercury poisoning than adults.
The same figure may be found in the book, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, (1993) (29) sponsored by the National Research Council (official advisory body for the U.S. government), which estimated that children may be 10 times more vulnerable to chemical toxicities than adults.
In an article entitled, “Chronic Microglial Activation and Excitotoxicity Secondary to Excessive Immune Stimulation: Possible Factors in Gulf War Syndrome and Autism,” (Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons)(2004)(30) Russell Blaylock offers a well-reasoned and well-documented case that chronic microglial cell activation (a line of cells which controls the central nervous system’s immune system) plays a major role in numerous neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, strokes, and inflammatory brain disease. The release of toxic elements from activated microglia, such as cytokines and excitotoxins, is known to produce neurodegeneration. When excessively stimulated, microglia can lead to neurodegeneration and cognitive defects commonly associated with both the Gulf War Syndrome and autism. In this paper Blaylock cited Bernard Rimland who pointed out that the significant and unexplained increase in autism, which began in the1980s, paralleled the introduction of a host of new vaccines.(31)
Blaylock’s position, that increasing rates of autism may be primarily related to the steadily growing numbers of vaccines is supported by a report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. (32) (2008) In a 12-year study conducted by the California Department of Developmental Services from January 1, 1995 through March 31, 2007, it was shown that rates of autism have steadily increased in California despite the removal the mercury-containing preservative, Thimerosal.
However, Boyd Haley challenges the presumption that mercury was eliminated from vaccines within the time-frame of the California study. Instead he suggests that, although reduced in quantity, it is still present in several vaccines and therefore might still be playing a significant contributory causal role of autism.(21)
The immune system is divided into two major classes: cellular immunity, involving the mucous membranes of the body, and humoral immunity, which involves production of antigen-specific antibodies by plasma cells in the bone marrow. For eons of time the mucous membranes of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems served as primary sites of entry for a large majority of infectious microbes so that the cellular immune system evolved as the primary defense system, while humoral immunity served in a secondary or back-up role.
There is a school of thought that the so-called “minor childhood diseases” of earlier times (measles, mumps, chicken pox, and rubella) served a necessary purpose in challenging and strengthening the mucosal immune system.(33-34) Instead, as will be shown below, there is now much evidence that injected vaccines in a sense capture the humoral immune system, reversing roles and rendering the humoral system the primary defense system, while at least in theory, leaving the mucosal system relatively unchallenged and stunted.
By way of background, both cellular and humoral systems are governed by TH lymphocytes, the “T” referring to the thymus gland, from which they are derived, and the “H” referring to a helper or activating actions. During infancy these “naïve” or uncommitted TH lymphocytes are differentiated into either armed TH1 cells governing cellular immunity, or armed TH2 cells governing humoral immunity. It has been found that this differentiation is profoundly affected by cytokines, which are produced by lymphocytes and serve as chemical messengers. The two cytokines, Interleukin 12 and Interferon gamma, tend to promote and maintain TH1 cells. Interleukin 4, 5, 6, and 10, on the other hand, tend to promote TH2 cells.(35). Once one subset becomes dominant, it is difficult to shift the response to the other subset, as the cytokines from one tend dominate the other.(36)
In the New England Journal of Medicine (37) and Thorax (38) articles have appeared stating that a healthy immune system has a “bias” towards the TH1 (cellular) system, while persons with allergies and asthma tend to have what is known as a “TH2-skewed” immune response. In the days before vaccines, the natural scheme of things would have established a “health-biased” TH1-dominant cellular immunity during infancy. This study provides further evidence that injected vaccines, given during infancy, may be “capturing” the humoral system of infants and skewing the relative roles of both humoral and cellular systems.
Not only has this vaccine-related shift from TH-I to TH-II dominance brought about steadily increases patterns of asthma and other allergies, but it has also been associated with comparable increases in autoimmune disorders, including Type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease (inflammatory bowel disease), Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and autism, which are all increasing as well.(see below).
In 1998 John Classen, M.D., gave a presentation at a conference held by the American College for Advancement in Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, which reviewed 32 published articles, five authored by himself, indicating a causal relationship between vaccines and the rising incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes. Nations represented in the papers included New Zealand, Canada, The United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the U.S., and Holland; single vaccines were used, including hemophilus, hepatitis B, pertussis, BCG, and smallpox.
A prototype for both the methods and results was one conducted in Finland and reported by Classen in British Medical Journal. (39) (1999) In the study, from all children born in Finland between October 1, 1985, and August 31, 1987, approximately 116,000 were randomized as test subjects to receive four doses of hemophilus vaccine starting at three months of life, or one dose starting at 24 months. 128,500 unvaccinated children served as controls. Each group was followed until age 10 years for the development of insulin-dependent diabetes. The incidence at seven years for those receiving four doses, those receiving one dose, and those receiving none was 261, 237, and 207 respectively with relative risks of 1.2 and 1.14 as compared with 1 for those receiving no vaccine.
Both smallpox and pertussis vaccines were being given in Scandinavian countries as well as Finland prior to introduction of the Hib vaccine, so that the test groups in the Hib study may also have been receiving these other vaccines. If so, it is possible the results would have been even more pronounced.
In virtually all of the reports from other countries the results were very similar, indicating a slight but consistent increase in IDDM following each of the five vaccines listed above. Classen interpreted these results as indicating that it was not the type of vaccination that mattered so much as the immunologic impact of vaccination itself. Typically there was a delay of 3 to3.5 years between vaccines and onset of IDDM.
Extemporaneous comments by Dr. Classen during the presentation included the following:
“Vaccinating every child against every disease is fundamentally unsound.”
“There is a 3.78-fold increased risk of IDDM in children from today’s multiple multiple vaccines.”
“There is a five-fold increase in IDDM in our highly immunized U.S. navy as compared with European counterparts.”
“All autoimmune diseases are increasing in incidence (inclusive of Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre disease, as well as IDDM).”
“ General immune (over)stimulation from vaccines is a cause of autoimmunity.”
In a series of five articles spanning a period from 1995 to 2002,(40-44) A.J. Wakefield and colleagues recognized a new form of inflammatory bowel disease (ileocolonic lymphonodular hyperplasia) in association with a developmental disorder now generally referred to as autism. Wakefield was at the time working in the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, in the gastroenterology department. When the MMR vaccine (measles- mumps- rubella) was introduced into the United Kingdom in 1987, there followed a sharp increase in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease, which was often associated with autistic-like symptoms. Noting that this time-related rise in incidence of colitis and autism took place following introduction of the MMR vaccine, Wakefield et al. sent questionnaires to families of vaccinated and unvaccinated children to determine whether or not there was a relationship. The results (40-41)(1995) showed that exposures to the measles virus could be a risk factor for Crohn’s disease. The only known source of the measles virus at that time was from the MMR vaccine.
Reference (42) (1998) describes 12 children characterized by loss of language and acquired skills following normal development, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In addition to other tests, ileocolonoscopies were performed showing lymph gland hyperplasia and ulcerations.
Reference(43)(2000) describes similar findings from ileocolonoscopies in a group of 60 children with developmental disorders and symptoms of colitis. Reference (44)(2001) confirms the presence of measles virus in the biopsied ileal lymph nodes. Again, the only possible source for the measles virus would have been from the MMR vaccine.
In his lectures, Wakefield always stressed that it was only after the introduction of the combined Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine in the UK in 1987 that the rapidly increasing incidence of colitis became evident, along with its associated developmental disorders. For a number years previously the measles vaccine had been given as a single vaccine without increases in these complications. As a result of his observations and findings, Wakefield recommends use of the measles vaccine given alone.
In a series of experiments dating back to the early 1990s, Dr. Vijendra Singh found that a large majority of autistic children had antibodies to myelin-basic protein of the brain tissues. He also found a strong correlation between myelin basic protein antibodies and the measles virus (almost all children had been immunized with the MMR vaccine, and none experienced the disease.)(45-47)
As outlined in Dr. Singh’s presentation to the Institute of Medicine on February9, 2004:(47)
“The essence of my ‘Autoimmune Hypothesis’ is that a virus-induced autoimmune response to developing brain myelin may impair anatomical development of neural pathways in autistic children…We studied immune response to viruses by measuring the level of their antibodies. For this purpose, we measured antibodies to five viruses: Measles, mumps, rubella, CMV, and human herpesvirus-6(HHV-VI). To our surprise, we found that the antibody level of only the measles virus, but not of the other viruses tested, was significantly higher in autistic children than in normal children.”
There are two factors which may explain the measles – autism connection:
First: Protein sequences in the measles virus have been found to have similarities to those in brain tissues,(48) so that by the process of mimicry, the formation of antibodies against one may cross react with the other.
Second: In contrast to bacteria which stimulate the immune system, it is universally recognized that viruses inhibit the immune system. The measles virus is especially potent as an inhibitor,(12,13) and with the additive inhibitive forces of the mumps and rubella viruses in the MMR vaccine, these immune-depressing effects may well overwhelm the immune systems of some children.
Barbara McLintock, the 1983 Nobel Laureate “Corn Lady,” was the first to discover genetic mobility in so-called jumping genes in the 1930s. For over 50 years she pursued solitary research with corn, uncovering some of nature’s innermost secrets about life. McClintock studied maize, a form of Indian corn, where distribution of red kernels and yellow kernels is genetically determined. What she first perceived was that some of the genes were moving from one place to another on the cell’s chromosomes (the floating threads on which genes are lined like beads on a string). She then saw patterns in the movements, with sharply differing results in the colored kernels, and realized that some genes, once moved into position, switched other genes on or off. It followed that, while most genes were workers, others were controllers or managers of genes.
According to an article in World Medicine, (49) (1971) scientists at the University of Geneva made the startling discovery that biological substances entering directly into the bloodstream may truly become a part of us and even a part of our genetic material. The article stated in part:
“When Japanese bacteriologists discovered that bacteria of one species transferred their own highly specific antibiotic resistance to bacteria of an entirely different species, they seemed to hit on a unique if not startling phenomenon. Dr. Maurice Stroun and Dr. Phillipe Anker, with colleagues in the Department of Plant Physiology at the University of Geneva, have now accumulated a wealth of evidence that the transfer of genetic information is not confined to bacteria but also can occur between bacteria and higher plants and animals.
“The Geneva scientists are convinced that normal animal and plant cells also shed DNA and that this DNA is also taken up by other cells in the organism.
“Dr. Stroun and colleagues did most of their research on plants but have now turned to animals. In their latest experiments they used the isolated auricles of frogs’ hearts, (50) (1972) from which they dipped RNA extracted from the frog auricles into a bacterial suspension, resulting in a high percentage interlinkage of frog RNA with bacterial DNA.”
The article concluded that the implications of this work on “transcession” are enormous, and reflect something that may be commonly taking place in our own bodies.
From the standpoint of future generations, the possibility that vaccines may be bringing about genetic hybridization in our children represents far and away the greatest danger in current vaccine programs. This subject has been previously addressed at some length in VRANewsletter.(51)
As reviewed above, the first six months of an infant’s life is a period of heightened vulnerability because of the infant’s immature and rapidly growing nervous system and highly immature immune system. Although scientific investigation has barely scratched the surface in looking into possible effects of vaccines on genetics, time may prove that the choice of the first six months for multiple primary immunizations may prove to be most unfortunate, a time when a child may be relatively open and unprotected from vaccine-induced genetic hybridization.
In spite of being in a preliminary stage, some information on vaccines and genetics is available. As purely genetic material, it would be expected that viral vaccines may pose more danger of genetic hybridization than vaccines from other microorganisms. A study reported in Virus Research tends to support this hypothesis.(52) In the study of 24 passages of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus through cell cultures, there were both insertions and deletions in the virus, appearing to suggest that the virus both donated genetic material to and received genetic material from the cells in which it was cultured.
By definition, a stealth virus is one that can establish a persistent infection in individuals over a period of years while at the same time escaping detection by the human immune system because of its genetic fragmentation and polyglot mixture of genetic elements. During the study, begun years ago when Dr. John Martin was serving as director of the viral oncology branch within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it was discovered that foreign DNA was in the oral polio vaccine being manufactured at the time. He later learned that a simian (monkey) cytomegalic virus (CMV) had been found in all of the eleven African green monkeys imported for production of the polio vaccine.(53)
After leaving the FDA, Dr. Martin took a position as professor of pathology with the University of Southern California. There he tested blood samples from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, autism, and other nervous system disorders. This work led to his discovery of unique cell-destroying viruses that were not recognized by the immune system. Termed “Stealth Viruses,” some of which he thought had clearly originated from the simian CMV, these viruses were missing specific genes which, if expressed, would induce immune responses from the host.(54)
This stealth virus, which according to the work of Dr. Martin originated from the CMV contamination of the oral polio vaccine, had become extremely fragile and unstable, possibly as a result of numerous serial passages through a variety of hosts in the commercial development and attenuation of the vaccine. Being more unstable, it would theoretically be more prone to exchange nuclear material with its various hosts. In the end it would become somewhat like a genetic Rubric cube with a polyglot of nuclear material remaining unidentifiable to the human immune system.
Dr. Howard B Urnovitz and colleagues are best known for the work they have published on the Gulf War Syndrome, where they found evidence of genetic alterations in chromosome 22q11.2, a known genetic “hot spot” for mutations, which appears to have a role in the pathogenesis of the Gulf War Syndrome.(55) Even more striking, when they sequenced their findings, many enteroviral-similar segments were found, suggesting that this may have played a role in causing the changes in 22q11.2. It is well known that most Gulf War veterans received the oral poliovirus vaccine, which is an enterovirus, possibly along with its CMV contaminant.
Dr. Montinari and colleagues are best known for investigating the relationship between postvaccine central nervous system (CNS) diseases and mutation of human leukocyte antigens, (HLA) which essentially strip the body’s brain and nerve tissues of their outer coating of myelin.(56) The HLA system is one which aids an individual’s immune system to differentiate that which is “self” from that which is “nonself.” Although the mechanisms are complex, it is a system which, during embryonic life, learns to recognize healthy or normal cells of the body as “self” so that these cells will remain unmolested by the search and destroy mechanisms of the immune system, leaving the latter free from foreign invaders. Of special concern is the fact that the HLA system also carries an increased proneness to polymorphism (mutation), the mutations in turn possibly resulting in an impairment of self-recognition. This process may be the fundamental cause or one of the primary causes underlying autoimmune disorders in which the immune system attacks the cells of its own body. The HLA system plays an integral part of this process. Montinari found that certain alleles of HLA (A3 and DR7) were more frequent in patients with postvaccine-induced illness, which implicates an immunogenetic basis for such illnesses. What caused much concern was that Montinari implicated vaccine preservatives such as Thimerosal as causing genetic mutation by modifying the amino acids in presenting antigen proteins.(57-59)
Given the steadily increasing patterns of physical and mental illness among our children which, unchecked, could have unfathomable consequences for the future of our society, there is no issue confronting us today with greater need for attention and remedy.
One of the fundamental principles of a free society is that the common man is better able to govern himself by common judgment on common matters than are the so-called elite capable of governing him (or her).
In many ways parental authority is being eroded and usurped by other powers and interests. As pertains to the present topic of vaccines, with their gross deficiencies in safety testing, no one has the moral or ethical right to compel parents to vaccinate their children against the parents’ wishes – not the doctors, not the schools, not the government at any level.
It is reasonably predictable that two major influences will appear within the next 20 or so years which will have profound influences on public opinions and outlooks concerning childhood vaccines. The first will be a stream of reputable scientific studies on vaccines.
After a delay of over 60 years, studies with statistical significance are now beginning to appear, specifically testing for adverse consequences of vaccines in their present forms and schedules on the childhood population to which they are being given. These studies may now pick up rapidly in tempo. At some point a critical mass of evidence will be reached, hopefully confirming or denying beyond all doubt whether or not current vaccines are playing a major roll in the increasing physical and mental health problems being seen in our children. Second and equally important will be the growing socioeconomic burden that will fall on society as today’s autistic children grow into their teens and young adulthood, as large numbers of these children will eventually require institutional care.
How will we know when true health freedom has been achieved? When parents are allowed the unquestioned right to accept or reject vaccines for their children based on informed consent, then and then only will an effective system of checks and balances be established, based on patterns established in the U.S. Constitution. Once the legal precedent of mandatory vaccinations has been abolished, many other arbitrary wrongs will then also fall by the wayside, largely from their own dead weight.
In the final analysis, health freedom is one of the most fundamental of all the freedoms. In one sense it takes precedent over religious freedom, for if a child is brain damaged to the extent that he or she cannot differentiate right from wrong,(1) then religious freedom is of little consequence to that child.