Avandia: Is it time to pull it off the market?

UPDATE: 15 July - FDA reviewer David Graham told the panel Avandia's risks were real enough "to put you in a hospital or a cemetery."

Graham, who wants the pill banned, recently published an analysis estimating that as many as 100,000 heart-related problems may have been caused by Avandia among seniors on Medicare.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember back in 2004 coming across a report on the cardiovascular risk from Avandia. It caught my eye because I knew someone taking the drug and I took the opportunity to advise him of the issue.

Over the almost seven years since I first had reports of problems, it seems as if the controversy hasn't stopped.

Since the problems in the US were reported recently, Avandia now seems to be having problems in Europe.

Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data on Risks, Files Indicate - Dates to 1999

By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today Published: July 11, 2010

WASHINGTON -- FDA staff reviewers blasted rosiglitazone (Avandia) in briefing documents released Friday, recommending that the diabetes drug be yanked from the market because of the "serious" cardiovascular risks it poses.
Rosiglitazone is no more effective at improving glycemic control in type 2 diabetes than pioglitazone (Actos) and provides no known unique health benefits, FDA reviewers wrote. While both drugs increase the risk of congestive heart failure, the effects of rosiglitazone are "substantially greater," the briefing documents concluded.
It remains to be seen whether a joint panel of outside medical experts will agree with this assessment. The panel meets July 13 and 14 to make recommendations about rosiglitazone -- including whether to pull the drug from the market.
Next week's meeting will be the second time an advisory panel has been asked to guide the FDA on what to do about rosiglitazone.
In 2007, a panel voted 20 to 3 that rosiglitazone increased cardiovascular risks, but then decided 22 to 1 that the benefits outweighed the risks.
In their current review, the FDA faulted the logic of the 2007 advisory decision, saying the panel failed to document the specific benefits of rosiglitazone. Since then, the benefits of the drug remain unclear, the agency said.
Next week's panel will review a number of different studies, including a post-marketing study the FDA reviewers branded as unethical.
A spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline said the company stands behind the safety and efficacy of rosiglitazone.

To me this falls into that category of covering up the facts as we have seen with so many other drugs throughout the last decade. And its an adjunct to this smirky comment about looking at the health protection agencies of the planet; they put forth propaganda with the purpose of causing fear....and to sell drugs.

The focus too long has been the profit motive and not public health!

GlaxoSmithKline's Diabetes Drug Avandia Draws More Scrutiny in Europe
By MELLY ALAZRAKI, Daily Finance, 07/09/10

Problems for GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) diabetes drug Avandia seem to be getting worse. The European Medicines Agency said Friday it's launching a new review of Avandia's benefit-risk profile following new data on the possibility of cardiovascular problems.

Avandia has been in the crosshairs of scientists, regulatory agencies and even U.S. senators in the past year. The EMA decision only adds to the already existing pressure. GSK shares tumbled 2.5% in premarket trading.

Last month, two new studies linked rosiglitazone, or Avandia, to heart attacks and other cardiovascular complications. The authors of the studies said the results should prompt regulators to pull the drug from the market. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel is indeed going to study the data next week.

A New Reevaluation

Now, the EMA will also be considering Avandia following the recent studies. Already, the product has been reviewed several times by the agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which has updated the product information to include warnings on the use of these medicines in patients with heart problems. In 2008, the committee concluded that "rosiglitazone retained a small, if diminishing, place in diabetes type 2 therapy." Then again, it looked at the drug earlier this year.

The committee is now assessing the new data and will be discussing the issue at its next plenary meeting, July 19-22.

"Once all relevant data on the benefits and the risks of rosiglitazone have been looked at, the CHMP will issue an opinion on whether or not the marketing authorisations for these medicines should be revoked, suspended or changed," the EMA said in a statement.

The EU has authorized rosiglitazone on its own is as Avandia, in combination with metformin as Avandamet, and with glimepiride as Avaglim.

"Insufficient Data"?

GSK has defended Avandia, saying two heart associations have found that "Insufficient data exist to support the choice of" one treatment over the other. Still, sales of Avandia, which topped $2.6 billion in 2006, fell to $1.2 billion in 2009 after the FDA added a label warning regarding the elevated cardiac risk.

Judging from investors' reaction, the pressure on this drug is likely to keep mounting.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/investing/glaxosmithkline-avandia-europe/19547971/#

from Natural Health News - 4 of 14 articles referring to Avandia
FDA and Avandia: Ethics Lacking
Jun 05, 2010
FDA-Sanctioned International Diabetes Drug Trial Is Unethical and Dangerous “Surely no patient would willingly participate in a trial in which they have a substantial likelihood of taking a drug that, in the opinion of a large group of ...

Risks Potentially Outweigh Benefits with Avandia®
Jan 14, 2009
Avandia®, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), was first approved by the FDA in 1999 for marketing on the basis of its ability to lower blood glucose and reduce insulin resistance. By 2006 the drug had become the top selling oral ...

Avandia Increases Bone Risk for Women
Dec 10, 2008
GlaxoSmithKline, which markets rosiglitazone as Avandia, said the safety and effectiveness of the drug was backed by one of the largest clinical trial programmes ever undertaken for any medicine, with 52000 patients studied. ...

Here is another well thought out idea
Sep 15, 2006
Now for women you'll get more drug because Avandia is not as effective for you. However if you already have liver or kidney dis-ease you should not take this drug! And it will increase your LDL level so - hey - more drugs. ...

The Lovaza Shuffle

Here's the story picked up after months by Nutrition Business Journal

Lovaza: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?
July 7, 2010
Nutrition Business Journal takes a close look at Lovaza, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid manufactured by Pronova Biopharma in Norway and marketed in the United States by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in our upcoming issue on the state of the nutrition industry. According to market research firm IMS Health, global sales of Lovaza topped $1 billion in 2009, with $758 million of those sales originating in the U.S.

The new fuss over Lovaza is more about marketing than innovation, as the drug received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 2004, one year before Reliant Pharmaceuticals brought its predecessor, Omacor, to market. Supplement manufacturers are wary of the heavy ad campaign behind a pharmaceutical competing with one of industry�s star performers, but many view the exposure as a win-win.

�Overall, I think it�s very positive,� said Monique Wellise, professional sales manager for Nordic Naturals. �It validates the use of omega 3s in a clinical application.� Kyle Bliffert, president of Pure Encapsulations, agreed. �If GSK wants to spend millions of dollars advertising the health benefits of fish oil on TV, it can do nothing but benefit all of us. I�m in.�

NBJ bottom line: The news is not all rosy, however. If patients continue to bite for Lovaza in a big way, this could draw economic attention from big pharma toward OTC supplements already available to an educated consumer. The weight of a doctor�s opinion, and that�s doctor�s faith in a more heavily regulated and tested pharmaceutical, could spell trouble for supplements that reach blockbuster status. Already, pharmaceutical companies have rolled out prescription versions of Niacin (Niaspan has been around since 1997), and vitamin D2 (which many contend is actually inferior to over-the-counter D3). Future candidates for supplement-based drugs might include: plant sterols, coenzyme Q10, and glucosamine/chondroitin.

For the full story behind Lovaza, and comprehensive coverage of the current supplement industry, don�t miss NBJ�s 2010 Nutrition Industry Overview issue, available later this month through our website.

Find this article at:
http://www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com/supplements/news/Lovaza-A-Wolf-in-Sheeps-Clothing/index.html/?cid=nl_weekly
© 2008 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Originally posted April 2010
Our pharmaceutical grade Super EPA(300 mg)DHA (200 mg), Fish oil 1000 mg /capsule - $22/60 capsules. A one month supply. CONTACT US FOR ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS.

SCAM

Surprised? Probably not if you've followed us over the years or attended any of our educational programs.

We’ve been saying that pharmaceutical grade omega-3 fish oil can protect your heart for decades. Now Big PhRMA wants to scalp you and your checkbook too.

Consider this price: 120 capsules, $191.00, one reason why PhRMA/INS collusion artificially inflates health care costs.

And for that price, I'm sure you are considering just what might cost about $1.60 a piece.

This just happens to be an example of GSK's new prescription fish oil capsule.

The TV ad even stresses “you can't buy this in a health food store.”

The question then becomes, once getting the facts, why would you want to get it as an over priced prescription...

Currently each LOVAZA® (omega-3-acid ethyl esters) 1 gram capsule contains contains at least 900 mg of the ethyl esters of omega-3 fatty acids sourced from fish oils. These are predominantly a combination of ethyl esters of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA - approximately 465 mg) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA - approximately 375 mg).

The daily dose of LOVAZA is 4 grams per day (4 capsules).

Drug interaction studies with several statin drugs were limited to 14 days. The effects of LOVAZA 4 grams per day were assessed in 2 randomized,placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group studies of 84 adult patients.

The FDA has approved omega-3 fish oil as a heart-protecting drug. Big PhRMA is spending millions to market omega-3 fish oil. Why?, overwhelming that purified, concentrated omega-3 fish oil protects your heart from the risks of heart disease, stroke, and heart attack. The best part is that along with a healthy food plan and exercise it will lower deadly triglyceride levels.

What Big PhRMA isn't telling you: Prescription strength omega-3 fish oil is available without a prescription You’ll pay up to 6x more for prescription omega-3 fish oil Pharmaceutical grade EPA-DHA gives your heart EXACTLY THE SAME benefits as prescription omega-3 fish oil.

Lovaza capsules also contain the following inactive ingredients: 4 mg α-tocopherol (in a carrier of soybean oil), and gelatin, glycerol, and purified water (components of the capsule shell).

Lovaza, a lipid-regulating agent, is supplied as a liquid-filled gel capsule for oral administration. Each 1-gram capsule of Lovaza contains at least 900 mg of the ethyl esters of omega-3 fatty acids sourced from fish oils. These are predominantly a combination of ethyl esters of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA - approximately 465 mg) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA - approximately 375 mg).

Inform your doctor of any other medical conditions, including blood clotting problems, liver problems, pancreas problems, obesity, thyroid problems, diabetes, consuming large amounts of alcohol, allergies (including fish, fish oil, or soy), 

Cautions - DO NOT TAKE LOVAZA 1gm if you have had an allergic reaction to it or to any ingredient in this product, including soy.

Our note: Caution: Burping may be indicative of your inability to properly digest and absorb fat, convert EPA to DHA, or that the fish oil may be rancid.

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/drugs-treatments/lovaza

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/lovaza-rip-off.html

http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_lovaza.pdf

Centrum Cardio contains GMO soy and canola oil. Look for our several articles using the search box.

And from the Journal of Nutrition -

Omega-3s Show Heart Benefits for Non-Fish Eaters

A new study from The Netherlands says that increased intakes of omega-3 fatty acids appear to decrease the risk of heart disease and heart attack in people with low fish intakes.

Findings published in the Journal of Nutrition reported that daily intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) of about 240 mg was associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), compared with intakes of about 40 mg.

Furthermore, the highest average intake of DHA and EPA was associated with a 38% reduction in heart attacks, said researchers from Wageningen University following a study including more than 21,000 people with low fish intakes.

The heart-health benefits of consuming oily fish, and the omega-3 fatty acids they contain, are well documented. To date, the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been linked to improvements in blood lipid levels, a reduced tendency of thrombosis, blood pressure and heart rate improvements, and improved vascular function.

Intakes of EPA, DHA, and fish were assessed in 21,342 people aged between 20 and 65. Fish intakes ranged from 1.1 to 17.3 grams per day. Over the course of an average of 11.3 years, the researchers documented 547 deaths, of which 82 were linked to CHD, with 64 of these being heart attack.

According to the results, the highest average intake of EPA plus DHA (234 mg per day) was associated with a 51% reduction in the risk of fatal CHD, compared to the lowest average intake (40 mg per day).

"In conclusion, in populations with a low fish consumption, EPA+DHA and fish may lower fatal CHD and [heart attack] risk in a dose-responsive manner," wrote the researchers.
Journal of Nutrition Published online ahead of print, April 2010.

Lovaza vs fish oil supplements?
By Dr. William Davis, Jan 26, 10

Lovaza is the FDA-approved form of fish oil that is available only by prescription. It contains 842 mg of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, per capsule.

The FDA application for Lovaza is viewable here on the FDA website. Interestingly, while there is plenty of the usual regulatory gobbledy-gook about toxicology, dose escalation, and efficacy in the extensive documentation, there is little said about the issue of contamination.

In other words, critics of nutritional supplement fish oil harp on the possibility of contamination with mercury and pesticide residues, like dioxin and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). Yet there is virtually nothing about these same issues in the FDA application for Lovaza.

Vaccine Dos and Don'ts

UPDATE: 28 April - Avoid Vaccines

When I was a very young child I loved it when my mother would play 'This Little Piggy' with my toes. I recall it was always a wonderful moment and I always laughed with joy. I played this with my children too.

What I didn't do was load them up with vaccines.

What I did do, as was common in that time, was to give them daily vitamin drops, high in vitamins A and D.

We now know that vitamin D is quite a miracle substance. We may be over looking the real benefits of vitamin A currently. Vitamin A is known for many benefits and one is to protect all your mucous membranes. It is a preventive for pneumonia while strengthening your lungs, and can help you recover from bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory health issues.

What boggles my mind is this crazy concept that vaccines will keep you healthy when we know they are associated with many health problems and contracting the very illness they are surmised to prevent.

Now another jab is proposed for babies and children, yet no thought is given to a simpler and less costly way to improve health.

Perhaps another "study" is needed, let's study why there is vaccine tunnel vision...

Vaccine hope for children's lung virus - A virus that causes wheezing and pneumonia claims the lives of up to 200,000 children worldwide each year, a study has found.

This vaccine removed from the market -

“U.S. federal health authorities recommended … that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the U.S. against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus,” CNN reports.
The Rotarix vaccine, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline and was approved by the FDA in 2008, has already been given to about 1 million U.S. children along with 30 million worldwide. The vaccine was found to contain DNA from porcine circovirus 1.
“The FDA learned about the contamination after an academic research team using a novel technique to look for viruses in a range of vaccines found the material in GlaxoSmithKline's product and told the company,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told CNN.

Another Death and Gardasil

In the typical Big PhRMA response to any negative press about their vaccines, this time the company suggests the young girl died because the person who gave her the shot did it improperly.

British girl dies after cervical cancer vaccination
AFP: A nurse administers a vaccination. British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline said it was working with health authorities who are probing the death of a schoolgirl following a cervical cancer vaccination.

LONDON - British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday it was working with health authorities who are probing the death of a schoolgirl following a cervical cancer vaccination.

The 14-year-old died on Monday after an adverse reaction to the Cervarix vaccine at her school in Coventry, central England, as part of a national vaccination to protect women against the disease.

Health authorities have isolated the batch of vaccine used in the school involved against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually-transmitted virus which is the primary cause of cervical cancer.

"The incident happened shortly after the girl had received her HPV vaccine in the school," said Dr. Caron Grainger, joint head of public health for the National Health Service (NHS) in Coventry and Coventry City Council.

"No link can be made between the death and the vaccine until all the facts are known and a post-mortem takes place."

She added: "We are conducting an urgent and full investigation into the events surrounding this tragedy."

In a statement GSK, which produces Cervarix, said it was working with health authorities "to better understand this case, as at this stage the exact cause of this tragic death is unknown.

"As a precautionary measure, the batch of vaccine involved has been quarantined until the situation is fully understood," it said, noting that over 1.4 million doses of Cervarix have been given in Britain.

And it added: "To date the vast majority of suspected adverse reactions (to Cervarix) have related either to the signs and symptoms of recognised side effects listed in the product information or were due to the injection process and not the vaccine itself."

Awareness of cervical cancer was raised earlier this year by the death of British reality television star, Jade Goody, who flagged the importance of women having regular cervical smear tests as she herself was dying of the disease.

© Copyright(c)AFP

NB: Cervarix is a trade name for an HPV vaccine similar to Gardasil (better known is US markets).

It is our belief that HPV is a self-limiting virus. Limited use vaccine is not appropriate when good nutrition and natural treatment may be more beneficial and have less risk of damage.

Dual Standard at FDA

Remember SARS?

I do, and back in 2002(2003 and 2004) there was a similar campaign by the FDA to ban any information about natural products useful for respiratory illnesses including the mass marketing of SARS.

Sound familiar? Seems like another mass marketing campaign is underway on the latest version of a created respiratory illness. The same ploy seems to be apparent according to Marc Ullman's article below about Alli and competing products from the natural products industry.

This has been a repetitive behavior for decades now, includes the tryptophan / Prozac war and a few other events.

I happened to have been attacked by the FDA when the SARS controversy was raging. In typical government style due process was absent and the charge of the light brigade was in full force.

How I learned about it was from an article in the Seattle PI where reference was made to the product I offered for flu at that time (and still offer) that may be helpful. The PI staff writer quoted me yet never made any effort to contact me and speak with me directly. I tracked him down and eventually after getting to the top gun managed to get a retraction in the on-line version of the PI.

Not being alone in the number of products attacked by Mark McClellan's goons I created a web page listing the products attacked along with information about them. Most of the data on this page, except for using Echinacea, works well for the current "swine flu" issue. (Echinacea and some other natural products cause too much of a stimulation of your immune system for this created virus compound.)

The other action I took was to contact McClellan, a Harvard grad, and provide him with the clinical data about the product on my web site. This product was studied thoroughly in clinical research at Dana Farber, the well known cancer institute, a part of Harvard. The product was also proven effective.

The only data that FDA allowed to be in the news was about experimental product under development at Roche, and not proven to be effective.

The mind set is that nothing can be used or considered effective against anything unless it comes from Big PhARMA. This of course is one major reason why the mainstream "health"industry is on its self-created collision course.

Now you see another instant replay over liver damaging Alli and a weight loss/diet supplement.

Another word to the wise from Natural Health News...

GSK vs. The Supplement Industry: Who Wins? Written by: Marc Ullman 8/26/2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FDA receives “32 reports of liver injury including 27 requiring hospitalization” in users of GlaxoSmithKline’s Alli OTC weight loss drug. FDA receives 23 reports of liver injury including one death in users of the dietary supplement Hydroxycut. Guess which one is still on the market.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On May 1, 2009 FDA issued an urgent alert warning consumers “to immediately stop using Hydroxycut products by Iovate Health Sciences Inc., of Oakville, Ontario.” According to the Agency’s press release, it had received 23 reports of serious health problems, including one death, that appeared to be associated with the use of the dietary supplement. At the same time, Iovate issued a “voluntary recall” of 64 different Hydroxycut products, covering, according to some news reports over 9 million product units.

On June 6 and June 18, 2009 FDA updated its list of drug products it was monitoring for “potential signals of serious risks” indicating that the Agency was reviewing the status of GSK’s Alli (orlistat) OTC weight loss drug and was “continuing to evaluate this issue to determine the need for any regulatory action” Alli was, however, allowed to remain on the market. On August 24, 2009 FDA issued an “Early Communication about Ongoing Safety Review of Weight Loss Drug Orlistat” stating that the “Review includes both prescription drug Xenical and OTC drug Alli”. The “communication” stated that “FDA received 32 reports of serious liver injury in patients taking orlistat. Of those cases, 27 reported hospitalization and six resulted in liver failure. Thirty of the adverse events occurred outside the United States. The most commonly reported adverse events included yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice), weakness, and stomach pain.” Despite this, the Agency advised that “consumers taking Xenical should continue to take it as prescribed, and those using over-the-counter Alli should continue to use the product as directed.”

Just in case you’re still wondering who wins as between the supplement industry and GSK, consider the following:

● In April 2004 FDA banned the sale of ephedra containing dietary supplements based upon the Agency’s conclusion that such products constituted an unreasonable risk to public health. As part of the basis for its action FDA cited a 2003 Rand Corporation study that concluded, in part, “Over the short term (four to six months), ephedrine, ephedrine plus caffeine, and supplements containing ephedra or ephedra plus caffeine promoted modest increases in weight loss, about 2 pounds per month more than the weight loss of persons taking the placebo.” This level of weight loss was found to offer no benefit to public health.

● On February 7, 2007 FDA approved the sale of Alli as an OTC weight loss remedy. The Agency took this action despite reports of severe side effects including “incontinence” (uncontrollable diarrhea) and “oily spotting” (anal leakage). Among the factors cited by FDA in support of its decision was evidence that Alli users lost 5-10 pounds over 6 months, about a 50% increase compared with diet and exercise alone. Unless FDA uses some kind of “new math” that I have yet to hear of, this amounts to slightly less than the 2 pounds a month it found insignificant for ephedra.

9 million units of recalled Hydroxycut and one ban of ephedra later, it seems that as between the supplement industry and GSK there is little doubt who wins at FDA.

Another Gardasil Gaffe

When does the madeness stop?

Mystery illness paralyses girl given cervical cancer jab by Daniel Foggo and Philip Cardy

A 12-year-old schoolgirl has been left paralysed from the waist down by a mystery illness that came on 30 minutes after she was given the new anticervical cancer jab.

Ashleigh Cave suffered dizziness and headaches soon after the vaccination at her school and then deteriorated rapidly, collapsing several times over the following days.

A week later she was admitted to hospital after losing all strength in her legs and, two months on, there has been no improvement.

Her mother Cheryl, 37, from Aintree, Merseyside, is blaming her daughter’s condition on the human papillomavirus (HPV) jab, which was introduced in Britain in September as part of a government-funded vaccination programme.

All girls aged 12 and 13 are being offered vaccinations with Cervarix, a drug that stimulates the body to defend itself against HPV, to protect against the later onset of cervical cancer which is linked to the virus.

In America, where an immunisation programme using a similar product, Gardasil, began more than a year earlier, there have been dozens of serious “adverse events” reported in which a link to the vaccinations is suspected.

They included 30 deaths in addition to cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, an auto-immune disease that can cause paralysis. The American authorities have said, however, that there is no evidence the HPV jabs caused these reactions.

Ashleigh’s case has been logged with Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as an instance of possible Guillain-Barré syndrome, although her doctors have now apparently ruled it out as the cause.

The agency has also indicated that the illness was probably not caused by the jab. Ashleigh’s doctor at Alder Hey children’s hospital, Liverpool, where she is undergoing tests, has said she did not have a “pathological reaction” to the vaccine.

Cheryl Cave said that she found the timing of her daughter’s symptoms impossible to ignore.

She said that within 30 minutes of Ashleigh having the jab at Maricourt Catholic high school on the morning of October 15, she was complaining of severe headaches and dizziness. Over the next 48 hours her condition worsened and she collapsed five times. Two days later they set off to visit friends in Hampshire but the schoolgirl collapsed again on the train.

She was admitted to Frimley Park hospital in Camberley, Surrey, where doctors gave the initial diagnosis of “vertigo and generalised myalgia, probably due to recent vaccinations”.

On October 22, a week after she was given the HPV jab, she was admitted to Alder Hey hospital, where she has remained ever since.

Her mother said: “At first they tried to tell us she was imagining it because she was being bullied . . . they will not mention her illness and the vaccine in the same sentence.”

A spokesman for the medicines agency said: “Guillain-Barré syndrome naturally occurs in the population. There is no good evidence to suggest that the Cervarix vaccine can cause [it].”

GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Cervarix, said that the agency had suggested the case “was not linked to the vaccine”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5337885.ece

An UPDATE from a colleague in France

RE:Daily Mail 14.12.2008
CERVICAL CANCER JAB LEFT MY 12 YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER PARALYSED,SAYS MOTHER
12 year old Ashleigh Cave of Liverpool developed a mystery illness half and hour after receiving cervical cancer vaccine and is now paralysed from the waist down.
There have been 30 deaths reported with the vaccine and cases of Guillian-Barre syndrome, an immune disorder which can lead to paralysis.-- --------- -----

Edward's comments: The BNF drug book doctors prescribe from in the UK lists possible side effects due to vaccines - anaphylactic shock etc. A book which I have by specialist immunologists points out that instead of the desired resistance to disease a vaccine can cause hypersensitivity and tissue damage. These documented undesirable effects are swept under the carpet in the efforts to sell more products.