Yesterday, CDC started bringing forward comments that they had held back from the public’s view. For weeks, they had been denying American citizens their First Amendment rights. Then we asked a lawyer to send them a very simple letter. Two articles are available summarizing censorship (including redaction and the missing articles. It’s one thing for a government agency to control what its scientists or employees say to the public, depending on the topic, issue and content of the messages. It is another thing entirely for them to censor messages in a public forum that are intend by its sender, and seen by the recipients, as a message from one citizen to others. Witnessing this in the United States in 2017 on comments invited regarding the issue of whether and how CDC should change the information in the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) Vaccines Information Sheets has been, well, surreal. Little did we know that CDC was not only holding specific messages and parts of message back from public citizens, but they were also EDITING specific parts of some public comments. When I learned that CDC had intercepted a message, and changed the content and meaning of a message, effectively hijacking the public comment process, I was moved to invite that American citizen to write this guest article. I provide a link to Ms. Mary Holland’s comments, held in CDC thought prison for over a month.
Last month, like many people who are infuriated with the lack true informed consent in the “information” that CDC puts out and doctors distribute, I commented on the “Proposed Revised Vaccine Information Materials for MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella and MMRV (Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella) Vaccines.”
I tried to relate what they were proposing for the new sheet to my own personal experiences with vaccination. I also thought it important to point out the reality that they were providing official information when there was the unresolved issue with the CDC Whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson, and his allegations of fraud in the CDC’s own studies of a link between autism and MMR vaccine. That seems pretty relevant, considering they want to change the vaccine information sheets – the source of information relied upon my medical doctor and patients to assess the risk of accepting specific vaccinations. These sheets do not just influence the public’s perception of risk of vaccination – they DETERMINE it for medical doctors.
Having been given MMR three times in seven years because I did not test “immune” for rubella (according to titers), and in spite of having had a chronic autoimmune condition develop after the third administration, I felt it necessary to call them out on the both the safety and the effectiveness of the vaccine. I pointed out that they have no business saying getting the vaccine is much safer than getting the disease, because for any one person, that may not be true. You just can’t know that. Having children with allergies, I was concerned that allergic reaction is mentioned without any mention of which ingredients may cause such reactions – requiring children to actually have a reaction before they can be deemed allergic to the vaccine(s). “Allergy” in this context, by the way, can and does include anaphylaxis, which can be quite deadly.
In my submitted comments, I also I pointed out their proposal to downplay seizures as adverse events. The CDC has somehow now determined seizures do not medically contraindicate further vaccination, and doctors are now telling parents that seizures are “normal.” The scientists I have asked know of no study that shows that seizures cause by vaccination are harmless. My daughter had a severe reaction, including seizures, to her 2-month shots and went on to develop a seizure disorder. One of the risks for seizure disorders (epilepsy) is having had seizures as a child! How irresponsible is that, to deem seizures insignificant? How far will this go? Will medical doctors vaccinate children while they are undergoing seizures?
Here is a copy of the email where, carefully formatted into paragraphs, where I detail my concerns with the new VISs and our experiences:
Here is the mess of a comment, not my comment, with all references of Dr. William Thompson deleted:
(Excuse the messed-up text that didn’t translate well. Here is the online version, provided they keep it posted! https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=CDC-2016-0094-0268).
UPDATE: THE OLD LINK DIED, AND THE NEW LINK IS: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=CDC-2016-0094-0356
In the process of submitting my public comment, I was never informed that CDC would use their discretion to edit my comments, and change the message and my intended meaning. The are PUBLIC comments, and my intended audience was my fellow American citizens, and anyone at CDC given the task of considering submitted public comments (to whatever extent that is actually done).
The CDC never ask me if they could remove any part of my public comment. They never attempted even to not inform me why, on what grounds, it was censored. They just posted my comment, edited by them without my knowledge.
We have the right to communicate OUR chosen message. Again, how far will this go? We all have to wonder what other comments were altered or not even published, and, further, we must wonder what is the point of public comment? It seems like an exercise in futility, a show for PR, or for Congress. The appearance of an open society is not the same as an open society.
The CDC’s actions also (rather convincingly) makes it look like they have something to hide that they do not want getting out there…
(Parody image credit, Dr. Lyons-Weiler, protected under the First Amendment and laws protecting rights to parody and effigy representation of public officials. Dr. Tom Frieden was Director of CDC during the censorship activities. ALL rights reserved.)