A Shot in the Arm for Big Pharma...The Epic $40 Billion Business
Boom Behind the Vaccine Machine

Highlights:

"All are at risk from being harmed by the (flu) vaccine," says Dr. Morris. "Particularly from the mercury, aluminum and formaldehyde in it."
And there are many reasons why these other ingredients are risky too:
• Aluminum: Another neurotoxin that often linked to Alzheimer's disease and cognitive diseases.
• Formaldehyde: A substance that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists as a carcinogen.
• Triton X-100: A dangerous detergent never intended to be injected into the human bloodstream.
"The CDC and FDA, for reasons not explained, have chosen to ignore this fact," says Dr. Miller.
And he says this is unacceptable...given the amount of evidence available.

The whole story below:

Every year at this time...the flu specter rises again. And our health leaders rally us to fight back against it...and they arm us with flu shots.
They tell us we need these shots...because our lives may literally depend on them. And they have lots of scary figures to "prove" this.
The CDC tells us that every winter up to 20 percent of people catch the flu. Almost 200,000 people wind up in the hospital because of it. And 36,000 people die from it.
But one top doctor from the University of Washington (UW) says these numbers don't paint a true picture. He says these numbers are distorted...and are part of a huge fear campaign that generates billions of dollars for the drug makers.
In fact...he says flu vaccines are the fastest growing medical money-maker of our time.
And while most doctors may say flu shots are vital to your health and are totally safe...decades of research shows these drugs may do a lot more harm than good.
That's why our UW expert says...
"Seventy percent of doctors do not get a flu shot."
And why another doctor–recognized by Time Magazine–says...
"The flu vaccine is one more attempt by our federal health officials to open up our bodies to the free market capitalism of the pharmaceutical coffers."
So stay with us as we look at the real figures behind flu shots...compare the true risk-to-benefit ratio...and uncover what is fueling the epic rise of flu vaccines.
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Shooting Down Flu
Flu shots are now a part of the season. Millions of people get them every winter. And up to 65 percent of seniors get an annual shot.
You can't ignore them at this time of year.
Every CVS and Walgreens has banners in their windows...the CDC distributes mailings...and even Wal-Mart and Target are getting in on the act by offering "free" shots at their in-store clinics.
The message over and over again is that they're a powerful preventative step to keep you flu-free this year...a cheap and easy measure that may potentially save your life. And as we've already shown you...the official figures back this up.
But an educated review of those figures paints a different picture.
"The CDC mounts a well-orchestrated campaign each season to generate interest and demand for flu shots," says Dr. Donald Miller.
Dr. Miller teaches at the University of Washington. He's also a practicing cardiac surgeon and a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. After graduating from Harvard Medical School over 40 years ago he began his career as a naval surgeon...before moving into civil practice. And he currently directs the surgery program at the Seattle VA Medical Center.
He says if you actually break down the CDC reports those figures get a lot more murky. In fact...about 35,000 of the deaths that are attributed to flu are actually just flu-associated...and are actually due to things like hearts attacks.
Dr. Gary Null agrees. He's been on the forefront of medicine for the last 30 years and was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the top health gurus in the US. They call him "The New Mr. Natural." He's published over 70 papers and is a New York Times best-selling health author.
And he doesn't buy into the official flu figures either.
"The CDC is completely clueless about this past season's flu infection rate," he says.
But Dr. Morris takes these thoughts further. He says it's not just that the CDC makes the threat sound much greater than it actually is...he says the "solution" doesn't do much good.
"There is a lack of evidence that (we) benefit from flu shots," he says. "A review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo."
The figures he's quoting come from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (And Cochrane studies are considered the gold standard for scientific research.)
The review was led by Dr. Tom Jefferson. He heads up the Vaccine Field Group for the Cochrane Library. And his findings were published in the Lancet.
Dr. Jefferson also found that flu shots weren't much better for adults. In fact...they did nothing for 94 percent of adults.
"Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced (flu) risk by six percent," says Dr. Jefferson.
There's plenty of other research that confirms Dr. Jefferson's findings.
A study was just published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.
It also found that flu shots didn't reduce flu-related hospitalizations or doctor visits during the last two flu seasons.
The researchers concluded that:
"Influenza vaccine effectiveness could not be demonstrated
for any season, age or setting."
And further findings from the Group Health study found that flu shots don't protect seniors against developing pneumonia.
They looked at research dating back to 1980. And they found that while 40 percent more seniors now get flu shots...there's been no difference in flu-related death numbers.
Back in 1980, just 15 percent of seniors got shots. These days 65 percent get them. But there's no difference whatsoever in deaths from influenza or pneumonia.
And there are many scientists around the world who say these shots just don't do any good.
In Canada there is a network of scientists, doctors and journalists looking into vaccines. It's called the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN).
And after looking through available findings and published papers these doctors and journalist have reached one conclusion.
They say that the flu shot is "the most useless vaccine of all time."
And it's not just overseas authorities who say flu shots are worthless.
Believe it or not...the former Chief Vaccine Office of the FDA agrees. His name is Dr. Anthony Morris. Before he took over the vaccine investigations group for the FDA he was the top virologist for the US Division of Biological Standards.
He's spent a long and distinguished career studying flu vaccines. And he was so good at his job that he rose to the top government spot in the field.
He surprised the world when he came out and said flu shots simply don't work.
"There is no evidence that any flu vaccine is effective in preventing any attack of flu," he said. "The producers of these vaccines know they are worthless, but they go on selling them anyway."
He was fired by the FDA shortly after making his statement.
That's a lot of scientists and studies that say flu shots don't do much good.
But Dr. Morris takes this one step further. He doesn't just say flu shots are worthless. He also says they're dangerous.
"There is a great deal of evidence to prove that immunization does more harm than good," he says.
Flu Shots May Pose Plenty of Risk
So why does Dr. Morris think flu shots are risky?
He says it's because many include an ingredient called thimerosal.
This is a preservative that's in 90 percent of flu shots and vaccines. The problem is that over 49 percent of it is made up from mercury.
"Mainstream medical journals publish studies that claim thimerosal is safe," says Dr. Miller. "These articles are written in large part by researchers in the pay of vaccine makers."
But Dr. Miller says there's plenty of research which clearly shows the dangers of thimerosal.
He points to one study by Mark and David Geier. Their study "documents a strong association between the amounts of mercury injected in vaccines and autism," says Dr. Miller.
"The mercury in flu vaccines plays a role in this disease," says Dr. Miller. "One investigator has found that people who received the flu vaccine each year for three years had a 10-fold greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease than people who had zero shots."
And there's lots of other research that shows mercury is dangerous to your health. We've reported on the dangers of it in the past. And you can read those stories here and here.
So...when you get a flu shot you're also getting high levels of mercury. That's because most flu shots contain about 25 micrograms of thimerosal. And its mercury content exceeds the EPA safety levels by 250 times.
That's a big number...and it comes from Mike Wagnitz. He's a senior chemist at the University of Wisconsin. He's spent the last 20 years evaluating products for mercury.
"A common myth is that thimerosal is added to vaccines in 'trace' amounts," he says.
But he says this just isn't true.
"The concentration of mercury in a flu vaccine is 50,000 parts per billion," he says.
That might not mean much on its own...so he explains why that's a bad number.
"Drinking-water can't exceed two parts per billion of mercury," he says. "Waste is considered hazardous if it has only 200 parts per billion."
But flu shots are OK with 50,000 parts per billion. That means your average flu shot contains literally 250 times more mercury than hazardous waste.
He says there's no denying this simple fact. That means flu shots are a danger to the people they are most often aimed at...pregnant mothers, children and seniors.
And these are the people who have the least defense against mercury.
And this has been a big problem for years. So you'd think that the government would step in...
But they haven't so far.
In fact...the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs contacted the FDA about it back in 2004. They noted the dangers of mercury. And sent a petition to cut thimerosal in flu shots.
But the FDA denied the petition...and that reply eventually went public a few years later on MSN.
"Pharmaceutical companies still add thimerosal in their Flu vaccines, which the FDA has chosen not to recall," says Dr. Miller.
Since then there's been plenty more studies showing that mercury is dangerous.
The latest one came out just a few months ago...and it's the sixth to be published recently. It specifically linked flu shots to Alzheimer's and autism.
And flu shots don't just contain mercury. They are loaded with other dangerous fillers too.
"All are at risk from being harmed by the (flu) vaccine," says Dr. Morris. "Particularly from the mercury, aluminum and formaldehyde in it."
And there are many reasons why these other ingredients are risky too:
• Aluminum: Another neurotoxin that often linked to Alzheimer's disease and cognitive diseases.
• Formaldehyde: A substance that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists as a carcinogen.
• Triton X-100: A dangerous detergent never intended to be injected into the human bloodstream.
"The CDC and FDA, for reasons not explained, have chosen to ignore this fact," says Dr. Miller.
And he says this is unacceptable...given the amount of evidence available.
"There is growing evidence that vaccines cause both autism and Alzheimer's disease," says Dr. Miller. "(That) evidence includes privately funded studies. Research on how mercury damages brain cells grown in culture. Animal studies in rodents, sheep and primates. And clinical studies in children and adults."
And yet these vaccines still contain mercury.
So the big question is...why do these shots stay on the market?
Dr. Morris says that "one reason" is that many health leaders are "in the pay of vaccine makers."
And because of that...many of the true dangers behind flu shots stay hidden.
Burying the Truth
While there's loads of evidence against flu shots...most it stays buried.
"The medical and public health communities publicize only what they want us to know about vaccines," says Dr. Kristine Severyn.
Dr. Severyn is an Ohio pharmacist with a Ph.D. in bio pharmaceutics from the University of Cincinnati. She's testified before many federal vaccine policy-making groups in Washington, D.C.
"I was taught that vaccines work all the time (and) with extremely rare adverse effects," she says. "Researching federal health information, reading medical literature, and attending vaccine policy-making meetings have caused me to reverse my original trust in vaccines."
During the last five years she's been in many FDA and CDC meetings about flu shots. And she says that at one meeting the CDC said "influenza vaccines are among the least effective immunizing agents available, and this (is) particularly true for elderly recipients."
All of her research has led her to one firm conclusion.
"The taxpayer has been defrauded about flu shots," she says. "We do not know what the risks are because our government is not interested in finding out."
She says the FDA should "do its job of monitoring safety and efficacy of licensed vaccines."
But she says that's not happening at the moment. And until that happens it's up to independent scientists to bring these truths to light.
Dr. Severyn says she's been doing just that. She's spent several years going through the FDA database...studying reports of bad reactions to vaccines.
"The FDA (has) collected nearly 32,000 reports of (bad) reactions (to) vaccination," she says. And she notes that there were "more than 700 deaths."
But she says you won't hear about them.
"The FDA dismisses them as coincidental," says Dr. Severyn. "Nearly all reports languish in a government computer data base."
Dr. Severyn says these cases are real...and there is a money trail showing that families are quietly compensated in these cases.
But she says these cases are kept quiet. That's because the government passed a law back in 1986 to get around noisy legal battles.
"To compensate those killed or injured by vaccines, congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act," she says.
And that act created the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).
"As of 1994, the program has paid $452.5 million for vaccine injury or death, and is backlogged with more than 2,600 cases," she says.
"Vaccine manufacturers enjoy the enviable position of having their products mandated and their liability costs shouldered by the US taxpayer," she says. "Victims of vaccine are prohibited from suing the drug companies until they are denied assistance from the VICP."
So that's how bad news about vaccines stays buried.
And burying the truth helps promote vaccines. But why are so many groups working to keep them on the market?
Dr. Severyn says it's all about money. And in the case of vaccines...epic amounts of it.
"Flu shots (are) useless," says Dr. Severyn. "The shots only benefit the companies that make them...public health bureaucrats who promote them...and medical personnel who administer them."
And Dr. Null agrees with this.
"Big Pharma money and corporate favors are what shape drug and vaccine policies and this is rampant throughout the system," he says.
Vaccines Are Epic Business
Most people wouldn't link flu shots to big money. After all...there are always chain stores giving them away for "free". And they're often promoted as a cheap way to protect your health.
Most insurers cover them. And even people without coverage can get them for as little as $15 or $25.
But they're generating billions of dollars in profits for the drug companies.
Sales of just one flu vaccine made Sanofi-Aventis $500 million in the final quarter of 2009. Vaccines brought in around $6 billion for the company the following year. And the company expects sales to double by 2013.
"There's a huge demand and a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon," says Dr. Michael Ossi. He's a disease expert with GlaxoSmithKlein.
"It's something that will continue for good now," he says. "It's a new marketplace."
Philippe Monteyne agrees. He's the senior vice president of global vaccines development at the same company.
"We are just at the early days of a new era which is just exploding," he says. "The whole vaccine industry is changing."
And vaccines are so big...that whole countries are now clients to the drug makers.
Monteyne says the cost of flu shots is flexible...depending on the wealth of the country.
"We have a tiered pricing strategy," he says. "It is mainly based on the level of income of the country."
Why Vaccines Are So Valuable to the Drug Makers
There are two big reasons why vaccines are so valuable to the big drug makers.
Most other drugs have limited potency. With time...their effects lessen. But flu shots don't have this problem because they're largely used seasonally.
The second reason is that flu shots offer the big drug makers an exclusive market to mine and plunder.
Most drugs have a limited patent protection. Once those patents end, generic versions undercut the market. But this isn't a problem for vaccines.
That's because it's very expensive to make them. A new plant costs up to $1-billion to set up. So only the biggest players can even afford to sit at the table. That means companies like Glaxo, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis have the market to themselves.
"The barriers to enter the market are extremely high," says Monteyne. "You don't become a vaccine maker overnight. That's why we have a few big players...and very few only."
And the big players plan on keeping it that way.
Over the last couple of years they've bought out any smaller players...as you can see from the following figures:
• Novartis spent $5 billion to buy flu vaccine maker Chrion
• Astra Zeneca paid $15 billion for Medimmune
• Glaxo bought out BioChem's vaccine operation for $1.4 billion
So now it's just the big players in the game.
But for those players...the payoffs are huge.
In the three years between 2004 and 2007...vaccine sales have soared by 32 percent each year. That's four times as fast as any other drug. And leading all vaccines were flu shots.
Vaccines are now a $24 billion business. Analysts expect that business to grow to $40 billion next year.
The CEO of Sanofi is Chris Viehbacher. He simply had this to say about the sales....
"Vaccines, vaccines...wonderful business..."
So there's little doubt that vaccines are a booming market. And as we've seen...there are many potential conflicts of interest within the world of vaccines. And there are plenty of benefits to be had from flu shots.
But there are many experts who don't think those benefits have anything to do with your health. As always, we'll keep you updated on any developments in this story...as they happen.
But if you currently receive our paid monthly newsletter...you can read an extended report about this subject. This is an exclusive report that's available FREE to our paid members only.
This report is called the NHD Insider Files. It's a formatted PDF that's easy-to-print and file. And it gives deeper and extended coverage of today's Undercover.
Today's 20-page report looks at the massive business that's driving flu shots this season. And it's packed with 50 percent more content than the regular free version.
It gives you more access to:
• Vital studies and findings...
• Exclusive charts and graphic content...
• A safe and natural doctor-recommended alternative to fight flu this season...
And because this report is big enough to cover all the facts...it even peels away an extra layer of financial corruption...that suggests that the people behind flu vaccines may be even more powerful than the World Health Organization (WHO).
So...if you get our paid monthly newsletter...go ahead and check your inbox now. You'll find today's issue includes a one-click link to the FREE PDF report.
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