Why the big hoopla on H1N1/swine flu? First, I am continuously being queried about it. Second, I am seriously concerned about the reaction to it, not the actual illness. Finally, I loathe the spirit of fear that is being unleashed on the public.

Below I am reproducing a piece put together by K.C. Craichy on his blog. It provides a nice thumbnail sketch of the problem.

• Never before has a vaccine been so quickly fast tracked through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with pressure from the U.S. Congress, who along with a $1 billion grant to pharmaceutical companies, also insulated these companies from product liability claims when people are injured by their fast tracked vaccines.  This combination of extreme haste to market without the legally mandated years of testing and regulatory hurdles, combined with no liability for vaccine injury by the makers of the vaccine, is a recipe for disaster.
• Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.  In fact, in the flu scare of 1976, more people died of the flu vaccination than from the flu itself (1).
• The Massachusetts state Senate has recently passed the “Pandemic Response Bill” that now awaits approval in the House.  This bill includes frightening language that permits authorities to force vaccinations, forcibly quarantine those that choose to not be vaccinated and levy fines of up to $1,000 per day to those who refuse mandatory vaccinations and quarantines (2).
• Former Chief Vaccine Control Officer of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. J. Anthony Morris, is quoted as saying, “There is a great deal of evidence to prove that immunization of children does more harm than good.” Dr. Morris is also quoted as saying, “There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them, anyway.”
• The World Health Organization (WHO) admits vaccines are not needed for healthy people and that obese people are at higher risk of contracting swine flu (3).  Yet, WHO is on the verge of mandating global mass vaccinations against swine flu, even though it states on its own website that such vaccines have never been proven safe (4).
• Many neurosurgeons have also expressed concern about the potential for increased Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which they say could be triggered by the vaccine.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) admits that the flu vaccine given in 1976 was associated with people getting GBS, but believes the chance of that happening again with new vaccines should be much lower (5).