My husband and I made the trip out to New York City to see this highly controversial documentary this weekend. Even though I already knew the details of what was being divulged in this movie, I wanted to see how it was going to be portrayed. As we know, journalists have an uncanny knack for spinning a story to meet their own agendas, so I wanted to know, was this documentary going to provide the proper transparency this topic demands?
I've been asked by many what my review of the movie is. I really needed to process my own personal accumulation of emotions about it first, before I could even begin to think more about the big picture. Not that I didn't already know how the information in this movie impacts the nation, I have had those opinions for over a year (since Dr. William Thompson came forward publicly), but when you sit through the movie, it forces you to take inventory of your own baggage associated with it. I had to allow the dust to settle in my brain before I could contemplate a broader opinion of the movie itself and how I would like my perspective to impact others. I am, by no means, done processing the implication this movie has for the greater good, but I am ready to share my interpretation of it. And frankly, there is no better review for a movie like this, then your own, so please go see it, if it is an option.
I first want to shout out a big thanks (and hugs) to the producer Del Bigree, Andrew Wakefield and Polly Tommey for taking on this mammoth of a project! They have gone where no man has gone. They are taking on Big Pharma without an ounce of fear! Del Bigtree has repeatedly asked where the reporters are, why aren't they covering this story? The answer to that question just confirms what we already knew, that Big Pharma has a noose around the necks of many people in these positions.
As much news coverage as there has been regarding the Tribeca Film Festival pulling VAXXED from their line-up, still there seems to be a media blackout on what is actually IN the film. Journalists are labeling this film an anti-vaccine film without actually seeing it.
Even though I knew the basis of the story that would unfold on the big screen, it was harder than I anticipated to stomach the details as they were being shared by these fellow parents who know the horrible pain of vaccine damage. They poured their hearts out for us to learn from and I couldn't hold back the tears, my body heat rose and I shook in my seat as I recounted the emotions we had in common. All of us with vaccine damaged kids know that feeling of being invisible. We know, without a doubt, what happened to our kids. We know when our children sneeze, when they don't feel well, and we know when an incident causes them to suddenly regress. Yet we are invisible to the doctors, we are invisible even to some of our friends and family. We are left alone in the dark abyss of researching what happened to our children and how we can help them live the best lives they can, given such crappy circumstances. This is when we begin to shine though. Suddenly we separate ourselves from the crowd and we excel at something mothers have been known to do for decades, we develop solutions. Even if we are totally alone in this journey, we continue to dredge our paths and do you know what happens when these numbers climb? More and more parents connect, they share their (very similar) stories, they get louder and and louder and eventually they demand change. And change is exactly what we need right now.
If you are not already familiar with the premise of the movie, I would like to state, first and foremost, that this is not an anti-vaccine film. It is a documentary dedicated to information transparency and it is attempting to educate the masses about corruption in the CDC. Learning about the corruption provides you with an ability to empower yourself going forward. Remove thoughts like, "They wouldn't do that to us!!" or "Why wouldn't it be all over the news, if it were true?". Start with a blank slate and allow yourself the opportunity to view this movie from a neutral state. You will be making educated decisions about your child's healthcare. If parents decide to protect their child by not vaccinating him or her, it is still not an anti-vaccine movie.
So what IS this movie about?
Quite simply, VAXXED is "An investigation into how the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the government agency charged with protecting the health of American citizens, destroyed data on their 2004 study that showed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism."
In my earlier blog from 2014 "Vaccine Safety Conundrum", I shared the CDC Whitle-blower timeline of events with multiple links to valid sources of information. One of these links was to Dr. William Thompson's Whistle-blower Attorney's website, where Dr. Thompson himself responded to the outcry of requests for more information with a press release. You can either click on the link above to see the letter on MorganVerkamp LLC's website directly or you can read it below:
__________________________________________________________________________
Statement of William W. Thompson, Ph.D., Regarding the 2004 Article Examining the Possibility of a Relationship Between MMR Vaccine and Autism
August 27, 2014/in Press/
My name is William Thompson. I am a Senior Scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where I have worked since 1998.
I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed.
I want to be absolutely clear that I believe vaccines have saved and continue to save countless lives. I would never suggest that any parent avoid vaccinating children of any race. Vaccines prevent serious diseases, and the risks associated with their administration are vastly outweighed by their individual and societal benefits.
My concern has been the decision to omit relevant findings in a particular study for a particular sub group for a particular vaccine. There have always been recognized risks for vaccination and I believe it is the responsibility of the CDC to properly convey the risks associated with receipt of those vaccines.
I have had many discussions with Dr. Brian Hooker over the last 10 months regarding studies the CDC has carried out regarding vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes including autism spectrum disorders. I share his beliefthat CDC decision-making and analyses should be transparent. I was not, however, aware that he was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet.
I am grateful for the many supportive e-mails that I have received over the last several days.
I will not be answering further questions at this time. I am providing information to Congressman William Posey, and of course will continue to cooperate with Congress. I have also offered to assist with reanalysis of the study data or development of further studies. For the time being, however, I am focused on my job and my family.
Reasonable scientists can and do differ in their interpretation of information. I will do everything I can to assist any unbiased and objective scientists inside or outside the CDC to analyze data collected by the CDC or other public organizations for the purpose of understanding whether vaccines are associated with an increased risk of autism. There are still more questions than answers, and I appreciate that so many families are looking for answers from the scientific community.
My colleagues and supervisors at the CDC have been entirely professional since this matter became public. In fact, I received a performance-based award after this story came out. I have experienced no pressure or retaliation and certainly was not escorted from the building, as some have stated.
Dr. Thompson is represented by Frederick M. Morgan,Jr., Morgan Verkamp, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio, www.morganverkamp.com.
_________________________________________________________________________
The movie VAXXED is in direct response to this event and I know that I personally am grateful for reporters like Del Bigtree who is willing to put his career on the line to review the evidence, interview Dr. Thompson and others so that parents are better informed.
Here are a few of the major points that can be taken away from the movie:
It is not an anti-vaccine movie
I know I said this earlier, but I want to say this again, because I think this movie is losing viewers based on the preconceived notion that it is encouraging families not to vaccinate their children. This movie is pro-transparency. This is a movie documenting a very specific case of corruption involving the very study that most doctors refer to when they tell their patients that "it has been proven that the MMR vaccine does NOT cause autism". The data that was manipulated paints a very different picture which does in fact connect autism and the MMR vaccine, particularly so when given between the ages of 12 and 18 months. The data also indicates that black boys are at a significantly higher risk than the general population for some reason. The data that was omitted results in an increased risk of autism at well over 250% higher when this vaccine is introduced between 12 and 18 months of age. Guess when my son received this and many other vaccines? Just before 12 months of age.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield's paper has been approved for reinstatement by a court of law
Let me repeat that again, so it sinks in....Dr. Wakefield's paper, which was originally withdrawn from the Lancet, has been approved for reinstatement by a court of law. It is NOT considered a fraudulent paper. I have heard SO many comments from people disputing Dr. Wakefield's validity, one of the most common being that his license was revoked and his paper pulled from the Lancet. What people aren't aware of is that he went to court and won! It was determined that his paper was to be reinstated, yet that has not yet happened, because again, the powers-that-be have a firm grip on this information. It is also a misconception that Dr. Wakefield's paper stated that there was a definitive connection between the MMR and autism. It did no such thing. The information he discovered in his research did, however, warrant the need for more research on this topic. His written suggestion was to merely separate the MMR into three individual vaccinations rather than giving them all together, which brings me to the next topic.
The MMR vaccination isn't available as three separated injections
Dr. Wakefield's research suggested that by separating the measles, mumps and rubella as individual vaccinations, the rate of autism didn't appear to increase like it does with the combination MMR. The reason you can't obtain these vaccinations individually is because the patent only covers the combined vaccination.
Doctors are being lied to also
In defense of all the doctors who are getting a bad rap for giving dangerous advice and for believing in the vaccinations they administer, let's remember they are being lied to just like us! When two prominent doctors are given the documents to review for themselves, without interference or outside interpretation, they are astounded and both plan to change the way they practice as a result. Dr. Sears was clearly shaken when he said that he has been advising patients based on a lie for the past ten years! The other doctor, Rachel Ross, an OB/gyn said that she would not be having her own child vaccinated with the MMR and when patients present her with the inevitable question, "Does the MMR cause autism?" she would be obligated to tell them the truth. Like us, doctors are trusting the data they have been fed by the CDC. Without reason to question otherwise, they will continue to trust the CDC. We must take the time to educate the doctors whenever possible.
The vaccine injury compensation fund is paid for with YOUR tax money
I don't know if you are already aware of this little detail, but vaccine manufacturers cannot be sued by parents of vaccine-injured children, instead they are protected from lawsuits by a court ruling in February of 2011 which put the final nail in the coffin when the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 was updated to include "design defects". When families win a case of vaccine damage they are paid via the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund, and it is YOUR tax money that is paying into this fund which has paid out over a billion dollars to date. So the vaccine manufacturers make $30+ billion annually per vaccine/drug, yet they have no consequences for producing dangerous vaccinations. Vaccinations are often "fast-tracked", meaning they don't go through the rigorous testing that drugs are required to go through, then YOU pay for THEIR consequences, not them. The most basic required study all manufactured drugs must go through is the double-blind placebo study where one group takes the drug and another does not. This study has not been conducted on any vaccine yet. Where is the incentive to make safe products??
A fraudulent study has been used to deny court cases
So now we have evidence that a fraudulent study was used to deny vaccine court cases. What are the odds they want this information made public? What are the implications of cases that were lost based on a study that was manipulated to omit data that might have actually have helped win the case?
The CDC actually had a meeting at which they all trashed the data connecting autism with the MMR. Without the material that was saved by Dr. William Thompson, there would be no existing data what-so-ever! In the movie, they share the documentation with hand-written notes by Colleen Boyle (Director of the CDC at the time, now a Merck employee!) showing exactly what data she instructed to be manipulated in the study and then ultimately confirming the trash can meeting!
Congressmen have stood before Congress, for all to see, requesting and even demanding an investigation of the CDC for it's fraudulent study. Senator Posey of Florida asked Congress to request a subpoena of Dr. Thompson (which Dr. Thompson wants to happen, since it would be illegal for him to speak out about the studies otherwise) and still a year later, nothing has happened!
So the question on everyone's tongue is, "Should I stop vaccinating my child?" I can't answer that question for you, but if you are familiar with my story and my blogs, you probably already know that we have one vaccinated child (who was vaccine damaged, resulting in autism and PANDAS) and a younger child who is unvaccinated as a result of our experience, and he is healthy. You MUST educate yourself BEFORE using any medication on your child. All medication comes with risks, vaccinations are a form of medication.
But I think there are more questions we need to be asking, such as What next? What do we do with this information? And how exactly did this happen in the first place, anyway? We must be the change we want to see in this world, and that change starts with the right questions.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. There are other vaccine safety whistle-blowers out there who have come forward, there is even a whistle-blower lawsuit currently going on involving two Merck scientists who claim that the MMR success rate is severely misrepresented, aka - falsified data, again. So how DID this dishonesty find it's way into our nation's fabric? My response to that is complacency. Yep, citizen complacency. We have developed a system of trust for authority-figures like doctors, scientists, politicians and even large-company owners. We have taken our safety for granted, ASSuming that these authority-figures always have our best interest in mind. This is called blind faith and blind faith has no place in our lives when it involves our children's health safety. As the parents, we are responsible for our children's health and it is up to us to maintain their safety. How can we effectively manage our children's health, if we aren't questioning the safety of what we put into them, from food to medications?
It's easy for us to sit on our comfy couches and pray for our war heroes fighting wars of freedom on International grounds, fighting for our freedom and safety which we are failing to use. But this, this is a war happening on our very own soil and unfortunately it is invisible to those who hold blind-faith in our government and medical establishments. By assuming we are safe, because we believe those in high powered positions are fighting the battle for us, we are losing ground, because sometimes it's these very people who are taking advantage of that power. How do they do that? WE LET THEM! When political positions were originally established, it was decided that they should not be entitled to holding these positions for life. Political representatives volunteered their time, outside of their day to day careers. This was a side job. "Career politicians" are dangerous to the future of our nation, because they can be easily bought. Their livelihood, their career and their bank account depends on their success. It is important to get involved, before we lose all freedom on the topic
of drugs and vaccination. The government is stepping over boundaries by taking
away our rights to vaccine exemptions and we are allowing it by doing nothing!! Vaccines
are drugs and no drugs come without consequences, which means we must
retain the right to choose them or not. When there is proof of children being harmed in great numbers, with thousands upon thousands of parents screaming that their child regressed after a vaccination, this is a conversation we must have no matter how uncomfortable.
Please contact your representatives and request a subpoena of Dr. William Thompson!!
The CDC openly admitted to changing their study, as well as admitting to an increase in autism in a certain age group of vaccinated children, yet they down play the results. For those who believe this whistle-blower story is a fake, see the CDC's website for their response to this event, confirming it is not a fake at all. Frankly, I would be concerned that they are capable of these manipulations and if they did it with this study, why wouldn't they do it with others? When someone lies to you, naturally your trust in them diminishes. Well, the CDC lied to you for over ten years and children have been sacrificed.
If you would like to read pages of viewer reviews of this movie, you can find them here.
