Lehigh Valley's "The Morning Call" in Allentown, Penn. profiles the case of Sarah Behie, whose symptoms began three weeks after she got a flu shot. Eventually, the 20-year old's condition deteriorated until she was partially paralyzed and living in hospitals and nursing homes from a neurological condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare but recognized and devastating side effect from vaccinations. Behie now has no use of her legs and lacks upper body strength. She cannot feed or clothe herself. She's 24.
Under a special arrangement set up by Congress with pharmaceutical companies in 1988, vaccine injuries aren't paid by the vaccine makers but by a 75-cent tax per dose that patients pay on each dose of vaccine. Few people know about the special vaccine court that hears the cases and so relatively few vaccine injury claims are ever presented there. Still, the fund has paid out close to $3 billion in awards and attorney's fees. The U.S. government acts as partners with and on behalf of vaccine makers in opposing victims' claims in the court.
Every time I hear of another Guillain-Barre case after vaccination, I think of Duncan. He was 17 when he enlisted in the military: a strapping, athletic, healthy young man. But after his military vaccinations, which included anthrax and flu shots, he, too, became paralyzed. At one point he was down to 96 pounds.
I also am reminded of my contact with esteemed government scientists several years ago who conducted a definitive study on flu shot effectiveness in the elderly and were shocked to discover how ineffective flu shots are in that population. Once the study turned out that way--the way leading government health officials didn't want it to turn out--they wouldn't allow the scientists do on camera interviews with me. But the resulting story link is below. (Kudos to the scientists for letting the study reveal the facts even if it opposed the narrative some wanted to advance. In fact, several told me it opposed their own preconceived notions.)
[ilink url='http://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-vaccine-flattens-gi-17/']See my 2004 report on Duncan's paralysis[/ilink]
[ilink url="http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-lehigh-valley-vaccine-injury-settlement-20140610,0,504634.story#ixzz34RkJqzVu"] Read The Morning Call Story [/ilink]
Related links:
Investigation: Did U.S. Government Exaggerate H1N1 Swine Flu Stats? Oct. 21, 2009
Well a few more settlements like that will change that stupid law!
A lady I know of, only in her early sixties, with severe asthma and environmental allergies, faithfully getting her flu shots every year, this year got a flu shot in mid-December at a pharmacy which would nto have known her medical history, got very sick over the winter, fell and couldn't get up in April, and has been in a nursing home for dementia since July where she will likely live out the rest of her life. A year ago, she had been out and about, getting her groceries on the bus, walking her dog around the neighborhood, gardening, enjoying her life. Now do we know whether the flu shot had anything to do with this? No, and we never will.