Kirklan Robert Hunter

Kirk's vaccine injury.

 

Kirk was normal developing in every way before his second shot at 6 months of age. His injury was either the result of an immune sensitivity to ingredients, an already over-stressed immune system due to an exposure to herpes in the weeks preceding, an overzealous paediatrician, peer pressure, a dangerously uninformed allopathic community or all of the above. His healthy development was confirmed by the Mayo clinic and his doctor.

 

It really makes no difference to me what stars and planets aligned to make this injury possible - it happened. If there is a danger, no matter how remote, it's a manufacturers and government's responsibility to do all it can to protect the most vulnerable in our world. We were duped into believing the vaccines were safe for our son and when we were handed the one pager and not the vaccine monograph - the health district and government became willing accomplices to a large pharmaceutical's agenda. Trusting the research and clinical data that was provided to them by a corporation rather than look into the process directly. Even after families like ours brought forward concerns regarding Pentacel's safety, the government and health district held fast to their agreed upon agenda.

 

We were pro-vaccine before this event. If there was a vaccine that was proven effective and did little harm, I would support it. Even if it did harm to some children like Kirk but protected the majority, I might be willing to consider the argument for the benefit outweighs the risk in some children, if we as a society agreed to pick up the costs for these children that sacrificed their lives for others. We don't! 

 

We don't know the risk.

We don't know the benefit.

We don't care for the injured.

We don't have any guarantee it works.

We don't have any guarantee of safety.

We don't have reliable clinical data.

We don't do due diligence.

We don't protect the most vulnerable.

We don't want to know.

 

Here's what I do know. 

 

In 1999 when kirk was given his second 5-in-one vaccine Pentacel, mom was told that blisters in his mouth, as a result of a recent exposure to herpes, were not a contraindication to the shot. Nor should the shot be postponed to allow him to fully recover. The one pager refers to possible rare side-effects such as redness at the site of injection and fever. There was no mention of other side effects that are listed on the product monograph. Look for yourself below and attached pdf. (Note that side effects such as seizures have been replaced with the flawed trial data from Canada - see letter to minister)

 

Pentacel Monograph 1999 warnings include:

Guillian Barre Syndrome, encephalopathy, coma, seizures with or without fever, infantile spasms, uncontrolled epilepsy, demyelinating diseases, fever, collapse or shock like state, inconsolable crying, severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients including anaphylaxis.

 

So you may find it a bit surprising as we did, that Kirk's idiopathic seizures and suspect vaccine injury beginning within 72 hours of his shot, were so easily dismissed as not possible by the attending neurologist. Even after 6 months of invasive muscle and skin biopsies, MRI's, EEG's, blood work, spinal taps and genetic screening all before Kirk's first birthday, returned all clear. Even after a team of neurologists at the Mayo clinic said they could not rule out vaccine injury as a possible cause and his own doctor from birth agreed - our neurologists and health district supported the idiopathic diagnosis without any further investigation.

 

I wrote a letter, below, to the government sharing my concerns. Concerns that, having learned after the fact, this vaccine was also on trial in Canada. That Kirk's injury and many like it might not be included in Aventis Pasteur's clinical data. Something the government, the maker, the health district and the world at large might be keenly interested to know- they were not. They were, however, very interested in encouraging us to vaccinate our son again - seriously. An hour long conversation with the community health nurse, when I tried to share my concerns. I was left with the standard benefit outweighs the risk BS and we should continue with Kirk's vaccine schedule.

 

Even more puzzling was a similar response from David Butler Jones, the Chief Medical Officer in Saskatchewan at the time. In our meeting I recorded, he told me cavalierly, that if indeed Kirk was injured by the vaccine - he was one-in-a-million. (In a province of 1 million - I would think 2 in a million would be statistically significant) That even if the clinical trial missed him - we still have an accurate reflection of benefit/risk. Adding that no one, including him, really knows how the whole vaccine thing works - it just does. Very reassuring.

 

So then how bout the issue of risk and reporting. 

Kirk's hospital admission should have been reported within 15 calendar days, as indicated in Health Canada's Guidelines for Reporting Adverse Events Associated with Vaccine Products. It was 18 months before I was able to get the information to Aventis Pasteur. I was assured our District would forward Kirk's possible reaction to the maker months before by the Community Health nurse, but was surprised to find the maker had no such report under Kirk's name. There were several K. Hunters - just not Kirk's. I offered his health number, and they didn't have any such cross reference or information because, they said, the Government of Canada does not legally have to provide them with any injury information. When I asked about the trial data,  the woman said they relied on people to report direct to them any possible injuries through contact information provided on the monograph which, say it together - no one gets. That's because the government provides an abbreviated one pager for your convenience. Can you blame them? After all, if everyone read the monograph - no one would immunize their children.

 

How bout allergic predisposition to the ingredients?

Good question. How would you know if your son or daughter is allergic to a shot if they get it at 2 months of age intramuscularly? Pentacel ingredients like phenoxyethanol2, formaldehyde, bovine serum, neomycin, polymixin B sulfate, and aluminum phosphate .  Or in other routine shots that also include egg embryo, monkey culture and mercury (thimerosal). Well - you wouldn't unless you tested for it. Good idea you say? They don't think so. If we do skin tests on high risk kids prior to shooting a potentially deadly ingredient into their muscles - it might scare the public.

 

They could also use the clinical data they currently have on file to help identify high risk kids for injury like Kirk. The CDC has huge databanks of reactions going back decades in which I was able to determine that blond haired blue-eyed boys are by far the most reported. And that approximately 75% of injury reports were caused by the whole cell pertussis shot we used to get prior to the accellular version introduced in the 90's. Introduced I might add, after Pentacel was licensed and approved for use in Canada. Post licensure changes without retrial also included phenoxyethanol2, that replaced the injurious thimerosal. What is that long named new ingredient you say? Well it's a preservative that is only a "suspected" neuro-toxin compared to the known neurotoxin in previous shots we used to get :P Comforting.

 

And what does the CDC think of all this under reporting?

In the wake of the CDC vaccine autism cover up whistle-blower information that recently came to light - perhaps this wont surprise...but they were disinterested to say the least. My contact at the Food and Biologics department was only willing to confirm that Pentacel, the product we were trialing in Canada on my son in 1999, was denied a license in the USA. She wouldn't say why for proprietary reasons, but did say it is only ever for reasons of efficacy or safety. Again reassuring.

 

How do I know the vaccine was on trial and that this product was changed without retrial?

Well thanks to Dr. Scheifele of the Alberta Children's hospital's well publicized presentation at the Infectious Disease Society of America 37th Annual Meeting in November 1999.  He puts it all in an eaasy to read paper on Medscape. ( Read attached letter to the minister )

 

So what's the point, why wouldn't we immunize our children?

For me it's simple. We are almost forced to give a potentially lethal product to our precious infants without proper studies on safety and or efficacy. According to the evidence I've found, this product has not been properly tested for either - and no one seems anxious to do it. They prefer to bully parents and shame them into compliance. Using vague terms, half truths and the paid for media, to intimidate, scare, harass and pressure parents into putting their children into the questionable care of the product manufacturer. With no legal recourse -  did I mention that?, or financial support should your child be hurt. 

 

So what are the risks?

Well that is hard to tell for sure. Arguably the most risky component for injury by vaccine is the pertussis part. The makers try to reassure us the risk is lowered with the accellular version, but who's to say it's introduction didn't simply delay the immune reaction in kids past the 72 hour window for reporting guidelines, and that the new version is just as bad or worse? No one would know because no one is tracking that. As for risk of disease, the last year I looked, there were 6 cases of pertussis in Saskatchewan in kids under 1 year. Of that, they say a very small % might die. Measure that against the certainty of injecting poisons and triggering potentially life-threatening allergic reactions to vaccine ingredients into your baby intramuscularly with no way to undo. With no way to fix it if it goes bad – no financial support, no respite, and no admission of fault - with a myriad of possible life altering or life ending outcomes. ( like those listed on the product monograph) They can't even guarantee the shot will provide protection AGAINST THE DISEASE.

 

As for the mechanism behind Kirk's injury,  this injury was caused or triggered by the vaccine. If Kirk had an underlying sensitivity to any of the vaccine ingredients, a reaction might manifest in any number of dysfunctional autoimmune responses. The US VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) database records several thousand reactions yearly that result in skin eruptions, rashes, or redness at the site of injection, some up to 14 days post immunization. Based on this casual observation, this suggests an immune reaction could conceivably manifest in children such as Kirk many days or weeks after the vaccination. The question becomes - Why wouldn’t we demand the maker research a connection to allergic predisposition in some children, develop a test to identify them prior to vaccination, and track injuries beyond 72 hours?

 

Think about it. If  Kirk's scenario had played out with any other product such as a crib, we wouldn't be having any debate. The crib-maker would be made to pull the product, test, prove and ensure our unique child's physiology could not be harmed or fatally injured by the flawed design of the product. Or at the very least, a warning would accompany said product, that certain children born with small heads that might get trapped between the crib bars, through no fault of their own, should avoid using the product. Not to mention the media, which we went to several times, would be all over it. Ask yourself why not? Who stands to gain from the silence, and who from this message of concern? Do you think this family or others with deathly ill children have anything to gain that could erase this pain?  All I want is for my precious son's vaccine injury to be counted - to have happened for a reason - to have helped another. That this unhappy painful outcome be used to learn from so that others do not have to suffer.

 

What about suing for damages?

There is no legal recourse. After discussing Kirk's possible case with several legal experts, we have found that such an action is near impossible and would likely mean bankruptcy. Because the government provides a one-pager instead of the monograph, the maker is removed from liability - since they actually DO warn people in their literature. The doctor that ignored all of the potential concerns regarding Kirk's state of health is protected under "generally accepted practice". There is a case against the government, but we would have to prove causation and negligence to make it financially viable. It would cost more money than I have to uncover the umpteen layers of proprietary clinical data locked behind the makers wall of smoke to prove causation. You have to request each piece of data separately and have to be specific, no extra information is provided and each action requires a lawyer's letter. Even though I have a good idea what to ask for now, the fact remains as referenced here, there is no such data to access. They simply haven't collected it. Then to prove negligence is important too, otherwise the award would be an apology  - which wouldn't cover much of the potentially massive expense. Kirk's case had no precedent to argue that the government knew, or should have known, there was a problem and did not act. Since we have alerted government, the district and the maker in writing, it is possible they could be sued for negligence now if a family sought damages. According to a relative in parliament, our efforts have been credited for a bill passed in Saskatchewan that makes it unlawful not to report a possible injury. A small victory.

 

Too many questions and not enough answers.

With all these questions unanswered, the uncalculated risk of injury and not much evidence of benefit - why would you vaccinate? Why not demand makers test their product to our satisfaction - to be sure it is completely safe before they inject it in your child? 

 

If vaccines work, why are others so concerned if I choose not to?

So called experts talk about herd immunity. Seems to me just a way to ensure healthy non-vaccinated people don't keep popping up to mess up an otherwise fictional story of success. The US reports 1 in 88 children has autism related disorders. Why don't the Amish have autistic children? Google it. How about measles incidence prior to the vaccine introduction (chart below), did the vaccine do the work or was it on the way out already. Polio is gone, but now we have spinal meningitis? Regardless of the history and science, I should have a right to choose for myself. If the vaccine works - others should not care.

 

That is Kirk's story behind the story - he deserves our support. He sacrificed so that others may not have to. He has had multiple seizures daily since that shot 17 years ago. He can't talk or walk unaided. Can't feed himself, express pain - has no friends, and precious little respite. What will become of him once his parents are too old or worse? He has huge medical expenses and long term needs. Was this all for nothing? Did we learn nothing from his experience?

 

And now you know why I 'm concerned when people blindly and ignorantly promote vaccines. If you have any more questions please ask. 

 

I have done all I can to share what we know and can now sleep at night.