Action Alert - Institute of Medicine accepting public comment on proposed vaccine safety study

Tuesday, July 24, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Institute of Medicine, vaccine safety, comments

(NaturalNews) The Institute of Medicine (IoM), an organization under the umbrella of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), is currently in the process of putting together an assessment on the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children. And part of this process includes accepting public comments about the government's recommended vaccination schedule, a provision that represents a key opportunity for the natural health community to collectively share with the IoM our thoughts and concerns about the safety of vaccines.

As many NaturalNews readers are well aware, there is still plenty of controversy over whether or not vaccines are safe and effective, despite what the government claims. And this debate spills over into other debates about the federal government's official vaccination schedule, and whether or not it is appropriate for young children. The vaccine schedule is one particular area of concern that has received far less attention than it deserves, and one that the IoM seems ready to address as part of its new study.

In a commissioned paper titled "Study Designs for the Safety Evaluation of Different Childhood Immunization Schedules," consultant Martin Kulldorff, Ph.D., provides suggestions to the IoM about various ways in which a comprehensive vaccine safety study could be constructed, particularly with the CDC's vaccination schedule in mind. The paper addresses key issues of importance such as the timing of vaccinations, the quantity of vaccines given in a single day, the interaction of various vaccines with one another, the short and long-term effects of various vaccinations, and other intricacies that are often ignored when discussing vaccine safety.

"The core of this paper is a set of proposals for the type of study designs and methods that would be appropriate for the comparative evaluation of vaccine adverse events under different vaccine schedules," says the paper. "When evaluating the safety of different vaccine schedules, it is ... important to study the whole range of issues, from the timing of a single vaccine to summary metrics based on the timing of dozens of vaccines."

You can read the full 41-page revised commissioned paper, which was published on July 12, 2012, here: http://www.iom.edu

Submit your comments about the Childhood Immunization Schedule before July 31

As the IoM considers how it will evaluate the safety of childhood vaccinations based on the recommendations outlined in this paper, the group will also be considering what you and I have to say about the matter. To facilitate this, the IoM has set up a public survey portal through which you can express your thoughts about vaccines, and highlight specific issues related to vaccines that are most concerning to you.

You can access the survey portal here: http://www.surveygizmo.com

This is a great opportunity for health-conscious individuals everywhere, including those who have experienced first-hand the devastating effects of vaccines, or who know a family member or friend who has, to share their concerns about vaccines with a group that is well-respected among many in America and around the world. But it is important that you submit your comments by July 31 to ensure that the IoM receives them and includes them as part of its assessment considerations.

Be sure to take some time to read the report, or at least browse key portions of it, so you are familiar with the issues addressed. If you are already well-versed about the vaccination schedule, or have your own thoughts about how it should be studied to properly identify links between vaccines and health damage, be sure to include those in your survey answers as well:
http://www.surveygizmo.com

It is important to note that your survey answers and comments, as well as all other personal information you enter as part of the survey, will be published in a Public Access File in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

Sources for this article include:

http://www.iom.edu/Activities/PublicHealth/ChildhoodImmunization.aspx

http://www.surveygizmo.com