By Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill
Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) took home a fortune of at least $29 million as part of a $182 million sale by CHOP of its worldwide royalty interest in the Merck Rotateq vaccine to Royalty Pharma in April of last year, according to an investigation by Age of Autism. Based on an analysis of current CHOP administrative policies, the amount of income distributed to Offit could be as high as $46 million.
Source: Read rest of story at: http://www.ageofautism.com ...

[Note: Paul Offit sat on the ACIP board for one term. (1998-2003) ACIP makes the nationwide recommendations for the CDC child schedule for vaccination. It is public knowledge that most members of the ACIP have financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. This news story should make it clear to parents why the mandating of vaccines must be stopped.]

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27065692/
Couple can sue vaccine company, court says

Lawsuit claims mercury preservative in shot responsible for child's autism

updated 10:11 a.m. MT, Tues., Oct. 7, 2008

ATLANTA - The Georgia Supreme Court allowed an Atlanta couple's lawsuit against a vaccine manufacturer to go forward, upholding a first-of-a-kind ruling by an appellate court that had drawn fierce opposition from the vaccine industry.

The court's unanimous decision on Monday concluded that a 1986 federal law that has been used to block other lawsuits against vaccine companies does not bar the lawsuit from Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari from going to trial.

It upheld a ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which became the first appellate court in the nation to hold that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act does not pre-empt state law.

The Ferrari family asked the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that vaccine maker American Home Products Corp., now known as Wyeth, can be held liable for damages in a civil case involving their son, Stefan.

The family believes they can prove that thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative, caused their son's disability. Stefan, they say, was a talkative toddler before he got a round of boosters shots when he was 18 months old. The boy, now 10, hasn't spoken since.

The case has drawn the protests from the vaccine industry as well as powerful right-leaning lobbying groups from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation.

Seven other state courts have ruled that the federal laws pre-empt any state law that might give families the power to challenge the vaccine manufacturers.

But the Georgia Court of Appeals became the first appellate court in the nation to rule that the federal law doesn't take precedence over state tort rules, calling the federal statute unclear.

At court hearings in May, attorneys for the Madison, N.J.-based company argued that other judges have concluded Congress wanted the federal law to pre-empt state rules, in part so that manufacturers aren't subjected to a mishmash of different state standards.

Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said the company would appeal Monday's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court because it conflicts with congressional intent "to create a uniform procedure to handle claims."

Petkus said other courts have agreed that the federal law supersedes state claims for injuries if the vaccines are prepared with FDA-approved designs and are accompanied by the proper warnings.

Ferrari's attorney, Lanny Bridgers, contended that the federal law was meant to supplement, not displace, state law. He also asked the court's seven justices not to be swayed by earlier decisions.

The Georgia Supreme Court's ruling, written by Justice George Carley, said the federal law "clearly does not pre-empt all design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers."

Instead, the court held, vaccine manufacturers must prove on a case-by-case basis that the side effect of the particular vaccine were unavoidable to be immune from defective design claims.

Families of autistic children have claimed in court that thimerosal is linked to autism, although government lawyers say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rejected any link.

Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood vaccines, except flu vaccines that are not packaged in single doses. The CDC says single-dose flu shots currently are available only in limited quantities.

Article source: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/11/04/helena/f01110407_02.txt

Montana day-care costs among highest in U.S.

By ROB CHANEY, Missoulian - 11/04/07

Parents of college-age children rejoice: It costs less to send a 19-year-old to the University of Montana for a year than it does to put a 4-year-old in full-time day care.

That doesn’t truly compare apples to apples. But one Missoula family sending their child to UM for two semesters of full-time college coursework will spend an average $5,238, not counting room, board and books. The family next door with a 4-year-old and two full-time jobs will require $6,750 for 50 weeks a year of daycare.

Looking for an in-home nanny? The rates range from $7 to $13 an hour per child, or roughly $1,000 a month to look after two small children.

Numbers like these got Montana lumped with the bottom 10 states for affordable day care, according to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

The association’s annual survey, released last month, found that full-time care for a preschooler required around 14 percent of family income in Oregon, New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Washington, North Carolina, Maine, California and Montana.

Montana also fell in with Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming — places where the cost of caring for two children exceeded the average monthly mortgage payment.

* “In every region of the United States, average childcare fees for an infant in a center are higher than the average amount families spend on food,” the association’s Stacey Minott wrote. “In 42 states, the price of full-time infant care in a center is higher than tuition at a public college.”

You’d think that would be good news for child-care providers. But given Montana’s equally low rankings on income surveys, there’s a big gap between what the job is worth and what people can afford to pay.

Olivia Herring has worked occasionally in daycare centers or as a nanny for the past four years in both Seattle and Missoula. Now a student at UM, she’s found lots of work offers but few good paychecks.

“If you’re a nanny there (in Seattle), people pay up to $17 an hour to watch two kids,” Herring said. “In Missoula, people have ads out for three infants and want to pay $6.15 an hour.”

At that rate, parents should expect a dedicated and trustworthy person who comes with first-aid and child CPR training, a driver’s license and at least a high school diploma.

And that doesn’t begin to address the educational qualifications many parents seek. UM Career Services student employment coordinator Valerie Marsh said parents are homing in on students who study childhood development, elementary education and related fields.

“It’s not just a babysitter anymore,” Marsh said. “They want people to interact with the kids, to speak a second language to their children.”

Unfortunately, that raises the question of when school begins. Montanans just got comfortable with the idea of all-day kindergarten. Education leaders strained to explain that the change wouldn’t be either watered-down first grade or over-structured babysitting.

Dragging preschool into that milieu raises several very different concerns. Some worry about the creation of a “nanny state,” with government education standards imposed on home nurseries. Budget-strapped school systems already worry about funding all-day kindergarten. Devoting resources to even younger children draws them away from the K-12 needs.

Child care easily slips into the same Montana quandary corral as housing prices and low wages. Everybody agrees there’s a problem. Nobody knows what to do about it.

That might change this spring when the governor’s School Readiness Task Force releases its findings. State Early Childhood Services bureau chief Jamie Palagi said the report will look at both child-care providers’ economic contributions to the state and the economic drag produced by lack of affordable child care.

In addition to fresh data, the School Readiness report will also produce recommendations for improving the situation. Those could include greater state underwriting of child-care costs, more involvement by private businesses, or appeals for greater state-federal cooperation on existing programs like Head Start.

Fixing Montana’s child-care challenges requires that magical combination of public interest, available resources and political momentum. It won’t be easy, Barmeyer said, as Montana’s social service agencies may be headed for a strollers-vs.-walkers showdown with aging baby boomers competing against preschoolers for services.

And college tuition isn’t getting any cheaper.