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Tag: vaccine safety

  • Physicians for Informed Consent Distributes Landmark Vaccine Book to Trump, Vance and Congress, Shows Childhood Vaccines Not Proven Safer Than Diseases They Target

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    The nonprofit organization calls on federal leaders to withhold funds from states restricting vaccine exemptions


    NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., September 29, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    As part of its national Education Initiative on Vaccine Safety, Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC) has delivered its landmark book, “Vaccines and the Diseases They Target: An Analysis of Vaccine Safety and Epidemiology” (the Silver Booklet), to every member of Congress, as well as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The book equips lawmakers with scientific and statistical data showing that, for normal-risk U.S. children,vaccines have not been proven safer than the diseases they intend to prevent.

    The education campaign, which aims to elevate children’s health, underscores PIC’s mission to safeguard informed consent in vaccination and end mandatory vaccination laws. In a letter that accompanied the book, PIC states:

    “From an ethical standpoint, any medical mandate must, at the very least, be shown to deliver more benefit than harm. As you work to improve children’s health in the face of rising chronic illness, we respectfully urge you to review the evidence we present, which indicates that current vaccine mandates are not scientifically substantiated and may, in fact, pose greater risks than the diseases they target. In the meantime, we ask that federal funding be withheld from states that do not safeguard religious or philosophical exemptions to vaccine mandates for school attendance.”

    In August, PIC sent an urgent letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., requesting an immediate review of childhood vaccine policies and a reconsideration based on risk-benefit analysis.

    “We believe federal leaders will be empowered by the information in this book, which includes side-by-side comparisons of disease risks vs. vaccine risks, with over 400 references and color illustrations,” said Shira Miller, M.D., PIC founder and president. “By providing the Silver Booklet directly to lawmakers, we’re ensuring they have access to the data that challenges long-standing assumptions about vaccine safety and mandatory childhood vaccination.”

    What’s in the Silver Booklet:

    • Clear descriptions of infectious childhood diseases, symptoms, treatment options, and the risk of serious outcomes

    • Insights into vaccine effectiveness, side effects, and safety profiles

    • Data-driven comparisons of the risks posed by diseases versus their related vaccines

    • Figures and illustrations to make complex data more reader-friendly

    “Many lawmakers are unaware that vaccine safety research leaves critical questions unanswered,” said Greg Glaser, Esq., PIC general counsel and national coalition director. “The Silver Booklet advances evidence-based dialogue and equips the President, Vice President and Congress to enact policies that protect children’s health.”

    Physicians for Informed Consent urges every public official and health authority to read the new book and confront the disconnect between mandatory vaccination and scientific evidence.

    To learn more about the book or to support the PIC Education Initiative on Vaccine Safety, visit silverbooklet.org.

    Source: Physicians for Informed Consent

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  • LIVE: Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testifies RFK Jr. fired her over vaccine science

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    Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testified before senators on Wednesday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired her after she refused to endorse forthcoming vaccine recommendations without reviewing scientific evidence to support the guidance.Watch a livestream of the hearing in the video player above.Monarez was ousted just 29 days into the job, over disagreement with her boss on vaccine policies.Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the powerful health committee Monarez is appearing before, expressed skepticism over the explanations Kennedy has given over her firing. He carefully praised President Donald Trump for his commitment to promoting health among Americans but made it clear he was befuddled by Monarez’s removal. He noted that senators had just approved Monarez’s confirmation with Kennedy praising her “unimpeachable scientific credentials.”“Like, what happened?” Cassidy said. “Did we fail? Was there something we should have done differently?”Monarez said in her testimony that Kennedy gave her an ultimatum: “Preapprove” new vaccine recommendations from an advisory CDC panel that Kennedy has stocked with some medical experts who doubt vaccine safety or be fired. That panel is expected to vote on new vaccine recommendations later this week. He also demanded Monarez fire high-ranking, career CDC officials without cause, she said.“He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign. I responded that I could not preapprove recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis for firing,” Monarez told senators. “He said he had already spoken with the White House several times.”The senate hearing will focus on the impact the turmoil at the nation’s leading public health agency, which is responsible for making vaccine recommendations to the public, will have on children’s health. It will also undoubtedly serve as an opportunity for Monarez and former Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who was also testifying before the committee, to respond to a number of Kennedy’s contentious claims about their final days at the agency.Kennedy has denied Monarez’s accusations that he ordered “rubber-stamped” vaccine recommendations.He has described Monarez as admitting to him that she is “untrustworthy,” a claim Monarez has denied through her attorney. He did, however, acknowledge during a testy Senate hearing earlier this month that he ordered Monarez to fire several top officials at the CDC.The Senate hearing is taking place just a day before the vaccine panel starts its two-day session in Atlanta to discuss shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox. It’s unclear how the panel might vote on the recommendations, though members have raised doubts about whether hepatitis B shots administered to newborns are necessary and have suggested COVID-19 recommendations should be more restricted.The CDC director must endorse those recommendations before they become official. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, now serving as the CDC’s acting director, will be responsible for that.Monarez and Houry are expected to face tense questions from Republicans over the CDC’s vaccine recommendations and COVID-19 policies. Democrats, meanwhile, are likely to seek more information on Kennedy’s approach to vaccines.The health committee’s hearing will be overseen by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who cast a key vote for Kennedy’s confirmation. He has expressed concern about “serious allegations” at the CDC and has called for oversight, without blaming Kennedy.

    WASHINGTON —

    Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testified before senators on Wednesday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired her after she refused to endorse forthcoming vaccine recommendations without reviewing scientific evidence to support the guidance.

    Watch a livestream of the hearing in the video player above.

    Monarez was ousted just 29 days into the job, over disagreement with her boss on vaccine policies.

    Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the powerful health committee Monarez is appearing before, expressed skepticism over the explanations Kennedy has given over her firing. He carefully praised President Donald Trump for his commitment to promoting health among Americans but made it clear he was befuddled by Monarez’s removal. He noted that senators had just approved Monarez’s confirmation with Kennedy praising her “unimpeachable scientific credentials.”

    “Like, what happened?” Cassidy said. “Did we fail? Was there something we should have done differently?”

    Monarez said in her testimony that Kennedy gave her an ultimatum: “Preapprove” new vaccine recommendations from an advisory CDC panel that Kennedy has stocked with some medical experts who doubt vaccine safety or be fired. That panel is expected to vote on new vaccine recommendations later this week. He also demanded Monarez fire high-ranking, career CDC officials without cause, she said.

    “He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign. I responded that I could not preapprove recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis for firing,” Monarez told senators. “He said he had already spoken with the White House several times.”

    The senate hearing will focus on the impact the turmoil at the nation’s leading public health agency, which is responsible for making vaccine recommendations to the public, will have on children’s health. It will also undoubtedly serve as an opportunity for Monarez and former Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who was also testifying before the committee, to respond to a number of Kennedy’s contentious claims about their final days at the agency.

    Kennedy has denied Monarez’s accusations that he ordered “rubber-stamped” vaccine recommendations.

    He has described Monarez as admitting to him that she is “untrustworthy,” a claim Monarez has denied through her attorney. He did, however, acknowledge during a testy Senate hearing earlier this month that he ordered Monarez to fire several top officials at the CDC.

    The Senate hearing is taking place just a day before the vaccine panel starts its two-day session in Atlanta to discuss shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox. It’s unclear how the panel might vote on the recommendations, though members have raised doubts about whether hepatitis B shots administered to newborns are necessary and have suggested COVID-19 recommendations should be more restricted.

    The CDC director must endorse those recommendations before they become official. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, now serving as the CDC’s acting director, will be responsible for that.

    Monarez and Houry are expected to face tense questions from Republicans over the CDC’s vaccine recommendations and COVID-19 policies. Democrats, meanwhile, are likely to seek more information on Kennedy’s approach to vaccines.

    The health committee’s hearing will be overseen by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who cast a key vote for Kennedy’s confirmation. He has expressed concern about “serious allegations” at the CDC and has called for oversight, without blaming Kennedy.

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  • Ex-CDC director set to tell senators that RFK Jr. required political sign-off on decisions, called for firings without cause

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    (CNN) — Dr. Susan Monarez, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is expected to say in a Senate committee hearing this week that US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put politics before public health when he required that all CDC policy and personnel decisions be cleared by political staff, according to her prepared testimony.

    Monarez is set to appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in a hearing Wednesday.

    She was ousted last month, just 29 days into her tenure as CDC director, amid clashes with Kennedy over vaccine policies. She will be joined at the hearing by Dr. Debra Houry, who stepped down from her role as the CDC’s chief medical officer in protest after Monarez’s ouster.

    “I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity,” Monarez says in her prepared testimony. “I had refused to commit to approving vaccine recommendations without evidence, fire career officials without cause, or resign.”

    HHS has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on Monarez’s claims.

    In her prepared testimony, Monarez offers new details about her brief tenure as CDC director, including saying Kennedy issued a directive that CDC policy and personnel decisions required prior approval from political staff — a break from the practice of past administrations.

    Bloomberg first reported on the prepared testimony Monday.

    Monarez also says that on August 2, she learned from media reports that Kennedy had removed liaison members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP — an influential group of outside experts who advise the agency on vaccinations – essentially being blindsided by the news.

    Then, “on the morning of August 25, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of a public official,” Monarez says. “He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy, without cause. He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign.”

    Monarez says she told Kennedy that she could not “pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence” and that she had no basis to fire scientific experts.

    “On August 25, I could have stayed silent, agreed to demands, and no one would have known,” Monarez’s testimony says. “What the public would have seen were scientists dismissed without cause and vaccine protections quietly eroded — all under the authority of a Senate-confirmed Director with ‘unimpeachable credentials.’ I could have kept the office and the title. But I would have lost the one thing that cannot be replaced: my integrity.”

    Kennedy removed all 17 sitting members of ACIP in June. The committee now includes an entirely new group of experts, who are scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday to discuss Covid-19 vaccines as well as immunizations against hepatitis B and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. Several of the new members have made unproven claims about vaccines, including one who said, without evidence, that Covid shots are causing “unprecedented levels of death and harm in young people.”

    Monarez says the new composition of the committee has “raised concerns from the medical community.”

    “There is real risk that recommendations could be made restricting access to vaccines for children and others in need without rigorous scientific review,” she says. “With no permanent CDC Director in place, those recommendations could be adopted. The stakes are not theoretical. We have already seen the largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years, which claimed the lives of two children. If vaccine protections are weakened, preventable diseases will return.”

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    Jacqueline Howard and CNN

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  • Physicians for Informed Consent Publishes Silver Booklet, Shows Childhood Vaccines Not Proven Safer Than the Diseases They Target

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    Data-driven analysis compares disease risks to vaccine risks, highlighting evidence gaps and urging review of school vaccine mandates


    NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., August 19, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC) has announced the publication of “Vaccines and the Diseases They Target: An Analysis of Vaccine Safety and Epidemiology,” also known as the Silver Booklet, a groundbreaking book that challenges the belief that vaccines are unequivocally safer than the diseases they intend to prevent.

    Drawing on peer-reviewed studies, government health statistics, and over a decade of research and development by PIC, the book presents a reader-friendly analysis of the risks of childhood vaccines compared to that of infectious diseases – and equips parents, healthcare professionals, and policymakers with clear, concise data to support informed decision-making.

    The book covers:

    • Easy-to-understand summaries of childhood diseases, their symptoms, and potential complications

    • Data-driven comparisons of vaccine risks versus disease risks

    • An analysis of the vaccine ingredient aluminum and its neurotoxic effects

    • Visual charts and illustrations that make complex data easy to grasp

    “Vaccine policies have operated within a paradigm that assumes vaccines are inherently safer than the diseases they target,” said Shira Miller, M.D., PIC founder and president. “However, the data tell a different story – particularly for children at normal risk. That’s why vaccine mandates deserve immediate and serious reconsideration.”

    Key findings:

    • Before mass vaccination was introduced, fatality and permanent disability was low for childhood infectious diseases in normal-risk children – in particular, those covered in the book: hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella. Measles deaths declined 98% from 1900 to 1963, before the measles vaccine was introduced, and the fatality rate was 1 in 10,000 or 0.01% overall, and 1 in 93,000 or 0.001% with normal levels of vitamin A.

    • U.S. children receive74 vaccine doses, including22 injections containing aluminum, a neurotoxin. The aluminum content in many vaccines exceeds government safety limits for infants.

    • Many vaccines either wane in efficacy over time ordo not prevent asymptomatic infection or transmission (e.g., hepatitis B, MMR, DTaP, polio, flu, COVID-19). Therefore, fully vaccinated individuals can still become infected and spread viruses or bacteria, even with mild or no symptoms of their own.

    • Long-term safety studies have not been conducted to evaluate vaccines for their potential to cause genetic mutations, cancer or impaired fertility, and current vaccine safety studies have not ruled out the possibility that vaccines may cause greater death or permanent disability (e.g., autistic-spectrum disorders, epilepsy, demyelinating diseases, attention deficit disorder) than the diseases themselves.

    “As the nation considers how to improve children’s health in the face of rising chronic illness, there’s never been a more critical time to review vaccine policy through a scientific lens,” said Greg Glaser, Esq., PIC general counsel. “The Silver Booklet offers that lens.”

    Who should read this book:

    • Parents seeking objective scientific data

    • Medical professionals striving to support informed consent

    • Legislators and public health officials involved in vaccination policy

    • Journalists covering health and medical freedom topics

    How to order:

    To learn more or order your copy of “Vaccines and the Diseases They Target,” visit silverbooklet.org.

    Contact Information

    Greg Glaser
    General Counsel
    info@picphysicians.org
    925-642-6651

    Source: Physicians for Informed Consent

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  • RETRANSMISSION: Physicians & Scientists Reveal: School-Mandated Vaccines Lack Proof of Safety Over Targeted Diseases

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    New document compares vaccine risks to 10 disease risks


    NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., January 28, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, has introduced a new comprehensive educational document to assist physicians, policymakers and the public in comparing the known risks of 10 diseases, in normal-risk children who have not been vaccinated, to the uncertain risks of their vaccines.

    The disease risks included are for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chicken pox). These diseases have a vaccine targeting them which is mandated for school attendance; without a personal belief or religious exemption in four states (California, Connecticut, New York, and Maine). The document provides easy access to crucial historical government data from sources such as the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and indicates that the vaccine safety studies for the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP), polio (IPV), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), varicella (chicken pox), hepatitis B, and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines do not have the statistical power to detect risk levels as low as the 10 diseases they target.

    “The whole point of vaccine safety studies is to prove with certainty that the risk of a vaccine is less than the risk of the disease,” said Dr. Shira Miller, founder and president of Physicians for Informed Consent. “As there is currently public discourse about the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services due to his concerns about vaccine safety, we are able to provide the data for 10 disease risks (without vaccination) and their vaccine risks, which are necessary to compare in order to understand why questions regarding certainty about vaccine safety arise.”

    Compare, for example, the risk of death or permanent disability from polio without the polio vaccine, which is 5.3 in 100,000 normal-risk children, to the lowest risk that can be detected from IPV vaccine safety studies which is 200 in 100,000. The actual risk of the vaccine is between 0 to 200 in 100,000, so it’s not known if the vaccine risk is less or more than the disease risk.

    Following the same logic, key points from the document are:

    The polio (IPV) vaccine has not been proven safer than polio.

    The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has not been proven safer than measles, mumps and rubella.

    The diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine has not been proven safer than diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough).

    The Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine has not been proven safer than Hib.

    The hepatitis B vaccine has not been proven safer than hepatitis B.

    The varicella (chicken pox) vaccine has not been proven safer than chicken pox.

    To read PIC’s new comprehensive document on vaccine risks versus 10 disease risks, visit picdata.org/compare10.

    Source: Physicians for Informed Consent

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  • Physicians & Scientists Reveal: School-Mandated Vaccines Lack Proof of Safety Over Targeted Diseases

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    New document compares vaccine risks to 10 disease risks


    NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., January 28, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, has introduced a new comprehensive educational document to assist physicians, policymakers and the public in comparing the known risks of 10 diseases, in normal-risk children who have not been vaccinated, to the uncertain risks of their vaccines.

    The disease risks included are for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chicken pox). These diseases have a vaccine targeting them which is mandated for school attendance; without a personal belief or religious exemption in four states (California, Connecticut, New York, and Maine). The document provides easy access to crucial historical government data from sources such as the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and indicates that the vaccine safety studies for the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP), polio (IPV), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), varicella (chicken pox), hepatitis B, and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines do not have the statistical power to detect risk levels as low as the 10 diseases they target.

    “The whole point of vaccine safety studies is to prove with certainty that the risk of a vaccine is less than the risk of the disease,” said Dr. Shira Miller, founder and president of Physicians for Informed Consent. “As there is currently public discourse about the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services due to his concerns about vaccine safety, we are able to provide the data for 10 disease risks (without vaccination) and their vaccine risks, which are necessary to compare in order to understand why questions regarding certainty about vaccine safety arise.”

    Compare, for example, the risk of death or permanent disability from polio without the polio vaccine, which is 5.3 in 100,000 normal-risk children, to the lowest risk that can be detected from IPV vaccine safety studies which is 200 in 100,000. The actual risk of the vaccine is between 0 to 200 in 100,000, so it’s not known if the vaccine risk is less or more than the disease risk.

    Following the same logic, key points from the document are:

    • The polio (IPV) vaccine has not been proven safer than polio.

    • The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has not been proven safer than measles, mumps and rubella.

    • The diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine has not been proven safer than diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough).

    • The Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine has not been proven safer than Hib.

    • The hepatitis B vaccine has not been proven safer than hepatitis B.

    • The varicella (chicken pox) vaccine has not been proven safer than chicken pox.

    To read PIC’s new comprehensive document on vaccine risks versus 10 disease risks, visit picdata.org/compare10.

    Source: Physicians for Informed Consent

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