In WHO to Clarify H1N1 Data After False Pandemic Claim Bloomberg reports that "The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe plans to debate the theme “Faked pandemics: a threat to health” at a plenary session in Strasbourg, France" next week.
Not to quibble too much with "B"but the debate is not just debate of a theme in an academic or abstract sense. It is debate on an actual motion which calls on the member states of the Council of Europe to conduct investigation of the influence of "drug makers" in defining and declaring pandemics.
I am not, and do not pretend to be, prescient. I do not know what the outcome of the debate will be. Given the emphasis placed by governments around the world on vaccines as public health tools and the active and vigorous discouragement of any debate of any safety concerns around vaccines though I would not expect to see the Council of Europe pass the motion and conduct any real investigations. Nor do I expect the Council of Europe to find that the H1N1 Pandemic was overblown. Of course I have been wrong before.
As for whether it was reasonably forseeable that the "pandemic" would not be as harsh as predicted by public health authorities there were credible skeptics who questioned the pandemic rhetoric many months ago. As with any questioning of vaccine related issues skeptics and critics of public health authorities' "consensus" on these issues were largely ignored, ridiculed or demonized.
As for whether "drug makers" or pharmaceuticals have too much influence over public health authority decisions concerning pandemics and other public health issues I will leave that question to someone truly knowledgeable on the subject ... someone like Dr. Julie Gerberding who led the CDC from 2002 to 2009 and who will now lead Merck's vaccine division:
"WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Dr. Julie Gerberding, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was named president of Merck & Co Inc's (MRK.N) vaccine division, the company said on Monday.... She may be charged with reigniting flagging sales of Merck's Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer by protecting against human papillomavirus or HPV. After an encouraging launch Gardasil sales have been falling and were down 22 percent in the third quarter at $311 million." [Bold emphasis added - HLD]
One thing I would like to see emerge from the H1N1 Pandemic, whether the Pandemic label was justified or not, are studies of the impact on the health, including any negative health effects, if any, of the many people vaccinated with H1N1 shots. In some countries adjuvants and other ingredients, including thimerosal, were included in the H1N1 shots.
One of the high priority target groups to receive H1N1 shots was pregnant women. Some credible public health authorities, including Dr. Bernadine Healy, have pointed out that thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, crosses the placenta. It would seem appropriate to me to keep data on the health effects of the H1N1 vaccine on these women and the children who received the H1N1 shots in utero.
It seems to this humble layperson that the developmental histories of children born during this time period from pregnant women who (1) did not receive the H1N1 shot (2) received the H1N1 shot without thimerosal, (3) received the H1N1 shot without adjuvants should be compared. As someone with an interest in autism disorders and what causes them I am interested in particular in seeing a comparison of autism rates 2+ years from now of children whose mothers were carrying them when they received H1N1 shots containing thimerosal and children whose mothers, while carrying them, received H1NH1 vaccine shots without thimerosal.
No I am not expecting such studies to be done and yes I do expect to be ignored, ridiculed or demonized for making these suggestions. But I am making them anyway.
autism
