Health Impact News Editor

First, let’s start with the indisputable facts: the seasonal flu vaccine causes Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Just read the package insert of any commercially available flu vaccine. The manufacturers and government health officials concede this fact. If you go to an emergency room with sudden onset of GBS symptoms, the first question the doctors will ask you is: “Did you recently get the flu shot?”

The only thing that is disputed is: how many people does it affect?

The government’s official response is that the flu vaccination causes two cases of GBS per one million doses. From what I can tell, the rationale for those numbers mainly comes from here, and here. Most flu vaccine manufacturers’ packet inserts, however, are still listing the old numbers at one out of one million.

But are these rates accurate?

I think there is ample evidence to provide reasonable doubt that these rates are accurate, and that they are actually much higher.

The first place to look is in settlements for GBS caused by the flu vaccine in the Vaccine Court. U.S. law prevents you from suing vaccine manufacturers for any damage or deaths due to vaccines. By an Act of Congress in 1986 that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011, a special court was set up to handle all vaccine cases. The funds for settlements are paid via a tax on the sales of vaccines.

Just a quick cursory view of cases that are being compensated by this vaccine court shows that the most cases, by far, are cases for GBS and the flu vaccine.

The U.S Court of Federal Claims provides a referral list of attorneys that specialize in representing clients wanting to file claims for vaccine damages. The list is here, and contains 123 attorneys.

One of the law firms representing clients in the Vaccine Court is Maglio, Christopher, & Toale. This law firm has actually listed cases they have settled in the past couple of years here.

From what appears to be some point in 2010 through 2013, they have settled 132 cases:

CLIENT COMPENSATION FOR VACCINE INJURIES

Out of those 132 cases, 93 were for GBS, and most of those for the flu vaccine, as you can see above. There were 34 settlements in 2011, 35 in 2012, and 15 so far listed in 2013 for GBS. And this is just one law firm!

The law firm has 9 attorneys, but I don’t know if all of them represent vaccine injuries and deaths. This is out of 123 attorneys listed on the U.S Court of Federal Claims website, which is not an exhaustive list. We could not find other law firms providing the kinds of stats that Maglio, Christopher, & Toale did on their website.

Another place to find clues regarding the rate of GBS from the flu vaccine is with the Department of Justice’s reports from the attorneys that litigate on behalf of the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies’ interests to avoid paying out settlements. Some of these cases are recorded and found online. The most common one found is Vincent J. Matanoski, J.D., from the DOJ Torts branch. You can find the most recent report from Sept. 5, 2013, and covering the period of 5/16/2013 to 8/15/2013 here.

There were 77 cases settled during these 3 months, according to this report, as you can see above. Fifty of those cases were for the flu shot, and 31 for GBS. It is not clear if this represents the total number of cases the DOJ settled, or just for this particular attorney. The Justice Department has about 45 attorneys in their Civil Torts division.

Note that these statistics, which clearly show that the vast majority of cases settled in the Vaccine Court are for GBS related to the flu vaccine, are only a portion of those filing cases in the vaccine court. Besides these and others who file claims in the Vaccine Court, how many more are there that never file, either because they simply did not know this special court existed, or were not in a position to fight a lengthy legal battle with the government?

Attorney Howard Gold of Gold Law Firm, who settled a case for GBS due to a flu vaccine in 2011 remarked:

Petitioners have three (3) years from the onset of the injury (or two years from date of death) to file a claim. Gold states that the “Program is not used as much as it could be because the American public is just not aware of it. I receive at least 5 calls a month from individuals who cannot obtain compensation because the deadline has passed. They just found out about it too late. We all need to do a better job in getting the word out to the public that the Program exists.” (Source.)

The other point to consider is that GBS symptoms can range anywhere from a few days to a month after receiving a vaccination, so many people who are suffering from GBS may not even associate their GBS to the flu shot.

The CDC stated before the 2012 flu season that manufacturers had in stock “as many as” 145 million doses of the flu vaccine ready to be sold. It is unlikely that all were sold, but even if they were, given the “official” stats of the government, there should only have been 290 cases of GBS in 2012. Or if you believe what the vaccine manufacturer’s inserts are claiming about GBS rates at one out of one million, then there should only have been 145 cases of GBS due to the flu vaccine last year.

According to the CDC, the total number of GBS cases reported in the U.S. is “about 80 to 160 cases of GBS each week,” or 4,160 to 8,320 cases per year. Of course they make the assumption that most of these are not vaccine related. The official medical view is that the cause of most cases of GBS is “unknown.”

What is Guillain-Barré Syndrome? Here is the definition the CDC gives:

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. GBS can cause symptoms that last for a few weeks. Most people recover fully from GBS, but some people have permanent nerve damage. In very rare cases, people have died of GBS, usually from difficulty breathing.

The CDC definition for Polio:

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract. Up to about 72% of susceptible persons infected with polio have no symptoms. However, infected persons without symptoms can still spread the virus and cause others to develop polio. About 24% of infected susceptible persons have minor symptoms such as fever, sore throat, upset stomach, or flu-like symptoms and have no paralysis or other serious symptoms. About 1-5% develop aseptic meningitis with stiffness of the back, back, or legs, and in some persons increased or abnormal sensations a few days after the minor illness resolves. These symptoms typically last from two to ten days, followed by complete recovery. Less than 1% of polio cases result in paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those cases resulting in paralysis, 5-10% of the patients die when the respiratory muscles are paralyzed.

Of course, the pro-vaccine crowd wants everyone to believe that polio was eradicated by vaccines a long time ago. Read Dr. Suzanne Humphries’ excellent article: Did Vaccines Really Eradicate Polio?, as well as Dr . Viera Scheibner’s article: The REAL History Behind the Polio Vaccine.

Polio, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, and any other names of disease are simply arbitrary names assigned to groups of symptoms and conditions. The symptoms of polio and GBS are so similar, some people feel that Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s condition was really GBS, and not polio (See: Did FDR Have Guillain-Barré?) There were no flu shots in 1921 when FDR contracted polio, but the tuberculosis vaccine was introduced that year.

It is very obvious from the evidence of cases settled for damages, including death, due to the influenza vaccine, that there is great risk in the seasonal flu shot. And yet these shots are dispensed at pharmacies with no prescription from a physician as if they are completely safe. Sadly, this is probably a result of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program enacted by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court that gives complete legal immunity to those who produce and sell vaccines in the United States.

Read the full package insert for any of this year’s flu vaccines at the National Vaccine Information Center. You need to educate yourself on the dangers of the flu vaccine, because it is obvious the government and medical system will not.

This is the heartbreaking story of a former professor of nursing at a Connecticut university. She and her daughter, Katie, talk about what happened to their lives after a Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) complication of a routine flu shot led to strokes and ended in complete paralysis for this once active, vibrant mother and grandmother.

Flu and Flu Vaccines:

What’s Coming Through That Needle – DVD

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