All Blog Posts from Primary Source

In 1994, the government's Immunization Advisory Committee recommended routine vaccination against hepatitis B virus. It was a widely welcomed strategy to fight a serious and sometimes deadly disease. The CDC currently recommends vaccination for "all infants, beginning at birth," people under age 19, and at-risk adults. But after nearly 15 years, there's debate over who should receive this vaccine and when.

How is Hep B "caught" or transmitted?

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There’s a new study in the Public Library of Science regarding vaccine measles and autism which purports to disprove a vaccine/MMR/autism link.

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With the increase in number of vaccinations offered to parents for their children, and mandated by states not only for toddlers but for older children as well, there has been a strong public push to maintain a robust national immunization program while also ensuring vaccines are as safe as they can possibly be.

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Back in 1972, a Republican convention corporate contributions scandal shook things up. Executives from the International Telephone and Telegraph Corp. had allegedly met secretly with Nixon administration officials – and offered to underwrite the Republican convention. In return, the Justice Department was allegedly urged to "go easy" on ITT in a pending anti-trust lawsuit. ITT ended up with what was widely regarded as a favorable out-of-court settlement.

To eliminate the appearance of tainted funding, election law was changed. The idea was to provide public funds for the conventions and limit corporate contributions. But things haven't really worked out that way. Here's why...

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Any news report on vaccine-related issues is bound to generate a lot of public comment. That includes our report from a few weeks back on questions about conflicts of interest. One related question that some parents have asked is: what's the safest way to immunize my child? It's the subject of much debate in the medical and scientific community.

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Last fall, the federal government (which defends vaccines in cases before the federal vaccine court) conceded the case of Hannah Poling: one of nine autism "test cases" before the special court. The implications have been the subject of much debate. Government officials and some scientists portray the case as an exception without much meaning in the global picture.

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The debate over vaccines and autism/ADD is so sensitive that for some who are directly affected: it's gotten personal. No more personal, perhaps, than for the parents of Hannah Poling. Hannah developed autism as a toddler after a battery of vaccines. In a landmark case last fall, the federal government (which defends vaccines in federal vaccine court) quietly conceded that vaccinations resulted in Hannah's autism. The government has portrayed Poling's case as an exception because she had an undiagnosed condition (that may have been pre-existing): mitochondrial disorder. Many scientists and government officials agree with vaccine makers in portraying Poling as a "special case" that can "not be extrapolated to other vaccine-autism cases."

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What's worse than an earmark that wastes tax dollars and abuses the system by allowing Congress to funnel money outside the normal process to favored businesses or entities?

Plenty, you might say. But how about a secret, classified earmark that costs American lives?

That's the allegation from a military intelligence officer Maj. Eric Egland. In an exclusive interview, Egland told me the amazing story of being on the ground in Iraq at the height of IED (Improvised Explosive Device) deaths and injuries. It was his job to evaluate a large contract that was supposed to send resources and trained people to attack the IED networks. It wasn't working. Egland says it didn't take long for him to discover the contractor was, in his words, completely unqualified for the task at hand. The workers, he said, lacked the experience, resources and know-how to do this important job. He wondered ...

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Teach for America is an organization that helps recruit and place bright college graduates and professionals as temporary teachers in needy schools. The non-profit group wins lots of kudos for its intentions and work. It has grown from modest beginnings in 1990: $2.5 million and 500 teachers. Today, the group says it has 5,000 teachers in training – and the 2007 budget was $75 million.

Funding comes from a mix of public and private sources. According to Teach for America's financial disclosures, about a third of its money is your tax dollars – because it comes from local school districts, and state and federal government. But a recent audit by the Education Department Inspector Genera raises the question: Has this group grown too quickly without the proper accounting systems in place?

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Yesterday I spoke to the families of young women who believe the Gardasil HPV vaccine may have – or did in fact – cause their child's serious illness. One of the cases involves a now 18-year old young woman named Amanda.

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