Date

Your Address

Congresspersons Address

Dear Mr./Mrs. [surname]:

On Aug. 27, 2014 a senior scientist at the Centers for Disease Control, William W. Thompson, PhD, publicly admitted [1] that he and other CDC officials, including the CDCs current Director of Immunization Safety, Frank DeStefano, MD [2] published a study about MMR vaccine safety in 2004 [3] that omitted statistically significant information and did not follow the final study protocol. He said the study omitted relevant findings in a particular study for a particular sub group for a particular vaccine and added that there have always been recognized risks for vaccination and it is the responsibility for the CDC to properly convey [vaccine] risks. I could not agree more. It was serious scientific misconduct for CDC officials deliberately to withhold information from the public about vaccine risks that may be greater for some children than others. Congress must do the following:

1. Investigate the allegations of the CDC's scientific misconduct in omitting data from its study that led to its 2004 paper in Pediatrics [4]. 2. Direct the CDC to hire independent researchers to conduct a retrospective study of the health outcomes of vaccinated vs unvaccinated people, a study it has never conducted.3. Propose measures to reform the CDC in its role of investigating and reporting vaccine safety to ensure transparency, impartiality, and adherence to the highest standards of scientific conduct.4. Propose legislation addressing conflicts of interest between the Department of Health and Human Services and industry. It is a conflict of interest for DHHS to be in charge of vaccine safety and also license vaccines, take money from drug companies to fast track vaccines [5], partner with drug companies to develop and share profits from vaccine sales ([6], and make national vaccine policies [7] that get turned into state vaccine laws [8] while also deciding which children will and will not get a vaccine injury compensation award [9]. That is too much power for one federal department. That is putting the fox in charge of guarding the chicken coop.

Unfortunately, CDC officials have a long history of limiting transparency [10, 11] and being less than honest with the American people about what it does and does not know about vaccine risks [12, 13]. This is a big problem for parents being ordered to give their children every CDC recommended vaccine, especially parents of children from potentially susceptible subgroups, some of whom have already suffered vaccine injury [14]. The American public relies on the CDC to provide trustworthy information, but clearly trust in the CDC is eroding, as shown by the increasing number of well-educated people opting out of some or all vaccines [15]. The CDC's recent handling of the ebola epidemic has not helped matters [16]. Incidents such as the omission of study data only serve to further erode that trust. "The CDC can't be trusted regarding investigating vaccine safety," Rep. Bill Posey of Florida has stated. "Huge conflict of interest. I think the CDC should be investigated" [17].

Scientific integrity is absolutely critical to all research, but especially for products that have been mandated to be administered to all our children. The allegations of scientific misconduct against the CDC are quite grave, and Congress must get to the bottom of them.

[Complimentary close],[your signature]

REFERENCES

1 Thompson WW. Statement of William W. Thompson, PhD, Regarding the 2004 Article Examining the Possibility of a Relationship Between MMR Vaccine and Autism. MorganVerkamp.com Aug. 27, 2014.2Attkisson S. (Audio) CDC Addresses Allegation on Vaccine-Autism Link Omission. Aug. 29, 2014. Online at [http://sharylattkisson.com/audio-cdc-addresses-allegations-on-vaccine-autism-link-omission/]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.3 DeStefano F. et al. Age at First Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in Children With Autism and School-Matched Control Subjects: A Population-Based Study in Metropolitan Atlanta. Pediatrics Feb. 2004.4 Hooker B et al. Letter to Dr. Harold W. Jaffe MD, MA, Associate Director for Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Don Wright, MD, MPH, Acting Director, ORI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity, Re: Alleged Research Misconduct falsification by omission of material results in the publication of: Age at First Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in Children With Autism and School-Matched Control Subjects: A Population- Based Study in Metropolitan Atlanta. 2004;113:259-266. Oct. 14, 2014. Online at [http://www.autismmediachannel.com/#!cdcwhistleblower/cmmo]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.5 Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. VRBPAC Background Document: Gardasil HPV Quadrivalent Vaccine, May 18, 2006 VRBPAC Meeting. Online at [http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/briefing/2006-4222B3.pdf]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015. 6 Federal Register. Government-Owned Inventions: Availability for Licensing (vaccine licensing). Online at [https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/search?commit=Go&conditions[publication_date][gte]=08/28/2013&conditions[term]=nih+vaccine+licensing]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.7 Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Recommended Immunization Schedules for Persons Aged 0 Through 18 Years - United States, 2014. DHHS Jan 1, 2014.8Fisher BL. NVIC Calls for Vaccine Policy and Law Reform to Protect Human and Civil Rights. NVIC Newsletter May 18, 2014. Online at [http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/May-2014/NVIC-Calls-for-Vaccine-Policy---Law-Reform--To-Pro.aspx]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.9 Holland MS, Krakow RJ. Brief of Amici Curiae National Vaccine Information Center, Its Co-Founders and 24 other organizations in support of petitioners. In: Bruesewitz v. Wyeth filed with Supreme Court of the United States June 1, 2010. Online at [http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/preview/publiced_preview_briefs_pdfs_09_10_09_152_PetitionerAmCuNVICand24Orgs.authcheckdam.pdf]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.10 Institute of Medicine Committee on the Review of the National Immunization Programs Research Procedures and Data Sharing Program. Vaccine Safety Research, Data Access and Public Trust. Independent Review of Vaccine Safety Datalink Activities (Pg. 96.) Washington, D.C. The National Academies Press 2005.11 NVIC. An Inside Job: The DHHS-Funded RAND Corp. Vaccine Safety Reviews. NVIC Newsletter Aug. 12, 2014. Online at [http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/August-2014/DHHS-Funded-RAND-Corp--Study--An-Inside-Job.aspx]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.12 Institute of Medicine Committee to Review Adverse Effects of Vaccines. Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality. Evaluating Biological Mechanisms of Adverse Events: Increased Susceptibility.Chapter 3: p. 82. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press 2012.13 Institute of Medicine Committee on the Assessment of Studies of Health Outcomes Related to the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule. The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholder Concerns, Scientific Evidence and Future Studies. Conclusions About Scientific Findings (p. 11). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press 2013.14 HRSA. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Statistics. Online at [http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/data.html]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.15 Byington CL. Vaccines: Can Transparency Increase Confidence and Reduce Hesitancy? Pediatrics Aug. 2014.16 Nass M. CDC Finally Acknowledging Ebola Air Droplet Transmission; Whats Next? Online at [http://www.accuracy.org/release/cdc-finally-acknowledging-ebola-air-droplet-transmission-whats-next/]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.17 Huff E. US Congressman says 'incestuous relationship' between CDC and vaccine manufacturers needs to be scrutinized. Natural News Aug. 26, 2014. Online at [http://www.naturalnews.com/046613_CDC_vaccine_manufacturers_autism.html]. Accessed Jan. 7, 2015.