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Update 2014- The LymeRix vaccine, highly promoted by Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), CDC and Johns Hopkins, was removed from the market after millions of tax-payer dollars were spent on its development and the related trials and studies.
All of the trials and study conclusions were based on lab tests reported to miss 75% of those with Lyme disease (Hopkin's own report). The attempt to produce and rush a vaccine to the market using an inaccurate test was a huge waste of money and time, and risked many lives in the process. To date, no test is able to accurately detect those with Lyme disease and distinguish between those who had the disease and those who, after treatment, no longer do.
The removal of the vaccine from the market came only after over 2,200 Adverse Event Reports were filed with the FDA by patients and doctors due to injuries and death. Individual and class action law suits were initiated against those involved in the production of the vaccine.
"Stephen Sheller, the Philadelphia attorney representing some 250 LYMErix vaccinees in personal injury suits against GlaxoSmithKline, says Ball is manipulating data "by focusing almost exclusively on 'serious' events that result in hospitalization, permanent disability, or death, while discounting the far more prevalent 'severe' event. I've been contacted by hundreds of individuals whose lives have been drastically affected by a chronic inflammatory process which is neither life-threatening nor requires hospitalization, and whose permanence has not yet been determined," Sheller explains."
"Moreover, the LDA adds, the government and corporate entities with vested interest in LYMErix and associated Lyme disease products are vast. U.S. government agencies, including the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense own partial rights to revenue from more than a third of the 56 U.S. patents identified as especially significant for Lyme disease vaccines and tests. What's more, GSK may not be the only company with revenue rights to LYMErix. Also poised to derive benefit based on possible interest in the patent are multinational life science giants Aventis and AstraZeneca."
Articles of Interest
Neurological Impairment Seen in Patients Given Lymerix Lyme Disease Vaccine
3 Suits Say Lyme Vaccine Caused Arthritis
Occurrence of Severe Destructive Arthritis in Hamsters Vaccinated with Lyme Vaccine
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WATCH YOUR LAWMAKERS- The Lyme disease vaccine was highly promoted behind the scenes in Maryland by Johns Hopkins, insurers and others with financial interests. Maryland State Agencies, such as the Department of Natural Resources and its insurer (State Accident Fund- later renamed Injured Workers Insurance Fund- IWIF, later renamed Chesapeake Employers Insurance Company in 2013), passed a bill requiring outdoor workers to be vaccinated for Lyme disease before they could be covered under Workers Compensation Insurance.
Please see SB 420 introduced in the Maryland Legislature, which states in part:
(D) (1) A PAID LAW ENFORCEMENT A PAID LAW ENFORCEMENT AN
2 EMPLOYEE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES WHO IS A COVERED
3 EMPLOYEE UNDER § 9-207(C) OF THIS TITLE IS PRESUMED TO HAVE AN
4 OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE THAT WAS SUFFERED IN THE LINE OF DUTY AND IS
5 COMPENSABLE UNDER THIS TITLE IF THE EMPLOYEE:
6 (1) (I) IS SUFFERING FROM LYME DISEASE; AND
7 (2) (II) WAS NOT SUFFERING FROM LYME DISEASE BEFORE
8 ASSIGNMENT TO A POSITION THAT REGULARLY PLACES THE EMPLOYEE IN AN
9 OUTDOOR WOODED ENVIRONMENT WOODS, FIELDS, OR GRASSY OUTDOORS AN
10 OUTDOOR WOODED ENVIRONMENT; AND
11 (3) (III) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (2) OF THIS SUBSECTION,
12 DEMONSTRATES THAT THE EMPLOYEE HAD ANY LYME DISEASE VACCINATION
13 REQUIRED OR MADE AVAILABLE TO THE EMPLOYEE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
14 NATURAL RESOURCES.
15 (2) THE REQUIREMENT IMPOSED BY PARAGRAPH (1)(III) OF THIS
16 SUBSECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO AN INDIVIDUAL WHO OBJECTS TO IMMUNIZATION
17 BECAUSE IT CONFLICTS WITH THE INDIVIDUAL'S BONA FIDE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
18 AND PRACTICES.
And House Bill, HB 311, which states in part:
(III) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (2) OF THIS SUBSECTION,
5 DEMONSTRATES THAT THE EMPLOYEE HAD ANY LYME DISEASE VACCINATION
6 REQUIRED OR MADE AVAILABLE TO THE EMPLOYEE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
7 NATURAL RESOURCES.
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Johns Hopkins Promoting the Lyme Vaccine
CDC Recommendations for the Use of Lyme Disease Vaccine
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr4807.pdf
Baltimore Sun
Fighting Lyme disease with a new vaccination
Fighting Lyme disease with a new vaccination
Health: The preventive might be a good idea for those who can't avoid exposure.
Health: The preventive might be a good idea for those who can't avoid exposure.
June 20, 1999|By LINELL SMITH | LINELL SMITH,Sun Staff
Adele and Charles Sands cherish their daily hike in Oregon Ridge Park. But as the vegetation has grown more lush, the Timonium couple has become increasingly apprehensive about the ticks they find clinging to their dog, Samantha. Although the Australian shepherd has had shots to prevent Lyme disease for several years, the Sandses recently joined the first wave of humans to try vaccination as protection from the tick-borne illness.
Adele Sands has already had a brush with the infection. About a year ago, she developed a circular rash that looked suspiciously like the classic bull's-eye rash of Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that can invade different systems of the body. Her physician prescribed oral antibiotics, the usual treatment for early stages of the infection, and Sands suffered no further symptoms.
But the experience left her shaken. In addition to a rash, early indications of Lyme's disease can include fatigue, chills, fevers and joint pain. Untreated, it can cause numbness, arthritis, paralysis, irregular heartbeat and, in rare cases, death.
When she learned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved LYMErix a few months ago, Sands was ready to try it.
"The alternative to not taking the vaccine was not pleasant," she says. "We thought, 'Let's give ourselves an edge.' "
The new vaccine does not guarantee immunity to Lyme. Given in three shots over the course of a year, LYMErix is judged to be only 78 percent effective. So far, the Sandses have each had two shots, which confers about 50 percent protection.
Injections are expensive: Each one can cost from $65 to $100 at a doctor's office, says Rob Stoltz, an internist at Greater Baltimore Medical Center who has given the vaccine to roughly 75 people, including the Sandses, during the last few months.
Although the clinical trials for the vaccine tested only people aged 15 to 70, Stoltz feels comfortable giving it to older patients -- the Sandses are in their early 70s -- who spend a lot of time in areas with many ticks.
Most of the reported cases of Lyme disease, however, are adults between 30 and 59 and children. Results from the first study of LYMErix's effects on children 4 to 15 in age should be available later this year, according to a spokesperson for SmithKline Beecham, the drug's manufacturer.
For more information on the failed Lyme disease vaccine
Please see links below.
2011 Public Health Perspective
2011 Relationship Immunity/Arthritis
Genetic Engineering Raises Hope
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