Parents Swarming Capitol Hill with Phone Calls

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
November 15, 2005

Contact:
Rita Shreffler, NAA (Nixa, MO) 417-818-9030
Wendy Fournier, NAA (Portsmouth, RI) 401-632-7523

PHARMA-FRIENDLY POLITICIANS THREATEN TO STEAL AWAY CHILDREN’S RIGHTS WITH MULTIPLE BILLS

WASHINGTON DC – Advocacy organizations kicked off a new campaign today that promises to over-load Capitol Hill’s phone lines.

The Power of Parents Call-in Campaign hopes to stop pharma-friendly legislation in its tracks. For years, politicians like Senator Bill Frist and Judd Gregg have routinely inserted language that removes liability from vaccine-makers, which ultimately eases safety guidelines and dismisses injuries some children suffer from vaccines.

In 2002, an anonymous party inserted the now-famous secret rider to the Homeland Security bill, a provision that gave Eli Lilly and vaccine manufacturers liability protection from a toxin used in vaccines. The rider was later repealed.

But sources in Washington say that the liability language is back and fiercer than ever. Over ten pieces of legislation now contain liability-protection language that will slam the door on children injured by vaccines. Some language is expected to enter the appropriations committee. If it passes, the language cannot be removed.

Just yesterday, Dr. Paul Offit, a friend to big pharma, widened his own PR campaign by stating in The Hill that the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) needed updated. He proposed the removal of what’s called “opt out,” a right that a claimant has to enter civil court if the NVICP doesn’t provide what’s necessary for care.

However, the NVICP has been updated several times over the past decade. Some of the more common injuries have been removed from the table, ensuring less awards to claimants. The Department of Justice has been given more fire-power to fight cases that enter the NVICP, and many claimants call the program a complete waste of time.

To protect the opt-out, which keeps the NVICP in check, and to prevent other legislative language that destroys children’s rights and loosens safety guidelines, parents will call their senators and congressmen now through Thursday.

To learn more, visit http://www.nationalautism.org/.

Posted by Becca

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