Re: Vaccination at 60 minutes

Dear Friends,

Kathi and I want to thank all of you who called and sent notes of support to
us last night after the 60 Minutes segment aired. We know many of you are
disappointed about the way 60 Minutes chose to portray the legitimate
questions that informed parents have about vaccination and one-size-fits-all
vaccine policies which place many vulnerable children at risk. It is
especially painful for those whose children have been injured by vaccines
and want so much to prevent others from being harmed.

Over the past 22 years, I have always responded with sincerity and good
faith to every print and broadcast journalist who has contacted me during
the course of investigating vaccine benefits and risks. My experience has
been that most journalists, who take the time to do the research, come away
with a more balanced perspective about the vaccine safety debate and choose
to accurately and fairly cover both sides of the issue. I can count on one
hand the times which that has not happened. Regrettably, last night was one
of those times.

My heart goes out to the Moms from New York, who I personally asked to
participate at the request of 60 Minutes producers, and who honestly
expressed the concerns of many mothers in a report which characterized their
concerns as unfounded. There are no words to describe the shock I felt at
the gratuitous attack on the distinguished and courageous Andrew Wakefield,
M.D., who was never given an opportunity to speak. I will not comment here
on what I was led to believe when I agreed to participate except to say that
I was told several times not to talk about "the scientific studies" because
it would "bore" the viewers. Having been persuaded that the focus would be
to examine the reasons why there is a paradigm shift toward alternative and
complimentary preventive health care, I should have known that my trust was
misplaced when Dan Rather confessed to me after my interview that he had a
"bias" toward the "doctors" and "the scientific studies."

NVIC and the grassroots vaccine safety and informed consent movement begun
by parents of vaccine injured children more than two decades ago will
survive this broadcast. Not because we as individuals are strong enough to
withstand the words and actions of those who hide and distort the truth. But
because the truth will shine bright and clear in the end no matter who tries
to hide and distort it. This includes paid drug company consultants and
vaccine patent holders like Paul Offit personally profiting from promoting
the mandatory use of multiple vaccines in early childhood.

The one consolation is that parents were made aware of the existence of NVIC
's website. Today, we are being flooded with phone calls from pregnant women
and Moms who have found us through the website and want the information we
have in order to make an informed vaccination decision. We know that the
work we do saves lives. And if the net effect of what 60 Minutes did last
night was to spare just one child from a lifetime of brain and immune system
dysfunction because a mother or father became informed, then it was worth
it.

Kathi and I decided a long time ago that it is all about saving one life at
a time. We will keep faith and stay the course.

With appreciation,
Barbara Loe Fisher
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