Swine Flu 'pandemic' a scam perpetuated by Big Pharma?

[buttmunch]

The swine flu outbreak was a 'false pandemic' driven by drug companies that stood to make billions of pounds from a worldwide scare, a leading health expert has claimed.

Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, accused the makers of flu drugs and vaccines of influencing the World Health Organisation's decision to declare a pandemic.

This led to the pharmaceutical firms ensuring 'enormous gains', while countries, including the UK, 'squandered' their meagre health budgets, with millions being vaccinated against a relatively mild disease.


A resolution proposed by Dr Wodarg calling for an investigation into the role of drug firms has been passed by the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based 'senate' responsible for the European Court of Human Rights.

An emergency debate on the issue will be held later this month.

Dr Wodarg's claims come as it emerged the British government is desperately trying to offload up to £1billion of swine flu vaccine, ordered at the height of the scare.


The Department of Health warned of 65,000 deaths, set up a special advice line and website, suspended normal rules so anti-flu drugs could be given out without prescription and told health and local authorities to prepare for a major pandemic.

Planners were told to get morgues ready for the sheer scale of deaths and there were warnings that the Army could be called in to prevent riots as people fought to obtain drugs.

But with fewer than 5,000 in England catching the disease last week and just 251 deaths overall, Dr Wodarg has branded the H1N1 outbreak as 'one of the greatest medical scandals of the century'.

He said: 'We have had a mild flu - and a false pandemic.'

He added the seeds of the scare were sown five years ago, when it was feared the much more lethal bird flu virus would mutate into a human form.

The 'atmosphere of panic' led to governments stockpiling the anti-flu drug Tamiflu and putting in place 'sleeping contracts' for millions of doses of vaccine

Dr Wodarg said: 'The governments have sealed contracts with vaccine producers where they secure orders in advance and take upon themselves almost all the responsibility.

'In this way the producers of vaccines are sure of enormous gains without having any financial risks.

'So they just wait, until WHO says "pandemic" and activate the contracts.'

He also claims that to further push their interests, leading drug companies placed 'their people' in the 'cogs' of the WHO and other influential organisations.


He added that their influence could have led the WHO to soften its definition of a pandemic - leading to the declaration of a worldwide outbreak last June.

Dr Wodarg said: 'In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies have influenced scientists and official agencies, responsible for public health standards, to alarm governments worldwide.

'They have made them squander tight healthcare resources for inefficient vaccine strategies and needlessly exposed millions of healthy people to the risk of unknown side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.'

He does not name any Britons with conflicts of interest.

But last year, the Daily Mail revealed that Sir Roy Anderson, a scientist who advises the Government on swine flu, also holds a £116,000-a-year post on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK makes anti-flu drugs and vaccines and is predicted to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic.


The Department of Health says that although the disease appears to be on the wane, it cannot rule out a third surge and urges all those entitled to the jab to have it.

Professor David Salisbury, the Government's head of immunisation said there were 'no grounds whatsoever' for Dr Wodarg's claims, saying people with conflicts of interest were kept out of the decision-making process.

A GSK spokesman said: 'Allegations of undue influence are misguided and unfounded. The WHO declared that H1N1 swine flu met the criteria for a pandemic.

'As WHO have stated, legal regulations and numerous safeguards are in place to manage possible conflicts of interest.'

The company, which still employs Sir Roy, said he had declared his commercial interests and had not attended any meetings related to the purchase of drugs or vaccine for either the Government or GSK.

Read more: The 'false' pandemic: Drug firms cashed in on scare over swine flu, claims Euro health chief | Mail Online

You know, I believe this. I didn't get the jab but then I never do for anything but I would not be surprised if this is the truth about it. And what happens when there really is a pandemic or epidemic? No one will listen.

[cupcake]

I agree. I dont get jabbed or take meds. They arent getting a dime from me unless its nessesary

[sputnik]

^^^
me neither. i've never had a flu shot and i don't intend to any time soon. it did seem weird how the WHO was being so adamant about the pandemic when the facts kept pointing to this being a mild form of the flu. and given the amount of influence pharmaceutical companies wield over the WHO, this isn't surprising in the least. and it's the council of europe, it's not like it's some crazy with a tinfoil hat. i tend to trust the source.

[McJag]

Are you all nuts? We were hard hit around here with it. No one made this up or exaggerated a thing. I also am worried about a second wave. Yes,it has slowed right now,but I don't trust it.
My husband & I got the regular flu shot. I have since had the H1N1, but he waited to get one at the doctors office. OH-I got mine for 10 bucks at the grocery store.
He was scheduled to get his Monday. He seemed to have a very mild flu the week before. I think it was mild,maybe because of the flu shot and I will never know for sure,but I think it was H1N1. Thusday (before his appt) I had to call 911. This all happened fast. It took 6 nurses to get him stabalized in ER before they could even get him to ICU. His heart rate was low,his blood pressure had dropped to half & his kidneys were shutting down. All this from lower lobe pneumonia,a complication of his flu.
I hate to get graphic, but this is what you are risking if you can't stand the idea of a flu shot: A catheter jammed in his most prize possession, a breathing tube stuffed down his throat, IV'S in both arms that they later moved to his neck. A blood pressure thing inserted in his groin. To prepare for possible dialysis, a port inserted in his upper chest. His body temp when he got to ICU was 92. He was awake through all of this, they were afraid to depress his breathing further. Massive strep infection in his blood stream. That meant no pain meds,either. He lived & got out Dec 23. He is still weak. Yesterday he drove the car for the first time. He had to sleep the rest of the day. Our realtor sent late New Years cards Saturday. She had flu,pneumonia & a lung infection. She spent 2 months in the hospital.
It may not have hit your area yet,but by damn it sure can. Why risk it?
Butt-do you want to risk one of the Heathens going through this? You get them measles & mumps vaccines. So they will be safe. They need protection from this stuff just as much.
Sput-what if you got this? Who will take care of you?
Can any of you afford to take a solid month (at least) off work?
I am begging all of you-please get the flu shots, both kinds. None of you know what area will be hit next. You can ignore it,laugh a it, whatever. You are playing Russian Roulette with your life. The lady who gave me my H1N1 shot said "Now, this won't take total effect for 2 weeks. But if you catch it tomorrow, you will at least ave a lighter case. From the moment I gave you the shot,your body started making anitbodies." That was a good feeling. Whew.

[funky_chicken]

^ as far as I know, where I live more people get hurt, sick and even died because of the flu shot then because of the swine flu.

[angelais]

I didn't get a flu shot and neither did my son or husband. That's just my choice. I read that the higher risk groups (elderly and infants or those who already have health problems) would benefit the most from the shot.

[bellini]

We didn't get the shot either. I would not be surprised if this was a HUGE money making scam.

[sputnik]

mcjag, i understand where you're coming from. but the fact is, h1n1 is no more dangerous than any other kind of flu. there are always complicated cases and people who get a more severe case of the flu than the vast majority of people but the fact remains that there aren't more cases of pneumonia or people dying from complications of the flu from h1n1 than from any other strain. the flu kills thousands of people every year. always has. this is no different. i don't understand why h1n1 is a pandemic and all the other types of flu we have every year aren't. if anything, h1n1 is milder than other strains.

[LynnieD]

I'm with the majority here. Didn't get the shot (have never gotten any kind of flu shot in my life) and am sooo not surprised its probably a huge scam. Not suprised at all.

There was very little H1N1 in this area (so far at least)......and about 'normal' regular flu going around.

[RevellingInSane]

I understand why some people would feel panicked about the H1N1. I also understand why some believe getting flu shots every year is safer than going without. The two worst bouts of flu I ever had came after the only two flu shots I received in my life. I had never before and have not since been as sick with the flu.

The flu viruses kill tens of thousands every year in this country. Even my doctor admitted that no one flu vaccine can protect against every known strain and there is no way to know which strains have not been detected or in the process of mutating when the vaccine is created, leaving people unprotected from them.

If it makes you feel safer, do it. I just can't shake the feeling it would be like like the enemy through the gates.

[Lalique]

I understand why some people would feel panicked about the H1N1. I also understand why some believe getting flu shots every year is safer than going without. The two worst bouts of flu I ever had came after the only two flu shots I received in my life. I had never before and have not since been as sick with the flu.

The flu viruses kill tens of thousands every year in this country. Even my doctor admitted that no one flu vaccine can protect against every known strain and there is no way to know which strains have not been detected or in the process of mutating when the vaccine is created, leaving people unprotected from them.

If it makes you feel safer, do it. I just can't shake the feeling it would be like like the enemy through the gates.

The seasonal and H1N1 vaccines I received were made with recombinant proteins. They can not cause the flu. They did not contain dead or attenuated virus. I sometimes feel like the WHO can never win. Maybe they jumped the gun, but if they did nothing and H1N1 became as virulent and deadly and the Spanish flu of 1918, they would have been crucified. I have severe asthma so I will always get a flu shot.

[Sarzy]

I also didn't have the swine flu jab, and I've never had the normal flu jab either. I don't like the idea of having a vaccine that is very new anyway.

[MohandasKGanja]

i don't understand why h1n1 is a pandemic and all the other types of flu we have every year aren't. if anything, h1n1 is milder than other strains.

Technically, though, I thought a pandemic is defined by how widely circulated the disease is and not its virulence.

In terms of the level of importance ascribed to it, I thought it was based on what happened in Mexico, near the beginning of the pandemic. We've still had people out here die of really grisly complications from H1N1, but they have been very isolated cases.

[Anne of Cleves]

I have no difficulty believing that the swine flu pandemic was a scam. A few months ago when the media made it sound like the United States was going to be rocked by an epidemic as severe as the 1918 flu epidemic, I was pretty scared and wondered why swine flu shots were so hard to come by in my neck of the woods.

However, the predicted disaster never materialized. In my area, there were some cases of swine flu, but only a handful of deaths. My 15-year-old nephew contracted swine flu back in the fall, but he was told by the doctor to basically go home and ride it out. I never got the swine flu shot, and I have no intention of getting it, though almost clinic and drugstore around here is now advertising its availablilty.

[ManxMouse]

Several otherwise healthy kids and young adults died from H1N1 in my area. Also, 1 of 3 pregnant women in the U.S. who got the flu and developed complications from it have DIED. The difference in this flu is that the vulnerable populations are different from the regular flu, not necessarily that it's more widespread or more virulent for those not in the vulnerable populations. I did the reasearch and got the thimerosol-free shot, being pregnant and all. So I find some of the conspiracy theories pretty obnoxious, some people just want to believe the big bad guvmint is out to get us.