Listening to those opposed to AB 2109: Dawn Winkler

These were the instructions from the Chair:

The "Dawn" is Dawn Winkler, a long-time anti-vaccination activist, who is determined to defeat AB 2109

Dawn's "83 of 105" figure was from "research" was evidently done by Amy Templeton Helstrup. Evidently she called pediatric practices in a 30-mile radius of her zip code.  I'm not sure what she asked; I can imagine that you could phrase the question in such a way to get the scheduler to refuse.  So pediatric practices are refusing to take new families who are vaccine-refusers.

Yes, evidently Dawn lost a daughter to SIDS, which she insists is vaccine-induced.

HAPI is Health Advocacy in the Public Interest.  In 2004 they sent 4 vaccine syringes for testing to Doctor's Data, a notorious lab.  It's not clear to me that Doctor's Data is even competent to test vaccines.

I'm not sure what the next tweet is about.  Evidently the anti-vaccine forces proposed a number of amendments to the bill, but I can't find texts for them.

This was the end of Winkler's testimony.  Up next is the D-list actor, Rob Schneider

Listening to those opposed to AB 2109: Julian Whittaker, MD

Julian Whittaker, MD testified before the committee.

 Dr. Whitaker's facebook page and his page opposing AB2109.

Oh the "more vaccines makes the infant mortality go up" canard AND the "vaccines didn't save us canard".  Straight out of the vaccine rejectionists' playbook.  For the former, see Science Based Medicine.  For the latter, see Respectful Insolence.

Whitaker wants the vaccine consult to mis-state the evidence.  Unvaccinated children not health risks?  Tell that to all the infants who contracted measles from unvaccinated children.

How is a simple conversation "harassment"?  

The government mandates behavior all the time.  Think of seat belts.

Here come some more canards and FUD.

Whitaker probably doesn't know that the awards amount to about 1.3 awards per million doses of vaccines.  No, he's using the "the amount  awarded is so large, vaccines must be dangerous".  Nope. I have no idea what the 40 million children are.

Will parents be told the truth about the risks?  I hope so.  Again and again, the risks of all diseases we vaccinate against are much higher than the risks form the vaccination.

The Merck suit is the new stick to convince people that all pharma is corrupt.

I shouldn't be surprised.  This is how Whitaker describes himself on his facebook page:

 A pioneer of alternative medicine, Dr. Whitaker is an expert on nutritional supplementation and has been offering guidance on natural therapies for over 30 years.

Description
Julian Whitaker, MD - For more than 30 years, I've been practicing alternative medicine and giving my patients drug-free and surgery-free options for heart disease, diabetes, and other common conditions.

He blames vaccines for autism and other disorders.

And he's actually proud of being recognized by a predatory quack:
•30th Anniversary Award of Excellence, Burzynski Clinic, 2008

And by other quacks.
•American Physician Award, Reflexology of America, 2006

Listening to those Opposed to AB 2109: Intro

I have been keeping an eye on what the opposition has been saying.  A twitter user named CaliVaxChoice live-tweeted last week's Health Committee Hearing.  Here they are in order, with my comments interspersed.

I imagine the strictness had to do with the conduct of the anti-AB2109 contingent at previous hearings on this bill, not following the instructions, going overtime, and so forth.

Say CaliVaxChoice, herd immunity not just a claim; measles outbreaks not a fiction.

 I'm not sure what "claims internet is misguided" is about, unless referring to outright misinformation, distortions, and fear-mongering at sites such as NVIC, VaxChoice etc.

I have to come up with a name for the "It's Always About the Money".  The elided claim here is that pediatricians are supporting AB 2109 because they will all make much, much more money if this bill passes.

 Well that is an ugly little comment.  I need to look up the death rate from pneumococcal disease before the advent of the vaccine.  

It's not a "claim" it's a fact that children unvaccinated against pneumococcal disease are X times more likely to catch the disease.  Golly, how hard is that to understand?

History of Vaccines on AB 2109

The excellent and informative website, History of Vaccines, also has a blog, where  a fair and balanced article on AB 2109 was published. The conclusion:

While nothing in the bill states that healthcare providers will have a say in whether or not the children of parents who oppose vaccination will be vaccinated, some fear that this bill will intrude on that choice. On the other hand, those who support the bill point out that parents will be receiving reliable and professional information on the risks and benefits of vaccines and the risks of the diseases they are designed and proven to prevent--some of those risks being very serious. Yet to be determined, however, is whether requiring that parents be exposed to accurate medical information on the risks and benefits of vaccination--and the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases--will translate into reduced rates of vaccine refusal.

Handy Infographic: CDC Recommended Vaccines and California Required Vaccines

This is the first draft, as it has not been checked for accuracy by a health care provider or immunization professional.  Personally I think that this would have been helpful to the Health Committee.

On to the Senate Appropriations Committee

The next step is the Senate Appropriations Committee.  As of this writing, the bill hasn't been calendared.

 Members
Senator Christine Kehoe (Chair)
Senator Mimi Walters (Vice Chair)
Senator Elaine Alquist
Senator Bob Dutton
Senator Ted W. Lieu
Senator Curren Price
Senator Darrell Steinberg

Addresses & Staff
Staff Director: Bob Franzoia
Consultants: Marie Liu, Brendan McCarthy, Mark McKenzie, Jolie Onodera, Maureen Ortiz and Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
Assistants: Jennifer Douglas and Lydia McKim
Phone: (916) 651-4101
Room: 2206

Huzzah! AB 2109 Passed Senate Health Committee, 7-1

Vote June 27, 2012
Ayes:

Elaine Alquist (D-13)
Sam Blakeslee (R-15)
Mark DeSaulnier (D-7)
Tom Harman (R-35) (Chair of the Senate Republican Caucus and Vice Chair of Health)
Ed Hernandez (D-24) (Chair of the Health Committee and an optometrist)
Michael J. Rubio (D-16)
Lois Wolk (D-05)

Noes
Joel Anderson (R-36)


No Vote Recorded
Kevin deLeón (D-22)

Here is the amended bill (as of June 20, 2012)
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_2101-2150/ab_2109_bill_20120620_amended_sen_v97.pdf

History, As of June 27

BILL NUMBER  : A.B. No. 2109
AUTHOR : Pan
TOPIC : Communicable disease: immunization exemption.

TYPE OF BILL :
                Active
                Non-Urgency
                Non-Appropriations
                Majority Vote Required
                State-Mandated Local Program
                Fiscal
                Non-Tax Levy

BILL HISTORY
2012
June 27 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on  APPR. (Ayes  7.
Noes  1.) (June  27). Re-referred to Com. on  APPR.
June 20 From committee chair, with author's amendments:  Amend, and re-refer
to committee.  Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on
HEALTH.
May 31 Referred to Com. on  HEALTH.
May 10 In Senate.  Read first time.  To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
May 10 Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 47. Noes 26.
Page 4770.)
May 3 Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
May 2 From committee:  Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes  5.) (May  2).
Apr. 24 Re-referred to Com. on  APPR.
Apr. 23 Read second time and amended.
Apr. 19 From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on  APPR.
(Ayes 13. Noes  5.) (April  17).
Mar. 12 Referred to Com. on  HEALTH.
Feb. 24 From printer.  May be heard in committee  March  25.
Feb. 23 Read first time.  To print.


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