September 5, 2001
Follow the money on vaccines
It isn't often that a governor vetoes a bill that was passed unanimously by both Houses of the State Legislature. It reminds us of the old saying of the mother, watching her son drill for the first time with the troops: "Everybody's out of step except my son Jim." This time the one who is out of step is George, as in Gov. George Ryan of Illinois. He vetoed Senate Bill 1304, entitled "An Act Concerning Immunizations."
This bill would have provided that a person is ineligible to serve on the Illinois Immunization Advisory Committee if the person or his spouse is an officer, employee, or agent of, or has any ownership or other financial interest in a pharmaceutical company that manufactures vaccines. It also would have prohibited committee members or their spouses from soliciting or accepting anything of value or any other economic benefit from a pharmaceutical company that manufacturers or produces vaccines unless it is offered and available generally to licensed physicians or the public.
That sounds like an excellent rule and we wonder why it hasn't always been the law. Those who officially advise government agencies whether or not to force Americans to submit to vaccines should not be on the payroll of the corporations that profit from the government mandates.
Ryan's veto message states that "Senate Bill 1304 would severely limit the number of pediatric disease specialists and pediatric physicians in general, who would be eligible to serve on the Immunization Advisory Committee." This amazing statement indicates that it's difficult to find anyone to advise making vaccines mandatory other than those who are paid in some way by the corporations selling the vaccines.
This conflict of interest was confirmed by an emotional outburst against S.1304 from one of the members of the Illinois Immunization Advisory
