Homeland Security Act protect pharma from being sued for Mercury vaccines?

[PatriotOne]

Hmmmm.....why would Bush protect the pharm companies from being sued from mercury laced vaccines if there is no problem with them? Un-fucking believable! It's in the Homeland Security Act :eek:.


In 2002, Eli Lilly flexed its muscles at the highest level of the U.S. government in an audacious Lillygate. The event was the signing of the Homeland Security Act, praised by President George W. Bush as a “heroic action” that demonstrated “the resolve of this great nation to defend our freedom, our security and our way of life.” Soon after the Act was signed, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert discovered what had been slipped into the Act at the last minute and on November 25, 2002, he wrote, “Buried in this massive bill, snuck into it in the dark of night by persons unknown…was a provision that—incredibly—will protect Eli Lilly and a few other big pharmaceutical outfits from lawsuits by parents who believe their children were harmed by thimerosal.”

Thimerosal is a preservative that contains mercury and is used by Eli Lilly and others in vaccines.

A sample of those who have been on the Eli Lilly payroll includes:

Former President George Herbert Walker Bush (one-time member of the Eli Lilly board of directors)
Former CEO of Enron, Ken Lay (one-time member of the Eli Lilly board of directors)
George W. Bush’s former director of Management and Budget, Mitch Daniels (a former Eli Lilly vice president)
George W. Bush’s Homeland Security Advisory Council member, Sidney Taurel (current CEO of Eli Lilly)
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (a recipient of Eli Lilly funding)

Full article:

http://psychrights.org/articles/LevineLillyandBush.htm

[PatriotOne]

Bumping for anyone who can think of a legimate answer to my question.

[Ninja Homer]

There is no legitimate answer... mercury vaccines are a huge problem, Eli Lilly should be sued out of existence, and the Bush family has been invested in Eli Lilly since 1977. This was done to protect one of the Bush family's biggest investments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Lilly_Controversy#Eli_Lilly_and_the_Bush_Famil y

Eli Lilly and the Bush Family

The Bush family has been substantially invested in Eli Lilly for years.

George H.W. Bush

After leaving the Central Intelligence Agency in 1977, George H.W. Bush was made a director of Eli Lilly. Future Vice President to Bush Dan Quayle's father, James C. Quayle, owned controlling interest in the Lilly company and the The Indianapolis Star at that time.

Bush actively lobbied both within and without the Reagan Administration as Vice President in 1981 to permit drug companies to sell obsolete or especially domestically-banned substances to Third World countries.[clarify] While Vice President, Bush continued to act on behalf of pharmaceutical companies by personally going to the Internal Revenue Service for special tax breaks for certain drug companies, including Lilly, who were manufacturing in Puerto Rico.

In 1982, Bush intervened with the U.S. Department of Treasury in connection with proposed rules that would have forced pharmaceutical companies to pay significantly more taxes. Bush was personally ordered to stop lobbying the IRS on behalf of the drug companies by the U.S. Supreme Court.[24]

Bush stopped lobbying, but pharmaceutical interests still received a 23% additional tax break for their companies in Puerto Rico, who made these obsolete or banned American drugs for sale to Third World countries. Lilly's Puerto Rico-based affiliate now employs approximately 1,100 workers at three plants in Carolina and Mayagüez and 220 additional employees in its sales and marketing offices in San Juan.

George W. Bush

George W. Bush is the clear front runner when it comes to drug company contributions and patronage. According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), manufacturers of drugs and health products had contributed $764,274 to the 2004 Bush campaign through their political action committees and employees by April 26th of the election year 2004.

Appointees with Eli Lilly interests

* President and CEO of Eli Lilly, Sidney Taurel, was named by U.S. President George W. Bush as a Homeland Security Advisory Council member in 2002. In 2003 Bush named Taurel a member of the President's Export Council. Bush named Taurel to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) in April 2007 for a four year term.[25]

* Bush's former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has served on the boards of several companies including Eli Lilly partner Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences.

* Former White House Office of Management and Budget director and current Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is a former Lilly executive. Daniels served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget from January 2001 through June 2003. In this role he was also a member of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council.

* Former Eli Lilly CEO Randall Tobias was named by Bush as Global AIDS Coordinator in 2003. Tobias later become the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he held the rank of Ambassador.

* Alex Azar, was deputy secretary of Health and Human Services under George W. Bush, serving as chief operating officer for two years. In that role, he oversaw such agencies as the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In May of 2007 Azar became senior vice president of corporate affairs and communication for Eli Lilly, reporting directly to Chief Executive Sidney Taurel.[26]

Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003

White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels is a former Lilly executive and oversaw the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

On January 25, 2006, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer and Ranking Minority Member Henry A. Waxman asked J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives at that time, for a congressional investigation into the role played by the Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying firm closely linked to Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff, in the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act which was passed on December 8, 2003. With the indictments of DeLay and Abramoff, new questions arose about the role of the Alexander Strategy Group in the passing of the bill. Lobby disclosure forms showed that the largest single client of the Alexander Strategy Group was the pharmaceutical industry, which paid the small firm over $2.5 million, including nearly $1 million in 2003 when the prescription drug law was being written.

The lobby disclosure forms also revealed that the primary clients represented by the Alexander Strategy Group were Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Eli Lilly during consideration of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act. The person representing PhRMA and Lilly was Tony Rudy, a former deputy chief of staff for DeLay who worked for Abramoff from 2001 to 2002. On January 9, 2006, the Alexander Strategy Group announced that it was shutting down its lobbying operations.[27]

Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Eli Lilly, Robert A. Armitage, is the past chair of the Patent Committee of PhRMA. Eli Lilly President and CEO Sidney Taurel is a past president of the PhRMA.

Vaccine legislation protection

Early in 2002, U.S. Senator Bill Frist tried to obtain protection for Eli Lilly from suits attached to legislation that would increase the availability of vaccines to average Americans, and regulate lawsuits against Eli Lilly involving thiomersal, but this attempt was thwarted by U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, who opposed the measure. Despite Kennedy's effort, however, identical legal protections found their way into Homeland Security legislation. After the bill passed, no one in Washington, D.C. was willing to take responsibility for having written or inserting the Lilly legal protections. The rider was later annulled by Congress in 2003. Eli Lilly's Political action committee (PAC) had given Frist almost $10,000 in campaign contributions in 2004.

The White House denied any knowledge of the author/sponsor of the Lilly amendment. Many argue this stretches belief, considering the ties the Bush administration has to the pharmaceutical giant.

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR/Emergency Plan) is President Bush's pledge of $15 billion over five years (2003–2008) to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

On July 2, 2003, President George W. Bush selected former Eli Lilly chief executive Randall L. Tobias as the Global AIDS Coordinator for a $15 billion program to slow the spread of global AIDS and to treat it in Africa and the Caribbean. Bush signed into law a measure to direct the money to 14 countries, most of them in Africa. Tobias retired from Lilly in 1998.

"This decision is another deeply disturbing sign that the president may not be prepared to fulfill his pledge to take emergency action on AIDS," noted Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "It raises serious questions of conflict of interest and the priorities of the White House."[28]Several said they feared that Tobias would be "the fox in charge of the henhouse," as Kate Krauss of the AIDS Policy Project put it. Ambassador Mark Dybul replaced Tobias as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator on October 10, 2006.

Bush's AIDS project under Tobias has been called "extremely flawed" by critics.[29] Tobias later become the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he held the rank of Ambassador. Tobias, a proponent of abstinence as Global AIDS Coordinator, ironically resigned from USAID over a pay for sex scandal in April 2007.[30]

New Freedom Initiative

A sweeping mental health initiative was unveiled by President George W. Bush in July 2004. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing "services in the community, rather than institutions," according to a March 2004 progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative.[31][32]

Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April 2002 to conduct a "comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system." The commission issued its recommendations in July 2003.

The President's commission found that "despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed" and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including pre-school children. According to the commission: "Each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviours and emotional disorders." Schools, wrote the commission, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools.

The commission also recommended "Linkage [of screening] with treatment and supports" including "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." The commission commended the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), a similar program Bush started as Governor of Texas, as a "model" medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes."

The Texas project started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. The project was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson grant and by several drug companies.

Lilly's Olanzapine (trade name Zyprexa) is one of the atypical antipsychotic drugs recommended as a first line drug in the Texas scheme. A 2003 New York Times article reported that 70% of Olanzapine sales are paid for by government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.[33] All together Lilly reportedly contributed $103,000 to support TMAP. Heather Lusk, an Eli Lilly representative, said contributions to TMAP were "educational" grants made by a company grants office.

[PatriotOne]

Hopefully this will convince some of the fence sitters on the vaccine issue that there is a hell of a lot more goinmg on than baseless acusations about the mercury in our vaccines. Even if they settle for yet another "our Government is incompetent" theory (instead of the intentional poisoning it is) and start refusing vaccines I will be happy.
There is no legitimate answer... mercury vaccines are a huge problem, Eli Lilly should be sued out of existence, and the Bush family has been invested in Eli Lilly since 1977. This was done to protect one of the Bush family's biggest investments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Lilly_Controversy#Eli_Lilly_and_the_Bush_Famil y

Eli Lilly and the Bush Family

The Bush family has been substantially invested in Eli Lilly for years.

George H.W. Bush

After leaving the Central Intelligence Agency in 1977, George H.W. Bush was made a director of Eli Lilly. Future Vice President to Bush Dan Quayle's father, James C. Quayle, owned controlling interest in the Lilly company and the The Indianapolis Star at that time.

Bush actively lobbied both within and without the Reagan Administration as Vice President in 1981 to permit drug companies to sell obsolete or especially domestically-banned substances to Third World countries.[clarify] While Vice President, Bush continued to act on behalf of pharmaceutical companies by personally going to the Internal Revenue Service for special tax breaks for certain drug companies, including Lilly, who were manufacturing in Puerto Rico.

In 1982, Bush intervened with the U.S. Department of Treasury in connection with proposed rules that would have forced pharmaceutical companies to pay significantly more taxes. Bush was personally ordered to stop lobbying the IRS on behalf of the drug companies by the U.S. Supreme Court.[24]

Bush stopped lobbying, but pharmaceutical interests still received a 23% additional tax break for their companies in Puerto Rico, who made these obsolete or banned American drugs for sale to Third World countries. Lilly's Puerto Rico-based affiliate now employs approximately 1,100 workers at three plants in Carolina and Mayagüez and 220 additional employees in its sales and marketing offices in San Juan.

George W. Bush

George W. Bush is the clear front runner when it comes to drug company contributions and patronage. According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), manufacturers of drugs and health products had contributed $764,274 to the 2004 Bush campaign through their political action committees and employees by April 26th of the election year 2004.

Appointees with Eli Lilly interests

* President and CEO of Eli Lilly, Sidney Taurel, was named by U.S. President George W. Bush as a Homeland Security Advisory Council member in 2002. In 2003 Bush named Taurel a member of the President's Export Council. Bush named Taurel to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) in April 2007 for a four year term.[25]

* Bush's former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has served on the boards of several companies including Eli Lilly partner Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences.

* Former White House Office of Management and Budget director and current Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is a former Lilly executive. Daniels served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget from January 2001 through June 2003. In this role he was also a member of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council.

* Former Eli Lilly CEO Randall Tobias was named by Bush as Global AIDS Coordinator in 2003. Tobias later become the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he held the rank of Ambassador.

* Alex Azar, was deputy secretary of Health and Human Services under George W. Bush, serving as chief operating officer for two years. In that role, he oversaw such agencies as the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In May of 2007 Azar became senior vice president of corporate affairs and communication for Eli Lilly, reporting directly to Chief Executive Sidney Taurel.[26]

Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003

White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels is a former Lilly executive and oversaw the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

On January 25, 2006, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer and Ranking Minority Member Henry A. Waxman asked J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives at that time, for a congressional investigation into the role played by the Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying firm closely linked to Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff, in the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act which was passed on December 8, 2003. With the indictments of DeLay and Abramoff, new questions arose about the role of the Alexander Strategy Group in the passing of the bill. Lobby disclosure forms showed that the largest single client of the Alexander Strategy Group was the pharmaceutical industry, which paid the small firm over $2.5 million, including nearly $1 million in 2003 when the prescription drug law was being written.

The lobby disclosure forms also revealed that the primary clients represented by the Alexander Strategy Group were Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Eli Lilly during consideration of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act. The person representing PhRMA and Lilly was Tony Rudy, a former deputy chief of staff for DeLay who worked for Abramoff from 2001 to 2002. On January 9, 2006, the Alexander Strategy Group announced that it was shutting down its lobbying operations.[27]

Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Eli Lilly, Robert A. Armitage, is the past chair of the Patent Committee of PhRMA. Eli Lilly President and CEO Sidney Taurel is a past president of the PhRMA.

Vaccine legislation protection

Early in 2002, U.S. Senator Bill Frist tried to obtain protection for Eli Lilly from suits attached to legislation that would increase the availability of vaccines to average Americans, and regulate lawsuits against Eli Lilly involving thiomersal, but this attempt was thwarted by U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, who opposed the measure. Despite Kennedy's effort, however, identical legal protections found their way into Homeland Security legislation. After the bill passed, no one in Washington, D.C. was willing to take responsibility for having written or inserting the Lilly legal protections. The rider was later annulled by Congress in 2003. Eli Lilly's Political action committee (PAC) had given Frist almost $10,000 in campaign contributions in 2004.

The White House denied any knowledge of the author/sponsor of the Lilly amendment. Many argue this stretches belief, considering the ties the Bush administration has to the pharmaceutical giant.

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR/Emergency Plan) is President Bush's pledge of $15 billion over five years (2003–2008) to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

On July 2, 2003, President George W. Bush selected former Eli Lilly chief executive Randall L. Tobias as the Global AIDS Coordinator for a $15 billion program to slow the spread of global AIDS and to treat it in Africa and the Caribbean. Bush signed into law a measure to direct the money to 14 countries, most of them in Africa. Tobias retired from Lilly in 1998.

"This decision is another deeply disturbing sign that the president may not be prepared to fulfill his pledge to take emergency action on AIDS," noted Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "It raises serious questions of conflict of interest and the priorities of the White House."[28]Several said they feared that Tobias would be "the fox in charge of the henhouse," as Kate Krauss of the AIDS Policy Project put it. Ambassador Mark Dybul replaced Tobias as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator on October 10, 2006.

Bush's AIDS project under Tobias has been called "extremely flawed" by critics.[29] Tobias later become the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he held the rank of Ambassador. Tobias, a proponent of abstinence as Global AIDS Coordinator, ironically resigned from USAID over a pay for sex scandal in April 2007.[30]

New Freedom Initiative

A sweeping mental health initiative was unveiled by President George W. Bush in July 2004. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing "services in the community, rather than institutions," according to a March 2004 progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative.[31][32]

Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April 2002 to conduct a "comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system." The commission issued its recommendations in July 2003.

The President's commission found that "despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed" and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including pre-school children. According to the commission: "Each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviours and emotional disorders." Schools, wrote the commission, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools.

The commission also recommended "Linkage [of screening] with treatment and supports" including "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." The commission commended the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), a similar program Bush started as Governor of Texas, as a "model" medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes."

The Texas project started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. The project was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson grant and by several drug companies.

Lilly's Olanzapine (trade name Zyprexa) is one of the atypical antipsychotic drugs recommended as a first line drug in the Texas scheme. A 2003 New York Times article reported that 70% of Olanzapine sales are paid for by government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.[33] All together Lilly reportedly contributed $103,000 to support TMAP. Heather Lusk, an Eli Lilly representative, said contributions to TMAP were "educational" grants made by a company grants office.