Dan Burton: “Mr. Chairman, the health of every American child is affected by decisions made at the Department of Health and Human…”

“Mr. Chairman, the health of every American child is affected by decisions made at the Department of Health and Human Services about vaccines. Those decisions have to be made free of conflicts of interest, and right now that just is not the case. Health and Human Services relies on two advisory committees to give scientific advice on vaccine policy. Unfortunately, those advisory committees are dominated by the pharmaceutical industry. HHS routinely gives doctors with serious conflicts of interest waivers to vote on vaccine policies. My amendment stands for a simple proposition. We should be getting the best scientific advice possible and it should not be tainted by possible conflicts of interest. We are going to hear from the other side that if my amendment passes they will not be able to find anyone to serve on these committees. That is just not so. The Committee on Government Reform has done an extensive investigation into these advisory committees. We took a close look at their votes to approve the rotavirus vaccine. That vote has had disastrous results. Children developed serious bowel obstructions. They needed emergency surgery. And one child died. The vaccine had to be pulled from the market 3 months after the official recommendation. Did this problem come up out of the blue? No. There was evidence of this problem in the clinical trials.”