by James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, Popular Rationalism, ©2024
(Mar. 25, 2024) — A community member did most of the legwork on finding the data for this report. We would like to credit her, but she is concerned about retaliatory job loss. The email exchanges following were provided by Elizabeth Hart (see more information at the end of the article).
PLEASE SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND WIDELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND TAG THEM.
STATNEWS recently published the news that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), has filled recently vacated seats:
“The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that it is filling eight vacancies, including the chairmanship, on an important advisory panel on vaccine policy that was down to less than half of its normal roster for months.
It’s still not clear why so many positions were left unfilled on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. STAT reported on the vacancies, which had flummoxed public health experts in the country, last week.”
We had previously found that every single member of the committee, except the member representing the Department of Defense, had serious conflicts of interest with vaccine manufacturers.
ACIP is responsible for making “recommendations” for additions to the CDC’s already packed schedule of pediatric vaccines. In the past, they have approved vaccines with no discussion of safety until after the vote, and the pattern of behavior and operations of the committee appears to be that “competitors” in the vaccine market recommend each others’ vaccines to help open markets for the vaccines they have in the queue.
Cozy.
The STATNews article listed four persons who were scheduled to be added to the ACIP roster. So we looked into their history of payments from vaccine manufacturers.
These are the results.
1. Edwin Asturias
$86,000+ going back to 2014 from Janssen, Takeda, Sanofi Pasteur, and GlaxoSmithKline.
PROPUBLICA ENTRY: https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/doctors/pid/571056/year/2014
2. Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, Pediatrics, Stanford
2022
$8400 Payments from Pfizer
$3200 Research funding from Pfizer
$2,587,707.01 “Associated research funding” from Pfizer
2021
$3,200 Payments from Pfizer
$1,026,478.11 “Associated research funding” from Pfizer
2020
$69,168.53 “Associated research funding” from Pfizer
2019
$4,812.27 Payments from Pfizer
2018
$7,120.57 Payments from Pfizer
2017
$6,132.64 Payments from Pfizer
2016
$7,840.08 Payments from Pfizer
OPENPAYMENTS ENTRY:
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/physician/112408
This is on top of an additional $23,000+ going back to 2013, mostly from Pfizer, but also some from Merck and Novartis.
https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/doctors/pid/112408/year/2015
3. Helen Chu
2022
$2,700 Payments from Abbvie
2020
$700 Payments from Pfizer
2019
$4,899 Payments from Merck
2016
$60,000 “grant” from Pfizer
OPENPAYMENTS ENTRY
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/physician/760992
4. George Kuchel, Geriatrics, U. Connecticut
2021
$1,360 Payments from Novo Nordisk AS
2019
$13,305.87 Payments from Janssen
$4,494,40 “Associated research funding” from Novartis
OPENPAYMENTS ENTRY:
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/physician/984851
5. Robert Schechter, CA Dept of Public Health
Robert has nothing listed on open payments, which is required, but there is this:
NVAC [National Vaccine Advisory Committee] Public Member | Term: 2/12/2020 – 2/11/2024
“Dr. Schechter has been a medical officer with California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Immunization Branch since 2003. Dr. Schechter has worked in several disciplines, including immunization program implementation and management, vaccine safety and post-marketing surveillance, vaccine communication, health information technology and Immunization Information Systems, and vaccine research and development. Dr. Schechter has had managerial and consultative roles for CDPH’s immunization programs, amongst the nation’s largest, including the California Vaccines for Children Program, annually supporting 10 million eligible children, the CDPH’s annual supply of >0.5 M doses of influenza vaccine for local health departments and community partners, and the federal 317 vaccine for immunization of the uninsured. Dr. Schechter is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/nvac/members/robert-schechter/index.html
His research works: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Robert-Schechter-39229499
6. Albert Shaw, Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine
2022
$2,590 Payments from Boehringer IngelheimPharmaceuticals
2019
$1,425.71 Payments from GlaxoSmithKline
His research: https://medicine.yale.edu/internal-medicine/profile/albert-shaw/?tab=research
What Does CDC Say About ACIP COIs?
Another community member had, a few years back, inquired of the muddiness of COIs among ACIP members…
“Hi All, for those interested in conflicts of interest, FYI, see below my correspondence from 2013/2014 unsuccessfully trying to get more clarity on this matter re the ACIP…
Also FYI, see this webpage re the ACIP Members Roster Archive, note that it only goes back to 2010/2011… https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/members/members-archive.html
Also see article attached: Immunization Policy Development in the United States: The Role of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
Elizabeth
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Smith, Jean Clare (CDC/OID/NCIRD) <jis6@cdc.gov>
Date: Sat, Feb 22, 2014 at 7:43 AM
Subject: RE: ACIP / Potential ‘conflicts of interest’ register
To: eliz.hart25@gmail.com <eliz.hart25@gmail.com>
Dear Ms. Hart:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
ACIP members are screened rigorously for conflicts of interest. ACIP members are required to submit financial disclosure in the form of Office of Government Ethics (OGE) 450 forms (U.S. Office of Government Ethics – OGE Form 450: Confidential Financial Disclosure Report) at the time of their appointment and annually thereafter; and are required to report any changes that occur in the course of their 4-year terms. The OGE-450 is reviewed by CDC ethics officers, and questions may be referred to CDC legal counsel. Information contained in the OGE-450 is confidential. However, in addition to this screening, ACIP members are required to disclose any conflicts of interest at the start of each public ACIP meeting, and again prior to any vote being taken. These conflict of interest declarations are captured in detailed meeting minutes, which are posted on the CDC/ACIP website at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/meetings-info.html .
Attached is an article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2009, which includes a detailed discussion of conflict of interest screening of ACIP members (pp 46-47).
Liaison representatives do not vote and are therefore not required to submit financial disclosures to CDC. Ex officio members, who represent other U.S. Government agencies, undergo conflict of interest screening as federal employees by their agencies.
The information sent to you by Ms Betancourt stating that “ACIP is updating the website to include conflict of interest information along with detailed information regarding the nomination process” refers to more detailed information that will be posted about how ACIP members are screened for conflicts of interest.
_____________________
Read the rest here.