On October 14, 2015, a complaint was filed with Maine DHHS against MaineHealth for making egregiously false claims about immuizations, a product line that they sell to the public:
To the Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Division of Licensing and Regulatory Services
Complaint against MaineHealth for making false product safety claims on pharmaceuticals sold and administered by their corporation.
I would like to file a complaint against MaineHealth for making fraudulent statements concerning one of their product lines.
MaineHealth, both on the VaxMaineKids.org web site and during an interview on MPBN on December 1, 2014, have made false vaccine safety claims. I have contacted VaxMaineKids, MaineHealth and MPBN to ask for a retraction and correction of the false marketing messages that they are issuing to the public, but none of the organizations will properly address the issue.
VaxMaineKids.org makes the false claims on their web site that:
“THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM.”
And that, “No other medical study anywhere in the world has ever found a link between vaccines and autism. Not one.” (http://www.vaxmainekids.org/mythbuster-series-autism/)
During an email exchange last summer with Cassandra Grantham, Program Director of Child Health at MaineHealth, initiated by Ms. Grantham after I had written about her work, I corrected the misinformation, sending VaxMaineKids a list with dozens of studies that link vaccines and autism. (The list now stands at 108 research papers. http://www.scribd.com/doc/220807175/86-Research-Papers-Supporting-the-Vaccine-Autism-Link) Ms. Grantham failed to correct the false claims on the MaineHealth web site, and wrote that she was no longer interested in discussing the matter any further with me.
Ms. Grantham, representing Maine Health, made further false claims on December 1, 2014 on MPBN’s Maine Calling, when she claimed that there were multiple studies comparing populations of unvaccinated children to children fully vaccinated according to the CDC schedule that have found no increased risk in autism among fully vaccinated children.
In fact, no such research exists, as testified to by Dr. Coleen Boyle, Director of CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities during the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee hearing 1 in 88 Children: A Look Into the Federal Response to Rising Rates of Autism on November 29, 2012. In response to a question whether or not autism risk had been studied in vaccinated v. unvaccinated children Dr. Boyle stated, “We have not studied vaccinated v. unvaccinated.”
I wrote to Ms. Grantham to ask that she cite her sources or retract her false claim. In her response, she referred to three publications as sources for her information, none of which referenced a vaccinated v.. unvaccinated autism study. In fact, one of her references, a 2013 report by the Institute of Medicine on the current US vaccine program, addressed the lack vaccinated v. unvaccinated research as a whole, and specifically in regard to autism and other developmental disabilities, and notes that parents and the public have been asking for this research for some time. The IOM report recommends against performing such research, because, although they admit it can be accomplished and would be informative, it would also be costly, time consuming and difficult.
Ms. Grantham actually replied to me with information that confirms my allegations against her false claim by MaineHealth.
I have further contacted several staff members at MaineHealth to ask for a retraction and for clarification of their stance on a public policy. I have received no reply.
Further, I have contacted both Maine Calling hosts and producers, as well as MPBN management, to ask for a retraction of these fraudulent claims, but none have replied.
I have attached the email chains below.
Further, it is imperative that the State of Maine provide oversight in this matter, as the federal 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act has removed the rights of families to sue corporations like MaineHealth when members are harmed or killed by a vaccine. The result of this blanket liability protection which has been in place for decades is that physicians, medical care providers, health corporations and even government agencies routinely put out false safety and efficacy information, because there is no mechanism by which the public may directly hold them accountable for fraudulent claims. The public’s right to take these entities into a civil court, force them to testify under oath, have judgments rendered by a jury and have remedies be enforced by a judge has been removed. As a result, misinformation can be circulated by both malicious and merely uninformed parties, including doctors providing recommendations to patients in their offices. Bad faith parties and organizations who wish to make outright fraudulent claims are free to do so without fear of legal reprisal from their customers, even if the worst possible outcome happens and the vaccination that was delivered under false information or coercion results in the death of a child.
This complaint does not represent the total number of false statements made by Ms. Grantham and MaineHealth but is a short complaint on the easily corrected fraud currently taking place. In light of their refusal to correct even these extremely obvious false statements, I believe that a full accounting of their vaccine safety claims is appropriate.
Further, Ms. Grantham in her professional, role has been quoted in the Portland Press Herald as advocating the elimination of the philosophical vaccine exemption in Maine. This would remove the right of children to a free and appropriate education if their parents did not choose to vaccinate as the state requests. As vaccines are legally classified by the federal government as “Unavoidably Unsafe” (which means they cannot be made safe for their intended use) and can result in serious diseases, disorders, disability, brain damage and death, it a civil rights matter that parents and individuals be free to exercise their right to informed consent, and to reject one or more vaccines for one’s self or one’s child. It is also a civil rights matter that children be allowed equal access to a free and appropriate public education without being impeded by discriminatory policies. In their actions in the last 6 months, I assert that MaineHealth has demonstrated a willingness commit fraud in order to achieve their goal of removing either families’ rights to medical informed consent or the right to a public education for their children to increase vaccine sales.
In no other area of medicine are these types of false claims on pharmaceutical products tolerated. I hope that Maine DHHS will take this matter seriously and exercise its authority here to protect Maine consumers against false vaccine safety claims.
Attachment:
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Subject: |
False Vaccine Safety Claims made by MaineHealth on MPBN’s Maine Calling |
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Date: |
Sat, 06 Dec 2014 16:45:00 -0500 |
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From: |
Ginger Taylor |
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To: |
Cassandra Grantham |
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CC: |
Laura Blaisdell, Mark Vogelzang , Jennifer Rooks and Jonathan Smith , Rep. Andrea Boland , Andrea Dodge Patstone |
Ms. Grantham,
This week on MPBN’s Maine Calling, in response to a question about vaccine safety, you made the following claim:
MPBN: “Cassandra what kind of research is out there about the safety of vaccines?”
Cassandra Grantham: “So what’s really great is that is that many different organizations have put a lot of time and effort into understanding the safety and efficacy behind vaccines and there have been several recent studies that have actually come out looking at associations between vaccinations and different situations that kids may find themselves in, autism being one of them, but many others. And of course we can’t do studies that actually force families not to immunize their children so that we can look at what we would call it a randomized controlled trial, it’s just not fair. So what we have been able to do is look back over time at different populations of children and we’ve actually found that kids who are immunized, completely immunized with all of the vaccines according to the the schedule that Dr. Blaisdell was mentioning the one that recommended by the CDC, that they have no higher risk of getting autism and some of these other developmental challenges that families face than those kids that delayed or did not receive any immunizations at all. So we’re finding that there is research that is now delving deeper into this topic and actually proving that the CDC’s recommended schedule is safe and it does work and it doesn’t increase risks of other situations for kids.”
To the best of my knowledge, this is a false claim, as no such research exists. This as testified to by Dr. Coleen Boyle, Director of CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities during the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee hearing 1 in 88 Children: A Look Into the Federal Response to Rising Rates of Autism on November 29, 2012. In response to a question whether or not autism risk had been studied in vaccinated v. unvaccinated children Dr. Boyle stated, “We have not studied vaccinated v. unvaccinated.” http://youtu.be/O_GrCAzpA_0?t=9m20s (please see the notes in the video that addresses the claims made by Dr. Koren Boggs that such research exists in further detail.)
My understanding of the history of this topic is that the first such request for a study was made by the FDA in 1981 after they removed mercury from over the counter products. FDA declined to ban it from vaccines, asking CDC to first do a vaccinated v. unvaccinated study to see if it increased health risks, however CDC declined to perform the study.
The autism and vaccine injury communities have been asking for such a retrospective study to be done for more than a decade now, and health authorities have continued to refuse. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations Act of 2007 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.2832🙂 to force NIH to do such a study, and reintroduced such legislation in the years since. In response to what he learned from Dr. Boyle during the 2012 hearings, Rep Bill Posey (R-FL) joined with Maloney and introduced H.R. 1757, The Vaccine Safety Study Act (https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2013/04/26/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E576-1) that would again compel HHS to perform the study that you claim already exists.
The bill was not passed, nor to my knowledge has any vaccinated v. unvaccinated research on autism or any other developmental disabilities been published since Dr. Boyle offered her testimony before Congress.
As such it is appropriate for you to either produce the citation for this research that the vaccine injury community has been lobbying for, or to retract your false safety claims on MPBN for the product line you are representing.
Your false claims are only made more egregious by the fact that you have publicly stated in the Portland Press Herald that, “Eliminating the philosophic [vaccine] exemption is the ultimate goal.” It is my belief that you are purposely lying to the public in order to remove parental rights and deny Maine children a Free And Appropriate Education in order to promote sales of a product line whose lack of safety is thoroughly documented both by the federal government and the product packaging itself. This type of propaganda sales campaign should not be tolerated by any responsible medical professional, health organization, media outlet or legislator. (http://www.pressherald.com/2014/08/14/state-legislators-to-seek-stronger-vaccine-laws/)
I await your response,
Ginger Taylor, MS
Mother of a vaccine injured child
Co-author of Vaccine Epidemic
Media Director
HealthChoice.org
Facebook
Twitter
818-402-9672
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Subject: |
RE: False Vaccine Safety Claims made by MaineHealth on MPBN’s Maine Calling |
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Date: |
Mon, 8 Dec 2014 19:31:25 +0000 |
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From: |
Cassandra Grantham |
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To: |
‘Ginger Taylor’ |
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CC: |
Laura L. Blaisdell, Mark Vogelzang, Jennifer Rooks and Jonathan Smith, Rep. Andrea Boland, Andrea Patstone |
Hello Ginger ~
Thank you for listening to MPBN’s Maine Calling Show – it is great to know that we have reached such a wide audience with important vaccine messages. I want to clarify that I do not represent any product line or company other than MaineHealth, which is a health system which supports on-time childhood immunizations. I have never been paid by or consulted for a pharmaceutical or medical intervention company or agency. Please see below for MaineHealth’s official statement regarding childhood immunizations.
MaineHealth supports the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. We believe that vaccinating children on-time, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), is one of the best ways to reduce vaccine-preventable diseases in our communities and keep children safe and healthy.
In regards to my statements about vaccine safety, I based those on these studies.
1. http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(13)00144-3/abstract
2. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2013/The-Childhood-Immunization-Schedule-and-Safety.aspx
3. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/06/26/peds.2014-1079.abstract
I will not respond to future emails on this subject.
Furthermore, I request that you cease and desist using my image on your blog, Facebook page and other websites you support and represent.
Cassandra
Cassandra Cote Grantham, MA
Program Director
Childhood Immunizations and Raising Readers
Community Health Improvement
MaineHealth
110 Free Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: 207-661-7578
Fax: 207-661-7547
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the use of the intended recipient(s) only and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and prohibited from unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message and attachments.
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Subject: |
Re: False Vaccine Safety Claims made by MaineHealth on MPBN’s Maine Calling |
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Date: |
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 15:37:29 -0500 |
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From: |
Ginger Taylor |
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To: |
Cassandra Grantham |
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CC: |
Laura L. Blaisdell , Mark Vogelzang, Jennifer Rooks and Jonathan Smith, Rep. Andrea Boland, Andrea Patstone, Jonathan Smith |
Ms. Grantham,
None of the citations you offer contain any research on autism risk, or any other developmental disabilities, in vaccinated v. unvaccinated children, which is the claim you made on Maine Calling. Again, no such publish research exists in any form.
I therefore demand a retraction of the fraudulent safety claim by yourself, MaineHealth and MPBN.
I will not cease using your image, as this is a very newsworthy story and the professional headshot of a medical corporation employee making false claims about the product safety of the pharmaceuticals that it sells is fair use of this image.
Ginger Taylor, MS
Media Director
HealthChoice.org
Facebook
Twitter
818-402-9672
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Subject: |
Request for Retraction of False Vaccine Safety Claims on MPBN’s Maine Calling |
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Date: |
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:12:12 -0500 |
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From: |
Ginger Taylor |
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To: |
Mark Vogelzang, Jennifer Rooks and Jonathan Smith, Jonathan Smith |
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CC: |
Cassandra Grantham, Laura L. Blaisdell, Rep. Andrea Boland, Andrea Patstone |
Ms. Rooks, Mr. Smith and Mr. Vogelzang,
On your December 1 episode of Maine Calling, Cassandra Grantham, a representative of MaineHealth, made a fraudulent safety claim on your show. I have copied you on the my email exchange with her, which details the false claim, my correction of the false information as supported by the Congressional testimony of the head of the CDC’s Director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, and my request to Ms. Grantham for her to cite the multiple studies that she claim exist or retract her claim.
As you can see, she has failed to produce any research comparing autism rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated populations and failed to retract her claim.
I there for request that Maine Calling retract Ms. Grantham’s claim in the same format which it was offered, noting the false claim on the archived version of the interview if MPBN chooses to leave it online.
I further strongly encourage Maine Calling to perform an honest evaluation on why vaccine rates are low in Maine and falling nationally. As the educated mother of a vaccine injured child, I can attest to the real reason. It is because the liability protection given to the entire vaccine industry in 1986 has resulted in massive corruption in the vaccine program. Ms. Graham’s behavior on your show is case in point. Medical providers and medical industry representatives can make any safety claims that they choose, even completely false claims, because there is no accountability mechanism in place for the public to hold them accountable for false claims. Even when a child is killed by a vaccine after a false claim like this is made to a parent coercing them into administering a vaccine that they would not have otherwise agreed to have delivered to their child, there is no recourse to hold anyone accountable, or even force them to stop making these false claims. So false claims like this one, once spoken by someone claiming to hold authority in vaccinated, simply continue to circulate and be repeated.
No doubt Ms. Grantham’s false claim will now be circulated by those who have heard your program, even medical professionals who administer vaccines to children.
The vaccine show you did with these three women on December 1, was not just about vaccine rejection, it is the REASON for vaccine rejection. It is a real time example of how and why vaccine interests are alienating and loosing the public trust by abusing the public trust. Your guests correctly reported that the exodus from the vaccine program is being lead by educated parents who have serious misgivings of the safety and trustworthyness of the vaccine program, while they themselves were making false claims about the safety of the vaccine program, thereby proving the untrustworthy of the vaccine program. And MPBN is participating in this corruption by allowing false claims to made on your platform with out challenge or correction.
I hope that the irony that a show you aired to raise confidence in the vaccination is actually destroying trust in the vaccination is not lost on you.
Now this claim of Ms. Grantham is merely one of many problematic statements made by herself, MaineHealth, VaxMaineKids.org and Dr. Blaisdell, and I would be happy to go over the false information that they are sharing with the public under the guise of serving the public if you decide to do a proper investigation of the fraud taking place in the vaccine program both in Maine and at the federal level.
But for now, I await a response on your retraction of this particular false statement. I cannot imagine that MPBN would allow any medical professional, industry representative or government official to make such false claims about any other medical product line or medical program. I don’t expect Maine Calling to allow this to stand either.
Thank you for your consideration,
Ginger Taylor, MS
Media Director
HealthChoice.org
Facebook
Twitter
818-402-9672
No reply from MPBN as of this filing.
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Subject: |
Information Requested on how to file a formal complaint against a Maine Health staffer for fraudulent claims |
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Date: |
Mon, 08 Dec 2014 19:25:15 -0500 |
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From: |
Ginger Taylor |
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To: |
William Caron, Kimberly Nemic |
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CC: |
Rebecca Arseneault, Deborah Deatrick, MPH, Robert Frank, Katie Fullam Harris , Cassandra Grantham, Jonathan, Joe Lawlor, Laura Blaisdell |
Dear MaineHealth,
This past week, Cassandra Grantham of MaineHealth appeared on MPBN’s Maine Calling and made a fraudulent vaccine safety claim. She reported to the public that there are several studies comparing vaccinated v. unvaccinated children that find no increase risk of autism and other developmental disabilities in children vaccinated according to the CDC’s recommended schedule.
In fact, no such research has ever been published.
I contacted Ms. Grantham and asked that she cite the research she claims has been undertaken, or retract her statement. She not only failed to cite such studies, she actually cited a 2013 IOM report that confirmed that no such research exists in the medical literature, and that recommended against undertaking such research because of cost, time and difficulty. She has also failed to retract her fraudulent claim and says she will not be responding to me on this matter again.
This is just the latest of several false vaccine safety research claims that Ms. Grantham has made on behalf of MaineHealth both in public and on the VaxMaineKids.org web site, a MaineHealth Childhood Immunizations Program project. Several of these false statements have been brought to her attention over the last five months, and she has failed to properly address them. I can therefore only assume that Ms. Grantham is a bad faith player and is purposefully misleading of Mainers on vaccine safety matters
This is made all the more egregious as Ms. Grantham has been quoted in the Portland Press Herald as stating that, “Eliminating the philosophic [vaccine] exemption is the ultimate goal,” of the work your organization is undertaking. It is unconscionable that MaineHealth would make fraudulent safety claims in order to advance the agenda of removing parental rights and depriving children of a free and appropriate public education if their families decline to participate in a medical program that presents severe adverse health risks including disability, brain damage and death.
I wish to file a formal complaint against Ms. Grantham with MaineHealth. I believe that it is the duty of MaineHealth to review and retract Ms. Grantham’s false vaccine safety claims and to exercise disciplinary action against Ms. Grantham, as well as clarify the organization’s position on the rights of parents to receive full and accurate vaccine safety and efficacy information, and practice uncoerced informed consent in vaccination.
I have forwarded the email exchanges with Ms. Grantham and MPBN below for your review.
I am publicly documenting this process here.
Please direct me to appropriate contact on this matter so I may offer a full account of the problem and offer MaineHealth my support in assuring that it is offering accurate, evidence based information on vaccine safety to the public.
Thank you,
Ginger Taylor
Brunswick, Maine
Letter also forwarded to patientrelations@mmc.org, no response as of this filing.
The following response was received in response to the filing:
| Subject: | RE: Complaint against MaineHealth |
|---|---|
| Date: | Wed, 14 Oct 2015 20:51:58 +0000 |
| From: | Sherwood, Cheryl |
| To: | ‘Ginger Taylor’ |
Ginger, Thank you for forwarding your complaint so quickly. Your complaint will be triaged according to the severity and assigned to an investigator, if deemed necessary. I'm not able to tell you how quickly it will be investigated but if you haven't heard anything after some time, please don't hesitate to contact me and I will put you through to a supervisor who should be able to tell you where in the process your complaint is. Thank you, Cheryl L. Sherwood Office Specialist II Division of Licensing and Regulatory Services Department of Health and Human Services State House Station #11 - 41 Anthony Avenue Augusta, ME 04333 Tel: (207) 287-9308 or (800) 383-2441 Fax: (207) 287-9307 TTY: Call 711 (Maine Relay) Division of Licensing and Regulatory Services Integrity – Openness – Quality – Safety – Trust - Validation
Maine DHHS response:
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| Click for larger version |
Request for explanation:
From: Ginger Taylor [mailto:ginger@mainevaxchoice.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 5:33 PM
To: Peebles, Diannah R
Cc: Sherwood, Cheryl
Subject: Re: FW: Maine Medical Center 20323
Ms. Peebles,
Thank you.
I will publishing on this soon, and I do have a follow up question.
I reported fraudulent safety claims made by an employee of MaineHealth on MPBN, and on their web site. Why was this handled as if I was reporting a safety violation in a facility? Why would a false claim on the radio and in public warrant a facility inspection, and why was this not investigated properly to see if indeed MaineHealth, via VaxMaineKids, is making fraudulent safety claims?
I see this ruling as nonsensical. Can you explain this to me?
Ginger Taylor, MS
Director
Maine Coalition for Vaccine Choice
207-200-8469
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Subject:
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RE: FW: Maine Medical Center 20323 |
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Date:
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Thu, 23 Feb 2017 13:22:03 +0000 |
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From:
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Peebles, Diannah R <Diannah.R.Peebles@maine.gov> |
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To:
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‘Ginger Taylor’ <ginger@mainevaxchoice.org> |
Dear Ms. Taylor,
I only generate the letter per what is entered into our system.
This was forwarded to my supervisor today.
Thank
you.
Diannah Peebles
Office Asscociate II
Acute Care Team
(207) 287-5016
Maine Center for Disease
Control and Prevention – Preserve ~Promote~ Protect
No response from her supervisor was recieved.