This week I had to fill out some online modules so that I could retain admitting priviledges at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Part of that involved filling out a questionnaire about vaccines where it asked if I had been immunized with the various vaccines for hepatitis, the flu, and chickenpox. Well my daughter and I spent some quality time together with the chickenpox when she was three, so I don’t need that vaccine, and the fact is that I never got vaccines for hepatitis, and I don’t feel like getting one now. And readers of Drug Safety and Health News Blog know my opinion about flu shots. The form included the lovely lie from the CDC about how 36,000 people die from the flu each year (half of those are actually flu-like illness, not the flu, get your facts straight, Julie). Anyhoo they had a helpful multiple choice where they asked you why you weren’t getting vaccinated, and for the flu I stated that they didn’t work. After refusing the hepatitis vaccines the program froze me out, so when I went in to get my TB test I asked the nurse about it, and she had me sign this declaration form about why I didn’t want the vaccine. So I decided to do some research. I found a Dr. Di Bisceglie touting Hepatitis C vaccines in development, and what struck me was how LONG his list of disclosures were! Looky here:

Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, MD, FACP, has disclosed that he has served on the advisory boards of Roche, Idenix, Novartis, Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Metabasis Therapeutics, Anadys, and Globe Immune. Dr. Di Bisceglie has also disclosed that he has received research support from Roche, Gilead Sciences, Idenix, Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Sci-Clone. Dr. Di Bisceglie has also disclosed that he serves on the speaker’s bureaus of Roche, Gilead Sciences, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Di Bisceglie has also disclosed that he has served as a consultant to Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott, Schering Plough, Pharmasset, and Sci-Clone.

I mean geez, how can you do all that, plus do his research and be chairman of his department? Note that Roche is the maker of drugs for bird flu, which as I have written about in “Bird Flu Drugs are for Bird Brains” won’t work once the virus mutates to spread to humans, but which has made a ton of money for them and their pitchman ex Vice President Cheney.

How to Poop on People

Anyhoo anyone who serves on 8 advisory boards, get research money from 6 companies, is on three speakers bureaus, and serves as a consultant to 5 companies, is spending an awful lot of time hob knobbing and dining and getting payments and therefore is unlikely to be un-biased. For the hepatitis B vaccine there was some evidence that it might be associated with an increase in multiple sclerosis although it looks like the jury is still out on that one. As for Hepatitis C that is new and we don’t know the long term risks. I don’t get hepatitis vaccinations because even if you get it (which is unlikely) it probably won’t kill you. Gardasil? As I have written before I would rather have you guard your girls than give them Gardasil.

Anyhoo here I am back filling out my infectious disease module.

As I was taking the online exam I couldn’t help but notice that is said that most Emory employees encountered potentially infectious materials in the workplace that could transmit HIV or Hepatitis through percutaneous transmission, i.e. needle sticks involving infected blood. However they also listed “Other Potentially Infectious Material” (OPIM) as follows.

Other Potentailly Infectious Material (OPIM)

Did you notice the first few? It seemed odd that Emory Healthcare would be listing those as possible sources of transmission of viruses for people in the workplace! Especially for a place that is so worried about their public image, and which recently started a public “trust line” where people can call to anonymously report anything which is not consistent with Emory’s morals and ethics, including conflicts of interest, apparently in response to recent negative publicity (but don’t get me started on that). Anyhoo I was puzzling over this when I noticed the Emory logo…

Advancing the possibilities, indeed!

See how long it takes me to get fired for this one…