Grieving Americans who have either experienced a debilitating injury themselves or a loved one’s illness or death as a result of a drug they were told would prevent disease were finally given a platform to tell their devastating stories to members of the US Senate.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin continued his quest for the truth regarding the effects of vaccines as he held a hearing Tuesday under the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The hearing was titled “Voices of the Vaccine Injured.”
As chairman of the subcommittee, Johnson began his opening remarks by stating that the hearing’s purpose “is very simple: to give a platform to those individuals and families who have been abandoned – the injuries and suffering dismissed and forgotten.”
“We all fear death and disease,” the senator said. “The appeal of a simple shot that can prevent both is obvious and powerful.” But the strength of that appeal appears to have “overridden critical thinking and prevented rigorous cost-benefit analysis from being done,” he added.
Johnson said some public health officials had defended their “vaccine policies” and the drugs they called “vaccines” with a “religious-like zeal.” Those who question their fervor, meanwhile, were “viewed as apostates – dangerous apostates – more than deserving the scorn, vilification, and retribution heaped upon them.”
“The truth is vaccine injuries are real, and they’ve been ignored,” Johnson asserted.
Among the hearing’s witnesses was Emily Tarsell, who told of her daughter Christina Tarsell’s death following vaccination with Gardasil – which was recommended by her doctor for the prevention of HPV and, ultimately, cervical cancer.
“I was blessed with Christina, a healthy, bright child who grew to be a beautiful, caring person, gifted athlete, artist, honor student,” Tarsell testified. “In 2008, my 20-year-old daughter had her first GYN appointment. The doctor recommended the HPV vaccine, and we were told it was safe and effective and will prevent cervical cancer. We were not given any literature. We were not told of any adverse side effects. Ads conveyed a sense of urgency about getting Gardasil before exposure to HPVs.”
After receiving Gardasil, Tarsell said, her daughter developed various symptoms, including “joint pain, chronic sinus congestion, intermittent rashes, rapid heartbeat, dizziness on standing, unusual fatigue, and arrhythmia.”
“No one connected the dots, because even doctors are uninformed of vaccine adverse events,” she explained. “She continued with the shots, and 18 days after the third shot, she was found dead in her bed at college. You cannot imagine the hell of seeing your child lifeless. You struggle with the reality. How does a healthy young lady with no pre-existing conditions suddenly die in her bed?”
Tarsell said an autopsy dismissed drugs, trauma, or organ disease as the cause of death, which remained undetermined.
“We did not connect Chris’ symptoms to vaccination initially, until we discovered multiple reports from others too,” Tarsell said, adding that she “learned too late that HPVs clear on their own 90% of the time, and that cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable with pap screening.”
“The public has been misled and misinformed about the risk and benefits of the HPV vaccine,” she explained, noting that, after eight years of litigation, the Department of Health and Human Services “conceded by preponderance of the evidence that Chris died from her HPV vaccinations.”
Witness Polly Tommey is the mother of Billy Tommey, who is vaccine-injured.
“Everybody sitting here – bar two – vaccinated their families with catastrophic results,” Tommey said during her testimony.
“How many more children killed? How many more injured adults?” she asked. “And here’s a question for you, the senators: Who is going to look after our children when we, the parents, are no longer around? They can’t use a toilet, they will never date – all those things. They will never pay taxes. They need 24-hour care because of one vaccine, one moment in time.”
“This is a national crisis that must be addressed,” Tommey pleaded, thanking Johnson and his team “for giving us this day that we thought would never come,” and urging them to persist in “breaking down to the truth.”
“No more Pfizer-sponsored science!” she said. “We need independent science and we need our pediatricians to stop getting bonuses for vaccinating our children!”
Other witnesses included Krystle Cordingley, whose son Corbyn died following quadrivalent flu vaccination, Robert Sullivan, M.D., an anesthesiologist who is vaccine-injured, and Brian Hooker, Ph.D., whose son Steven is also vaccine-injured.
Additionally, the subcommittee heard from Serese Marotta, whose son Joseph Marotta died following a flu Illness, and Eric Stein, brother of Jessica Stein, who died of influenza. These two speakers were avid proponents of vaccines.
Johnson said Wednesday morning that all the witnesses “presented powerful testimony and engaged in respectful discussion.”
“I believe all of these stories needed to be told and listened to,” the senator added. “I sincerely hope that the hearing helped to bridge the gap and demonstrate how to heal and unify our horribly divided nation.”