Humm so, given there's money here now other than the big pharmacy money wonder how this will turn out. Oh...see related measles story below it.

Whatcha think ladies and gentlemen? Should vaccines be optional? Oh and if you opt out of vaccinations and your kid dies or is forever compromised by a preventable illness is that okay? Maybe it's Gods will eh?

Of course now that there is a vaccine that can prevent some kinds of cervical cancer I know the neocons want them to be optional because you know...they so love that death and wages of sin bunk.

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Major GOP political donor Gary Kompothecras backs bill to alter Florida's vaccine rules

TALLAHASSEE — Gary Kompothecras, parent to two autistic children, believes early-childhood vaccines containing ethyl mercury are to blame for their condition. Other parents of autistic children share his belief.

But Kompothecras, a millionaire chiropractor best known for his "1-800-ASK-GARY" lawyer-medical referral service, is not just any parent. He is a major political donor whose connections and influence are helping him push controversial legislation that would change childhood vaccination requirements.

Critics say the proposal would endanger vaccine supplies in Florida and expose too many young children to preventable diseases and illnesses. But bill sponsors say they are just trying to give parents more choice and oversight in their children's health care.

The proposal went before its final Senate committee stop Tuesday, where senators tweaked the bill to appease some medical groups. But lawmakers ran out of time before voting, and the bill's fate is up in the air.

Bill sponsor Jeremy Ring hopes to get it sent right to the Senate floor for a vote, and the House can take up the measure after that. Or the Senate Ways and Means Committee could hear it again during one final meeting, yet to be scheduled. Committee Chairman J.D. Alexander said he'll take 24 hours to think about it.

"The biggest first say parents can get with their children is vaccinations," said Ring, D-Margate. "And right now they don't have enough of a say. They just go in and the doctor gives all these shots, boom, boom, boom."

A self-made millionaire, Kompothecras is a well-connected contributor and fundraiser to candidates, including Gov. Charlie Crist, Rep. Kevin Ambler, Senate President Jeff Atwater and Sen. Mike Bennett. In a recent interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Kompothecras called himself "the rainmaker."

Now he is using his position to push a vaccine bill that plenty of medical groups and health experts oppose.

SB 242 would give parents more authority to delay the pace at which their children are vaccinated against illnesses like measles, mumps and polio — as long as they are up to date with their shots by the time they enter the public school system. (Florida law already provides for exemptions from school vaccine requirements in the cases of religious beliefs or medical risks determined by a physician.)

The proposal, sponsored by Tampa Republican Rep. Kevin Ambler in the House, also would prohibit the use of vaccines for pregnant women and young children if the vaccines contain even a small percentage of ethyl mercury. Better known as thimerosal, it is used as a preservative in some vaccines, including flu and tetanus shots that are made in advance and in large quantities. Some people, including Kompothecras, believe thimerosal is the vaccine ingredient that makes their initially healthy children become autistic.

Kompothecras' son Bronson, 12, is severely autistic. Kompothecras blames "the nine vaccines he got in one day" at 18 months old. His daughter, Sarah Alice, 11, has a less severe form of autism.

The overwhelming opinion of doctors, including Judy Schaechter, an associate professor of pediatric medicine at the University of Miami, is that there is no "credible scientific link" between thimerosal and autism. Schaechter, in a lengthy letter to Sen. Nan Rich, a bill opponent, said the bill's limiting of thimerosal is unrealistic — well above levels approved by the FDA — and would prevent the use of flu vaccines.

Senators on Tuesday tweaked SB242 to appease powerful medical groups, including the Florida Medical Association, adding a provision that allows for the use of vaccines such as flu shots containing thimerosal if there is no readily available alternative.

Senators also added language to make clear that physicians who don't agree with a parent's desired vaccine schedule are not obligated to continue treating the child.

Kompothecras dismisses criticism from health officials.

"We're not against vaccines," he said Tuesday. "All I'm saying is, take the mercury out and don't give them nine shots at once."

He says pharmaceutical giants like Merck and Wyeth use donations to influence groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics into supporting their profitable vaccines.

Kompothecras knows a thing or two about donations. In the 2008 general election, he donated a total of about $40,000 to individual candidates, including Ambler, Atwater, Bennett, and the Republican Party of Florida. And he gave more than $110,000 to the campaign for passage of Crist's property tax cut plan, Amendment 1.

Crist, a friend to Kompothecras, named him to the Governor's Autism Task Force last year. Crist did not take a stand this week on the legislation.

Staff writers Steve Bousquet, Alex Leary and Marc Caputo contributed to this report. Shannon Colavecchio can be reached at scolavecchio@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.


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Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A sixth case of measles has been reported in the Washington Area, this time in Prince William County, the first sign of the disease in Virginia this year.

The Virginia Department of Health announced the case yesterday, a day after D.C. officials reported finding the highly infectious disease in a District man who contracted it during a recent three-week trip to India. There is no known link between the Virginia case and the others in the region, health officials said. The source of the measles virus in the Virginia resident has not been identified.

Denise Sockwell, the Virginia Department of Health's epidemiologist for Northern Virginia, said the man "did not have a history of travel outside the United States."

The Prince William resident works at the Harris Teeter in Tysons Corner, said Jennifer Thompson, director of communications for the supermarket chain.

"The person is fine now," Thompson said, adding that the store sent voice mail messages yesterday to 1,074 customers who had shopped at the store during the man's shifts April 10-14, alerting them to possible exposure. She said no other employees have contracted the disease, and the man has not returned to work.
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The man also visited several places where unimmunized people might have been exposed, including a Safeway and 7-Eleven in Woodbridge, an IHOP in Falls Church, and a CVS in Fairfax Station. People who think they might have measles should contact their doctor's offices before going in, Sockwell said, so that precautions can be taken to prevent others from being exposed.

Measles germs can linger in the air for up to two hours, putting at risk people who have not been vaccinated. In the United States, that includes babies younger than 1 year old who are too young for the vaccine, people who have moved to the region from countries where the vaccine is not prevalent, and people who decide against getting it for religious or other reasons.

People born before 1957, when the vaccine was not available, are generally considered to be immune because they are assumed to have contracted the disease as children, health officials said. "In those days, it was thought of as a disease of childhood," Sockwell said. According to the 2007 Virginia Immunization Survey, 94 percent of kindergarteners and 98 percent of sixth-graders in Virginia are vaccinated, she said.

The virus spreads through coughing and sneezing. Most people fully recover, but it can lead to complications such as ear infections, pneumonia and death. Symptoms include a rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes, which can start seven to 21 days after exposure and last about a week.

Six cases in a region in a short period is rare, Sockwell said, noting that before one reported case last year, the state had not had a case in six years.