(NaturalNews) According to an
article by Matthew Day published in
The Telegraph, a group of doctors recruited homeless people in Poland for a vaccine trial and paid them £1-2 (less than five dollars) to be tested with what they were told was a regular flu vaccine. What the unsuspecting, impoverished victims weren't told is that they were actually going to be given a bird flu vaccine. The director of a center for the homeless in Poland claimed that 21 people from his center died last year, when the usual number of deaths in a given year is about eight.
The vaccine was apparently given to up to 350 poor and homeless people last year. The medical personnel are disputing the claim by the authorities that the homeless people weren't told that they were testing a bird flu vaccine. There is no information about the level of involvement of the pharmaceutical companies that commissioned the trials at this time.
The Polish health minister, Ewa Kopacz, says that while there is not yet proof that the activities of any of the 3 doctors and 6 nurses involved in the unauthorized bird flu trial caused any deaths, they are forbidden to return to work and face criminal prosecution. Some people may remember that Ewa Kopacz was just in the news recently for aiding a 14-year-old girl with getting an abortion. According to an
article at
CWNews.com, a group of pro-life activists called for her to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and some Catholic officials claim that she is already, in fact, excommunicated since the Code of Canon Law specifies that excommunication is the penalty for procuring an abortion. Actually, there just hasn't been a lot of good press for the Polish national health service these days. Day notes in his article that ambulance medics in Poland were recently found guilty of murdering patients in order to get bonus commissions from funeral homes!
Sadly, it is not uncommon for poor, disadvantaged people to be used in medical trials. Many vaccines and drugs are first tested in Third World countries. For people who are hungry and poor, like the people used in this bird flu trial, the few paltry dollars they were paid to test this vaccine probably seemed like a fortune. That's what makes this practice of using the needy and suffering to test a dangerous drug so absolutely deplorable.
However, for some people, profit and greed are their sole reasons for existence. Closing their eyes to the side effects of drugs and vaccines (which often include death), they use whatever trickery and deception of the destitute that they deem necessary in order to further their own careers and line their own pockets. Perhaps few consumers truly understand that whenever they purchase a drug or a vaccine developed in this fashion, they are supporting this immorality. But could any possible "benefits" derived from these drugs or vaccines really be worth taking advantage of the weak and helpless?
About the author
Joanne Waldron is a computer scientist with a passion for writing and sharing health-related news and information with others. She hosts the
Naked Wellness: The Gentle Health Revolution forum, which is devoted to achieving radiant health, well-being, and longevity.
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