Reporting schemes such as VAERS are very useful when used correctly but they do have limitations and cannot be used to establish causality or for epidemiological studies. Unfortunately VAERS is open to abuse by pseudo-scientists, laypeople, scientists with anti-vaccine agendas and even lawyers. Those of us involved with the vaccine issue affectionately refer to this as VAERS dumpster-diving and unfortunately there is no shortage of dodgy investigators who engage in this deceitful activity. One particular vaccine type stands out for VAERS abuse which protects against some strains of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The current two vaccines are Gardasil and Cervarix. It wasn't difficult to find an example of how egregiously VAERS is abused to make a personal, emotionally-overwrought argument in light of the fact that all serious adverse events are followed up on and none can be traced to HPV vaccines.
It just so happens that a fellow skeptic ScienceMonkey was kind enough to mine the VAERS database (for good and not for evil) and collate it to make the entries for "deaths" concise and readable for those who wish to demonstrate to the anti-vaxxer they are debating how HPV vaccines are not responsible for all the deaths they do like to claim.
VAERS (Vaccine
Adverse Event Reporting System) is ONE of the CDC’s methods for
tracking and documenting any potential negative reactions to
vaccines. ANYONE can submit to VAERS. (Physicians would use the
Vaccine Safety Datalink.) The details are open to the public and, as
people are wont to do to promote their agendas, statistics can be
manipulated and misrepresented. All of the VAERS data are accessible
to the public and the individual reports are publicly-available in
the VAERS Wonder system.
From
the CDC: “A report to VAERS generally does not prove that the
identified vaccine(s) caused the adverse event described. It
only confirms that the reported event occurred sometime after vaccine
was given. No proof that the event was caused by the vaccine is
required in order for VAERS to accept the report. VAERS accepts all
reports without judging whether the event was caused by the vaccine.”
For reference, 80
million dose of Gardasil were administered in the U.S. between 2006
and 2015.
VAERS has 11 reports
of people dying from HPV vaccines in 2011. Here are the report
numbers with short synopses.
417137-1 Died 29
days after vaccination. Onset 29 days. F 17 TN.
419237-1 Anecdote
from a filer of multiple reports.
421582-1 Anecdote.
Cardiac arrest.
425513-1 Chronic
depression. Suicide.
425598-1 Anecdote
from a filer of multiple reports.
425680-1 Anecdote.
Internet.
429007-1 Consumer
reported he had nothing to live for because Gardasil killed his
daughter.
430780-1 Pathologist
stated cause of death as consistent with cardiac insufficiency, due
to cardiac arrhythmia, due to probable early cardiomyopathy. Child
Death Review Team felt this death was consistent with a diagnosis of
sudden cardiac death.
437735-1 Relapse of
ITP: 18-year-old female with immune thrombocytopenic purpura,
diagnosed in 1995 and in remission from 2004 to 2011 following
treatment with Rituximab. Relapse in early April, 2011, followed
administration of Gardasil vaccine on 10-26-10 and 1-7-11. Relapse of
ITP led eventually to death from intracranial hemorrhage on
07/06/2011. Onset 84 days after vaccination.
437999-1 Suicide.
442402-1 Limited
details. Patient on Depakote, Lyrica, Diazepam, Adderall for a
Seizure disorder.
5 (45%) were
anecdotes. 2 were suicides. 1 was not a death. 2 were clear other
causes of death. 1 has limited information but onset occurred almost
a month after vaccination. 1 patient has a disorder and was on other
drugs.
There is no evidence
in VAERS to support that any deaths can be linked to HPV in 2011.
VAERS has 6 reports
of people dying from HPV vaccines in 2012. Here are the report
numbers with short synopses.
449334-1 Symptoms
onset 968 days after vaccination. Patient was found to be positive
for a genetic mutation (FUS) recently recognized as associated with
early-onset, rapidly progressive ALS.
450655-1 Limited
detail. Michigan 2/27/12. (I can find zero external details on this
one.)
453010-1 Limited
detail. On other meds. Onset 9 days after injection 2.
457904-1 14-year-old
male. Suicide.
464953-1 Anecdote,
and “the nurses found that there was no record of the patient in
local registry for GARDASIL patients”
471590-1 Anecdote
was “from a consumer, who learned from a foreign radio channel of
fatal cases after GARDASIL vaccination”
2 (33%) were
anecdotes. 2 were other clear causes. 2 reports had very limited
information and searches added nothing.
There is no evidence
in VAERS to support that any deaths can be linked to HPV in 2012.
VAERS has 19 reports
of people dying from HPV vaccines in 2013. Here are the report
numbers with short synopses.
482344-1 Someone
received something via social media and filed a report.
482352-1 Someone
received something via social media and filed a report.
485188-1 Someone
received something via social media and filed a report.
485757-1 A patient
on anti-seizure medication and suffering from an upper respiratory
infection died.
489163-1 Mother was
vaccinated during pregnancy. Baby died 59 days after birth.
492468-1 Anecdote –
someone knows someone who died.
494024-1 Patient had
a cerebral hemorrhage and leukemia.
500225-1 Child
passed out. Mother did research on the internet and heard about
someone who died. There was no death here.
501081-1 Student
found dead in dorm room three days after vaccination. Date and story
likely link case to a well-publicized case. (The
CDC/ATSDR
Policy on Releasing and Sharing Data
prohibits linking these data with other data sets or information for
the purpose of identifying an individual.) The
death was attributed to bulimia complications.
501663-1 Limited
details. Nothing in file implying death liked to vaccines.
505344-1 Someone
received something via social media and filed a report. File notes
same person filing many similar reports.
505350-1 Someone
received something via social media and filed a report.
505364-1 Someone
received something via social media and filed a report.
510130-1 Patient
died from myocarditis.
511528-1 Patient
died from acute liver failure.
513554-1 Patient
died 111 days after vaccination from influenza complications
513728-1 A mother
claimed her daughter was killed by Gardasil five years earlier.
514814-1 Someone saw
an anti-HPV video and filed a report.
515434-1 A asthmatic
patient on Albuterol died 42 days after vaccination.
11 of 19 (58%)
reports were anecdotal. 1 was not a death. 6 deaths were attributed
to other causes. 1 death had limited detail in the file. The wording
in some of the filings was identical. Some of the Wonder files even
noted it was the same person doing many of the anecdotal filings.
There is no evidence
in VAERS to support that any deaths can be linked to HPV in 2013.
VAERS has 16 reports
of people dying from HPV vaccines in 2014. Here are the report
numbers with short synopses.
518872-1 Patient on
Adderall and Celexa died 44 days after receiving third Gardasil
injection.
522070-1 Anecdote.
Nurse reports of multiple people reporting internet anecdotes.
525311-1 Anecdote of
53 deaths.
526687-1 Patient
with cardiomegaly. Myocarditis.
527990-1 Anecdote.
Someone read something on Facebook that 15 people had died.
528766-1 Anecdote.
Nurse read about something on a website.
532797-1 Patient had
seizure 43 days after vaccination.
*538295-1 Patient
died 1 day after Gardasil. Mother claims it was the vaccination.
540269-1 Anecdote of
case 538295-1.
540899-1 Barely an
anecdote.
541912-1 Anecdote of
case 538295-1.
541916-1 Anecdote of
case 538295-1.
544217-1 Anecdote of
case 538295-1. (Physician aware of the anecdote corrected the age!)
546064-1 Anecdote of
case 538295-1.
557260-1 Anecdote.
Reporter claims deaths tied to Gardasil and product needs to be
pulled from market. File states this reporter has done this many
times.
559863-1 Anecdote of
case 538295-1.
*I have to do a side
note here on 538295-1 as I found this specific case on many
anti-vaccination websites when I dove deeper. Based on the age of
the girl, the date of the incident, and the location, I am certain of
who this girl was. (The
CDC/ATSDR
Policy on Releasing and Sharing Data
prohibits linking these data with other data sets or information for
the purpose of identifying an individual.) The
mother claimed the vaccination was the cause of her daughter’s
death. The coroner found no causation from the vaccination and
concluded the death was caused by diphenhydramine intoxication
(Benadryl overdose). Despite the coroner’s conclusion, many
anti-vaccination websites still tout this case. Six of the other
filings for 2014 are for this specific case.
12 of 16 (75%) cases
were anecdotes. 6 of the anecdotes were the same story!
There is no evidence
in VAERS to support that any deaths can be linked to HPV in 2014.
Here’s a side note
on disability filings for 2014: Permanent disabilities are said to be
caused by HPV vaccines. 41% of the permanent disabilities out of a
total count of 83 reported in 2014 were anecdotal. 7% of the reports
had no disabilities reported. 10% were vague enough to where I “kind
of” wanted more details and 15% were vague enough to where I really
wanted more detail. Many filings were belief based – they “know
the vaccine caused the harm.” 17% of the files noted the onset of
adverse effects started more than 90 days after the vaccination.
Several reported the onset occurred years after the vaccine.
There were 12 files
where I really wanted more information and the results of the follow
ups.
Several of the files
noted their daughter’s attitudes changing after the vaccine. Since
the attitudes of girls in their early teens are always extremely
stable . . .
Here’s your 2015
“death from HPV vaccine” breakdown from VAERS/Wonder:
562128-1 Anecdote
(Twitter)
568282-1 Allergic
reaction symptoms 127 days after injection.
570801-1 Syncope.
Died in ER 496 days after injection.
591496-1 Anecdote
(television show)
597263-1 Anecdote
(website)
603438-1 Anecdote
(website)
607441-1 Anecdote
(“one of several reports from the same reporter”)
611113-1 Anecdote
(digital media)
611452-1 Upper
respiratory tract infection anterior to the injection. Died three
days after vaccination. Would like to see a follow up on this one,
but couldn’t find anything from other sources.
611827-1 Anecdote
612231-1 Anecdote
(online article)
612719-1 Onset 98
days after vaccination. Pontine Glioma Tumor.
613330-1 Anecdote
(Twitter)
615613-1 Anecdote
(website video)
615626-1 Anecdote
(file even says “non-valid social media” spontaneous report)
616449-1 Anecdote
(social media)
12 of the 16 (75%)
are anecdotes, almost exclusively from the internet.
One had an allergic
reaction 127 days after the vaccine.
One died 496 days
after vaccination.
One had a
pre-existing URI, but there isn’t enough detail in the file to say
anything concrete either way. I couldn’t find any public detail on
this and there is not any filing with the U.S. Court of Claims for a
vaccine injury with details matching this case as of August 22, 2016.
(If anyone has any details on this case, please post!)
One had symptom
onset 98 days after vaccination. Death from brain tumor.
There is no evidence
in VAERS to support that any deaths can be linked to HPV in 2015.
And now we enter
2016 where the art of data stuffing has caused the “deaths” to
skyrocket. Here’s your 2016 “death from HPV vaccine” breakdown
from VAERS/Wonder through August 22, 2016:
618174-1 Anecdote
(Twitter)
618364-1 Anecdote
(Magazine)
618411-1 Anecdote
(Social Media)
619115-1 Anecdote
(Social Media)
619116-1 Anecdote
619827-1 Anecdote
(media, “Same filer”)
619835-1 Anecdote
(online article)
621565-1 “Possible
Lyme disease, 3 and a half years of pain with seizures and
tachycardia. Seizure led to heart attack and death on 1/12/16.”
622366-1 Anecdote
622986-1 Brain
tumor. 1,651 days after vaccination. For the mathematically
impaired, that’s 4.5 years.
625990-1 Anecdote
626063-1 Anecdote
(social media)
627312-1 Anecdote
(Pharmacist inquiry. No death reported.)
628774-1 Anecdote
(Report blamed death on “dTpa vaccine.”)
634742-1 Anecdote
(“This is one of several cases received from the same source.”)
636334-1 Anecdote
(“This is one of several cases received from the same source.”)
636483-1 Anecdote
638043-1 Anecdote
638257-1 Anecdote
639404-1 Anecdote
641317-1 Symptom
Text field literally says just “Death.”
So 19 of 22 (86%) of
the reports for 2016 through August 22 are anecdotes. One didn’t
even have a death reported. One blamed the death on other causes.
One was a brain tumor 1,651 days after vaccination. One said just
“Death.”
There is no evidence
in VAERS to support that any deaths can be linked to HPV so far in
2016.
