Blaze News investigates: Long before COVID, Merck allegedly lied about mumps vaccine in MMR II
Cortney Weil
May 07, 2024
https://www.theblaze.com/news/blaze-news...=email-breaking

Litigation against pharmaceutical giant Merck regarding one of its common childhood vaccines has lingered in the court system for more than a decade even though there has been seemingly little dispute about the veracity of the fraud claims against it.

Blaze News reviewed court documents related to the Merck cases and spoke with one attorney as well as several individuals who have put together a feature film, "Protocol 7," about the allegations made in them. According to this evidence, it appears that Merck knew about problems with the mumps component of its measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, often referred to as MMR II, in the 1990s and has spent significant resources in the decades since to cover up those problems rather than admit the truth or improve the vaccine's quality.

Merck's attorneys did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

A 'voice to children who have none': Context of 'Protocol 7'

The allegations dramatized in "Protocol 7" were first made by Merck employee whistleblowers in 2001 and in a federal complaint under the False Claims Act filed under seal in 2010 and made public in 2013. In 2024, questioning the government pitch about vaccines is no longer taboo, thanks in large part to the controversial COVID-19 vaccines. But skepticism about vaccines was not always so socially acceptable.

Just ask Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British former physician and the writer, director, and executive producer of "Protocol 7." Wakefield was stripped of his medical license and shunned by many in the medical community as a "disgraced anti-vaxxer" after he suggested in the 1990s that children take separate vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella, perhaps a year apart, because of a possible link between MMR and autism.

Wakefield told Blaze News that he doesn't much mind the attempts to ostracize him. "My production team and I have both moral and professional obligations to give voice to children who have none," he said. "Contrived and dishonest allegations against me only serve to strengthen my resolve."

Wakefield now lives in Austin, Texas, and recently appeared on BlazeTV's "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered" to talk about his experiences promoting vaccine safety and informed consent. A portion of that interview can be viewed below. Subscribe to BlazeTV for other such original content.
'Like a cold': Children and the mumps virus

Between measles, mumps, and rubella, a mumps vaccine would likely be the hardest to sell to parents if there were no MMR II on the CDC's childhood immunization schedule. For one thing, a mumps infection is rare and poses only a low risk to children. Children who do contract the disease likely experience swollen glands, muscle pain, and a fever for a week or less.

Even the CDC website admits: "Some people who get mumps have very mild symptoms (like a cold), or no symptoms at all and may not know they have the disease." -- excerpt, rest at link above --

Sad, isn't it, Tinker?