# MASSACHUSETTS Medical Exemption SB 784 Action Alert



## Kris L. Christine (Mar 25, 2009)

*Massachusetts Medical Exemption Bill, SB 784*_ An Act Relative to Rabies Vaccination for Dogs and Cats _ http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st00/st00784.htm, is scheduled for a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on July 14 in Hearing Room A2 at 10:00 http://www.mass.gov/legis/186history/s00784.htm 

*What You Can Do to Help*

Please contact the Legislators on the Municipalities and Regional Government Committee (contact information below) and ask them to support Senate Bill #784 and ask everyone you know in Massachusetts to do the same. 

*PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO CROSS-POST*

Members of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government: 
JOINT COMMITTEE ON MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

Senator James Eldridge, Co-Chair [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1120 Fax: (617) 722-1089
Senator Patricia Jehlen, Vice-Chair [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1578 Fax: (617) 722-1117 
Senator Susan Fargo [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1572
Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1673
Senator Thomas Kennedy [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1200 Fax: (617) 722-1116 
Senator Richard Tisei [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1206 Fax: (617) 722-1063 
Representative Paul Donato [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2090 Fax: (617) 722-2848 
Representative Joyce Spiliotis [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2430
Representative David Sullivan [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2666 Fax: 617-722-2821
Representative Sean Curran [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2263
Representative Angelo Puppolo [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2011 Fax: (617) 722-2238
Representative Pam Richardson [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2582 Fax: (617) 722-2879
Representative Katherine Clark [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2220 Fax: (617) 722-2821 
Representative Brian Ashe [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2090 Fax: (617) 722-2848
Representative Timothy Madden [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2810 Fax: (617) 722-2846
Representative Jay Barrows [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2488 Fax: (617) 722-2390
Representative Robert Hargraves [email protected] Phone (617) 722-2305 Fax: (617) 722-2598


----------



## Kris L. Christine (Mar 25, 2009)

*CORRECTION:

Massachusetts Medical Exemption Bill, SB 784*_ An Act Relative to Rabies Vaccination for Dogs and Cats _ http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st00/st00784.htm, has received a "study order" from the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on 3/9/10. In order for this bill to be reintroduced for passage, the Committee Chairs and the bill sponsors must write a letter to the Rules Committee asking that it be reintroduced. 

*What You Can Do to Help*

Please contact the Legislative Chairs on the Municipalities and Regional Government Committee (contact information below) and the bill sponsor, asking them to request reintroduction of Senate Bill #784 and ask everyone you know in Massachusetts to do the same. 

*PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO CROSS-POST*

Members of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government: 
JOINT COMMITTEE ON MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT

Senator James Eldridge, Co-Chair [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1120 Fax: (617) 722-1089
Representative Paul Donato [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2090 Fax: (617) 722-2848 
Senator Steven Panagiotakos [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1630 Fax: (617) 722-1001


----------



## Kris L. Christine (Mar 25, 2009)

*Letter from Massachusetts veterinarian, Dr. Patricia Jordan*

Ref; Massachusetts Medical Exemption Bill, SB 784

Please write a letter to the Rules Committee asking that this SB 784 Rabies Vaccination Bill be reintroduced.

As a licensed professional in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a practicing veterinarian for 26 years, I implore each and every one of you; Senator James Eldridge; Co-Chair, Representative Paul Donato and Senator Steven Panagiotakos to step up for the citizens of Massachusetts.

Rabies vaccination laws as they currently stand are woefully and disturbingly not up to par with the advancement of science. Our own veterinary professional associations and each institute of higher learning veterinary college in these United States are aware that the vaccine intervals are not in keeping with the duration of immunity studies. The rabies vaccines is the most adverse event associated veterinary vaccine as well as the only legally mandated veterinary vaccine and because of this is the focus of another movement, a movement to make a Veterinary Vaccine injury Compensation Act into FEDERAL law. The advocate for this Veterinary Vaccine Injury Compensation Act is one of our leading Veterinary Oncologists, Dr. Dennis Macy.

In 1999 the World Health Organization in the IARC named the veterinary vaccine adjuvant a grade 3 out of 4 with 4 being the most powerful carcinogen. The vaccines are associated with cancer and the AVMA had enacted a Vaccine Associated Sarcoma Task Force that collected data and research that showed cats, dogs and ferrets were all developing cancer from vaccines.

Perdue University has with the studies conducted on vaccinated versus unvaccinated dogs in the Haywood study established the fact that only vaccinated dogs developed auto antibodies and auto antibodies are the precursor to autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are now the most prolific medical disease we see in both human and animal medicine and the link to the vaccines is no longer a matter of speculation. Even the drug insert from Pfizer about the rabies vaccines puts in print the link of exogenous proteins in the vaccines and the development of autoimmune disease. Because of the breakdown of tumor surveillance, the ingredient mercury and aluminum mutators in the vaccines, the viruses and microbial proteins which lead to autoimmune disease and the shifting of a healthy cell mediated immune system bias to a very unhealthy, chronic inflammatory humoral immune mediated bias, the animals over vaccinated are now a cause of emerging public health issues. 
If you do not see to it that the animals are not vaccinated into immune dysregulation and repetitive rabies vaccines that are unsafe and unnecessary are not used to ruin the health of the companion animals then the resulting public health crisis will be on your watch and on your hands.

There are studies completed that already show both dogs and cats having at least 5 years of immunity conveyance from one set of rabies vaccines. Indeed there are no recorded cases of any animals receiving a minimum of the 2 rabies to a mature mammalian immune system to ever developing the rabies disease. In humans, who the AVMA is on record admitting the same mammalian immune system as the canine, at least 14 years of amnestic response to rabies vaccination has been demonstrated.
The colorable laws of rabies must be changed to reflect the scientific knowledge that immunity to viral diseases are in many years, decades and that as Dr. Ron Schultz and Dr. Jean Dodds have reported good for the lifetime of the animals.

More vaccines are not innocuous and are not health promoting but rather health deconstructing now that the association of cancer, autoimmune disease and immune system dys regulation is a matter of record. To not allow the letter of waiver from additional rabies vaccines when a titer can demonstrate an individual’s antibody to rabies virus is sufficient or an animal with any type of immune system impairment, cancer, loss of tumor surveillance ,autoimmune disease,allergies,asthma,atopy,anaphylaxis,ezchema,liver,kidney,heart,neurological disease or inflammatory myopathies, skin disorders, weight loss or any other type of disability like spleen removal or infections is to directly be responsible for the endangerment of not only the death or disability of the companion animal but also to the endangerment of the community and specifically to the public health of the Commonwealth’s citizens. To not act responsibly in seeing that the immune dysregulating vaccines do not continue to be administered is to personally be culpably responsible for the results of this decision.

Our rabies laws are antiquated and do not reflect what we now know about the genetic expression of disease from the vaccines that have been administered. 
Dr. Ron Schultz has also established that additional vaccines are more of a menace to processed patients then a reinforcement of immunity. In contrast more is not better, it is disabling to the immune system.

It has been known since 1947 and a matter of scientific study and published papers since 1954 that only one antirabies vaccine administered to a healthy mammalian immune system is sufficient to confer immunity for the lifetime of a mammal. Indeed, humans are now realized to have 92 years of immunity from one small pox vaccine. Titer requirements can be made mandatory after rabies vaccine processing but right now the legislation must be enacted to protect the public health from over vaccinated companion animals with dys regulated immune systems that will weaken the protection of community health.

I am familiar with Joann Camilli and the disservice the Commonwealth of Massachusetts did to her family, to her children and especially to her companion dog “Louie”. For her Louie to be mandated an unsafe and unnecessary rabies vaccine in the face of obvious kidney disease, weight loss and hematuria
(all the hallmark of serum sickness from prior vaccine administration and antibody antigen complex damage to the kidneys) so that the vaccination lead to the immediate further decline and death which occurred in front of the eyes of Mrs. Camilli’s’ young daughter is a reflection of just how barbaric and irrational our culture has become. The treatment that Mrs. Camilli received from her veterinarian during this event also which was very well documented is behavior unbecoming of a veterinary medical professional and constitutes not only poor judgment but a lack of comprehension of every line of our Veterinary Hippocratic Oath from ensuring animal welfare to promotion of public health and keeping up with the advancements in science.

The law should be intelligent and purposeful and not something used against man and beast neither to invoke physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering nor to kill. Enact a rabies vaccination waiver and in the process be a champion for public safety and health .Indeed I would be willing to supply your committee with the scientific papers necessary to document this position and to also provide cases, all from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which show the current situation in the veterinary practices all across the Commonwealth with the over use of vaccines to unhealthy animals. These cases establish the fact that Malpractice is the Standard of Care and this is why emerging public health issues exist.

Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Jordan


----------



## Kris L. Christine (Mar 25, 2009)

*Update MA Medical Exemption Bill SB 784:* 6/29/10 I spoke with a staff person in Senator Eldridge's office this morning, and they said the Senator has been receiving calls requesting that he write the Rules Committee asking that SB 784, the rabies medical exemption bill, be reintroduced for passage and that "It is on his radar." Please continue to call the two Co-Chairs of the the Massachusetts Municipalities and Regional Government Committee asking them to request reintroduction of Senate Bill #784 

Senator James Eldridge, Co-Chair [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-1120 Fax: (617) 722-1089
Representative Paul Donato Co-Chair [email protected] Phone: (617) 722-2090 Fax: (617) 722-2848


----------



## Kris L. Christine (Mar 25, 2009)

*Below is a copy of the letter I have just sent to the Chairs of Massachusetts' Joint Commitee on Municipalities and Regional Government on behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund. 

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST*

June 30, 2010

Representative Representative Paul Donato, Co-Chair Senator James Eldridge, Co-Chair
Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government 
State House Room 540 State House Room 213-A
Boston, MA 02133 Boston, MA 02133 

RE:  Massachusetts Rabies Medical Exemption Bill, SB 784

Greetings Representative Donato and Senator Eldrige:

On behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust and the many Massachusetts pet owners who have contacted us, we respectfully request that you write the Rules Committee and ask them to reintroduce SB 784, Senator Steven Panagiotakos’ rabies medical exemption bill.

Chapter 140: §145B of the General Laws of Massachusetts implicitly exempts animals from vaccination under some circumstances in the wording_ “the animal shall be vaccinated against rabies prior to being discharged *if the animal's medical condition permits*.” _However, the law does not explicitly state that a medical waiver exempts an animal from the requirement of being currently immunized against rabies. 

The states of Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin all have medical exemption clauses for sick animals in their rabies laws, and a bill is currently pending in the California legislature to include a waiver in its statutes. 

The labels on rabies vaccines state that they are for _“the vaccination of *healthy* cats, dogs…,”_ and there are medical conditions for which vaccination can jeopardize the life or well-being of an animal. Reintroduction and passage of the medical exemption bill, SB 784, clarifying the circumstances under which sick animals could receive exemptions would allow Massachusetts veterinarians to write waivers for animals (such as those who have had anaphylactic reactions to vaccination, or suffer from cancer, kidney/liver failure, hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, grand mal seizures, and chronic autoimmune disorders) whose medical conditions would be exacerbated by rabies vaccination. The State of Maine inserted such an exemption into their 3 year rabies protocol, 7 M.R.S.A., Sec. 3922(3), which became effective in April 2005 -- *not one rabid dog has been reported in the more than 5 years since that date.* Colorado’s data reflect the same -- there have been no rabid dogs reported in the state since passage of their medical exemption in July 2008. 

Without a clearly worded medical exemption in Chapter 140: §145B, Massachusetts law imposes an ethical dilemma on veterinarians with seriously ill patients who must either violate their Veterinarian’s Oath and administer a rabies vaccine contrary to the manufacturer’s labeled instructions, or make a recommendation against vaccinating for rabies -- advice which is contrary to the law. Being compelled by law to vaccinate unhealthy animals against rabies also puts veterinarians at risk of being held liable for adverse reactions the animals may suffer, and owners of critically ill animals may decide to not comply with the law rather than jeopardize the lives of their pets by immunizing them. 

The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust urges you to write the Rules Committee requesting that SB 784 be reintroduced for passage. You may contact me at the number below if you would like any scientific data on the rabies vaccine or have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
Duration of Immunity Study for Rabies Vaccine - Rabies Challenge Fund 
[email protected]

cc: Dr. W. Jean Dodds
Dr. Ronald Schultz
Senator Steven Panagiotakos


----------



## Kris L. Christine (Mar 25, 2009)

*MASSACHUSETTS Medical Exemption Bill SB 784 Update:* "Neal" from Senator Eldridge's office left a voice mail on 8/6/10 saying that Senator Eldridge is working on trying to get SB 784 recommitted from Committee and is in negotiations with his House counterpart and hopes to have the bill "reported out" by next week or the week after.

For more information, contact Neal from Senator Eldridge's office: 617-722-1120


----------

