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... GL@BAL NEWS ... NEWS VACCINES CONTAMINATED WITH MAD COW DISEASE? n Friday 20 October, the UK Department of Health issued a recall notice for polio vaccines after it was found that the manufacturer, Medeva, had breached production health guidelines. Of particular concern is Medeva's use of potentially contaminated material from British cattle. Eleven million doses of polio vaccine-containing material from British cattle have been administered to children and adults since BSE (mad cow disease) vaccine guidelines banned its use in 1989, according to the Department of Health. The drug factory at the centre of the polio vaccine scandal has a history of contamination and production blunders, leading to fears that its vaccines against other diseases are unsafe. Last year, investigators from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were horrified by the conditions they found at the plant in Speke, near Liverpool, which also makes vaccines against flu, tuberculosis, tetanus and hepatitis B. The Department of Health was forced to recall Medeva's oral polio vaccine after it was discovered that the firm had been using potentially BSE-infected material. However, the problems surrounding the polio vaccine may prove to be the tip of the iceberg. A week-long inspection by the FDA last summer into the production of Fluvirin flu vaccine at the plant found Medeva had failed to: "clean, maintain and sanitise equipment at appropriate intervals to prevent malfunction or contamination"; = maintain systems to prevent unacceptable levels of toxins and bacteria contaminating the production process; = ensure batches of vaccines "conformed with all established standards, specifications and characteristics"; and + prove that vaccines would be free from "bacteria and fungi". In October 1999, the FDA's director of compliance, Steven Masiello, fired off an official warning letter to Medeva's head of primary production, John O'Brian, telling him to sort out the problems or have its product banned from entering the US. Fluvirin is used by some 20 million Americans and more than a million British people, many of them elderly. Although the extent of the excess levels of toxins and bacteria at the Speke factory is not known, in extreme cases contaminated vaccines can lead to severe adverse reactions, including toxic shock and fever. In the old and fragile, the impact could be lethal. The FDA letter contains the disclosure that instead of dealing with the problems, managers at the plant wanted to raise the level of contamination deemed to be acceptable. Sources familiar with the company's operations claim that there were serious production problems running through the factory and abuses were routinely ignored. Although it is not known what other contamination problems the factory had, it is known that production difficulties were not confined solely to the manufacture of the flu vaccine. Liberal Democrat consumer affairs spokesman Norman Baker is now calling for an immediate investigation into events at the Speke factory and a full explanation from the Department of Health. He also said that the UK Medicines Control Agency (MCA), the body which regulates drug companies, had serious questions to answer about why it had failed to take any action. Baker said: "The Department of Health and the MCA have completely failed to act in the interests of public health. In their desperate attempts not to undermine the vaccination program, they have tried to sweep all problems under the carpet. As a result, public confidence has been shattered. When will they learn that the answer is not to cover up, but to identify problems and deal with them immediately?" (Source: The Observer, 22 October 2000, www.newsunlimited.co.uk) During the study period, 63 cardiac arrest patients survived and were inter- viewed within a week. Seven survivors had NDE memories, but only four passed the Grayson scale—the strict medical crite- ria for assessing near-death experiences. Dr Sam Parnia commented: "I started off as a sceptic but, having weighed up all the evidence, I now think that there is something going on. "Essentially, it comes back to the ques- tion of whether the mind or consciousness is produced from the brain. If we can prove that the mind is produced by the brain, I don't think there is anything after we die because essentially we are con- scious beings. "If, on the contrary, the brain is like an intermediary which manifests the mind, like a television will act as an intermediary to manifest waves in the air into a picture or a sound, we can show that the mind is still there after the brain is dead. And that is what I think these near-death experiences indicate." (Source: The Telegraph, London, 22 October 2000, www.telegraph.co.uk) THE MICROCHIP THAT COULD BLOW YOUR MIND AY developed microchip, implanted into the body, will allow two people to share each other's pain, movement and even sexual excitement, claims an expert in artificial intelligence. The microchip could even see the "faked orgasm" banished from the bedroom and bring an end to the battle of the sexes, says its inventor, Professor Kevin Warwick. Designed as a body implant, the chip will transmit signals from the nervous sys tem of one person to that of another via an incision in the arm, enabling them to feel what the other is feeling. A transmitter is connected to nerves in the centre of the arm and the chips are then linked via an ordi- nary computer. Besides the possible benefits for couples, Professor Warwick has also evaluated the possible damage that could be caused by the pioneering experiment. "The biggest problem, apart from possi- ble nerve damage and loss of feeling or movement, is mental," he said. "Will my brain be able to cope? The biggest risk is that I could go crazy." (Source: Ananova, 5 October 2000, www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_76805. html ?nav_src=newsIndex Headline) NEXUS -9 VACCINES CONTAMINATED WITH MAD COW DISEASE? DECEMBER 2000 — JANUARY 2001