Author Lobbies Against Immunization Bonner County Man Tells Health Board That Risks Of Vaccinations Greater Than Benefits

A nationally known immunization foe presented his case to Panhandle Health District’s board Wednesday, saying the risks of vaccinating outweigh the benefits.

“To date, they have no clue whether they’re killing or maiming, as opposed to saving, by using vaccines,” said Leonard Horowitz, who lives in Bonner County.

Horowitz, who was invited to speak by a health district board member, has traveled internationally presenting his controversial views on immunization. That controversy wasn’t lost on the health district board, although at least two board members wondered whether current immunization policies should be questioned.

Vaccines have caused at least 800,000 “injuries” yearly since 1990, Horowitz said, including incidents of brain damage, lupus, leukemia, autism and sudden-infant death syndrome. Vaccines contain ingredients such as mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, monosodium glutamate, and foreign RNA and DNA, he said. He blamed the federal government for pushing immunizations, saying it is buckling to pressure from large pharmaceutical companies.

“If that is your public health policy, that is, A, unworkable and B, extraordinarily risky,” Horowitz said.

Board member Dick McLandress, a family practitioner for 20 years and faculty member at the University of Washington’s medical school, found some of those views extreme.

“To categorically brand immunization as bad is not anything I would do,” he said, adding that some of Horowitz’ views merit further study.

Board member Allen Banks, who invited Horowitz to speak after reading his book, “Emerging Viruses,” and learning he lives in the area, said he has worked in vaccine development and always accepted immunizing without question. But during a recent whooping cough outbreak in the Panhandle, he was surprised to learn that of 150 confirmed cases, all had been vaccinated against the disease.

“The more you think about it, the more you question statements that are made,” Banks said. “I think that some of the vaccine program needs to be questioned in terms of risk benefits. If the risk outweighs the benefits, it’s something taxpayers shouldn’t be saddled with.”

The board oversees the health district, which provides immunization programs in the five northern counties. Idaho, which has struggled to improve immunization rates, has a goal of immunizing 90 percent of the state’s 2-year-olds by the year 2000. The health district’s immunization program is funded both by user fees and tax dollars.

Horowitz said he has gathered information on many vaccines, but illustrated his point by talking about hepatitis B.

He blasted the federal government for pushing immunizations of hour-old infants against the disease, saying the vast majority of people who die from hepatitis B get it through sex or drug abuse.

“These are the burned-out, drugged-out, sexed-out human beings who have no purpose in life,” Horowitz said. “In essence, they have a death wish. That is, by and large, the 2 percent that die from hepatitis B.”

The other 98 percent of the people who get that disease, he said, survive because their healthy immune systems fight it off.

Those statements angered Marie Rau, the health district’s public health nursing supervisor, who attended the meeting.

“We know that disease can kill or disable people. We also know that immunization prevents disease and serious illness. Those are two indisputable facts,” she said. “It is untrue that the only people who die from hepatitis are the drugged-out, sexed-out dregs of society. We can name people.”

“There are certain diseases, such as polio, which were basically eliminated because of immunizations. To categorically brand immunization as bad is not anything I would do,” McLandress said. “But looking at more questionable diseases, such as chicken pox and hepatitis B, we’re on the learning curve. New information could change public policy.”

I do believe we need to listen to and learn from what he’s saying. But I would never advocate parents stop immunizing our kids because of this.”