Barbara Loe Fisher

Barbara Loe Fisher is co-founder of the non-profit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), founded in 1982 by parents of vaccine injured children and dedicated to preventing vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and defending the informed consent ethic. As president of the largest and oldest consumer-led vaccine safety advocacy organization, she has led a national, grassroots movement to institute vaccine safety reforms and informed consent protections in the public health system for more than a quarter century. She is editor of the weekly NVIC E-News, and a [http://www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com blogger] , and many of her articles on vaccines and vaccine policies appear on [http://www.nvic.org NVIC's website] .

In 1985, she co-authored, with Harris Coulter, PhD, the first major critique of America's mass vaccination system (""). She has written extensively on the science, policy and ethics of mandatory vaccination. While working with Congress to institute safety and research provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, she led demonstrations at the Centers for Disease Control and White House that year to highlight the need for scientific research into the identification of genetic and other high risk factors for vaccine induced brain damage and immune system dysfunction.

Fisher coordinated four major scientific conferences, including the 1989 International Scientific Workshop on Pertussis and Pertussis Vaccines and three International Public Conferences on Vaccination, in 1997, 2000 and 2002. She has served as a consumer representative for a total of fifteen years on federal vaccine advisory committees and the Institute of Medicine, and has represented consumers concerned about vaccine safety and informed consent issues in many scientific and public forums, including hundreds of radio, television, newspaper and magazine reports.

She is the mother of three children. Her oldest son, Chris, suffered a convulsion, collapse/shock and brain inflammation within hours of his fourth DPT shot, at age two and a half in 1980, and was left with multiple learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. She has no medical training, degree or background.

Before becoming involved in vaccination issues, she received a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Maryland and was an editor for New York Life Insurance Company in New York City; director of community relations for Muhlenberg Hospital in New Jersey; and media relations coordinator for the Alexandria Tourist Council in Alexandria, Virginia.

Publications

* "" (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985; Warner 1986; Avery 1991; Putnam)
* "The Consumer's Guide to Childhood Vaccines"(1997)
* "Shots in the Dark", "Next City Magazine" (Summer 1999)
* "Smallpox and Forced Vaccination: What Every American Needs to Know," The Vaccine Reaction"(December 2001)
* "In the Wake of Vaccines", "Mothering Magazine"(September/October, 2004)

Appointments

* National Vaccine Advisory Committee (1988-1991), US Department of Health and Human Services; Chair, Subcommittee on Vaccine Adverse Events
* Vaccine Safety Forum, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (1995-1998)
* Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration (1999-2003), US Department of Health and Human Services
* Vaccine Policy Analysis Collaborative: A US Government Experiment in Public Engagement (2002-2005)
* Blue Ribbon Panel on Vaccine Safety, Centers for Disease Conrol (June 3-4, 2004)
* Consumers United for Evidence Based Healthcare, The Cochrane Collaboration - U.S. (August 2006 - present)

elected Presentations

* National Vaccine Advisory Committee (1995) - "Monitoring Vaccine Adverse Events"
* Dynamic Essentials Seminars (1995) - "The Politics of Vaccination: Walking the Wire to Freedom"
* Vaccine Safety Forum, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (1995) - "Vaccine Adverse Event Detection and Response"
* Vaccine Safety Forum, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (1996) - "Vaccine Safety Research Priorities"
* NIH Conference on New Pertussis Vaccines" (1996) "DPT and DTaP Vaccines"
*Vaccine Safety Forum, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (1996) - "Risk Communication and Vaccination."
* Developmental Delay Registry Conference (1996) - "Vaccine Risks and Public Policy"
* National Vaccine Advisory Committee, US Department of Health and Human Services (1997) - "The Moral Right to Conscientious Belief Objection to Vaccination"
* Illinois Board of Health (1998) - Oral testimony on Hepatitis B Vaccine
* New Jersey Public Health Council (1998)- Oral testimony on Hepatitis B Vaccine
* Public Health Committee, Texas Legislature (1999)- Oral testimony on Informed Consent to Vaccination
* Public Health Committee, Illinois Legislature (1999)- Oral testimony on Informed Consent to Vaccination
* National Press Club, Institute for Health Freedom (1999)- "Medical Privacy and Mandatory Vaccinations"
* US House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources (1999)- Oral testimony on Hepatitis B Vaccine Risks and the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986
* Colorado Legislature (2000)- Oral testimony on Hepatitis B Vaccine Risks
* Immunization Safety Review Committee, Institute of Medicine (2001) - "Vaccination and Chronic Disease"
* California Senate Committee on Health (2002) - Oral testimony on proposed vaccine mandates
* Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2002) - "The Human Right to Informed Consent"
* Defeat Autism Now Conference, Boston (2002) - "Vaccines and Autism"
* US House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform (2003) - Oral testimony on SV40 Contamination of Polio Vaccines
* Public Health Committee, Minnesota Legislature (2003) - Oral testimony on Proposed Hepatitis B and Pneumoccocal Vaccine Mandates
* Institute of Medicine, Committee on the Review of the National Immunization Program's Research Procedures and Data Sharing Program (2004) -"Open Government Vaccine Safety Databases for Public Oversight"
* Power of Truth Rally, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. (2005)
* Life University (2006) - "The Philosophy of Vaccination and the Philosophy of Chiropractic"
* Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers (2007) - "Vaccination and the Law"
* Wellness Forum, Columbus, Ohio (2007) - "The Science and Politics of Vaccination"

ee also

* 2000 Simpsonwood CDC conference
* Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005
* Vaccine controversy
* Vaccine Safety Datalink

External links

* [http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/ VaccineAwakening.blogspot.com] - 'Vaccine Awakening' (blog), Barbara Loe Fisher
* [http://www.kidsource.com/health/NVIC.ARI.autism.call.html KidSource.com] - 'Parents Ask for Collaborative Investigation Into Role Of Vaccines in Autism Epidemic'
* [http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=19709 MedicalNewsToday.com] - 'National Vaccine Information Center Calls "Anti-Terror" Bill "Unconstitutional"' (February 7, 2005)
* [http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/vaccines/wake.html Mothering.com] - 'In the Wake of Vaccines', "Mothering", (September/October, 2004)
* [http://www.nvic.org/ NVIC.org] - National Vaccine Information Center
* [http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/] - Centers for Disease Control Vaccination Information Page