February 27, 2005
TO: The
Agriculture, Conservation and Forest Committee
RE: LD
429, An Act to Require Veterinarians to Provide Vaccine Disclosure
Forms
My name is Kris Christine and
I live with my family in Alna, Maine. Before I begin my testimony,
I’d like to advise the committee that one of the world’s
leading veterinary research scientists, Dr. W. Jean Dodds, wanted
to be here today to testify in support of LD429, but could not
do so because of prior commitments. With her permission, in the
attachments to my testimony, I have included her letter to Representative
Peter Rines dated February 17, 2005 (Attachment 5) resolutely
endorsing this first-in-the-nation veterinary vaccine disclosure
legislation.
I am here today to respectfully
urge this committee to recommend passage of LD429 –
An Act to Require Veterinarians to Provide Vaccine Disclosure
Forms because pet owners need the scientifically proven
durations of immunity (how long vaccines are effective for) in
order to make informed medical choices for their animals.
Many Maine veterinarians have
failed to inform clients that most core veterinary vaccines protect
for seven or more years, and pet owners, unaware that their animals
don’t need booster vaccinations more often, have unwittingly
given their companions useless booster shots – taking an
unnecessary toll on their finances and animals’ health.
The human equivalent would be physicians vaccinating patients
against tetanus once every year, two years, or three years and
not disclosing that the vaccines are known to be protective for
10 years.
For years veterinarians have sent
pet owners annual, biennial and triennial reminders for redundant
booster shots and justified it with vaccine manufacturers’
labeled recommendations. According to the American Veterinary
Medical Association’s (AVMA) Principles of Vaccination
(Attachment 6), “..revaccination frequency recommendations
found on many vaccine labels is based on historical precedent,
not on scientific data … [and] does
not resolve the question about average or maximum duration of
immunity [Page 2] and..may fail to adequately
inform practitioners about optimal use of the product…[Page
4] .” As the Colorado State University
Veterinary Teaching Hospital states it: “…booster
vaccine recommendations for vaccines other than rabies virus have
been determined arbitrarily by manufacturers.”
Dr. Ronald Schultz, Chairman of
Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School
of Veterinary Medicine, is at the forefront of vaccine research
and is one of the world’s leading authorities on veterinary
vaccines. His challenge study results form the scientific base
of the American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA)
2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Recommendations, and Supporting
Literature (Attachment 7). These studies are based on science
– they are not arbitrary. The public, however, cannot access
this data. The American Animal Hospital Association only makes
this report available to veterinarians, not private citizens,
and Maine’s pet owners are unaware that the AAHA Guidelines
state on Page 18 that: “We now know that booster
injections are of no value in dogs already immune, and immunity
from distemper infection and vaccination lasts for a minimum of
7 years based on challenge studies and up to 15 years (a lifetime)
based on antibody titer.” They further state that
hepatitis and parvovirus vaccines have been proven to protect
for a minimum of 7 years by challenge and up to 9 and 10 years
based on antibody count. So, unless the Legislature passes LD429
requiring veterinarians to provide vaccine disclosure forms, dog
owners who receive an annual, biennial, or triennial reminders
for booster shots will not know that nationally-accepted scientific
studies have demonstrated that animals are protected a minimum
of 7 years after vaccination with the distemper, parvovirus,
and adenovirus-2 vaccines (see Page 12 AAHA 2003 Guidelines attached,
and Table 1, Pages 3 and 4).
"My own pets are
vaccinated once or twice as pups and kittens, then never again
except for rabies,” Wall Street Journal
reporter Rhonda L. Rundle quoted Dr. Ronald Schultz in a July
31, 2002 article entitled Annual Pet Vaccinations may
be Unnecessary, Fatal (Attachment 2). Dr. Schultz knows something
the pet-owning public doesn’t – he knows there’s
no benefit in overvaccinating animals because immunity is not
enhanced, but the risk of harmful adverse reactions is increased.
He also knows that most core veterinary vaccines are protective
for at least seven years, if not for the lifetime of the animal.
The first entry under Appendix
2 of the AAHA Guidelines (Attachment 7) “Important
Vaccination ‘Do’s and Don’ts” is “Do
Not Vaccinate Needlessly – Don’t revaccinate more
often than is needed and only with the vaccines that prevent diseases
for which that animal is at risk.” They also caution
veterinarians: “Do Not Assume that Vaccines Cannot
Harm a Patient – Vaccines are potent medically active agents
and have the very real potential of producing adverse events.”
Very few pet owners have had this disclosed to them.
The AVMA’s Principles
of Vaccination (Attachment 6) states that “Unnecessary
stimulation of the immune system does not result in enhanced disease
resistance, and may increase the risk of adverse post-vaccination
events.” (page 2) They elaborate by reporting that:
“Possible adverse events include failure to immunize,
anaphylaxis, immunosuppression, autoimmune disorders, transient
infections, and/or long-term infected carrier states. In addition,
a causal association in cats between injection sites and the subsequent
development of a malignant tumor is the subject of ongoing research.”(Page
2)
Referring to adverse reactions
from vaccines, the Wall Street Journal article cited
above (Attachment 2) reports: “In cats there has
been a large increase in hyperthyroidism and cancerous tumors
between the shoulder blades where vaccines typically are injected.”
With modified live virus vaccines (distemper, parvovirus, hepatitis),
some animals can actually contract the same disease which they
are being inoculated against. If the public knew an animal’s
immunity to disease is not increased by overvaccination, they
would certainly not consent to expose their pets to potential
harm by giving them excessive booster shots
Veterinary vaccines are potent
biologic drugs – most having proven durations of immunity
much longer than the annual, biennial or triennial booster frequencies
recommended by vaccine manufacturers and veterinarians. They also
carry the very real risk of serious adverse side affects and should
not be administered more often than necessary to maintain immunity.
The extended durations of immunity
for vaccines is not “new” or “recent”
science as some members of the Maine Veterinary Medical Association
(MVMA) have claimed. AAHA reveals on Page 2 of their Guidelines
that ideal reduced vaccination protocols were recommended by vaccinology
experts beginning in 1978. A Veterinary Practice News
article entitled “Managing Vaccine Changes” (Attachment
3) by veterinarian Dennis M. McCurnin, reports that: “Change
has been discussed for the past 15 years and now has started to
move across the country."
According to a September 1, 2004
article in the DVM veterinary news magazine (Attachment
1), the 312 member Maine Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA)
“champions full disclosure of vaccine information to pet
owners.” MVMA president, Dr. Bill Bryant, is quoted
as stating: “Its time for something like this to
come out … disclosure forms will be an important resource
to have available, [and] if it goes before the
Legislature, we’d likely support it.”
It is time. Pet owners have the
right to know the scientifically proven durations of immunity
for the veterinary vaccines given their animals, as well as the
potential adverse side effects and benefits. LD 429 would make
that standardized information available to all pet owners.
Respectfully submitted,
Kris L. Christine
Alna, ME 04535