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PRESS RELEASE
Hawaii Tribune Herald
Thursday, February 23, 2006
A Case Against TB Testing Senate bill would allow
some students to skip mandatory requirement
By Alan Schnepf, Tribune-Herald staff writer
Mandatory tuberculosis tests for students entering school might
seem logical to many people.
Not everyone thinks so, however.
A bill introduced by state Sen. Russell S. Kokubun, D-Puna, Ka’u,
Volcano, would allow parents to opt their children out of skin tests
if it “conflicts with the person’s bona fide religious
tenets and practices.”
Advocates of curbing the state’s authority for mandatory
immunizations and tests will be presenting their case tonight in
Pahoa during a three-hour discussion at the Akebono Theater,. The
meeting starts at 7 p.m.
Moderating the open-microphone meeting will be the Rev. R.J. Hampton,
who operates the Raisin’ Cane ministry in Pahoa. Hampton,
a minister ordained online by the California-based Universal Life
Church, said some spiritual beliefs reject vaccines that are animal
based.
“Some people believe that the blood should not be corrupted
by an animal spirit,” she said.
Dr. Leonard Horowitz, a dentist with a master’s degree in
public health, also will speak out against mandatory vaccinations.
Horowitz believes many vaccines are actually harmful, but that their
use is driven by pharmaceutical companies seeking to boost profits.
“The best word for it is ‘genocide,’ and I’m
not being sensations using that word,” he said.
Horowitz, who has written several books railing against vaccines,
said the state Department of Health has overstepped its bounds by
having mandatory skin tests. He also said the department overstates
the prevalence of TB in Hawaii.
“I think her are more people who would object to these if
they knew the scientific and medical facts (about the vaccines),”
Horowitz said.
According to Department of Health statistics, Hawaii has a higher
rate of TB than any other state. In 2004, there were 116 cases of
TB in Hawaii, seven of which were on the Big Island.
The department did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Kokubun’s bill also states that TB screening all students
is not a cost-effective way to prevent the disease. Testing only
children with specific risk factors would be a more effective approach
according to the bill.
Kokubun did not return several calls seeking comment on the bill
and it is unclear whether he will attend the forum.
State Rep. Helene Hale, D-lower Puna, will attend the discussion,
according to her staff.
End
Alan Schnepf can be reached at aschnepf@hawaiitribune-herald.com
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS and OTHERS SEEKING
MORE DETAILS: For review copies of Dr. Horowitz’s
books, please call Jackie Lindenbach at 1-800-336-9266. Dr. Horowitz
is currently living in Hawaii, while directing development of the Steam Vent Inn & Health Retreat.
(See: www.steamventinn.com.)
Posted courtesy of Tetrahedron Publishing Group
206 North 4th Avenue, Suite 147
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864
http://www.tetrahedron.org
Toll free order line: 888-508-4787;
Office telephone: 808-965-2002;
E-mail: tetra@tetrahedron.org
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