Hawaii Tribune Herald
Saturday, February 25, 2006
TB bill is out: Even legislator who introduced the
bill wouldn’t vote for it.
By Alan Schnepf,
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A bill that would allow parents to opt their children out of school
tuberculosis testing for religious reasons has been shot down.
State Sen. Russell Kokubun, D-Puna, Ka’u, Volcano, introduced
the bill but now says even he would not vote for it.
“It raised many concerns, especially with the (state) Department
of Health,” he said.
Russell said he had senate attorneys draft the bill “as a
courtesy” to Dr. Leonard Horowitz, a doctor of medical dentistry
with a master’s in public health.
Horowitz has written several books that claim vaccines cause more
harm than good. State health officials are unduly influenced by
the pharmaceutical industry, according to Horowitz, and promote
vaccines that should not be used.
State law already allows parents to stop mandatory vaccinations
of their children for religious reasons. Kokubun’s bill—which
he said will die in the Senate Health Committee—would extend
that to a skin test for tuberculosis.
Kokubun said introducing the bill was still a productive step,
even through he would vote against it.
“You don’t draft a bill just because you know it’s
going to go anywhere,” he said. “You draft a bill to
get input.”
Horowitz on Thursday told an audience at the Akebono Theater in
Pahoa, that the skin test also has the potential to harm.
“You’re told that—quote—‘this is
a harmless test,’” Horowitz told a crowd of about 40.
Horowitz said that some people can have severe reactions to the
test, especially those with eczema. The best way to detect TB, he
said, is simply to perform a physical examination [and thorough
history].
“What’s a stethoscope for?” he said Friday. “It’s
to listen to your lungs.”
Dr. Jesse Wing, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doctor
who heads Hawaii’s TB Control Program, said it’s not
that simple.
“You can’t always pick it up,” she said Friday.
“You need to have other tools to diagnose it.”
Wing said the skin test is not the most efficient means to screen
for TB and that the state is looking to cut back the number of people
who get tested. Horowitz said testing low-risk groups will produce
many time more false positive results than true diagnosis.
Outside the meeting, state Rep. Helene Hale, D-Lower Puna, said
she wasn’t sure what to make of the contention that vaccines
are bad for public health.
“I would support something like that (the bill,” she
said. “I don’t know whether I believe all I heard or
not, though.”
Hale said it was too late to introduce a House bill this session
and that she “probably wouldn’t be around” for
the next.
Regardless, most of the audience was receptive to Horowitz’s
ideas.
“We’ve known Dr. Horowitz since we moved here and we
support his work,” Hale said.
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.)
229 Gypsy Bay Road • Sagle, ID 83860
• 208-265-2575 • (FAX) 208-265-2775 • http://www.tetrahedron.org
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