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MEDIA SPINS BEGIN: HAWAII TB SCAM HEADLINES NEWS
Dr. Horowitz's (Unedited) Letter to Tribune Herald Editor David Bock following Front Page Feature Story on September 8, 2006
Dear Editor Bock,
Thank you for Alan Schnepf’s “Student Expelled” TB article (Wed. Sept 6). Though I'm sure you have good reasons for the liberal slant of this article, some points deserve further clarification and truth-telling:
 This important feature subtly insinuates Alena and I expected her expulsion from school. Truth is, we never expected it since: a) as you show above, she had her medical physician's "TB clearance." Alena told Alan, contrary to what appeared in print, that she was surprised when the public health nurse came to remove her from class.
Also, this article appears to make us out as socially conscious political activists, conservative misfits, and religious zealots. Fact is, "Ye shall know them by their fruit," and not what one or two articles say, don't you think? Simply examine my 16 books and numerous articles over the past quarter century, and you will chronicle someone that doesn't fit any strict definition or label. I simply flow with what's so.
More important than these arguably unintended slants (befitting the media's tendancy to character assassinate legitimate messengers instead of attending their messages), I am disappointed in the spin and omissions given the most important facts:
1) CDC officials do not state “‘low-risk’ populations may not need the test.” They emphatically discourage it for school children in Hawaii considered “low risk” by experts. Our activists have placed educational posters on telephone poles throughout Hilo quoting CDC standards that Hawaii’s health officials are violating. Read their published facts!
2) Our current Hawaiian law 302A-1156 IS BEING BROKEN every day. Not maybe.
3) Definitions are clear in the “Administrative Rules” book. “IMMUNIZATION” is not vaccination contrary to nearly everyone’s false impression or assumption.
“IMMUNIZATION” is defined as an administrative process just like TB-skin testing is an administrative process.
“TB-clearance” as the law refers to it, is NOT EVEN DEFINED, but placed in the same sentence next to "IMMUNIZATION"(separated by a semi-colon) in law 302A-1154. This is vitally important for truth seekers/tellers. It reflects the legal fact that both are to be given religious exemption upon demand as per law 302A-1156.
Definitions are legally binding and educationally critical in dispelling harmful myths and getting officials to obey the law. The official rule book states the difference between “IMMUNIZATION” (administrative process) versus “IMMUNIZING AGENT”--a vaccine. Again, everyone equates "IMMUNIZATION" with "VACCINATIONS" which is a big mistake.
Everyone must relearn that IMMUNIZATION is not VACCINATION according to: a) Hawaii’s laws (as well as in most other states, b) Health officials’ rule books, and c) medical immunology.
Most importantly , readers should be informed that health officials have no legal right to restrict a religious child’s a) education; b) social life or civil liberties, and c) freedom to abstain from blood intoxicating medical treatments. These illegal acts done for nearly a decade in Hawaii (and elsewhere) without challenge violate essential freedoms guaranteed by State and Federal laws. This "public health scam" calls to every parent, religious or not, if we aim to model law-abiding behavior for our children.
For our children’s benefit, adult education and community service, come to rallies at Hilo High School on Friday, Sept. 8th at 1:30PM and in front of the Judiciary Building on Aupuni at 3:00PM same day to hear speakers, political candidates and Hawaiian Kingdom leaders address this most critical risk to our keikis.
What does it say of our parenting if we can’t trust the hands in which we place our children’s lives?
See: www.myspace.com/health_freedom_hawaii.
A RAPPERS RESPONSE TO THE TRIBUNE HERALD FEATURE SENT TO ALENA:
"Officials say, " Just say no to drugs," as they persecute me for staying drug free.
Health soverignty is best for me; though officials are so blind they can't see.
There's hypocrisy in public health policy; irresponsibility stealng everyone's liberty.
Down with deadly pharmaceuticals. We've got the music to heal all woes!
Wednesday, September 6, 2006 9:41 AM HST
Hilo High freshman refuses tuberculosis test; school officials won't allow her to take classes
by Alan Schnepf
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
A Pahoa father says he will go to court before he allows one of his children to have a tuberculosis test required to stay in Hilo High School.
Alena Horowitz, 14, and her father, Leonard, speak with a reporter Tuesday. Alena, a Hilo High freshman, was dismissed from school by state health officials for not having a tuberculosis skin test. Top photo includes Alena's doctor's note that proclaims her to be TB free. - William Ing/Tribune-Herald
Alena Horowitz, a 14-year-old freshman at Hilo High School, wasn't shocked when she was expelled Sept. 1. Administrators had warned her family, after all, that she needed to undergo the mandatory TB skin test.
Her father, Leonard Horowitz, is an adamant opponent of immunizations, which he considers the test to be. He said Alena is a straight-A student who made the varsity cross country team.
Horowitz, a doctor of medical dentistry with a master's degree in public health, believes Alena should be able to opt out of the test for religious reasons. The family has roots in both Christianity and Judaism. He cites biblical passages from the Old Testament that forbid "genetic and chemical intoxications of the body."
"We don't take any drugs. It's a blessing," Horowitz said of himself, his wife and their three children.
Hilo High Principal Robert Dircks said he empathizes with the family, but that he had no choice but to follow directions from the state Department of Health regarding disease tests.
"It's out of my hands and he knows that, so he's taking it to the next level," Dircks said. "It's not an easy call, but it's not a hard one, either, because it's in black and white."
Horowitz believes the law is on his side, though. There are religious exemptions "on the grounds that the immunization conflicts with that person's bona fide religious tenets and practices," according to state law. The question is whether the TB skin test -- the one required for Alena to stay in school -- is an immunization. Many other states do offer religious exemptions for the test.
Horowitz said he has been in discussions with Judith Akamine, a supervisor for the Department of Health on the Big Island, about the issue. Akamine was not available for comment Tuesday.
If the Department of Health decides the test is not an immunization, Horowitz said his family can either leave the Big Island or go to court.
"I have no other choice except to file a lawsuit," he said.
A judge already has turned down his request for an injunction that would put Alena back in the classroom while the matter is sorted out. Horowitz argued that the leaving her out of school would cause irreparable harm.
"I've never seen her happier, I've never seen her more productive," he said. "To take a child out of there, it has to be for a really good reason."
This is not the first time Horowitz has tried to take on TB skin testing. He rallied for a bill in the state Legislature in April that would have provided the religious exemption, but it was quickly shot down. State Sen. Russell Kokubun, D-Puna, Ka'u, Volcano, introduced the bill and later said he would not vote for it.
Horowitz also believes the test can cause negative side effects and that false-positive results can lead to unnecessary treatments that also can do harm. Further, he points to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention documents that state "low-risk" populations may not need the test.
Alan Schnepf can be reached at aschnepf@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS and OTHERS SEEKING
MORE DETAILS:
For interviews on this topic, or copies of Alena's petition, contact Dr. or Mrs. Horowitz at 1-808-965-2112. To contact Judith Akamini, call 808-974-6025. Attorney Zamber's number is 808-962-0025.
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