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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Vaccine-Induced Tissue Scurvy Globally Misdiagnosed as Child Abuse




Vaccine-Induced Tissue Scurvy Globally Misdiagnosed as Child Abuse

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

By Christina England

The father of the child in our published photo [found here] was jailed for life for child abuse. Many of you looking at the terrible injuries on this small child will immediately assume, as did the doctors who examined him, that he was viciously attacked and it was right to jail his father.

However, what if I told you that it was later proven that this child had in fact been suffering from Kawasaki disease, otherwise known as tissue scurvy, and that his father was innocent?

Well, that is exactly what happened. Due to the wonderful work of Dr. Michael Innis and a team of experts brought in by the family to help, he is well and happy and back home with his family after his father was released from jail as an innocent man.

What Research Tells Us About Tissue Scurvy

Studies have revealed that parents and caregivers worldwide are being falsely accused of child abuse when children develop the autoimmune disease, tissue scurvy, after vaccination.

In a recent paper by Dr. Michael Innis, he stated that:

    “Some doctors are unaware of the pathophysiological processes of autoimmunity, haemostasis and osteogenesis and are misdiagnosing vaccine induced tissue scurvy, absence of vitamin C within the cell, as non-accidental injury.”

His paper, Autoimmune Tissue Scurvy Misdiagnosed as Child Abuse, outlined three cases of children suffering from symptoms mimicking those of shaken baby syndrome (SBS) whose parents were subsequently accused of child abuse.

However, it was later discovered that all three parents were innocent and far from being abused, their children had been suffering from the autoimmune disease known as tissue scurvy.

Dr. Innis wrote:

    “Tissue scurvy, unlike the “seafarer scurvy” of yesteryear, is a condition in which vitamin C is abundant in the blood but is unable to enter the cell because of a lack of insulin which is required to transfer the vitamin C into the cell.”

He stated that:

    “The many faces of tissue scurvy in childhood include sudden infant death syndrome, alleged non-accidental injury, shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, inflicted brain injury, Reye’s syndrome, Kawasaki disease, anaphylaxis and diabetes type I.

    All have one feature in common – hyperglycemia, the signature of insulin deficiency resulting from vaccines, and other forms of antigenic stress which damage the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans resulting in hypoinsulinemia and tissue scurvy.” [1]

Dr. Innis firmly believes that doctors are misdiagnosing vaccine-induced tissue scurvy (an absence of vitamin C within the cell) as a non-accidental injury.

In his impressive paper, published last year by the Science Publishing Group, he wrote:

    “In all the cases in which appropriate histories and tests were done there was evidence that the doctors either misinterpreted the laboratory evidence or they were unaware of the significance of abnormal tests suggesting tissue scurvy as the cause.”

The father of this child was accused of abuse and put in jail.

A Second Paper By Dr. Innis Reveals Similar Findings

In a second paper on the subject, Dr. Michael Innis stated that it is postulated that Kawasaki disease is tissue scurvy, a disease often found in children under the age five. Children suffering from the condition usually present with a fever, redness of the eyes, blotchy red skin lesions, changes in the mouth and cracked lips, swelling of the hands and feet and lymph node enlargement in the neck.

Describing the case featured in our lead photo in detail, Dr. Innis stated:

    “A child presenting with the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki disease was diagnosed as suffering from non-accidental injuries. Investigations were carried out for evidence of insulin deficiency and liver dysfunction.

    It was found that there was evidence of hyperglycemia, implying insulin deficiency and the liver function tests were abnormal.”

He continued by stating that:

    “Kawasaki disease is an autoimmune disorder following antigenic stimulation in a genetically susceptible child which causes insulin deficiency and failure of the cellular uptake of vitamin C, tissue scurvy, and can be mistaken for child abuse. Vaccines are a proven cause of hyperglycemia in children and may be a cause of Kawasaki disease.”

Throughout his description of the case, he demonstrated how doctors missed vital signs, preferring to jump to the conclusion that the child had been severely abused by the carer, instead of investigating the truth.

In many ways, it is easy to see why this occurred, as the photos accompanying the report are graphic, and to an untrained eye they would immediately raise suspicion. However, the professionals examining the child in question were all ‘highly qualified,’ and should have carried out a full battery of tests before jumping to the conclusion that the child had been abused.

Showing the blood test results in detail, Dr. Innis explained:

    “The alacrity with which the admitting doctor declared “trauma level I” colored subsequent clinical and investigative procedures. The possibility of Kawasaki disease was never raised and the ANCA and AECA tests which are sometimes positive in this type of vasculitis were never done. However the presence of hyperglycemia is clear evidence of insulin deficiency provoking the onset of tissue scurvy. The coronary vessels and myocardium should have been thoroughly investigated, as they are a major cause of death in Kawasaki disease.” [2]

Another Specialist’s Perspective on Tissue Scurvy

Dr. Innis is not the only professional who has linked Kawasaki disease to vaccinations. In 2000, psychologist Lisa Blakemore-Brown wrote Reweaving the Autistic Tapestry, a book on autism and interweaving disorders.

One of the chapters centered on a little girl she had renamed Lorelei. Lorelei had reacted extremely badly to the pertussis vaccination and this adverse reaction had been fully documented by the National Health Service (NHS) in the child’s hospital notes. Lorelei was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and Kawasaki disease.

In 2001, Ms. Blakemore-Brown highlighted the case in a rapid response on the British Medical Journal’s website, in response to an article titled A Finnish Study Confirms Safety of MMR. [3] Amazingly, her response was published with a footnote stating that the editor had checked her facts and that the parents of the child had given their permission for the piece to be published.

Ms. Blakemore-Brown wrote:

    “In one of my cases of very obvious and indisputable reaction to pertussis vaccine the child in question has been found to have Kawasaki disease, her own immune system attacking itself. She presents as Asperger. There is no autism in the family but the baby had allergies prior to the vaccine. It is scientific examination of cases like this which will enable us to ultimately put measures in place to reassure the public.” [3]

The First Links Discovered As Far Back As 1962

The late Dr. Archie Kalokerinos was one of the first professionals to link vaccinations to scurvy. He first noticed there was a problem while he was working with Aborigine children in Australia in 1962.

While there, he noticed that there was an extremely high death rate among children recently vaccinated. After rejecting the usual explanations, his research led him to the conclusion that the infants were suffering from a severe lack of vitamin C, or scurvy.

Dr. Kalokerinos went on to speak about his experiences worldwide and included his research in many books and papers on the subject. However, when he mentioned his fears to the government, instead of investigating the problem as he had expected, he was met with extreme hostility.

In an interview documented in the International Vaccine Newsletter – June 1995, he stated:

    “At first it was just a simple clinical observation. I observed that many infants, after they received routine vaccines like tetanus, diptheria, polio, whooping cough or whatever, became ill. Some became extremely ill, and in fact some died. It was an observation, it was not a theory. So my first reaction was to look at the reasons why this happened. Of course I found it was more likely to happen in infants who were ill at the time of receiving a vaccine, or infants who had been ill recently, or infants who were incubating an infection. Of course in the early stages of incubation there is no way whatsoever that anyone can detect the disease. They turn up later on. Furthermore, some of the reactions to the vaccines were not those that were listed in the standard literature. They were very strange reactions indeed.

    A third observation was that with some of these reactions which normally resulted in death, I found that I could reverse them by giving large amounts of vitamin C intramuscularly or intravenously.”

Extremely concerned by his observations, he tried to alert the government to what was happening. However, what happened next shocked him. He explained:

    “One would have expected, of course, that the authorities would take an interest in these observations that resulted in a dramatic drop in the death rate of infants in the area under my control, a very dramatic drop. But instead of taking an interest their reaction was one of extreme hostility. This forced me to look into the question of vaccination further, and the further I looked into it, the more shocked I became. I found that the whole vaccine business was indeed a gigantic hoax. Most doctors are convinced that they are useful, but if you look at the proper statistics and study the instance of these diseases you will realize that this is not so.” [4]

Strong words, I am sure you will agree, especially as he concluded the interview by stating that:

    “My final conclusion after forty years or more in this business is that the unofficial policy of the World Health Organization and the unofficial policy of Save the Children Fund and almost all those organizations is one of murder and genocide.

    They want to make it appear as if they are saving these kids, but in actual fact they don’t. I am talking of those at the very top. Beneath that level is another level of doctors and health workers, like myself, who don’t really understand what they are doing.”

Like Dr. Innis, over the years his conclusions have led him to believe that the trend of parents being falsely accused of shaken baby syndrome is linked to scurvy, and in his final book titled Shaken Baby Syndrome: An Abusive Diagnosis, he wrote:

    “After studying more than 50 SBS cases, I have yet to find one where a detailed analysis of the complete individual or family history, or a proper evaluation of all the necessary coagulation/bleeding factors was undertaken. Often, a diagnosis of trauma due to shaking is made at an early stage and any further investigation is considered unnecessary.

    It has been known for many years that retinal hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhages and hemorrhages elsewhere can occur in cases of scurvy.” [5]

Throughout his book, he identified vaccination as the main cause of scurvy in young children today.
Conclusion

In trying to help falsely accused parents worldwide, I am currently aware of at least seven falsely accused parents whose children became ill after they received multiple vaccinations. In four of these cases, tests revealed that, far from being abused, the children had been suffering from the autoimmune disease tissue scurvy.

Why are governments around the world burying their heads in the sand and refusing point-blank to investigate this atrocity? INNOCENT parents are being locked up on a daily basis, accused of the most horrendous crimes, and it seems as if no one actually cares.

The evidence speaks for itself: not only are vaccinations harming our children, but that harm is being covered up by blaming innocent parents of abuse.

Full permission was gained in advance for the use of the photos found here.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the wonderful and continuing work of Dr. Michael Innis, without whom many innocent parents would be still be in jail today.


Go to the original article for excellent links and research:
 http://www.naturalblaze.com/2014/03/vaccine-induced-tissue-scurvy-globally.html#sthash.TcXfGLnQ.dpuf


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Harvard Scientists: Link between Fluoride and ADHD

More and more information and transparency is leaking out.  Like a giant dam riddled with cracks, the pressure is building from within to push down the walls of deception. 

When you combine the damage of Fluoride and Vaccines, and toss in a side of infant formula dosed with MSG, BPA, pesticides, and rocket fuel.... well, is it any wonder that we have entire generations of children being treated for ADD, ADHA, Autism, OCD, Bipolar syndrome, and obesity, just to mention a few of the major problems that our children (and ourselves!) are facing?



http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/03/05/harvard-research-finds-link-between-fluoridated-water-adhd-mental-disorders/

Harvard Research Finds Link Between Fluoridated Water, ADHD & Mental Disorders

Fluoride_ADHD_Harvard

New research published in The Lancet by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) found that various chemicals that many children are exposed to are having a direct effect on the creation of disorders labelled under the name ADHD as well as other mental disorders. One of the chemicals said to be having an effect is fluoride, or variations of fluoride. Governments have been performing artificial fluoridation for a number of years regardless of the lack of effectiveness it has in preventing tooth decay.
The research began in a study published in 2006 which initially looked at the effects of various industrial chemicals on neuro-development.[1] The research continued with an analysis of more industrial chemicals including fluoride. 27 additional studies, including one that linked fluoride to the lowering of IQ in children, clearly illustrated the fact that fluoride is detrimental to brain development and can lead to autism spectrum disorders and other mental issues. The issue is being coined “a silent epidemic” and most health authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the issue.
The two main researchers involved in the study, Philippe Grandjean from HSPH and Philip Landrigan, both agree that the reason for the increase in incidences of chemical-related neuro-developmental disorders is due to the increasing number of untested chemicals that are being approved without proper testing. The public is also not fully being told of the dangers which is causing many to perform independent research to find out the true effects. The issue is not just in water fluoridation, but also in the vaccination of our children. 
“Since 2006, the number of chemicals known to damage the human brain more generally, but that are not regulated to protect children’s health, had increased from 202 to 214,” writes Julia Medew for The Sydney Morning Herald. “The pair said this could be the tip of the iceberg because the vast majority of the more than 80,000 industrial chemicals widely used in the United States have never been tested for their toxic effects on the developing fetus or child.”
The fact is, fluoride is a known developmental neurotoxin and practices of water fluoridation have long been proven to be ineffective. If individuals choose to use fluoridated tooth paste or choose fluoride treatments at their dental office, that is acceptable but two things should happen:
1. People should be taught about the harmful effects of fluoride and the damage it can cause to your teeth and your body.
2. Water fluoridation should be stopped everywhere immediately as it is nothing more than a legal way for chemical companies to get rid of toxic waste while profiting.
Fluoride accumulates in the body over time, so even though the amounts being ingested might be small each time, it builds up over years and can cause serious health issues. Research has found that fluoride affects normal endocrine function, causes kidney disease, bone weakness, dental fluorosis, cancer, lowering of IQ, calcification of the pineal gland, arthritis, immune deficiencies, skeletal fluorosis and much more.
“The problem is international in scope, and the solution must therefore also be international,” stated Grandjean in a press release, calling for improved regulatory standards for common chemicals. “We have the methods in place to test industrial chemicals for harmful effects on children’s brain development — now is the time to make that testing mandatory.”

Click HERE for original articles and sources


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

False Science + Paid Propaganda= Modern Medicine

We've watched this happen over and over again.  The twisting of data to suit whomever or whichever corporation is funding the study.  The blatantly false information that the media will put out when promoting an agenda that is paid for by certain lobbyist groups or government agencies.   We've watched the media pick apart an "independent" study and publish only those facts that support their blatantly biased opinion.  We've seen over and over again, the various government agencies creating recommendations and legislation based on "studies" that were created by paid corporations and groups of scientists who are funded to do these studies by the self same corporations that are pushing their own agenda or product.

Remember the HUGE publicity propaganda campaign about 6-7 years ago against Co-Sleeping?  The media went wild, using this "study" to push their anti sleep sharing agenda, with articles everywhere from news papers, on TV and radio, so called "scientific" and "Medical" journals, and even spread to medical professionals..... then a group of about 30 of us got together, got our hands on the so called "study" and thoroughly dissected it, and we discovered that not only was this study fully funded by the union that represents the crib manufacturers of America, but the study was so outrageously flawed, with massive amounts of data missing, that it literally was full of holes big enough to drive a truck through!  THIS is the corruption that IS running the medical machine.


Do you still believe that your government is actually blameless for the atrocities that are being committed on it's citizens?  There are only two responses to this in my opinion. Either:

a) The governments of the world are manned by trained monkeys that have literally no ability to read, think, or reason.


or

b) The governments of the world are manned by scam artists and thieves who are completely controlled by their corporate sponsors.




This isn't just about a few corrupt individuals making money off selling thalidomide to pregnant women, and convincing parents that 10 year old girls need a vaccines to protect them from a virus that is sexually transmitted.   This information impacts the entire Health Industry- from the very top of the food chain, to the very bottom: meaning YOU and YOUR family.

I've posted several articles in the past couple of weeks that further show just how corrupt and twisted these medical associations, the pharmaceutical companies, AND the governments and their agencies ARE.  

New hepatitis C drug- only $1,000 per PILL!!!!

Agents and Trolls and Shills, Oh My!!!

CDC Caught Hiding Data Showing Mercury in Vaccines Linked to Autism

Mysterious polio-like illness...Polio in a New Dress

New Definition of Autism: a duck is still a duck

Cancer drugs just for "western patients who can afford them"- Bayer CEO

Monsanto’s Roundup causes “gluten intolerance”

Aluminum: Neurotoxin from Hell

 

also in the news in the last few days:

Health chief slams statins: Millions face terrible side effects as prescription escalates

Doctors warn new FDA-approved painkiller is deadly dangerous

Supreme Court rules Drug Companies exempt from Lawsuits


False Science: How Paid Propaganda Masquerades as Scientific Progress


money-science3rd March 2014
By Marco Torres
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
The origin of true science is in the desire to know causes irrespective of an objective for material reward. The origin of false science is in the desire to accept false causes and fabricate false conclusions to achieve an objective that is only related to material reward.
Today, the pursuit of truth in modern scientific query is marred by greed, profit and a concept of truth built on the assumption of an unexamined good. While pharmaceutical drug approvals, genetically modified foods and various other controversial technologies may appear to be based on “science”, corporate interests and profits often interfere with the true meaning of what science represents to both academics and the public.

When Science Is No Longer Science

Science is built on skepticism. The results of any particular study mean nothing unless proven through continual repetition of the study’s methodology. The importance of being able to replicate results is something instilled in every elementary school science student, and yet as we enter adulthood we often tend to take with us a great deal of faith in any professions of scientific knowledge.
The primary methodology of science is to prise apart reality into its component parts in order to better understand how the whole functions. Cartesian logic began with the separation of mind and matter and the scientific method depends upon the separation of the observer from the observed. The absolute separation between mind and matter has now been shown to be entirely fictitious the importance of objectivity within the scientific method remains undiminished.
The 20th century made it clear to everyone that science is in a very dangerous state. Corporations who have sought the scientific method to establish credibility for their products and services have prostituted science and segregated its capacity as a whole. This is largely because of the splitting up of the disciplines and their disconnection from the ethical demands of a growing population and an ever more complex, relational society.
The threat to all of us lies in corporate greed forcing both the internal divisions of science and the related inability of scientists to respond to the needs of worldwide human relationships. This inability includes inadequate responses to the needs of those individuals and groups who govern us.
The most glaring problem is the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the needs for ethically based knowledge by politicians and the piecemeal and mostly inadequate assistance that divided scientific corporations are able to put on the table. Some of the scientific disciplines are overused while others are grossly underused, ignored, or even rejected as irrelevant.

Mainstream Medicine Uses Fraudulent Data to Sell the Medical Model

For example there is little real science to be found in the common practice of mainstream medicine. Rather, what passes for “science” today is a collection of myths, half-truths, dishonest data, fraudulent reporting and inappropriate correlations passed off as causation. Correlational studies can NOT prove causation, yet the end result of most scientific studies in mainstream medicine make a causal claim without any proof and then pass those suggestions to the public to sell the medical model to the public.
Advertisers and product manufacturers have certainly used this inherent cognitive bias towards trusting “scientific facts” in order to market products which they claim have a scientific basis in their effectiveness. The same is of course true within ideologies and politics. While many choose to focus on the large scandals such as the drug research fraud, countless fraudulent scientific claims are made every day in advertising, often with no repercussions.
A survey of 2700 doctors and scientists found one in seven (13%) had, “witnessed colleagues intentionally altering or fabricating data during their research or for the purposes of publication”. Those are only the doctors that admitted the findings. Critics suggest the actual percentage may be higher than 30%. That manipulation included, “inappropriately adjusting, excluding, altering, or fabricating data”.
More and more evidence is suggesting that medical journals are increasingly having to retract reports due to fabricated, erroneous or misleading data from Doctors and Scientists. Fraud has clearly been on the rise in Drug studies for decades and is now the norm in the pharmaceutical industry.
Donald M. Epstein, author of Healing Myths, says that even if the dangers of a drug or medical procedure were to be included in a respected medical journal, often the “religious” belief that doctors, and even patients, have in conventional medicine overrides their decision-making process.
People believe that if a drug is FDA-approved and on the market, it must be okay. If a drug proves fatal to 10 or even 10,000 patients, doctors will still staunchly defend it, claiming the benefits outweigh the risks. Epstein’s feelings are that anyone with a little common sense should be enraged by the fact that the entire industry is operating with self-imposed blinders — from the pharmaceutical companies that hawk unsafe drugs to the medical journals that publish doctored clinical studies and misleading ads.
The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine added another chapter to this story when disgraced Norwegian researcher Dr. Jon Sudbo, was made to formally retract reports on oral cancer his team published in the journal in 2001 and 2004. By his own admission, much of Sudbo’s published data was fabricated. A report from an investigative commission formed by Sudbo’s former employers, the Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center and the University of Oslo, confirmed the fraud. The NEJM editors based their retraction largely on the report’s findings.
On average, one out of every three highly cited studies published in influential medical journals is either refuted or seriously weakened by subsequent research.
A common theme in most journals is their tendency to publish “positive” findings (where a therapy was proven to be effective) over “negative” ones (where a therapy’s effectiveness was cast in doubt).
A vaccine industry watchdog recently obtained hidden CDC documents that show statistically significant risks of autism associated with the vaccine preservative, something the CDC denied even when confronted with their own data. This has allowed the CDC to continue promoting drug therapy and vaccination programs programs promoted by Physicians, many of who rely on the information from the CDC to inform the public on risks and benefits.
The vaccine industry has always known that governments and public health would never be convinced of the effectiveness of vaccinations without some statistical evidence from academia. Without some proof on how vaccines and antivirals could benefit a population, how could they ever be marketed on a global scale? They couldn’t!
That’s where the biostatisticians come in. Under the guise of disease prevention and pandemic preparedness, these so-called “experts” have carefully concocted a wide range of simulated statistical analyses in a systematic effort to promote global pandemic models and their counter measure — mass vaccination and antiviral programs.
A summary review of data on neurological adverse events and the historical role of vaccination in the natural course of infectious disease in Switzerland and Germany, supports data from other regions with evidence that vaccines had no impact on disease prevention efforts from the early-mid to late 20th century. The data contradicts widespread misinformation campaigns by mainstream medicine which claim that vaccination led to immunization and a subsequent decline in infectious disease.

GMOs – Absolutely No Safety Testing to Promote Profits

Many consumers in the US mistakenly believe that the FDA approves genetically modified organisms in foods through rigorous, in-depth, long-term studies. In reality, the agency has absolutely no safety testing requirements. Instead the agency relies on research from companies like Monsanto, research that is meticulously designed to avoid finding problems.
Former pro-GMO scientists are now speaking out on the real dangers of genetically engineered food. A growing body of scientific research – done mostly in Europe, Russia, and other countries – showing that diets containing engineered corn or soya cause serious health problems in laboratory mice and rats.
The FDA and food industry claims that GMO foods are safe, properly tested, and necessary to feed a hungry world, claims that are now being found unsubstantiated by hundreds of experts. GMOs are one of the most dangerous and radical changes to our food supply. These largely unregulated ingredients found in 60-70% of the foods, are now being exposed and well worth the effort to avoid.
Several nations such as Mexico, Italy, Russia, Poland and several others are banning GMOs after conducting their own research while refuting the biased conclusions by Monsanto.


Continue Reading Article HERE


Monday, March 3, 2014

New hepatitis C drug- only $1,000 per PILL!!!!

This is how the article starts:

"John C. Martin, the chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), has become a billionaire on the prospects of a powerful new hepatitis C drug that’s attracting scrutiny from payers and activists over its $1,000 per pill price tag.
Gilead’s drug, Sovaldi, was approved in December, and is among the first of a new wave of hepatitis C treatments that can cure the liver disease faster and more reliably than previous drugs. Sovaldi, which costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, is expected to produce $4.2 billion in revenue this year, rising to $8.1 billion in 2015, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg."
I mean...... I'm not even sure what to say.  Granted that this article is from Bloomberg, which is a financially focused sites, but the very fact that they are APPLAUDING this, is so beyond appalling that I'm physically restraining my self from breaking into my exmilitary linguistical experimental vocabulary.  It's bad.

Of course you have to love the transparency that is coming out in the media on these subjects.  Just a couple of weeks ago Bayer CEO told reporters that their cancer drugs are only for Western patients that  can "afford them". 

*thud*




http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-03/gilead-ceo-becomes-billionaire-on-84-000-hepatitis-drug.html

Gilead CEO Becomes Billionaire on $84,000 Hepatitis Drug

march 3, 2014
John C. Martin, the chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), has become a billionaire on the prospects of a powerful new hepatitis C drug that’s attracting scrutiny from payers and activists over its $1,000 per pill price tag.
Gilead’s drug, Sovaldi, was approved in December, and is among the first of a new wave of hepatitis C treatments that can cure the liver disease faster and more reliably than previous drugs. Sovaldi, which costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, is expected to produce $4.2 billion in revenue this year, rising to $8.1 billion in 2015, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“This is a huge change in the approach to hepatitis C treatment,” Leonard Berkowitz, chief of infectious diseases at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, said by phone. Sovaldi and other drugs like it are producing “spectacular improvements” in cure rates with minimal toxicity, he said.
Martin, who joined Gilead in 1990 and became CEO six years later, helped the company become the world’s largest maker of HIV medicines by developing drug combinations that are easy to use for patients, including a medicine called Atripla that combines three HIV-suppressing drugs and a pill with four anti-HIV drugs called Stribild.
Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg
John C. Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc.
Gilead, based in Foster City, California, is competing with AbbVie Inc., (ABBV) Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and others to develop similar combinations for hepatitis C, a virus that infects 3.2 million Americans and can lead to liver failure over time.

Hidden Billionaire

Companies are racing to come up with oral regimens that eliminate the need for interferon, a standard injected drug that can cause flu-like side-effects. In February, Gilead applied for U.S. approval for an interferon-free treatment that combines Sovaldi and another hepatitis C drug.
“Most people think the combination pill that Gilead has will be the biggest thing ever in hepatitis C,” said Berkowitz, who treats many HIV-positive positive patients who are co-infected with HCV.
Martin, 62, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He owns 4.2 million shares of Gilead and 6.4 million vested options, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He’s also sold more than $550 million in Gilead stock since 2002, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Organic Chemistry

The number of options and shares are in part attributable to Martin’s long tenure at the company, most of it as CEO, said Cara Miller, a spokeswoman for Gilead, in an e-mail. The cost of a 12-week regimen of Sovaldi along with interferon and another drug “is consistent with and in many cases actually less” than older treatments that require longer duration of therapy, she said.
Gilead closed down 1.6 percent to $81.45 in New York.
The billionaire, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Golden Gate University, has spent most of his career working on antiviral drugs, and has been an active dealmaker, willing to pay a premium for companies with drugs that show promise.
After one of its hepatitis C compounds had setbacks in early testing, Gilead acquired Sovaldi by buying Pharmasset Inc. for almost $11 billion in 2012, at a price that represented an 89 percent premium to Pharmasset’s price before the deal was announced in November 2011. Gilead stock has more than quadrupled since then.

‘Brilliant Transaction’

“It was a brilliant transaction,” said Geoffrey Porges, an analyst at New York-based Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “In antivirals, Gilead has proven itself over and over again to be ahead of the curve.”
At least half of Gilead’s $127 billion market value is attributable to expectations for its hepatitis C drugs, according to Porges. He said the company’s hepatitis C drugs could generate $16 billion in sales in 2016.
Sovaldi has attracted scrutiny over its high price. Pharmacy benefit managers such as Express Scripts Holding Co. (ESRX) and Catamaran Corp. are discussing how to pit similar drugs against each other by refusing to pay extra for a drug that is more convenient to take than another, or by subjecting hepatitis C drugs to more outside review, Bloomberg News reported in January.

‘Poster Child’

Sovaldi “is the poster child for everything that is wrong with drug prices,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. Sovaldi’s price will mean that some people won’t get access to the treatment, he said. He has submitted a shareholder resolution to tie executive compensation at Gilead to the affordability of its medicines.
While formulary reviews proceed, patients who need Sovaldi can still get it, Miller said.
“Almost without exception, prescriptions are being approved by commercial plans,” she said. The company has started a program to provide financial assistance to patients who need help paying for the drug, she said.