UPDATE: Union lawyer Michael Green interviewed on antivaxxer video channel December 4, 2021.
by Andrew Walden
Nazi experiments? Flu is worse? Livestock deworming pill is the cure? Hydroxychloroquine?
All of these tired old anti-vaxxer chestnuts are front and center in an August 13, 2021, lawsuit filed against State and County test-or-vaccinate mandates by members of six public employee unions.
Backing the suit, an August 15, 2021, HGEA statement intones: “As we have been doing since vaccines became available, HGEA will continue to encourage vaccination, support the dissemination of accurate information…”
Union lawyer Kristin Coccaro claims, “It is not an anti-vaccine lawsuit.”
But the union lawsuit is chock-full of anti-vax quackery.
Here is a complete rundown and debunk of each lie in the order it appears in the complaint:
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Union AntiVaxxer Lie: “… there are no FDA-approved or cleared tests treatment or cure available….” (pg17)
Reality--Test: FDA grants its first full approval to a COVID-19 diagnostic test -- March 18, 2021
Reality--Treatment: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Drug Combination for Treatment of COVID-19 -- November 19, 2020
The union complaint makes frequent reference to the fact that the three US-available vaccines are approved by the FDA under an ‘Emergency Use Authorization’ (EUA) but the New York Times, August 20, 2021, reports, “The F.D.A. is aiming to give full approval to Pfizer’s Covid vaccine on Monday Aug 23, 2021.”
(UPDATE Aug 23, 2021: FDA Grants Full Approval to Pfizer Vaccine)
Solution? The unions ask the judge to declare that FDA approval is not actually FDA approval: “But even if the FDA prematurely approves these experimental vaccines, Defendants' mandates fail …” (pg 15) and “Phase III clinical trials for the Pfizer vaccine do not end until May 2, 2023” (pg 29)
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Union AntiVaxxer Lie: “Both Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine are alternative and proven effective as prophylactic and therapeutic treatments for COVID-19.” pg18
Reality: An FDA warning said that ivermectin “is not an anti-viral” and that “taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm.” Though most often used in animals, the FDA said the drug has been approved in smaller doses in humans to treat two conditions caused by parasitic worms…. On Friday, Mississippi’s health department issued a warning that more than 70% of recent calls to the state’s poison center came after people took ivermectin bought at livestock supply centers…. --Bloomberg: FDA Issues ‘You Are Not a Cow’ Warning After Livestock Drug Use
--JAMA: Misguided Use of Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, The Infusion of Politics Into Science
* * * * *
The lawyers couldn’t make up their mind about which phony vaccine death toll to use so they included three:
Union AntiVaxxer Lie V1: “4,406xxx update deaths and 21,537 serious injuries have been reported after COVID vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) between December 14,2020 and May 21, 2021.” (pg 29)
or
Union AntiVaxxer Lie V2: “VAERS shows the following data for COVID-19 vaccine adverse events as of July 9, 2021: Deaths: 10,991….” (pg36)
Reality: “VAERS is also open for any member of the public for submissions, alongside healthcare workers. These reports do not necessarily imply that the vaccine caused the death and often include entries not yet confirmed or verified by the government agencies.” -- Fact Check-VAERS reported vaccine deaths have not been confirmed or deemed causal by CDC
or
Union AntiVaxxer Lie V3: “We can show 45,000 deaths, in 72 hours from this [COVID-19] vaccine.” -- Union Lawyer Michael Green at news conference announcing lawsuit
Reality:
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Union AntiVaxxer Lie: The complaint makes 10 references to violation of rights under the Nuremburg Tribunals.
Reality: This is just a rehash of the moronic antivaxxer claim that COVID vaccines are somehow equivalent to Nazi medical experiments conducted on death camp inmates.
* * * * *
Union AntiVaxxer Lie: PCR tests are also known to produce a high level of false positives. Varying numbers of testing "cycles" or "amplifications" drastically impact the number of positives results. After approximately 40 amplifications, almost 100% of the positives are likely to be false positives --pg 33
Reality: This claim is designed to confuse people who know nothing about polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. If your car goes 160mph it is dangerous. This does not mean your car is dangerous at 55mph. Likewise if PCR testing amplifies through too many cycles, it is useless. That doesn’t mean it is useless at the correct (lower) threshold number. Antivaxxer hucksters (and now HGEA lawyers) throw this at the public to sew confusion because almost nobody knows anything about it. PCR amplification is at the core of DNA testing. If defense attorney Michael Green were able to get this line of BS past judges, he would be able to toss out almost all DNA test results and free 1,000s of criminals back on to the streets.
Reuters: Debunk of ‘PCR Cycles’ Claims
Reuters: The WHO did not say PCR tests are ‘invalid’
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Union AntiVaxxer Lie: “the adjuvant(s) used in the COVID Vaccine is unsafe for use in humans” -- (pg47)
Reality: The J&J vax has no adjuvant. The Pfizer and Moderna adjuvant is polyethylene glycol. Vaccine side effects are extremely rare. No medical treatment is without risk. And inaction is a form of action.
* * * * *
Union AntiVaxxer Lie: “COVID-19 is, for plaintiffs and those similarly situated, far less dangerous than seasonal influenza.” -- pg 47
Reality: “So far, more than 32 million people have had COVID-19 in the U.S. So far, more than 580,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. in 2020 and 2021.
“By comparison, during the 2019-2020 flu season in the U.S., about 38 million people had the flu and about 22,000 people died of the flu.” -- Mayo Clinic
* * * * *
What is the real purpose?
The complaint does include one lonely reference to union rights: “Defendants have exhibited a callousness and deliberate indifference to clearly established constitutional and statutory rights. Any changes to the terms and conditions of Plaintiffs' Collective Bargaining Rights requires negotiation and consent.” (pg13)
But Civil Beat, August 20, 2021, reports, “Honolulu lawyer Jeffrey Harris, a labor and employment attorney advising businesses on how to implement Covid-19 mandates for employees, has one piece of advice for Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi: move immediately to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought by first responders challenging the city and county’s policy of requiring them to be vaccinated. “It’s directly against U.S. Supreme Court precedent…”
Maybe the real purpose is to rally union members against Josh Green in the upcoming Democratic gubernatorial primary. That would explain the anti-Semitic antivaxxer rallies outside Green’s downtown condo.
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PDF: Complaint
VIDEO Aug 22, 2021: Trump Tells Crowd: 'Take the Vaccines'