by WorldTribune Staff, July 16, 2025 Real World News
Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson on July 15 chaired a Senate hearing titled “Voices of the Vaccine Injured,” held under the auspices of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee.
The hearing featured emotional testimonies from those injured by injections, bereaved families, and medical experts, aiming to amplify often-silenced stories of harm while addressing broader debates on vaccine safety, efficacy, and policy.
The core of the hearing was the raw, personal stories from seven witnesses, representing both vaccine injuries and losses from diseases the public was told vaccines prevent.
• Emily Tarsell, a retired psychotherapist, recounted her daughter Christina’s death in 2008, 18 days after her third HPV (Gardasil) vaccine dose. Christina, a healthy 21-year-old college student, developed symptoms like arrhythmia and fatigue post-vaccination. After eight years in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conceded the vaccine caused her fatal arrhythmia. Tarsell criticized misleading marketing, underreporting to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), and Merck’s alleged false reporting, urging awareness via her site, GardasilHPVTruths.com.
• Eric Stein, a flu survivor and advocate with Families Fighting Flu, shared the 2002 death of his four-year-old sister Jessica from influenza complications. Jessica relapsed after an initial recovery, leading to cardiac arrest. Stein highlighted the family’s advocacy that expanded CDC flu vaccine recommendations, emphasizing vaccines’ role in preventing severe outcomes despite acknowledging diverse views.
• Dr. Brian Hooker, Chief Scientific Officer at Children’s Health Defense and father of a vaccine-injured son, described how his son Stephen regressed into autism after vaccines containing thimerosal (mercury preservative) in the late 1990s. Stephen, now 27 and nonverbal, requires 24/7 care. Hooker criticized the lack of saline placebo trials for childhood vaccines, short safety monitoring windows (e.g., 48 hours), and VAERS underreporting (estimated at 1%). He estimated serious adverse events at 1 in 39 doses based on a CDC-funded study.
• Dr. Joel Sullivan, a physician injured by the COVID-19 vaccine, detailed his 2021 ordeal: severe vasculitis, organ damage, and near-death after his Pfizer shot. Once pro-vaccine, Sullivan now questions mRNA technology, citing spike protein toxicity, lipid nanoparticle risks, and prior knowledge from SARS-1 research. He called for separating medicine from politics and investigating vaccine harms, drawing parallels to historical self-regulation failures like SV40 contamination.
• Polly Tommy, a mother from Wisconsin, testified about her son’s regression into autism after routine vaccines at 15 months. Despite family concerns, doctors dismissed links, and she faced NVICP denial. Tommy highlighted pediatrician bonuses for high vaccination rates as a conflict of interest, urging informed consent and accountability.
• Serene Murata, who lost her five-year-old son Joseph to flu in 2018, advocated for flu vaccines. Joseph, unvaccinated due to age and availability, died after rapid complications. Murata stressed vaccines’ 63-78% effectiveness against pediatric hospitalizations and called for NVICP improvements.
• Angela Cordingley shared her son’s severe reactions to vaccines, including seizures and developmental delays, leading to autism. She criticized the lack of education on recognizing vaccine injuries and called for true placebo studies and treatment protocols for diseases.
(View the hearing in full here.)
Raw testimony at Senate’s ‘Voices of the Vaccine Injured’ hearing added by Editor Two on
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