An Open Letter to State Farm
Mr. Edward B. Rust, Jr.
CEO, State Farm Insurance
One State Farm Plaza
Bloomington, IL 61710
(309) 766-2311
ebrust@statefarm.com
Note: if you would like Ed to see this letter, please e-mail it to him.
November 18, 2014
Dear Ed,
On behalf of concerned parents across the country, I’m asking you to reverse a recent business decision.
The resonance of your branding suggests that you should be responsive. State Farm is the ubiquitous “good neighbor,” trading on trustworthiness and integrity at the highest standard. You’re a corporate giant who claims to go beyond what’s legal to do what’s right.
State Farm grasps the power of cultural iconography
Your pricey TV commercials are hip and funny. The latest, featuring SNL faves, are a “social branded content push” aimed at milennials and everyone else, too.
Your decision to ditch Rob Schneider shocked us
When you dumped Rob Schneider as a spokesman because he believes parents have the right to decide what’s in the best interests of their children… our collective jaws hit the ground.
As reported in PR Week and widely covered, State Farm dropped Rob Schneider over his views regarding vaccine mandates after social media pages Food Hunk, Science Babe, and Chow Babe called on State Farm to help end the “anti-vaccination movement.”
(Seriously?)
Your public affairs director, Phil Supple, said the State Farm ad featuring The Richmeister “has unintentionally been used as a platform for discussion unrelated to the products and services we provide.”
(Make no mistake, it wasn’t unintentional.)
Bad move for a smart company
It got me thinking…
Why on earth would the nation’s largest insurer of cars and homes choose to make such a big statement to the nation’s 150+ million parents over an issue that you admit is unrelated to your business?
And then why would State Farm double down by repudiating a world famous, much loved comedian and Emmy-nominated actor who’s also a conscientious and devoted father expressing an educated, courageous, and heartfelt opinion?
Insurance companies are conservative. I was a corporate vice president for a large insurer where I worked for ten years. It’s pretty clear to me why State Farm thought it was a good idea to pull Rob’s ad. A slam dunk, even. Maybe you were led to believe that concerns about parental rights, vaccine safety, and health freedom are radical and fringe.
Not even close. With your decision to unceremoniously cancel Rob, you telegraphed some very brand-damaging messages. Consider how many parents see it:
STATE FARM TOOK A STAND AGAINST PARENTS
You allowed your brand and ad platform to be co-opted for a highly visible and unrelated objective that parents find offensive. Are you really saying that parents shouldn’t decide what’s in the best interests of our kids? Do you truly want State Farm to come down on the side of censorship, suppression, and forced vaccination?
Rob was exercising his right to free speech, promoting an open discussion about a critically important topic, and your response was to give him a public spanking and send him to his room. You slammed the door and shut down dialogue. That isn’t socially responsible, good corporate citizenship. It’s corporate McCarthyism and a big part of what’s wrong with society today.
Sometimes, parents are presented with difficult options, each with its own advantages and risks. Children have different risk profiles based on family and medical histories, exposure history, lifestyle, geography, culture, and more. Parents are absolutely correct in rejecting one-size-fits-all diets, educational options—and medicine.
We parents do our best to make thoughtful, rational, informed decisions in the best interests of our families. It’s difficult enough without heavy-handed corporate interference.
STATE FARM VALIDATED A FALSE NARRATIVE
There is no “anti-vaccination” movement. Calling parents “anti-vaccine” is a distorted construct created for the express purpose of labeling and dismissing legitimate concerns. To represent parents as ideologically opposed to an entire category of medical procedures is absurd and irresponsible. All diseases are not the same and neither are all vaccines. Just because a certain antibiotic can cause severe injury to some does not make them anti-antibiotic, any more than deciding not to drive a particular model with defective acceleration makes us anti-car.
In firing Rob, State Farm took the bait. You were used for a purpose that has nothing to do with your brand.
STATE FARM BEHAVED LIKE A CORPORATE BEHEMOTH
Your decision was neither neighborly nor trustworthy. It was a unilateral cheap shot and an institutional power play executed without discussion or remorse.
Americans are fiercely independent. How we raise our children is our business. We don’t like it when powerful entities flex their muscles and tell us what to do. We don’t care if bureaucrats and executives think something is good for us. More than that, we don’t trust it. You’re a corporation. Your job is to make great products and deliver outstanding customer service.
When it comes to parenting our children, you don’t get a vote.
WHEN BIG MEDIA SLAMS THE LITTLE GUY…
TIME magazine’s hit piece on Rob Schneider is deeply disappointing. Rather than engage in an intelligent, serious discussion on a controversial subject, author Jeffrey Kluger resorts to ridicule, leading us to wonder why he’s unable to respond appropriately:
“For the record Rob [sic], no, there is no government conspiracy to force vaccines on kids. No, doctors are not bought off by big pharma. No, vaccines are not filled with toxins. And no, this is not a free speech issue…”
For the record, Jeffrey is wrong:
- Government wants all kids vaccinated. Conspiracy is his word, not ours. And it’s not a useful word.
- Pharma has undue influence on doctors. There’s no question. Relationships are tight and unethical. Stay tuned for the Sunshine Act.
- Vaccines are indeed filled with toxins. This is how they work and how they cause autoimmunity and other harm.
- You better believe this is a free speech issue. Could the media have lined up more quickly to shut Rob down? U.S. press freedom is appallingly low but something smells especially bad at TIME.
Find me a talented comedian and I’ll show you someone who’s fearless, astute, and one step ahead. Rob spoke out because he cares. Kluger’s article flagrantly panders to industry.
As parents, we’re doing the job we signed up for… figuring out what’s best for our kids. Whenever Big Media and Big Business slam the little guy, we know to pay very, very close attention.
Did you do any due diligence?
You liked Rob enough to ask him to represent your company. Is this how you treat people? Is this how you want people to treat you? Why didn’t you sit down with him “like a good neighbor” and ask him about his views? Before making this decision, did you try to understand the other side?
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Had you conducted a basic media search on parental views about vaccines, you would’ve learned that it’s not so simple:
1 in 4 parents believes vaccines cause autism: NBCNews.com
Vaccines, drugs top parents’ research priorities: MedpageToday.com
Majority support parental vaccination choice: PR Newswire
Plunge in kindergarteners’ vaccination rate worries officials: LA Times
I am a biological terrorist because my kids didn’t get a vaccine: Matt Walsh
Parents mount backlash to vaccine increases: Toronto Star
Even with all the spin, it’s evident that very large numbers of parents — including scads of State Farm customers — are incredibly concerned. It can’t just be waved away.
SOCIAL MEDIA
I’m guessing State Farm heeded the advice of the three social media sites attacking Rob because you believe they wield social influence. Did you happen to check them out?
- Chow Babe claims to be “prettier and smarter than Food Babe” and calls for a ChowBabeArmy for bullying and intimidation
- Food Hunk mocks people who want to label genetically modified organisms in our food
- Science Babe features a BDSM inspired bio photo and more venom directed at Food Babe
These three spend most of their time attacking Vani Hari, a health and wellness activist who goes by the name Food Babe. In Facebook currency:
- Food Babe: 860,788 Facebook likes
- Above three combined: 30,370 Facebook likes
If you care about social media influence, read Vani’s article: Should I Get The Flu Shot? Her answer? “No. I’m not taking the Flu Shot. Ever.” She also appears in the new documentary BOUGHT, about vaccines, GMOs, and Big Business. I recommend you watch it.
Here’s what you’re missing.
Ed, I see that you care about children — your issue happens to be the quality of education. When you speak with children, I hope you tell them that they must keep an open mind and be willing to do the work. Since you stuck your neck out on this issue and involved State Farm’s brand to boot, I’m going to assume that you’re willing to hear what your advisors may not have told you about the U.S. childhood vaccination program:
#1: IT’S UNPRECEDENTED
Children today get three times more vaccines than you or I received. The CDC recommends 70 doses of 16 different vaccines by age 18:
- 20 doses of flu vaccine (2 doses at 6 months of age then 1 dose annually)
- 6 doses each of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccines
- 4 doses each of pneumococcal and polio vaccines
- 3 doses each of hepatitis B, rotavirus, HPV, and Hib vaccines
- 2 doses each of measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, meningococcal, and hepatitis A vaccines.
Babies are vaccinated starting on the day of birth and receive half of the above doses by 15 months of age.
We’re talking about the administration, in our nation’s children, of simultaneous and cumulative toxic exposures and the highly unusual and atypical manipulation of the immune system, in a manner that is completely unprecedented in the history of man.
Preemies and infants receive the same dosages as fully grown adults. But adults don’t come close to being vaccinated at the same rate. If your doctor said you needed 35 doses of 14 vaccines over 15 months, I’m pretty sure you’d say: “Are you crazy?”
Babies can’t talk.
#2: CHILDREN ARE NOT HEALTHIER
Vaccines are supposed to keep our children safe and thriving. But kids are not healthier for the 70 doses they receive. Today’s children are the most chronically ill generation ever. Over half have asthma, ADHD, allergies, autism, OCD, tics, learning disabilities, diabetes, and more. Something is very wrong.
#3: VACCINES CAUSE CATASTROPHIC INJURY & DEATH
This is undisputed. Our government acknowledges a special responsibility to those harmed following receipt of vaccines used in public health programs. The Department of Health and Human Services administers the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. This administrative program, funded by a $0.75 excise tax on every vaccine, has paid $3 billion to nearly 4,000 families. The little-known Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System — a passive post-licensure data base — offers eye-opening details about death and injury following vaccination.
#4: NO LEGAL RECOURSE FOR DAMAGES
Did you ever wonder why insurance companies don’t insure against vaccination?
Vaccines used to be a terrible business. Manufacturers were tired of paying multi-million dollar settlements for dead and brain-damaged children and demanded liability protection. In 1986, Ronald Reagan signed a bill that eliminated our most important consumer protection: the ability to sue in a court of law with due process, including the right to a judge, jury, and discovery.
Now, drug companies have no financial imperative to make safer vaccines. As you would expect, the 1986 Act paved the way for an extraordinary increase in the number of FDA-approved, CDC-recommended, and state-mandated vaccines. The Supreme Court recently upheld vaccine makers’ rights to be shielded from design-defect liability.
And this is why the dangerous risks of vaccines never emerge as they do with so many other pharmaceuticals.
#5: VACCINES ARE BIG BUSINESS + BIG GOVERNMENT
Today, vaccines are a flourishing, multibillion dollar global export business with outsized growth and spectacular profitability, enhanced by the above protections and privileges. The World Health Organization calls vaccines “an engine for the drug industry.” Hundreds of vaccines are under development; many are at the top of government agendas. Public-private vaccine partnerships, closed door proceedings, and a busy revolving door between government and industry suggest a system that’s rife with conflicts of interest.
The pharmaceutical lobby is legendary and outspends the massive insurance lobby by 50%. Drug companies spend billions of dollars on direct-to-consumer advertising and donations to medical associations and pro-industry groups, including industry-funded non-profit organizations like Every Child By Two and the Immunization Action Coalition. They all say vaccines are safe (it surely helps to keep the money flowing).
Our government’s goal is to get Americans vaccinated. The CDC engages in “the activities needed to assure vaccination of a population” and overcome resistance. These include “the integration of new vaccines into routine medical care” and “strategies to increase vaccination coverage rates.” It spends far more on vaccine development, promotion, distribution, and compliance (about $4 billion) than it does on vaccine safety (about $20 million).
#6: MANDATES ARE COERCIVE
If vaccines were safe, effective, and necessary, people would line up for them at any price. All 50 states mandate vaccines for daycare and school admission via police power authority precisely because vaccines do not meet those criteria. Enforcing mandates and withholding information about legal exemptions are a sign of the failure of the childhood vaccination program. State by state, legislatures are passing bills making it harder for parents to obtain exemptions to compulsory vaccination for their children.
Industry spokespeople argue that vaccines are like seat belts and must be mandated to keep people safe. Vaccines are serious medicine. Vaccines are an invasive medical procedure done on healthy children. Our government compels virtually all children to get vaccinated knowing that some will die or sustain grievous harm. Children who are not fully vaccinated are denied daycare and a free public education.
Vaccines are nothing like seat belts.
#7: INDEPENDENT RESEARCH RAISES QUESTIONS
In a review of the scientific literature, we learn that:
- Government invests vaccines with mystical superpowers but they fall short. They’re not a magic immunological bullet.
- Protection from vaccines is temporary and wears off before people realize it.
- Vaccine package inserts list devastating adverse events.
- Vaccines aggressively marketed to pregnant women are Category C pharmaceuticals, harmful to animal fetuses and untested in humans.
- With serotype replacement, non-vaccine strains prevail so we have to keep upping the antigenic ante. The bugs are always many steps ahead of us.
- Vaccines are “eminence-based medicine” (opinion trumps evidence), may not work at all (even for kids), and cause more injury and death than people realize.
The Institute of Medicine acknowledges significant data gaps and research limitations. There are no controlled, longitudinal studies comparing the health outcomes of vaccinated versus totally unvaccinated populations. Vaccines are not studied as they are administered, simultaneously and cumulatively.
#8: HERD IMMUNITY IS A HOUSE OF CARDS
Natural immunity from the contraction and resolution of disease is lifelong and robust whereas vaccine-induced immunity is temporary and wanes. The concept of herd immunity as a protective societal cordon is based upon natural immunity. Public health officials seized upon the untested hypothesis that vaccines could deliver herd immunity as a way to justify mass vaccination programs and mandates.
We’re learning that vaccine-induced herd immunity is flawed. Outbreaks occur regularly in fully vaccinated communities. If it were valid, adults would need the same vaccines as children. We clutch to vaccines so desperately, imagining we’d be a quivering mass of bloody pus without them. The truth is that there are so many more infectious diseases for which there are no vaccines and we’re still standing.
#9: ADULTS, YOU’RE NEXT
Industry is eyeing the next growth target and it’s you. Pharma is looking to gain market share in adult vaccines. Over 50% of adults decline flu shots and most health care workers refused vaccines, too, until hospitals started mandating them as a condition of employment. Teachers and first responders are next.
#10: WHY IS THE ANSWER ALWAYS A VACCINE?
Pertussis outbreaks are prompting health officials to consider a 7th dose of pertussis vaccine to the schedule. Babies already get 5 doses by age 6 and a 6th dose in 6th grade. When will we face facts that the pertussis vaccine isn’t working? If the only tool in the CDC’s kit is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.
Businesses promote vaccination to reduce employee absenteeism. Parents who vaccinate children to avoid a few days of lost work can end up dealing with far worse, including dangerously high fevers, convulsions, severe complications, or even death.
More people are skeptical about sequential pandemics and so-called deadly epidemics — with bizarre contamination stories and a fear-mongering press focused on human vulnerability — right before fast tracked vaccines arrive on cue to save the day.
#11: IT’S ALL ON FAITH
You can never know whether a vaccine worked, would have worked, or didn’t work. Just because your child didn’t get sick doesn’t mean the vaccine worked. Just because your child isn’t vaccinated doesn’t mean she’s going to get sick. Just because your child is vaccinated doesn’t mean she isn’t going to get sick. Just because a vaccine is labeled “flu” doesn’t mean it was the for the flu strains that are circulating. Just because the media says it’s true doesn’t make it so.
Vaccination requires an extraordinary amount of public trust in government, industry, and medicine. Is there any wonder parents are concerned?
***
It’s not too late
You say that being a good neighbor is more than a slogan — it’s a promise to be trustworthy, courteous, and helpful. State Farm, you dropped the ball. Your actions were anti-parent and validated a false narrative. This issue is more complicated than you were led to believe. You have a chance to make things right by apologizing to Rob Schneider and reinstating his ad. We’ll take notice.
Respectfully yours,
Louise Kuo Habakus
Note: the author thanks Alison Fujito for her assistance with this article.
Louise Kuo Habakus heads Fearless Parent™. She is the lead editor of Vaccine Epidemic and founding director of the Center for Personal Rights. She is the host and producer of Fearless Parent Radio™. Louise was formerly a corporate vice president for Prudential Financial, a managing director for Putnam Investments, and a Bain consultant. She received two degrees from Stanford University.
Photo Credit: flickr
Louise .. I wholeheartedly agree with your well deserved criticisms of State Farm CEO decision to “dump” Rob Schneider for having the courage to exercise our basic Constitutional Right to “free speech.”
Shame on them .. and .. rest assured .. I will be sending my own comments to Ed Brust .. as the parent of two .. now the grandparent of five .. who has witnessed first hand their suffering of .. life-long .. life-threatening .. chronic autoimmune disorders .. including .. ITP reqiring the surgical removal of a four-year old’s spleen, ongoing asthma attacks at times requiring hospital intervention ..and .. “regressive autism” affecting my beloved 15 year old … non-verbal grandson .. all of which were uncommon in my own .. less vaccinated .. childhood.
That State Farm would “dump” someone who dared speak “truth to power” is not only shameful .. it is .. business wise .. stupid.
Parents should have a choice and be able to make educated, informed decisions.
Louise, Great, fact-filled article, always well researched, well written and on point. It’s the kind of article I would like to see in the editorial section of every major newspaper and media outlet. But, of course, that would never be allowed because people unwittingly believe that the CDC is there for our benefit. Thank you for exposing State Farm’s position against good parenting and family health.
This is the most coherent fact filled letter I have seen in my life.
The author should be lauded for its undeniable argument.
Louise,
As ever you are a formidable advocate, and what a perfect assemblage of arguments. You are quite right that it is unnecessary to be opposed to a class of products per se but we are of course faced with such a complex of institutional bias, conflicts, inadequate trialling and monitoring, public bullying, legislative failure and absence of process that it is presently quite difficult to take anything about any of the products on trust. Moreover, what renders this above everything dangerous is the inability to accept or deal with criticism. I recently compared the pharmaceutical industry to the princess in Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Princess and the Pea’. The princess has now been a princess since at least 1986 and she gets more unreasonable, vindictive and tyrannical by the year, because the government’s preening courtiers have allowed it. The point about the princess is that instead of being a really wonderful person, she is actually a vicious bully and everybody should stop pretending.
John
That is precisely why we found another insurance company (cheaper and better coverage was a plus) and dropped our State Farm after nearly 20 years.
Thank you, Louise.
I plan to print a copy of this and send it to my local agent, so they are clear on why we no longer wanted to be a customer.
And thank you, Rob Schneider, for sticking up for what you believe in, even when it costs you.
I’m looking to do the same now that I read this article! Would you be willing to share what insurance company you transferred to? ! And to anyone else out there who was with state farm and switched??? Thanks so much in advance for your reply! Lord Bless You <3
Hi, HollyO. I was not with State Farm so I did not need to switch. Companies may have different underwriting criteria by geographic area so it pays to get quotes. You’ll want to speak with friends and colleagues to get their recommendations for the best carriers in your area. Be sure to compare on service, too, not just on price. Be sure to let your agent know why you’re switching… you can send him/her a link to this post. Good luck! Louise
I will start researching other insurance companies to do business with. I have been a long time customer of State Farm and this is unacceptable. Stick to your own business State Farm!
It was a good piece of work – really funny – got my attention.
Rob has talent, but no matter how much talent you have…
Speaking of talent — John Travolta if you are not too sick — and you have to know the truth by now – since your son, like my daughter, had Kawasakis – and that [autoimmune] vasculitis went on into autism — You have to know by now that many vaccines cause vasculitis??? Could you give it a word now?
I personally have had all 6 of my children vaccinated without any problems. I do feel that some parents automatically say they aren’t vaccinating their kids in case they are bad for them without researching further. I don’t believe vaccinations are good for those children with special conditions and their parents should have the right to refuse them, but more study and information should be allowed all parents. Rob should not be penalized for his beliefs.
Best synopsis of this issue I have seen.
Well done.
I believe State Farm has done more damage than they realize with their irresponsible move regarding Rob Schneider.
We will certainly never use them after this, but even more important, think of all the SIBLINGS of all these vaccine-injured kids. Many of them (like my two) are just graduating high school, buying their first cars, homes etc.
You can bet my young adult children will not even consider State Farm as a contender for any of their future business after this (they’ve been taught to vote with their pocket books). They have seen what’s happened to their beautiful, vaccine-injured sister.
They’ve also seen the “medical bullying” I’ve endured over the years, they’ve witnessed the success of biomedical interventions and diet, they’ve read to obviously biased mainstream media reports, etc.
The siblings of these injured children tend to be highly intelligent, and I believe they will be a force to be reckoned with. They are just as angry about the denial of vaccine injury in this country, they are very interested in freedom to choose what’s injected to their own bodies (especially with a known history of vaccine injury in the family), and they have the energy and passion to pursue justice.
They are our future researchers, doctors, business owners, lawyers and politicians, and they know very well what has happened to several generations of innocent children. They will continue this “medical revolution” for as long as it takes. The drug companies want this all to “just go away,” but that’s not going to happen.
There is no putting this genie back in the bottle, no matter how many news outlets or businesses they bribe.
Thank you, Louise. Excellent letter.
We recall with horror the Hollywood blacklists of the 1950s, and we like to think that sort of thing couldn’t happen today. But of course, it is happening all over again: an organized and at least partly successful effort to deny actors work because they take unpopular political stands. And this time around, media outlets like TIME are openly endorsing blacklisting. If we want to fight it, let’s start by calling it what it is.
Excellent letter, well stated!
Congratulations, Louise! Phenomenal and thorough synopsis of government/corporate vaccination program misdeeds. Since they are making everything “look like a nail” (all disease risks must be reduced/eliiminated with a vaccine solution), you hit that “nail” on the head!
It’s easy to understand, if not accept, State Farm’s decision with this simple framing from the ending of “Killing Them Softly”–
“America isn’t a country. It’s a business. Now, pay me.”
~ Hired Assassin
Excellent letter – so articulate!
Well-reasoned, well-written, articulate, respectful, and smart – keep it up!
Excellent letter, Louise! Thank you for taking the time to not only chastise and attempt to educate State Farm, but equally importantly, to defend a champion of parental rights and medical choice freedom, Rob Schneider.
Anne J, your comment mirrored what I was going to write, so I will just say, “Ditto what Anne J said!” Great points regarding the intelligent siblings, the choices they will be making/demanding, and the forces of change they will be.
As an advocate for children with special needs and their families, both professionally and personally I applaud this great article. It is so important to get the information out there. I have heard countless stories of problems with vaccines, and I understand that these are personal stories, but they deserve to be told without ridicule.
Parents need information, not rhetoric or fear. Great work!
well-written article! Thank you!
The response letter is good.
The best answer is to shift business to other companies and every time a parent moves, he calls the agent and tells them why he made the move. Unfortunately I am not going to hold my expectations on something to that effect happening.
Talk is cheap – taking action needs some commitment. These large companies know that and that is why they do not care what most letters say…
Start the movement and see how quickly they will act 🙂
Feroz,
I think many are doing this. I had been with State Farm since I was 16 years old and on my parent’s insurance as a young driver. When I became an adult, I went with what I knew and had offered excellent service. I had stuck with State Farm for 38 years, but following the Rob Schneider firing, well I fired State Farm, changed my Mother’s insurance as well.
We are both quite happy with our new insurance. I love the concept of voting with our pocket books. Shame on you State Farm. Stick with insurance and leave parenting to the parents.
I will also be researching other companies to do business with. We all need to have an informed choice and your choice to go against choice is not acceptable.
Louise Kuo Habakus is the best writer on the subject of vaccinations that I’ve ever read.
I sent this message to Edward Rust (ebrust@statefarm.com), CEO of State Farm Insurance, a few minutes ago.
Dear Ed,
I will never consider becoming a State Farm customer and I will let everyone I know why if you don’t reverse your decision about firing Rob Schneider.
My younger daughter, Megan, suffered severe neurological damage from her third DPT shot at the age of six months. She lost all of her ability to use her limbs and speak. She was compensated for the injuries that she sustained by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Megan died at the age of twenty-two years as a result of the damage caused by the DPT vaccine. If not for that government program, vaccine manufacturers would have been sued out of business by now.
Sincerely,
Steve Gresh
Watsontown, PA
Louise, thank you for the most intelligent, succinct piece ever!
Louise — I read your article out loud this morning to my husband… I am beyond impressed.
I have mutual friends (unfortunately) with the Science Babe and your take down of her was more than kind. She’s a cesspool of misinformation.
Here’s my email response to State Farm:
I am the parent of a daughter diagnosed by her Pediatric Neurologist as “Brain Injury due to Thimerosal Exposure” secondary to Autism and Mild Cerebral Palsy.
Unfortunately due to the Homeland Security Act amendment I am prohibited form pursuing a civil lawsuit against the manufacturer Eli Lilly and subsequent vaccine manufactures for product liability. Since the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program does not “table” Autism or Cerebral Palsy as injuries due to vaccines, our family has no legal recourse.
Rob Schneider is an outspoken advocate for many of us parents who have been silenced through government protectionism.
State Farm’s role obstructs truth and promotes injustice. Parents like me won’t forgive or forget Rob’s termination. WE WILL BOYCOTT your services.
Pam Szal
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
What a tremendous open letter to State Farm by the wonderful Louise Kuo Habakus! Well written, easy to read, powerful, and to the point! Thanks for speaking on behalf of so many of us, Louise!
Thank you, Louise.
Things also do not seem to be going too well with ratings at the Today show these days.
It does not look like the return of Dr. Nancy will help matters very much…
We just have a few clips here…
Just sent an email to Ed referencing this excellent letter. I cancelled my State Farm car insurance last month, which I have had for over 25 years (!), after their cowardly decision.
SNL — they initiated the whole issue. If you don’t watch TV, this wouldn’t be a issue. It’d be a non issue.SNL is owned by the same interests. Watch the Law & Order episode which says and does the same: bait & switch, good cop bad cop.
Brava Louise
Louise takes that figurative hammer and hits the nail squarely on the head.
The article itself won’t take you long to read. If you are already educated on this topic it will be an encouraging read; a more than brilliant connection of information you already knew but if you are still learning about the vaccine industry checking out all the links is going to be a longer and eye-opening experience.
For the sake of the children don’t put off reading it for too long.
This questioning of the vaccine program seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.
As a nurse for over 34 years I agree with everything stated in this letter.
State Farm, we implore you to listen and acknowledge the information stated to you. The public outcry is deafening.
We will be following your response.
Sincerely,
Anne Williams RN BSN
Excellent Job Louise. Very persuasive writing and well designed. I hope all the state farm employees read this. Their northeast and mid atlantic corporate offices are in my back yard and I know a few people who work there.
I hope that State Farm will reconsider their decision. Parents should have the right to choose what is best for their children.
So well written, articulate and powerful Louise Kuo Habakus! As a holistic health coach, I receive so many questions regarding vaccinations – and now I have a wealth of information to share with people. Parents should be able to make their own educated decisions based upon their particular circumstances.
Thanks for exposing State Farm and kudos to you Rob Schneider, for speaking your truth, even when it cost you your job.
Making people aware of these situations enables us to speak with our purchasing decisions. Together, we can make a difference. Keep up the great work Louise!
WOW! Bad move by State Farm! How disappointing!
I wonder how many – in the management staff who made this decision – are up to date on their adult vaccines? http://www.cdc.gov/…/adult/adult-schedule-easy-read.pdf
excellent!
I LOVE THIS: There is no “anti-vaccination” movement. Calling parents “anti-vaccine” is a distorted construct created for the express purpose of labeling and dismissing legitimate concerns. To represent parents as ideologically opposed to an entire category of medical procedures is absurd and irresponsible. All diseases are not the same and neither are all vaccines. Just because a certain antibiotic can cause severe injury to some does not make them anti-antibiotic, any more than deciding not to drive a particular model with defective acceleration makes us anti-car.
AND THIS: Americans are fiercely independent. How we raise our children is our business. We don’t like it when powerful entities flex their muscles and tell us what to do. We don’t care if bureaucrats and executives think something is good for us. More than that, we don’t trust it. You’re a corporation. Your job is to make great products and deliver outstanding customer service.
When it comes to parenting our children, you don’t get a vote.
There is a lot of great info here to reference!
State Farm is against Parents and against our Constitution. Shame on them!
State Farm has a right to take a stand on this issue, and it has. The company appears to be looking out for the greater good of society, which is what mandates compulsory vccination.
Poor dear Miss Kae. You haven’t a clue, do you?
Perhaps you need to go back and research what this article is in reference to, and while you’re at it, read the very informative and enlightening recent posts at the bottom of this page.
I live in Bloomington, Illinois. I am trying to find what I can do to take a stand against mandatory vaccinations. If you have any information I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.