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美国国家公共电台 NPR--As the pandemic winds down, anti-vaccine activists are building a legal network

时间:2023-12-26 02:23来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

As the pandemic winds down, anti-vaccine1 activists2 are building a legal network

Transcript3

Steve Kirsch is a tech entrepreneur who made hundreds of millions of dollars after founding an early search engine and helping4 invent the optical computer mouse.

Recently, he stood before a gathering5 of more than 250 lawyers in Atlanta while wearing a custom black T-shirt designed like a dictionary entry for the phrase "misinformation superspreader."

"Our definition is it's someone who's basically pointing out the truth and it just happens to disagree with the mainstream6 narrative7 we're known as misinformation spreaders, because what they're trying to do is they're trying to control the narrative," Kirsch told NPR.

By "they," Kirsch means a network of pharmaceutical8 companies, governments, doctors and journalists that he argues are covering up a pandemic-driven plot to poison the world for profit.

The scientific consensus9 shows COVID vaccines10 are safe and significantly reduce the chances of death or serious illness. While many Americans may share a distrust of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare systems, there is no evidence of the kind of conspiracy11 alleged12 in these circles.

In recent years, Kirsch has become an increasingly vocal13 and generous funder of the anti-vaccine movement. He helped organize and fund the conference to map out strategies for anti-vaccine and COVID-19-focused litigation as the pandemic winds down.

Their proposed targets include hospitals, school systems, medical licensing14 boards and, the holy grail, pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines.

"My goal is to expose every single one of these a**holes," Kirsch told the audience, to uproarious applause.

The lawyers met as the anti-vaccine movement is at a crossroads. The COVID-19 pandemic brought in new energy and supporters but is fading from public life. On May 11, the federal government's public health emergency will expire. To keep the cause alive, some in the movement are trying to build up a legal arm.

The legal conference drew a mix of people who've advocated against vaccines for years before the pandemic, and those, like Kirsch, who are more recent converts. He said he actually got two Moderna shots when COVID vaccines became available.

Kirsch's path to the conference started with an effort to find treatments for COVID.

From funding research to organizing lawyers

"When the pandemic hit, I put in a million dollars of my own money and raised another $5 million dollars. We started the COVID 19 Early Treatment Fund and we started funding early treatments," said Kirsch.

The goal was to run trials on existing treatments that might help combat the virus. Reporting by MIT's Technology Review found the project had brought together highly respected biologists and drug researchers who believed in the work. But when some of the research seemed to run into dead ends, Kirsch reportedly began to clash with the scientists he was funding.

"If the data is is is bad and doesn't make sense and the study was badly done, then I have a right to reject it," said Kirsch. "And so the point is that if a study is well done, you'll see that I will like the study."

Kirsch has a tendency to offer large sums of money to anyone willing to debate his assertions.

"But they won't do that. They won't get into any discussion with me because they don't want to answer a single question," Kirsch said.

Jeffrey Morris has tried to engage with Kirsch for years. In his spare time, the professor of biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania has gone line by line through some of Kirsch's claims, providing answers, context and explanations. They once had a long conversation over Zoom15.

"And it was an interesting discussion, you know, because he admitted that he was not a scientist and didn't think like one. And so I was trying to connect with him and help him understand the leaps he was making in his arguments to get him to think more carefully. Because I could tell he was someone with a lot of energy and passion on the issue," said Morris, who has watched Kirsch pull millions of views on some of his COVID vaccine content.

When someone makes a dramatic claim that vaccines are killing16 millions, it's their burden to show the evidence, said Morris, not the other way around.

"They're presuming that they have the entitlement that what they're saying can be presumed to be true without them demonstrating rigorously that it's true, and that it is the responsibility of society and the scientific community to prove them wrong. And if they fail to prove them wrong, or if they don't show up, then they're really offended. And then to them, that just proves their guilt17. It proves the cover up," he said.

As government cover ups became a regular talking point for Kirsch, the researchers abandoned his early treatment project. Two years and $2 million later, he's hoping to organize a sustained legal insurgency18 against public health agencies, drug manufacturers, hospitals and schools.

Attorney Pete Serano traveled from Washington State, where he represents three doctors accused of spreading false statements about COVID-19 and said finding a supportive community of lawyers and experts he can call for help is "monumental."

"You know, it really felt like it was me against the world, even though there were probably maybe half a dozen to a dozen lawyers in Washington fighting. It still feels - it's extremely lonely. It's extremely difficult," said Serano.

Conference organizers asked reporters not to record entire presentations. But one thing Serano and other attendees heard again and again from speakers: In this room, you're among heroes.

"There are people who are tremendously intellectually talented and gifted in so many ways who are using those talents to fight for your rights, to fight for my rights," said Serano.

Creating a new body of law

The fights include everything from suing educators who enforced mask mandates20, to demanding vaccination21 status be made a protected class, like race or sexual orientation22. Thousands of lawsuits23 pushing back against public health measures have been filed since the pandemic.

The goal of this conference is to bring lawyers behind these suits together, study all that legal spaghetti on the wall and analyze24 what has and hasn't worked. They mean to probe for weak points in the law, build a network of experts and plaintiffs, and, they hope, inspire new laws.

Conference organizers like attorney Warner Mendenhall want to ensure a steady supply of lawyers who see opportunity, whether ideologically25 aligned26 with the anti-vaccine movement or not.

"I hate to say this but greed is good in this instance," said Mendenhall on a webinar promoting the event. "So if lawyers can see that they can get rich, and we're trying to prove that you can - we haven't yet, but we will - it'll bring lawyers in simply for the money."

Fears about vaccines are not new. The current legal structure around vaccines is the result of a wave of lawsuits in the 1970s and 80s. It tries to balance individual freedom with public health needs, according to Anjali Deshmukh, a pediatrician and professor of administrative27 law at Georgia State University.

"It's not only about protecting us, but it's about protecting our community. And that's a different calculus28, where it's now within the government's interests to make sure that these diseases are not spreading," Deshmukh said.

But the law is not fixed29, she added, and well-funded, well-organized groups can be a powerful force.

"And I think like we saw with Roe19 v Wade30, you had a case that was passed 50 years ago and then had various chips away at it until the ground crumbled," said Deshmukh.

The civil rights movement, organized labor31 and women's rights advocates have also relied on a potent32 mix of court battles and ground campaigns to sway public sentiment.

"The court of public opinion is more important than I think we give credit to in both law and medicine. We can have all the science in the world, we can have laws that make sense, but laws change. Science is not always convincing when you're coming from a place of fear," said Deshmukh.

Cases don't even have to succeed in court to have an impact, Deshmukh said. Influencers and headlines can frame settlements, technical legal outcomes or compelling, emotional testimony33 as victories for one side or another. She said these lawsuits also come at a time when the Supreme34 Court is weakening the powers of many regulators.

With the COVID national emergency order set to end, keeping COVID-related grievances35 alive in the courts may also help sustain the larger movement against vaccines.

Serano, the lawyer from Washington State, says the kinds of cases that brought him here may become the bulk of his work for years.

"I plan on being that 80 year old guy talking about what it was like in the 2020s and COVID 19 and telling some young whippersnapper lawyer about how we did it back when," he said.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vaccine Ki1wv     
n.牛痘苗,疫苗;adj.牛痘的,疫苗的
参考例句:
  • The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
  • She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。
2 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 transcript JgpzUp     
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书
参考例句:
  • A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
  • They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
4 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
5 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
6 mainstream AoCzh9     
n.(思想或行为的)主流;adj.主流的
参考例句:
  • Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
  • Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。
7 narrative CFmxS     
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的
参考例句:
  • He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
  • Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。
8 pharmaceutical f30zR     
adj.药学的,药物的;药用的,药剂师的
参考例句:
  • She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
  • We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。
9 consensus epMzA     
n.(意见等的)一致,一致同意,共识
参考例句:
  • Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗?
  • What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么?
10 vaccines c9bb57973a82c1e95c7cd0f4988a1ded     
疫苗,痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
  • The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。
11 conspiracy NpczE     
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋
参考例句:
  • The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
  • He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。
12 alleged gzaz3i     
a.被指控的,嫌疑的
参考例句:
  • It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
  • alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为
13 vocal vhOwA     
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目
参考例句:
  • The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
  • Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。
14 licensing 7352ce0b4e0665659ae6466c18decb2a     
v.批准,许可,颁发执照( license的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
  • That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句
15 zoom VenzWT     
n.急速上升;v.突然扩大,急速上升
参考例句:
  • The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
  • I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近,昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。
16 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
17 guilt 9e6xr     
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责
参考例句:
  • She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
  • Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。
18 insurgency dqdzEb     
n.起义;暴动;叛变
参考例句:
  • And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国,动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
  • Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网
19 roe LCBzp     
n.鱼卵;獐鹿
参考例句:
  • We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
  • I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗?
20 mandates 2acac1276dba74275e1c7c1a20146ad9     
托管(mandate的第三人称单数形式)
参考例句:
  • Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
  • While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处,我不是授权软件的支持者。
21 vaccination bKGzM     
n.接种疫苗,种痘
参考例句:
  • Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
  • Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。
22 orientation IJ4xo     
n.方向,目标;熟悉,适应,情况介绍
参考例句:
  • Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
  • The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。
23 lawsuits 1878e62a5ca1482cc4ae9e93dcf74d69     
n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权,耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
  • I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多,赢的也多,输的也多。 来自辞典例句
24 analyze RwUzm     
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse)
参考例句:
  • We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
  • The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。
25 ideologically 349bb0b6ec9b7a33bdbe738c47039eae     
adv. 意识形态上地,思想上地
参考例句:
  • Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上,他们之间有许多不同之处。
  • He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。
26 aligned 165f93b99f87c219277d70d866425da6     
adj.对齐的,均衡的
参考例句:
  • Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。
27 administrative fzDzkc     
adj.行政的,管理的
参考例句:
  • The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
  • He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。
28 calculus Is9zM     
n.微积分;结石
参考例句:
  • This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题,微积分一点也用不上。
  • After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后,你们就能够解这些数学题了。
29 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
30 wade nMgzu     
v.跋涉,涉水;n.跋涉
参考例句:
  • We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
  • We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。
31 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
32 potent C1uzk     
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的
参考例句:
  • The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
  • We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。
33 testimony zpbwO     
n.证词;见证,证明
参考例句:
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
34 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
35 grievances 3c61e53d74bee3976a6674a59acef792     
n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 );苦衷;不满;牢骚
参考例句:
  • The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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