‘We Will Not Go Quietly Into the Night’: A Tribute to Norma Erickson, Health Freedom Activist, Champion of HPV Vaccine-Injured

The Children’s Health Defense (CHD) team was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Norma Erickson on Feb. 29 after a period of declining health.

Norma was a tenacious investigative journalist, networker, advocate and champion of truth for medical informed consent in general and a friend to those injured by the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines in particular.

“The health freedom movement has lost a remarkable advocate with the death of Norma Erickson,” said CHD President Mary Holland. “She poured her heart and soul into getting the truth out to the world about HPV vaccines and helping the injured. She worked with passion and dedication. I will miss Norma greatly.”

CHD Vice President Laura Bono said, “We are forever grateful to Norma Erickson for raising red flags on the potential of HPV vaccines to cause grievous harms to recipients. Her research and determination in shedding light on the risks of these shots will continue to save lives.”

Norma was not always a vaccine activist. She raised three children on her own, vaccinating each precisely as doctors recommended.

But after writing articles for Examliner.com about Merck’s aggressive advertising campaign for its HPV vaccine, Gardasil, she researched the vaccine’s side effects and began publishing stories of HPV vaccine-injured young women.

Norma’s research led her to co-found SaneVax Inc. in 2010 to promote “Safe, Affordable, Necessary and Effective” vaccines, and to track the catastrophic injuries from the HPV vaccines pushed on girls since 2006.

Serving as SaneVax’s president until her passing, Norma was assisted by Freda Birrell from Scotland, Steve Hinks from the U.K. and many others.

The SaneVax website became a platform where those who were seriously injured by the HPV vaccine could tell their stories. They became known as the Gardasil Girls. In 2019, Norma published a compilation of these stories in the book, “Journeys From Trust to Tragedy.”

Television host Katie Couric learned of SaneVax and featured the Gardasil controversy on the Dec. 4, 2013, episode of her nationally syndicated show, “Katie.”

Norma was a guest along with Dr. Diane Harper, the lead researcher for Gardasil in clinical trials. A pediatrician and two parents, one whose daughter was seriously injured and another whose daughter died from the vaccine, also were guests.

The show caused quite a controversy, causing Couric to issue a formal apology and ultimately to break ties with CBS.

One of the parents on Couric’s show was Emily Tarsell, the mother of Christina who in 2008, at age 21, died shortly after taking her third dose of Gardasil.

The founding president of Health Choice Maryland, Tarsell worked closely with Norma over the years and founded the site Gardasil HPV Truths.

“We were like warriors on a battlefield fighting puppet regulatory agencies and a mercenary Merck who crushed young lives with indifference,” Tarsell said. “I feel she is still with us because the spirit of the truth she pursued remains and still drives us. Norma will always be part of that mission.”

“Thank you my friend. We will miss you,” she said.

Norma’s story of activism was prominently featured in the 2018 book, “The HPV Vaccine On Trial: Seeking Justice For A Generation Betrayed,” by Holland, CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg and Eileen Iorio.

World-class pathologist and microbiologist Dr. Sin Hang Lee collaborated with SaneVax to study a sampling of Gardasil vaccine vials from around the world and discovered that they all contained foreign DNA fragments that could pose a serious health risk.

Lee documented his discovery in the 2019 paper, “Toll-like receptor 9 agonist in HPV vaccine Gardasil9.” Despite being favorably peer-reviewed, the paper was rejected by the journal Vaccines before being published in more obscure journals. The significance of this study is still reverberating.

The publications on SaneVax and evidence of HPV vaccine harm also came to the attention of the health authorities in Japan. This led to a major conference with international experts, including Dr. Lee, to discuss on Japanese national TV the safety and efficacy issues of the HPV vaccines. As a result, Japanese health authorities withdrew government recommendations and funding for the vaccine.

SaneVax also was a resource for investigations into the safety and efficacy of Gardasil conducted in France, India, Scotland, England and South America.

At the time of her passing, Norma was still actively involved as a team member for Wisner Baum law firm doing research for litigation against Merck on behalf of those seriously injured by Gardasil vaccines.

“Norma has been an integral member of our Gardasil litigation team and long-term indefatigable warrior in the effort to right the wrongs of Merck’s over-promotion of Gardasil while concealing its harms,” said Michael Baum, senior partner with Wisner Baum and a member of CHD’s board. “We will miss her encyclopedic institutional knowledge and dry-humored contributions to our research.”

Because the litigation is still in process, Norma did not live to see the victims of Merck products find justice. But she accomplished what she set out to do as a probing journalist and champion of truth, and she left a legacy that continues to make a difference all over the world.

In her last news post on the SaneVax website, Norma wrote:

“The world we leave to our descendants depends on the choices we make as individuals right now. Will we succumb to fear or will we take advantage of this magic moment in time to create the world where generations to come can survive and thrive?

“But if everyone concerned about the current medical industrial complex stands together and supports each other — A NEW PARADIGM CAN BE CREATED!

“Remember to concentrate on creation. Destruction has no place in our world.

“Industries which refuse to respect, protect and preserve human life will simply become obsolete under the new paradigm. Putting profit before people will no longer be tolerated.

“The time has come to let the pharmaceutical industry know we will not go quietly into the night.”