Movie Protocol7 Details Real Big Pharma Corruption

Film Covering a 10 Year lawsuit against Merck Pharmaceuticals from legendary film maker Andy Wakefield

Great to have Nikos covering this critical movie from the brilliant and controversial filmmaker Andy Wakefield. I had the honor of interviewing Andy last year on CHD TV, twice:

(first interview / second interview)

Those interviews occurred while Andy was in the middle of editing Protocol-7 . - Michael Kane

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A new film called Protocol-7, directed by Andy Wakefield, is currently premiering across America. I was able to attend its New York City premier on Friday, June 2, which was accompanied by a question and answer session at the end of the film with producers, some of the actors, and attorney Mary Holland who is CEO of Children's Health Defense.

A whistleblower story based on true events, the film explores the story of a family in a small Arkansas town whose adopted son begins to show signs of serious developmental disorders, and illness, soon after receiving multiple vaccines upon arriving in the states. When his parents begin to ask what is wrong, they discover corporate corruption at the highest level.

The mother, Lexi Koprowski (played by Rachel G. Whittle), is a lawyer, who attends a conference about vaccines and autism. Based on what she learns, she desperately seeks to meet with one of the conference's speakers, called Dr. Adrian Jay (played by Matthew Marsden), and the two of them begin an alliance.

Lexi and Dr. Jay make stunning discoveries and ultimately lead to legal depositions with the leadership team of Merck, who manufactures the commonly-used MMR ii vaccine, including the one that Lexi’s son had received. They discover enormous fraud in vaccine safety trials and efficacy claims, which eventually leads to a lawsuit. The film depicts how Merck enhanced the tests, manipulated data, and destroyed potentially-damning evidence.

Lexi’s sharp legal questioning of Merck executives manages to corner and frame them in multiple lies regarding vaccine trials, safety, efficacy, and evidence used to make these claims. This scene is the climax of the movie, although there is also a hint of a happy ending to this story when their son begins to speak, which is attributed to the extremely rigorous and healthy diet that the parents had given him since his troubles first appeared.

Nevertheless, this investigation and the ordeal of raising a disabled son places an enormous strain on the family, which is captured in the film in some chill-inducing, and possibly even tear-jerking, scenes. The parents fight over the stress and effort required to keep their child on such a rigorous diet (even if it seems to work in the end). Their marriage is also strained as Lexi’s husband, Josh (played by R. Brandon Johnson), perceives her as being away from home working on her case against Merck too often, and also straying away from her own legal practice of family law to pursue this case instead. Lexi also receives strong pushback from fellow parents at her child's school for her advocacy to respect laws that permit childhood vaccine exemptions, while she also receives a penalty letter from the Arkansas Bar Association for her legal pursuits.

Another shocking scene involves the story’s main whistleblower, Steve Schilling  (played by Josh Murray), a former employee at Merck who was involved in the shoddy trials that Lexi investigates. When Steve goes to pick up his newborn baby in a hospital, he is furious to find out that the infant has already been injected with vaccinations (particularly Hepatitis B, which is given to all newborns in U.S. hospitals), despite him having vehemently requested that the staff not do so; doctors ignore his objections and jab the baby anyway.

In the end, Merck offers an enormous settlement in exchange for silence so that the findings of their lawsuit do not go public. Lexi presents this possible resolution to her husband; the two weigh the agonizing choice between receiving a payout that can be used to care for their son, and wanting truth and justice to expose the company’s malpractice publicly. Ultimately, they decide to risk going into litigation and hoping for a better outcome through the courts.

Text on the screen at the end of the film says that the case has been in litigation for more than 10 years. They hope for an outcome that will publicize and spread awareness of the company’s malpractice, but are not sure it will happen. The film concludes with a message saying, "You Are The Jury.”

The question and answer session after the film began with audience members asking if COVID played a role in making more of the general public aware of corporate fraud in the pharmaceutical industry. Matthew Marsden, one of the actors who is also a health freedom advocate said, "As horrible as COVID was, it woke a lot of people up," and, “it's a liberty issue." He added that many parents he knows have privately admitted to him that they didn't vaccinate their kids, but do not admit it publicly.

Wakefield, the film’s director, encouraged audience members to bring friends, notably including people who might disagree with them on the topic of medical freedom, to see the film. “Don't shove it down their throats," he said, but recommended just asking what they think, and to assume that seeing this kind of story can help them reconsider blind acceptance of official guidelines.

Holland added that "[public authorities] are trying to normalize autism – the CDC tried to rebrand [April] as autism acceptance month instead of autism awareness month so they can keep pushing vaccines." She encouraged activism and voting against politicians from the uniparty who support vaccine mandates and oppose exemptions.

Wakefield also noted that the independent film has been given a chance by some big cinema chains, including Cineplex and Regal Cinemas; while he did not expect a film with such a controversial topic to go mainstream, there are some optimistic signs that its distribution could be wider than expected.

After the film, I had a chance to speak with Whittle, the actress who played the film’s protagonist, about why she decided to take this role. She said primarily because she believes that stories like this one are important, but she also noted a personal experience with her own daughter having bad side effects from an antibiotic that led her to question medical paradigms. She also emphasized building trust with doctors, saying "don't throw the baby out with the bath water" by rejecting anything they say, but encouraged asking questions and holding powerful pharma brands accountable.

When I asked if she has faced repercussions in the film industry for taking this role, Whittle responded immediately, “I'm about to find out!”