This commentary clarifies why the non-profit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is no longer associated with Dr. Joseph Mercola after his sudden defunding of NVIC in February 2024 became a recent topic of public discussion online, which spread false information about the history of that association.
There are monuments in Washington, D.C. honoring those who have fallen defending the United States of America in wars fought to preserve freedom. Since the early 1980s, I dreamed of creating a monument honoring children who had no voice and had no choice and were injured or died from vaccines mandated by doctors waging a two-century war on microorganisms.
That dream came true on March 25, 2023 when I stood with Dr. Joseph Mercola in Cape Coral, Florida, and we unveiled the Truth and Freedom Monument that I designed with my daughter and was built and sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center. 1 It was a day I will never forget because the event also marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of our charitable organization, an event we had postponed for a year because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in the city.
The Truth and Freedom monument has at its center a silvered bronze angel standing on a blue globe holding a baby. The monument features quotes defending autonomy and civil liberties. At the top of one of the marble arches is a quote from the Bible – “The truth will set you free” – a phrase also found in contemporary academic settings affirming freedom of thought and the power of knowledge.
The angel, which is represented in Judeo-Christian and other major religions, reminds us of our sacred duty to protect our children. The torch held up by the angel’s left arm is the light of truth. The child held in the angel’s right arm symbolizes the future of humanity.
Dr. Mercola and NVIC: A 15-Year Partnership Educating the Public
The monument was created during the COVID pandemic declaration, when freedom of speech and other civil liberties were being threatened. It was three years in the making from design to dedication, and I was grateful to Dr. Mercola for donating the beautiful outdoor space at the Mercola Market in Cape Coral, Florida, on which our monument would stand. As I have done many times over the past 15 years, I thanked him publicly for his generous donor support that helped our small charity, established in 1982 by parents of DPT vaccine injured children, to forward our mission of preventing vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and defending the ethical principle of informed consent to medical risk taking, which includes vaccine risk taking. 2
Between 2008 and November 2023, Dr. Joe Mercola supported the work of the National Vaccine Information Center, 3 a non-profit educational charity highly rated for transparency and integrity. 4 5 6 In 2009 at NVIC’s Fourth International Public Conference on Vaccination, I presented Dr. Mercola with NVIC’s Visionary Award. 7 NVIC was a co-founder in 2011 of the Health Liberty Coalition sponsored by Mercola.com, which included leaders of allied non-profits dedicated to promoting health freedom and raising awareness about the risks of vaccines and GMOs and mercury amalgams and fluoride in drinking water. 8
In 2019, I received Dr. Mercola’s annual Game Changer Award given to an individual “whose work stands as a great service to humanity.” 9 In 2020, at NVIC’s Fifth International Public Conference on Vaccination I presented Dr. Mercola with NVIC’s Lifetime Achievement Award for “inspiring millions to take control of their health and choose more natural ways to stay healthy.”10 On NVIC’s website, Mercola.com was listed as a Partner.
At conferences, and through many co-produced video interviews and published articles, over the years Dr. Mercola and I educated the public about vaccine risks and failures and the importance of fighting for the legal right to make voluntary decisions about vaccination. I publicly defended his work and he publicly defended mine. Last fall, we talked about the unprecedented censorship we have both been subjected to online and in the media. 11
I have admired Dr. Mercola’s vision as a doctor empowering people to take control of their health. I considered him to be a friend, as well as a colleague. I was proud to work side by side in a trusted partnership with him and thankful for the generous average $300,000 per year over a span of 15 years he donated through his foundation to NVIC, which we counted on in our annual budget to help our small staff operate four websites and implement nationwide vaccine choice advocacy programs and services. 12 Because NVIC is not a for-profit business, our charity relies on donations from families, whose loved ones have been harmed by vaccines, 13 and by those, who want to have the right to make vaccine choices without being punished for the choice made; 14 and by small foundations that appreciate the fact that NVIC does not tell anyone what to do but simply empowers people with accurate, well-referenced information so they can take responsibility for the health choices they make. 15
The NVIC-Mercola Partnership is Suddenly Severed Without Explanation in March 2024
Exactly one year to the day after Dr. Mercola and I dedicated NVIC’s Truth and Freedom Monument in Cape Coral, Florida, on March 25, 2024, NVIC received an email from someone identifying herself as the new CEO of Mercola.com informing us that donations from Dr. Mercola’s Natural Health Products Research Foundation were immediately discontinued. After all the years we had worked together, 16 Dr. Mercola did not contact me by phone, email or text to explain why he suddenly chose to defund NVIC without advance warning, which impacted our fiscal year programs and services and left me with no information to give to my Board and staff.
I was stunned, hurt and confused. The only verifiable information I had about what had happened were two articles published in Natural Products Insider on Feb. 13 17 and Mar 1, 2024 18 informing readers that the Mercola.com company was under new management and that Dr. Mercola was now being influenced by and taking direction from a person, who refers to himself as “the Kai” and claims to be a “psychic” channeling the voice of an “ancient and wise high-vibration entity from the causal plane” called Bahlon. 19 20 21
THIS VIDEO IS NOT FOR CHRISTIAN CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND/OR INDIVIDUALS ALREADY SAVED, OR SEEKING SALVATION IN CHRIST:
Did that person tell Dr. Mercola to walk away from our partnership and his long-standing commitment to NVIC without contacting me to explain why?
The media articles published in February and March detailed the fact that this self- identified psychic who Dr. Mercola is now consulting with had convinced him that he, Dr. Mercola, is “a god” and “the new Jesus.” 22 The articles contained references to videos and descriptions of what had taken place at the Mercola.com company in early February when Dr. Mercola without warning fired top executives, including his own sister, who helped him establish and has worked at his company for 40 years.
The harm that has been done to good people is shocking and heartbreaking.
Concerns About Religious Discrimination, “Cult Dynamics” and A Potential “Corporate Takeover”
There was evidence provided in the articles suggesting that the firings of executives were based on their “strong commitments” to Christian religious beliefs, which precluded their ability to believe in Bahlon. 23 A later article raised questions about “cult-like dynamics” involved in what one expert interviewed characterized as a potential “corporate takeover” by those now in control of the Mercola company. 24
On April 15, I contacted Dr. Mercola by email stating that the only information I had to explain the severing of our partnership was what had been published in the media indicating that his mission and philosophy had changed. I requested that I be allowed to remove NVIC’s Truth and Freedom Monument from his property. He was granted permission and the monument was removed from Mercola Market land on Sunday, April 21st and placed in storage, where the angel will stay until we find a new home.
NVIC Defends Human Rights, Including Freedom of Religion
NVIC has a long history of defending human rights, including freedom of religion. I am a Christian and Dr. Mercola knows that. Whether he chose to end his relationship with NVIC without warning or explanation because of my religious beliefs that he knows would prevent me from believing in Bahlon is an open question. Nevertheless, our Truth and Freedom monument cannot be associated with a doctor who has taken actions against people based on their religious beliefs and who receives and gives business and health advice based on directions given to him by a person claiming to be a psychic channeling an ancient entity.
NVIC Is Searching for a New Home for the Truth and Freedom Monument
The NVIC family is continuing to pray for Joe Mercola’s health and safety as we search for a new home for the Truth and Freedom Monument. We look forward to the day when our
The angel will stand on the ground where these sacred words are affirmed: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Yes, we will struggle to deal with the financial deficit that Dr. Mercola’s sudden departure has created. We will struggle to operate the NVIC Advocacy Portal established in 2010 to secure and protect medical, religious and conscientious belief vaccine exemptions and oppose the addition of more vaccine mandates, which we successfully did during the COVID pandemic declaration that saw no state legislature in the US mandate the COVID vaccine – an historic accomplishment. 25 We will struggle to retain staff and operate our four websites, NVIC.org, NVICAdvocacy.org, TheVaccineReaction.org and MedAlerts.org and our other programs and services. It will be harder to make our information available to the public, especially since NVIC has been subjected to the most censorship in the digital public square of any major vaccine education organization in America, a fact I outlined in an 80-page report on censorship that was submitted to committees in both the U.S. House and Senate. 26
With God’s grace, NVIC will find a way to continue to do this work that we have done for four decades on behalf of those who have no voice and have no choice. 27 28 During our time of need, please consider supporting the pioneering work of the National Vaccine Information Center.
It’s your health, your family, your choice.
Our mission continues: No forced vaccination. Not in America.