Category Archives: Vaccination – suppression of dissent

The MMR second dose – an email to the President of the Australian Medical Association

Informed Consent 3Children continue to be vaccinated with two doses of the live Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine, without their parents being properly informed about their options by healthcare providers.

In this regard, I have forwarded an email to Dr Steve Hambleton, President of the Australian Medical Association, see below.

_____________________________________________________________

2 May 2014

Dr Hambleton

Please see attached two letters I have recently forwarded to the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee challenging the Australian Government’s requirement for revaccination of children with a second dose of live Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine.  (Letters dated 12 April 2014 and 19 March 2014.)

My letter to Professor Warwick Anderson, CEO of the NHMRC, suggesting the ethical spotlight needs to be shone on the way vaccination policy and practice is being implemented in Australia, is also attached for your information.  (Letter dated 15 April 2014.)

In regards to MMR vaccination, to summarise, according to the GSK PRIORIX Product Information Leaflet, most seronegative individuals are likely to seroconvert after the first dose of effective live Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

I question whether valid consent is being obtained before revaccination with the second dose of live MMR vaccine.  For example, The Australian Immunisation Handbook (10th edition) provides criteria for consent to vaccination to be legally valid, i.e.:

  1. It must be given by a person with legal capacity, and of sufficient intellectual capacity to understand the implications of being vaccinated.
  2. It must be given voluntarily in the absence of undue pressure, coercion or manipulation.
  3. It must cover the specific procedure that is to be performed.
  4. It can only be given after the potential risks and benefits of the relevant vaccine, risks of not having it and any alternative options have been explained to the individual.  

(My emphasis.)

Ironically, while an antibody titre test after live MMR vaccination would provide an opportunity to verify immunisation, parents in Australia are not being informed of this option at this time.

I question why parents aren’t provided with this evidence-based option, instead of being coerced into having two doses of live MMR vaccine for their children, as ‘recommended’ on the National Immunisation Program Schedule.  It is possible that some careful parents might prefer to pay for antibody titre testing, rather than have their child revaccinated with a likely unnecessary second dose of live MMR vaccine.

In the state of New Jersey in the US, there is an “Antibody Titer Law” which gives parents a choice of an antibody titre test BEFORE they consent to a second dose of measles/mumps/rubella vaccine (see pamphlet attached.)  Why aren’t all parents being informed about this option?

Parents of small children might be surprised to discover that vaccination ‘best practice’ for companion animals is now more advanced than that for children, with international vaccination guidelines for dogs re live vaccines recommending antibody titre testing rather than an arbitrary ‘booster’, i.e. “…the principles of ‘evidence-based veterinary medicine’ would dictate that testing for antibody status (for either pups or adult dogs) is a better practice than simply administering a vaccine booster on the basis that this should be ‘safe and cost less’”.

Dr Hambleton, an article in The Daily Telegraph (2 January 2014) notes that you applaud the new laws in New South Wales re vaccination.  I suggest the AMA’s support for News Corp Australia’s extraordinarily crude ‘no jab, no play’ campaign is extremely problematic in that this authoritarian stance is forcing likely already immune children to have an arbitrary second dose of live MMR vaccine, without their parents being properly informed of their options.

I question the ethics of coercing parents to have vaccinations of questionable benefit for their children.  I request your consideration of the matters I have raised, including my letters to the NHMRC, and your urgent response on this matter.

Sincerely

Elizabeth Hart

* Please note this correspondence will be circulated to other parties.

Questions about vaccination policy and ethics for the NHMRC

Questions for NHMRC

 

On 15 April 2014, I forwarded a letter to Professor Warwick Anderson, CEO of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

One of the functions of the NHMRC is to provide ethical guidance on health and medical research issues.

In my letter to Professor Anderson, I suggest the ethical spotlight needs to be shone on the way vaccination policy and practice is being implemented in Australia, and I provide examples of the lack of transparency and accountability in the vaccination bureaucracy.

In particular, I raise the problem of potential conflicts of interest and lack of disclosure by people involved in vaccination policy, followed by an example of parents being coerced into having a vaccine product  for their children (i.e. the live Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine second dose) without being properly informed about this vaccine, and their options.

See below my letter to Professor Anderson:

_____________________________________________________

15 April 2014

Professor Anderson

RE:  Vaccination policy and practice in Australia

Professor Anderson, one of the functions of the NHMRC is to provide ethical guidance on health and medical research issues.[1] 

I suggest the ethical spotlight needs to be shone on the way vaccination policy and practice is being implemented in Australia, and I request that you urgently address this matter.

In this regard, I provide two examples of the lack of transparency and accountability in the vaccination bureaucracy.

1. Potential conflicts of interest and lack of disclosure

Various committees and groups provide advice to the Australian Federal Government on vaccine products which can result in the addition of new vaccine products to the national vaccination schedule.

These groups wield enormous power.  The members of these groups are part of a process that results in effectively mandating medical interventions (i.e. vaccinations) for healthy people.  The decisions these people make affect not only children and adults in Australia, but can also impact internationally as the ripple effect of their decisions spreads around the world.[2]

The powerful influence of these groups raises serious political and ethical questions about their impact on the bodily integrity of citizens, particularly ‘pre-citizens’, i.e. children.

As the decisions of these committees can result in massive sales of vaccine products for pharmaceutical companies, it is vital that the process of adding vaccine products to the national vaccination schedule is open and transparent, and that any potential ‘conflicts of interest’ of the members of these groups are accessible for public perusal.

For example, a register detailing the history of any relationships with the vaccine industry, e.g. research grants, consultancies, honorariums, committee memberships, plus any shareholdings in vaccine companies, royalties received, directorships etc, must be publicly accessible.  If a member indicates they have no potential conflicts of interest, this must be clearly recorded.

At this time, publicly accessible information on potential conflicts of interest for members of vaccination committees and groups is severely lacking in Australia.  I suggest this lack of transparency contravenes The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, in particular sections 4.9 “Disclose research support accurately” and 7. “Conflicts of interest”.[3]

For example, since December 2012[4], I have been asking Professor Suzanne Cory, President of the Australian Academy of Science, for public access to disclosure statements for members of the Working Group and Oversight Committee for “The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers” publication, which was funded by the Australian Federal Government’s Department of Health and Ageing.  Despite promises that this matter is being addressed, as at 14 April 2014, disclosure information is still not provided on the Academy’s The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers webpage.

Similarly, on 26 November 2011 I asked then Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon for details of membership of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), including their professional affiliations, and including any links with the pharmaceutical industry.  While names of members of ATAGI and their affiliations are now published on the Immunise Australia website[5], there is still no disclosure information about potential conflicts of interest.[6]  I also raised this subject with Professor Terry Nolan, Chair of ATAGI, but he failed to address the matter.[7]

There is also a lack of transparency about other committees involved with vaccine products.  For instance the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)’s webpage for the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Vaccines (ACSOV) provides a list of members and affiliations, but there is little clarity re potential conflicts of interest of these people.[8]  In fact, it is very surprising to discover that this advisory committee on the safety of vaccines is chaired by Dr Nicole Gilroy, who is also a member of ATAGI.[9]  Is it appropriate to have a person involved with the appraisal of vaccine products for the national schedule also to be in a position to evaluate post-marketing safety issues?  I suggest that this is inappropriate and that there is a potential for conflict of interest here.

Another example of lack of transparency is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) webpage[10], which lists members of the PBAC and their affiliations, but again provides lilttle clarity re potential conflicts of interest of these people.

Then there is the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee (AVIC), which recommends influenza viruses to be used in the composition of influenza vaccines.  There are currently no details of membership of this committee provided on the AVIC webpage on the TGA website, let alone disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.[11]  I have requested that the TGA provide publicly accessible information about this committee on the TGA website.  I am awaiting developments on this request.

These examples indicate there is a serious problem with a lack of disclosure of conflicts of interest that needs to be addressed.  Inter-relationships between these groups should also be investigated.

2. Government ‘requirements’ for vaccination to access family tax benefits – e.g. the Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine second dose

Recently I have forwarded two letters to Professor Ian Olver, Chair of the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee, challenging the Australian Government’s requirement for revaccination of children with a second dose of live MMR vaccine, as children are likely to be immune after the first dose of effective live MMR vaccine, given at the appropriate age (i.e. after maternally derived antibodies have waned).  (I have previously raised this matter with then Federal Minister for Health, Tanya Plibersek (see letter dated 28 June 2012), and also the Chair of ATAGI, Professor Terry Nolan (see email dated 11 March 2013).  My entirely unsatisfactory experience in this correspondence is described on my website.)

Copies of my letters to the NHMRC AHEC are attached and are also accessible via the following hyperlinks:  Letter dated 12 April 2014 and Letter dated 19 March 2014.

Please note that my letter dated 12 April 2014 includes reference to Dr Jeannette Young, who is a member of the Council of NHMRC by dint of her role as Queensland’s Chief Medical Officer[12].  My letter criticises a letter forwarded by Dr Young to 13,117 parents in Queensland which stated: “Two doses of measles containing vaccine are needed to provide a high level of protection.”  An article in The Courier-Mail on 15 April 2014, “Federal Health Department plan to send out vaccination reminder letters”, also refers to Dr Young’s letter to parents. I suggest it is misleading to tell parents that “two doses of measles containing vaccine are needed to provide a high level of protection”.  As I have argued in my letters to the NHMRC AHEC, it is likely that one dose of effective GSK PRIORIX live MMR vaccine will provide protection for previously seronegative subjects, and this can be verified by antibody titre testing.

Professor Anderson, vaccination/immunisation is an important ethical and political issue.  We are on a slippery slope when potentially conflicted government vaccination bureaucracies dictate questionable medical interventions for citizens (including ‘pre-citizens’, i.e. children). 

It has been my experience that it is very difficult to question vaccination policy and practice in Australia, particularly due to the hostile climate created by the media.  For example, in an extraordinarily crude campaign, News Corp Australia media is being used as a blunt instrument to bully parents into meek compliance with all vaccination ‘requirements’ stipulated by the government’s vaccination bureaucracy.[13]  Scientists Sir Gus Nossal[14] and Professor Ian Frazer[15] have played a part in this campaign.  Crikey’s Bernard Keane also suggests “should we ban anti-vaccination talk?”[16]  Journalists in this country appear to be ill-equipped to critically analyse complex vaccination/immunisation issues, and instead are responsible for fostering a discourse which is polarised and not conducive to thoughtful discussion.[17]

Professor Anderson, Jillian Barr, Director of the NHMRC Health and Research Ethics Section, has advised me my submissions about the live MMR vaccine second dose will be considered by the NHMRC AHEC at its next meeting in early May 2014.  I request that you also seriously consider the matters I have raised in this letter about disclosure of conflicts of interest, and evidence-based vaccination policy and practice. 

Sincerely

Elizabeth Hart                    

*Please note this letter will be circulated to other parties, and has also been published on my website.

cc:        Members of the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC)

  • Professor Ian Olver,Chair
  • Dr Gary Allen
  • Professor Vicki Anderson
  • Professor Samar Aoun
  • Professor Susan Dodds
  • Associate Professor Ian Kerridge
  • Dr Tammy Kimpton
  • Rabbi Aviva Kipen
  • Reverend Kevin McGovern
  • Professor John McGrath AM
  • Dr Eleanor Milligan
  • Professor Robin Mortimer
  • Ms Kay Oke
  • Professor Margaret Otlowski
  • Professor Debra Rickwood
  • Professor Wendy Rogers
  • Professor Loane Skene

and Professor Brian Martin, Social Sciences, University of Wollongong

Attachments:

  • Letter re the MMR vaccine second dose to NHMRC AHEC dated 19 March 2014
  • Letter re the MMR vaccine second dose to NHMRC AHEC dated 12 April 2014 

References:  (All links accessible as at 15 April 2014. It may be necessary to copy and paste long links in a web browser.) (Note – reference list updated and amended from original letter.)

____________________________________________________

[1] “NHMRC plays a pivotal role in providing independent advice on the complementary functions of funding health and medical research, providing ethical guidance on health and medical research issues, and providing health advice.”  NHMRC CEO Warwick Anderson AM: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about/nhmrc-senior-staff/nhmrc-ceo-warwick-anderson-am

[2] For example Australia has been a leader in implementing HPV vaccination for boys and girls.  HPV vaccination is now being implemented around the world.  See my webpage questioning HPV vaccination for further background: https://over-vaccination.net/questionable-vaccines/hpv-vax/

[3] Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.  Jointly issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council and Universities Australia. 2007: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/r39

[4] My webpage on the Australian Academy of Science provides background on my experience in seeking disclosure statements for members of the Working Group and Oversight Committee for The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers publication: https://over-vaccination.net/the-experts/australian-academy-of-science/

[5] Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI): http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/advisory-bodies

[6] I also raised this matter with then Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek in an email dated 23 January 2012.

[7] In an email query regarding the second MMR vaccine dose addressed to Professor Terry Nolan, Chair of ATAGI, I also raised questions about ‘declarations of interest’ for ATAGI members: http://users.on.net/~peter.hart/Email_to_Prof_Terry_Nolan_ATAGI_MMR_11_March_2013.pdf

[8] Advisory Committee on the Safety of Vaccines (ACSOV): http://www.tga.gov.au/about/committees-acsov.htm#.U0y3_PmSz-t

[9] Dr Nicole Gilroy is listed as a voting member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI): http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/advisory-bodies

[10] Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC): http://www.pbs.gov.au/info/industry/listing/participants/pbac

[11] Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee (AVIC): http://www.tga.gov.au/about/committees-aivc.htm#.U0y76fmSz-t

[12] Council of NHMRC: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about/council-nhmrc

[13] See for example these recent articles published in News Corp Australia media written by journalists who obviously lack knowledge about the complexity of individual vaccine products:

[14] Scientists call for end of handouts to parents who don’t vaccinate children.  The Telegraph, 6 April 2014: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/scientists-call-for-end-of-handouts-to-parents-who-dont-vaccinate-children/story-fni0cx12-1226874673399  (Also reported on The Australian website.)

[15] Common childhood infections such as whooping cough are not gone but some parents still reject vaccination. The Courier-Mail, 11 April 2014: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/common-childhood-infections-such-as-whooping-cough-are-not-gone-but-some-parents-still-reject-vaccination/story-fnihsr9v-1226880265364

[16] A hard case of harmful speech: should we ban anti-vaccination talk? Crikey, 9 April 2014: http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/04/09/a-hard-case-of-harmful-speech-should-we-ban-anti-vaccination-talk/

[17] Professor Brian Martin provides an eloquent summary in his article “On the suppression of vaccination dissent” where he argues: “Suppression of dissent, through its chilling effect, can skew public debates, by discouraging participation.  In Australia, critics of vaccination have become aware that if they become visible, they are potentially subject to denigration and complaints.  Because of the level of personal abuse by pro-vaccinationists, many of those who might take a middle-of-the-road perspective, perhaps being slightly critical of some aspects of vaccine policy, are discouraged from expressing their views.  The result is a highly polarized public discourse that is not conducive to the sort of careful deliberation desirable for addressing complex issues.”  (My emphasis.)  On the suppression of vaccination dissent. Science & Engineering Ethics. March 2014, doi 10.1007/s11948-014-9530-3  http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/14see.html

 

 

UPDATE: NHMRC Ethics Committee and the MMR second dose

Ethics and vax

On 19 March 2014, I forwarded a letter to Professor Ian Olver, Chair of the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee, challenging the Australian Government’s requirement for revaccination of children with a second dose of live MMR vaccine, as children are likely to be immune after the first dose of effective live MMR vaccine, given at the appropriate age (i.e. after maternally derived antibodies have waned).

Jillian Barr, Director of the NHMRC Health and Research Ethics Section, has acknowledged receipt of my submission regarding the MMR second dose, and advised that this matter will be considered by the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee at its next meeting in early May 2014.

In the meantime, I have forwarded another letter re the MMR second dose to Professor Olver and his AHEC colleagues, see below:

_________________________________________________________

12 April 2014

Professor Olver

RE:  Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccination – refer to my previous letter dated 19 March 2014

Professor Olver, in my previous letter to you, I argued that most children are likely to be immune after the first dose of effective live Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine, and I challenged the Australian government’s requirement for children to have a second dose of live Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is linked to obtaining Immunisation Related Payments for Parents.

In my letter I questioned the ethics of coercing parents to have vaccinations of questionable benefit for their children.

In this regard I draw your attention to a ‘MEASLES ALERT’ letter (see attached), forwarded to 13,117 parents in Queensland by Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young in September 2013, which tells these parents that “Two doses of measles containing vaccine are needed to provide a high level of protection.”  This advice was also included in a Queensland Government media statement[1] and reported in an article published in The Courier-Mail on 14 October 2013: “Vaccination no-shows prompt top-level measles outbreak warning”[2]

Professor Olver, I suggest it is misleading to tell parents that “two doses of measles containing vaccine are needed to provide a high level of protection”.  As I argued in my previous letter, it is likely one dose of effective GSK PRIORIX live MMR vaccine is likely to provide protection for previously seronegative subjects.

A response to live MMR vaccination can be verified by antibody titre testing.  I suggest there may be some cautious parents who would prefer to have an antibody titre test for their child rather than an arbitrary live MMR revaccination, and who might be willing to pay for an antibody titre test themselves.  Yet, in contravention of The Australian Immunisation Handbook’s criteria for consent to vaccination to be legally valid, i.e. that any alternative options be explained to the individual,[3] it appears healthcare providers are not informing parents about the option of antibody titre testing.

In another jurisdiction, the state of New Jersey in the United States, the health department provides information on antibody titre testing.  The Antibody Titer Law (Holly’s Law)[4] allows parents to seek testing to determine a child’s immunity to measles, mumps and rubella before receiving the second dose of MMR vaccine.  The law was enacted in response to the death of five year old Holly Marie Stavola who died of encephalopathy which she developed seven days after receiving her second dose of MMR vaccine.[5]  Holly’s family campaigned for this law, wishing they had known about the option of the antibody titre test before Holly’s arbitrary revaccination with the second dose of live MMR vaccine.[6]

All parents should be informed about the option of antibody titre testing to verify a response to live MMR vaccination.  All parents should be informed of the reportedly high seroconversion rates after live MMR vaccination at the appropriate age.  All parents should be properly informed about the risks and benefits of individual vaccine products.  This is not happening.  Instead, the media is being used as a blunt instrument to bully parents into unquestioning compliance with all vaccination ‘requirements’ mandated by the government’s vaccination bureaucracy and the vaccine industry, see for example:

Professor Olver, we are on a slippery slope when governments dictate questionable medical interventions for citizens (including ‘pre-citizens’, i.e. children).  The arbitrary second dose of the MMR vaccine, often inappropriately described as a ‘booster’[10], is a questionable medical intervention.  Vaccination/immunisation is a complex matter that requires thoughtful discussion, not the polarised discourse currently evident in Australia.[11]  I request that you and your AHEC colleagues urgently consider this matter.

Sincerely

Elizabeth Hart                         

*Please note this letter will be circulated to other parties.

cc:        Members of the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC)

  • Dr Gary Allen
  • Professor Vicki Anderson
  • Professor Samar Aoun
  • Professor Susan Dodds
  • Associate Professor Ian Kerridge
  • Dr Tammy Kimpton
  • Rabbi Aviva Kipen
  • Reverend Kevin McGovern
  • Professor John McGrath AM
  • Dr Eleanor Milligan
  • Professor Robin Mortimer
  • Ms Kay Oke
  • Professor Margaret Otlowski
  • Professor Debra Rickwood
  • Professor Wendy Rogers
  • Professor Loane Skene

and Professor Brian Martin, Social Sciences, University of Wollongong

Attachments:

  • Measles Alert.  Letter to parents/carers from Dr Jeannette Young, Chief Health Officer, Queensland Government Department of Health, 17 September 2013.
  • Antibody Titer Law – Information for Parents pamphlet.  The Antibody Titer Law gives parents a choice BEFORE they consent to a second dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

References:  (All links accessible as at 12 April 2014. It may be necessary to copy and paste long links in a web browser.)

_______________________________________________

[1] Queensland Department of Health Media Statement, 14 October 2013.

[2] Vaccination no-shows prompt top-level measles outbreak warning. The Courier Mail, 14 October 2013: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/vaccination-noshows-prompt-toplevel-measles-outbreak-warning/story-fnihsrf2-1226739273248

[3] 2.1.3 Valid Consent. 2.1 Pre-vaccination. The Australian Immunisation Handbook. 10th Edition 2013:

http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/handbook10-2-1

[4] Antibody Titer Law – Information for Parents. (Holly’s Law) (NJSA 26:2N-8-11), passed on January 14, 2004, concerns vaccination of children with the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine.  The law allows parents to seek testing to determine a child’s immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella, before receiving the second dose of the vaccine.  This brochure has been prepared by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to assist parents in making the decisions related to the MMR vaccine and the test: http://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/documents/antibody_titer_law.pdf

[5] HopeFromHolly. Providing NJ physicians and pParents with more knowledge about childhood vaccines: http://hopefromholly.com/blog/our-purpose/

[6] Holly’s story – Holly Marie Stavola, January 18, 1995 – February 4, 2000:

http://hopefromholly.com/blog/category/holly-stavola/

[7] Scientists call for end of handouts to parents who don’t vaccinate children. The Telegraph, 6 April 2014: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/scientists-call-for-end-of-handouts-to-parents-who-dont-vaccinate-children/story-fni0cx12-1226874673399

[8] Doctors want vaccination reforms for childcare centres. The Australian, 11 April 2014: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/doctors-want-vaccination-reforms-for-childcare-centres/story-e6frg6n6-1226880381081

[9] Peter Dutton considers plan to withhold family tax benefits if children aren’t immunised. ABC News, 11 April 2014: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-11/govt-may-withhold-family-tax-benefit-if-children-not-vaccinated/5382054

[10] For example the NPS Medicinewise website states: “Separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella are not available in Australia. So the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is given in a single injection with a second booster dose.” http://www.nps.org.au/medicines/immune-system/vaccines-and-immunisation/for-individuals/vaccines-a-z/measles-mumps-and-rubella-mmr

[11] In his article “On the suppression of vaccination dissent”, Professor Brian Martin says: “Suppression of dissent, through its chilling effect, can skew public debates, by discouraging participation.  In Australia, critics of vaccination have become aware that if they become visible, they are potentially subject to denigration and complaints.  Because of the level of personal abuse by pro-vaccinationists, many of those who might take a middle-of-the road perspective, perhaps being slightly critical of some aspects of vaccine policy, are discouraged from expressing their views.  The result is a highly polarized public discourse that is not conducive to the sort of careful deliberation desirable for addressing complex issues.”  (My emphasis.) Source: Science & Engineering Ethics. March 2014, doi 10.1007/s11948-014-95303  http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/14see.html

 

Vaccination – suppression of dissent and biased media reporting

Suppression of dissent 2

 

Brian Martin is Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Wollongong, Australia.

He is interested in the general field of ‘suppression of dissent‘, including whistleblowing, free speech, systems of social control and related topics.[1]

Martin has published articles on vaccination, and states his involvement in the vaccination debate “is primarily as a defender of fair and open debate on contentious issues” given his “long-term interest in dissent”.  He has acknowledged that, personally, he does not hold strong views about vaccination.[2]

For information, here are hyperlinks to two of Martin’s recent articles which discuss suppression of dissent and biased media reporting in relation to vaccination.

In his article “On the suppression of vaccination dissent”, Martin says: “Dissenters from the dominant views about vaccination sometimes are subject to adverse actions, including abusive comment, threats, formal complaints, censorship, and deregistration, a phenomenon that can be called suppression of dissent.”[3]

His article includes reference to controversial vaccination critics Andrew Wakefield, Meryl Dorey, Jayne Donegan and Gary Goldman.

In his conclusion, Martin argues:

Suppression of dissent, through its chilling effect, can skew public debates, by discouraging participation. In Australia, critics of vaccination have become aware that if they become visible, they are potentially subject to denigration and complaints. Because of the level of personal abuse by pro-vaccinationists, many of those who might take a middle-of-the-road perspective, perhaps being slightly critical of some aspects of vaccine policy, are discouraged from expressing their views. The result is a highly polarized public discourse that is not conducive to the sort of careful deliberation desirable for addressing complex issues.

According to the highest ideals of science, ideas should be judged on their merits, and addressed through mustering evidence and logic. Suppression of dissent is a violation of these ideals. Challenging suppression is part of the struggle to push science towards its own stated principles.

In another article, “Biased reporting: a vaccination case study”[4], Martin analyses a news story by journalist Rick Morton about PhD student Judy Wilyman.  Morton’s story, titled “University paid for anti-vaccine student to attend conference“, was published in The Australian on 28 January 2014.

Brian Martin is Judy Wilyman’s PhD supervisor, and he provides an interesting critique of Rick Morton’s attack on Judy Wilyman.

________________________________________________

[1] Suppression of dissent – documents and contacts: http://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/

[2] Martin, Brian. On the suppression of vaccination dissent. Science & Engineering Ethics. March 2014, doi 10.1007/s11948-014-9530-3  http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/14see.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] Martin, Brian. Biased reporting: a vaccination case study: http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/14Morton.html

The reluctance to acknowledge adverse reactions to vaccination

Here’s a link to an article that illustrates the medical/scientific establishment’s reluctance to publish material that casts vaccination in a bad light: “Special Report: How vaccine scares cast shadows over science”.

Some quotes:  (Emphasis added.)

At a Finnish medical convention in January 2011, a colleague approached neurologist Markku Partinen, laid a hand on his shoulder and said: “Markku, it’s going to be a bad year for you.”

In the following months, other scientists ridiculed him, questioned his methods and motives, and raised doubts about his mental stability. Colleagues began crossing the street to avoid him, he says. 

Partinen, director of the Helsinki Sleep Clinic and Research Centre, had raised the alarm about a GlaxoSmithKline vaccine called Pandemrix. He had discovered the drug, used to protect people from H1N1 swine flu, may be linked to a jump in cases of narcolepsy, a rare sleep disorder, in children and young people. He knew his findings might help limit the risks of narcolepsy for other children around the world, but was fearful nonetheless. The work was bound to generate scientific suspicion and public anxiety. Indeed, he struggled to get his paper on the vaccine published.

His story underscores an increasingly tough challenge for scientists balancing compelling data with public concern over vaccines and their side effects. Treatments which stimulate immunity to disease are highly controversial. In the past couple of decades – especially after a British doctor made now-discredited claims linking the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism – the field has become even more charged. After the false alarm sounded by British doctor Andrew Wakefield, some scientists say they are more hesitant to credit reports of potential side effects from vaccines.

Partinen is keen to distance himself from Andrew Wakefield, calling Wakefield a “fake”.  It will be interesting to see how history views Andrew Wakefield, time will tell on that score…

The article provides another scientist’s perspective:

At a medical centre on the outskirts of Helsinki, another Finnish scientist agrees with Partinen’s results and is probing the mechanics of the Pandemrix-narcolepsy link, which she thinks may have to do with the vaccine’s super-charging effect on the immune system.

Outi Vaarala previously worked in research on autoimmune diseases and diabetes. Since crossing over into the field of vaccinology, she says she has found herself harangued in emails and phone calls by people on one side accusing her of undermining trust in vaccines, or on the other begging her to join an anti-vaccine crusade. 

“There’s not the kind of open discussion we used to have. You’re afraid you will lose your whole career if you say something bad,” says Vaarala. “When you’re dealing with vaccine it suddenly becomes like working in politics, or religion.”

Partinen tells of the problems he encountered in publishing his results:

Partinen attended another Helsinki medical conference last month, two years after he had been warned about difficult times ahead. But this time he was leading the first Nordic Symposium on Narcolepsy and its links to the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

“When we found this, we wanted to publish our results and spread the news to the world because we knew Pandemrix was also being used in other countries,” he said. “But there were big problems.” 

Having double- and triple-checked his findings, Partinen approached the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s most respected medical journals, and submitted his study for publication. He says the journal asked for several revisions to the paper, then finally declined to accept it.

“After that we sent it to The Lancet,” he said, stressing that this was the same journal which published the now discredited Wakefield paper.

While it is not unusual for such high-level medical journals to reject many papers, Partinen said he was shocked by the strength of The Lancet’s resistance to his.

“It was quite exceptional, they asked for revision and revision and revision,” Partinen said. “Then they said they’d made an editorial decision – that they couldn’t publish it because we didn’t know the (biological) mechanism (behind the link between narcolepsy and Pandemrix).”

Partinen argues that scientists don’t know the biological mechanisms behind a whole host of diseases – multiple sclerosis and diabetes to name just two – yet The Lancet is full of peer-reviewed papers about those.

Neither The Lancet nor the New England Medical Journal would comment on their editorial decisions.

By the time Partinen’s study was published – March 2012, in the open-access journal of the Public Library of Science, PLoS One – many more scientists had replicated his findings, the H1N1 flu pandemic that Pandemrix was designed to protect against had been declared over, and the vaccine’s use had been restricted.

For those with narcolepsy it was already too late.

“There is no doubt any more that there is a link,” Partinen said. “But it’s taken three years to get here.”

It’s alarming that the medical and scientific establishment, for example highly influential journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, is reluctant to acknowledge safety problems with vaccines. 

The public is ill-served by this cover-up to protect the status quo.  

With so many vested interests in play, who can be relied upon to provide objective research into vaccine effectiveness and safety?

For more general discussion on flu vaccination see: Annual flu vaccination and the influenza industry

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Reference:

Special Report: How vaccine scares cast shadows over science. Thomson Reuters News & Insight. 21 March 2013: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/21/us-vaccines-narcolepsy-specialreport-idUSBRE92K06620130321