Hasbeen, stevenlmeyer,

Australian law already has a number of restrictions of freedom of speech. One of these restrictions can be found in the Competition and Consumer Act (formerly known as the Trade Practices Act). It prohibits businesses from engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct, with the aim of providing consumer protection. This strikes me as a very reasonable restriction on free speech. But perhaps you think businesses should have the freedom of speech to lie to their customers - caveat emptor.

Unfortunately, Meryl Dorey is apparently free to make all the deceptive and misleading claims about vaccination that she can think of. She can get away with this type of misleading and deceptive conduct because it doesn't amount to shady business dealings.

If it is reasonable to protect consumers from shonks and shysters when it comes to commercial matters, why is it unreasonable to protect people from shonks and shysters when it comes to their health? I reckon protecting people from serious but easily preventable illness is just a teensy bit more important than protecting them from being sold a dodgy used car, wouldn't you say?

It would be as illegal as it would be unethical for Big Tobacco to replace the 'cigarettes are bad, mmmkay' warnings with claims that cigarettes are good for you - why is it okay for Meryl Dorey to do the reverse? Telling parents 'vaccination is bad, mmmkay' when the demonstrable truth is that vaccination is good is definitely unethical - why should it be legal?

The Australian Vaccination Network wrongly compares 95% pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination rates in young children (11% of diagnosed age groups) with 11.3% of adult vaccination (89% of diagnosed age groups). Then claim total population infection (100% of all diagnoses) is due to ineffectiveness of childhood vaccination alone.

Now that Dorey has her slides online let's check.

Table 1 - Vaccination rates:
http://i.imgur.com/w9I9g.jpg

Table 2 - Notification rates:
http://i.imgur.com/JED4P.jpg

Using Meryl Dorey's tables, and her own technique I note that 2001 has a vaccination rate of only 70.6% and 9,541 notifications. The 95% infant coverage from her other table is from 2006. The pertussis notifications in 2007 are 4,864.

So, just to show how senseless selection of unrelated data sets works, Dorey is also in effect claiming a vaccination increase from 70.6 - 95% led to a 51% reduction in infection in a mere 6 years.

Of course, it's all rubbish because her 95% comes from 0-2 years old. That is one half of 1/18th of the notification age groups (which for some reason she has chosen to omit).

The vast bulk of infections comes from adults. Children are at greater risk of harm and are hugely more susceptible.

The only fact of note here is that this epidemic has killed children across Australia. It began in Byron Bay, within walking distance from Meryl Dorey's own area and largest membership.

And still she is spreading the same misinformation.

Meryl claimed 83 cases of autism "associated" with vaccine injury in the US vaccine compensation court. A bit misleading. Cautious wording much? Not causal. Autistic kids do get vaccinated and some can be injured, or the courts rule subsequent problems cannot be ruled as NOT triggered by a vaccination.

In fact it was really 21 Vaccine Injury Compensation Program cases. The other 62 were phone calls/questionnaires, not followed up or verified, thus not worth the paper they're written on. Oh, and not passed by an ethics committee either.

Not one case was "autism because of vaccination". Or "compensated because of vaccine induced autism". The VICP and the CDC maintain not one case of compensation for autism - even Hannah Poling. Not one case of compensation. Ever.

Dorey knows all of this. One must ask: What is her motive for telling these tales of hokery and pokery?

Here's a demolition of her claim of the 83 cases:
http://luckylosing.com/2011/06/07/the-groundbreaking-vaccine-autism-investigation-release-of-may-10th-2011-2/

She also claims SIDS and Shaken Baby Syndrome are due to vaccines and the parents are paid off by hidden agents to tow the line. We probably got off lightly yesterday.

Poor Hasbeen, so keen to knock Chrys Stevenson he grasps at straws, imagined ones at that.

The festival people should have been aware of the 'topical' nature of this mad woman's business and always had her 'views' presented with an alternative view, that is, a rational and scientific one.

It seems that the lobbying efforts of Ms. Stevenson and others achieved that.

How unfair is that Hasbeen?

And as for 'tinpot dictator' hahaha, have you ever critiqued the garbage you churn out here on OLO?

'Hasbeen', a well earned moniker.

McReal wrote:

>>Conflating vaccination with Big Pharma is unreasonable & unnecessary>>

It's not me who did that.

The author wrote:

>>Increasingly, we live in a culture of fear and distrust. Don't trust the government; don't trust 'Big Pharma'>>

I am merely pointing out that there are VALID reasons for distrusting Big Pharma who, not incidentally, produce vaccines.

That does not mean I am anti-vaccination or a supporter of Meryl Dorey. Based on the evidence, vaccination is almost always a much better option than non-vaccination.

I still remember how nervous we were when we learned our son could not get his measles vaccination because of a strong allergic reaction to eggs. Fortunately we lived in an area where vaccination rates were high and herd immunity protected us. However it would only have taken one moron who paid attention to the garbage spewed by someone like Meryl Dorey (or runner for that matter) to have caused a catastrophe.

About a year later our son outgrew his allergy and, with great relief, we had him vaccinated.

All our children received their vaccinations. They do not seem to have suffered any ill effects.

However none of this excuses the gullibility of the medical profession in the face of Big Pharma's propaganda. The medical profession does need to clean up its act.

You are right there stevenlmeyer.
Some of the big drug companies still pushed the virtues of their anti-inflammatory drugs like Mobic, even after many reports of people having increased heart problems after commencing this medication had been proved.

However, the vast majority of drugs available to us have improved and/or saved many lives in our country than have harmed them.
Humans are living healthier and longer these days in Australia because of our good health care/medication availability.

I am a firm believer in vaccinations/immunisations for children.
I have nursed autistic children who never had their immunisations at all, so I know that the supposed link between autism and immunisations is rubbish.

I have also nursed children with whooping cough, adults with post-polio syndrome, and brain-damaged kids from encephalitis following measles.
All those parents who refuse to vaccinate their children are selfish and ill-informed as far as I am concerned.