Australian Vaccination Network

Comment and Opinion

AVN goes on a hypocrisy campaign (4/1/2014)
There is obviously an outbreak of desperation at the soon-to-be-renamed Australian Vaccination Network. Perhaps they should be concentrating on finding an acceptable name that represents the true objectives of the organisation.

I mentioned before Christmas that I had been banned from Facebook for twelve hours because some anonymous, lying coward had complained about a completely innocuous post I had made in response to an anonymous poster. Over the next few days I was banned five more times, and many other people were also subject to Facebook's broken and capricious complaints system. One person was prevented from contacting friends and relatives about arrangements for her father's funeral, but as anti-vaccination liars are in favour of death they probably wouldn't have seen this as any sort of problem. Meryl Dorey has denied all knowledge of this campaign, despite using exactly the same tactic herself back in September last year, but this came as no surprise as we have become accustomed to both her commitment to free speech (which includes taking court action to silence critics) and her respect for the truth.

I was banned a seventh time as collateral damage when a post by an administrator of the Stop The AVN group was whined about, resulting in a ban for all administrators of the group. At least this was better than the situation in 2012 when a complaint was made that an admin was doing something dreadful and all the administrators were threatened with permanent bans. On that occasion I had to identify myself to Facebook to be allowed back in, but some people were banned for days or weeks and a few had their Facebook accounts closed down completely.

Here are the horrible things I said that caused me to offend against Facebook's "community standards":

My sister's seizure was caused by measles. All of her children are fully vaccinated.

This is a reference to this person claiming a degree she doesn't have.

As you can see, the phrase "community standards" appears to have no real meaning at Facebook.

They other example of AVN hypocrisy I mentioned a few weeks back was the publication of a picture of me on a Facebook page named "Stop the Australian Vaccination Propaganda". It showed me asking a question, so I posted it on the page myself with a request that someone answer the question. Then the fun started. Anonymous people commented on my weight, my complexion, my drinking habits and other things of which they know nothing. Insulting me was perfectly acceptable behaviour, and you need to remember that there was a simultaneous campaign to complain about mentions of people's names. Unfortunately, the page has now either been removed or hidden in some way so I can't show examples of what was said. It seems strange that the anonymous posters should feel so ashamed of what they said that they needed to hide it, particularly as it is difficult to imaging anti-vaccination liars having any sense of shame at all.

Before the page disappeared, however, something really amusing happened. Remember that I had posted back to the page an image that had been originally put there by the page owner. Then this:

That's right. The clown reported a picture that they had themselves posted. Reported for "nudity or pornography"! Stupidity like this needs recognition and reward. If stupidity were to be declared an Olympic sport this would be gold medal material.

And what was the decision from Facebook?

It looks like there is at least a smidgeon of sanity in their complaints system. We can only hope it eventually spreads to anonymous complaints about using people's names when replying to them.

Changing that name (25/1/2014)
Now that the holiday season is over and all the public servants are about to return to their desks to start the cogs of officialdom and bureaucracy turning again it's probably a good time to revisit this media release issued by the NSW Office of Fair Trading in November last year. It's been two months and the Australian Vaccination Network has not yet announced any new, truthful name, but there has been a fire sale of office furniture so maybe the plan is to simply disappear. Which would be nice.

Australian Vaccination Network ordered to change its name

25 November 2013

Minister for Fair Trading Anthony Roberts today welcomed a decision by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) to order the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) to change its name on the grounds it is misleading.

The ADT has upheld NSW Fair Trading's direction to the AVN to change its name.

Mr Roberts said Fair Trading had acted in the public interest by requesting the AVN change its name, based on claims the name is unacceptable under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009.

"Fair Trading acted in this matter after receiving numerous complaints, including from the Australian Medical Association, that the AVN name was misleading given its overwhelming focus on the publication of anti-vaccination messages and information," Mr Roberts said.

"The time has come for AVN to find a name which reflects its anti-vaccination stance.

"This is about being open and upfront about what you stand for, not hiding behind a name which could mislead the community about a very significant public health issue."

On 21 December 2012, the Associations Incorporation Amendment (Unacceptable Names) Regulation 2012 commenced. The amendment expanded the classifications of unacceptable names to include a name likely to mislead the public in relation to the nature, objects or functions of an association.

In January, Fair Trading issued a direction to the AVN to change its name on the basis it was undesirable because it had the potential to mislead the public.

On 8 February 2013, the Association sought an internal review of that decision. The internal review was completed on 19 February, affirming the original decision.

The Association then lodged an appeal in the ADT.

At the first hearing on 22 March 2013, Judge O�Connor, President of the Tribunal, placed conditions on the organisation, including that a prominent consumer warning be published on the AVN website and its Facebook page by 26 March 2013.

The warning stated Fair Trading had directed AVN to change its name because it regarded the name to be misleading and that the direction was being challenged before the Tribunal.

AVN has 28 days to lodge an appeal against today's decision.

Mr Roberts said Fair Trading reserves the right to pursue costs associated with any ongoing legal action undertaken by AVN.

What is known is that the AVN have been trying to register names which are similar to "Australian Vaccination Sceptics (or Skeptics) Network". Any attempt to use one of these names will be strongly challenged by groups such as Australian Skeptics Inc and people who care about the truth. They have been ordered to change the deceptive name, and changing it to something which is possibly even more deceptive should not be allowed. I realise that the AVN don't see what they are attempting to do as anything wrong, but truth and morality are concepts that they simply don't understand.

The new name. At last. (15/3/2014)
It's official. The Australian Vaccination Network now has a new, officially approved and registered business name. After a year-and-a-half of whining about being forced to change from the deceptive name they have announced that henceforth they will be known as the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network. They have also announced that this is no big deal, which raises the question of why they didn't just do it when first asked to instead of wasting the time and money of the courts, court officials, lawyers and AVN members to fight it. But then, common sense and rational action have never been too evident where the AVN is concerned, so behaving idiotically is just standard operating procedure. It has also been announced that the AVN has relinquished its charity licence (the current one was due to expire in April anyway).

The new name isn't as worrying to real skeptics as you might think. Because the word has been hijacked by fringe groups like climate change deniers, the public is already sensitised to treating the word with suspicion. I know that Australian Skeptics often get asked if the name means that we deny climate change and any anthropomorphic effect on climate (maybe we have to change our name!) but at least we can respond by pointing to science. Anti-vaccination liars can't, so the name might backfire on them. And I can assure you that this will be highly publicised by those of us who are committed to the total destruction of this vile and dangerous organisation. "Stop the AVN" just needs another letter in its name and the fight against unreason will continue.

Bitstrip has something to say about the news.

In another change, the AVN's Facebook page will no longer be run by Meryl Dorey or anyone officially connected to the organisation but will be administered (and presumably censored as is traditional) by an anonymous person who does not live in Australia. In a case of the supreme ignorance of irony shown by clowns like anti-vaccination liars, this anonymous moderator has taken the name Benjamin Rush, someone who not only signed the US Declaration of Independence but was one of those hated doctors who supported vaccination and even had a hand in establishing the specialty of psychiatry, a field of medicine despised by quacks everywhere. (The AVN has sold Scientology anti-psychiatry materials from its web site for a long time.)

To add to the woes of the AVN and the joy of sane people, the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission has ordered the AVN to remove all erroneous misinformation from its web site. As this will leave nothing much except a single page with a logo on it, the order is being strongly resisted. I'll write about the hilarious response from the AVN next week because there's a lot to go through, but to give you an idea of the flavour AVN President pro-tem Greg Beattie ordered the HCCC to reply to him in a manner satisfactory to him within seven days. Observers have commented that this is not the way to get bureaucracies to treat you kindly. It's a laugh a minute.

Good news about vaccination 1 (5/4/2014)
Almost the best best news you can hear about vaccination, almost as good as hearing that a disease has been wiped out (Australia was officially declared free of measles by the WHO on March 20, 2014 – all cases in the last three years have been traceable to someone entering the country from elsewhere) is the decline of an anti-vaccination liar organisation. The death throes of the formerly-named Australian Vaccination Network are running on nicely. As well as the forced name change they are no longer a charity. It was originally thought that they had simply decided not to renew the licence (it was due to expire in April 2014 anyway) but the truth is that the status was surrendered at the request (order?) of the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming & Racing.

In a wonderful show of rewriting history, AVN spokesfolk have been claiming that they never wanted the charity status in the first place, they never used it, that they only got it by accident when they absorbed another organisation back in the day, that they had tried to cancel it but couldn't, it was a "millstone" they were glad to be rid of, ... Unfortunately these claims seem to be in conflict with their action when the licence was temporarily suspended in 2010 (they fought it in court), the gleeful announcements when it was restored (due to a technicality in a 1993 piece of legislation), and the statement made many times on the AVN web site and in blogs and emails that they were a charity.

For example, in 2009 I noticed this on the AVN web site:

I also noticed that their charity licence had expired and informed OLG&R. Ms Dorey offered this action of mine to a Court as evidence of harassment. From at least 2007 the AVN's web site claimed on the "Donations" page that it was "a volunteer run charity organisation". It even said what charitable works the donations would be spent on (including one place that had never heard of the AVN and wouldn't have anything to do with them anyway)

Now for the investigations into where the money went when they were a charity. I can hardly wait.

Here is the media release by the Minister.

Tuesday 18 March, 2014

AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NETWORK (AVN) NO LONGER A LICENSED CHARITY

Minister for Hospitality George Souris today warned the public not to make charitable donations to the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network Incorporated (AVSNI), formerly known as the Australian Vaccination Network Incorporated (AVN), as it is no longer a registered charity.

Mr Souris said the association had surrendered its 'Authority to Fundraise' under the Charitable Fundraising Act following an investigation into its anti-vaccination activities by the Office of Liquor, Gaming & Racing (OLGR).

"OLGR issued a 'show cause' notice to the association requiring it to respond in writing on why its Authority to Fundraise should not be revoked," Mr Souris said.

"As a result, the association has now surrendered its Authority to Fundraise to OLGR effective immediately".

Under the Charitable Fundraising Act, if an organisation intends to fundraise for a charitable purpose it must be the holder of an Authority to Fundraise.

However, an Authority to Fundraise for a charitable purpose can be revoked if determined to be in the public interest. One of the objects of the Charitable Fundraising Act is to prevent deception of members of the public who desire to support worthy causes.

"OLGR's investigation sourced expert medical evidence challenging the accuracy of information provided on the association's website in relation to the risks and benefits of vaccination," Mr Souris said.

"The investigation highlighted a range of potential concerns, including risks arising from the association's anti-vaccination advocacy and the potential for misinformation to influence important health decisions resulting in potentially adverse public health consequences.

"As the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network Incorporated does not hold an Authority to Fundraise from OLGR they can no longer fundraise for a charitable purpose".

Minister for Fair Trading, Stuart Ayres, said the association recently changed its name, to the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network Incorporated, following a direction from Fair Trading and an Administrative Decisions Tribunal decision requiring it to adopt a name accurately reflecting its scepticism about vaccinations.

"I warn members of the public against making donations to this organisation.

"NSW Government agencies will continue to monitor the organisation's activities to ensure it does not fundraise for a charitable purpose."

Minister for Health Jillian Skinner said she is very proud of the NSW Liberal & Nationals Government's commitment to childhood vaccination.

"On January 1 this year, new legislation came into effect to ensure no child can be enrolled at a child care facility unless the parent/guardian provides an official immunisation record which shows the child is fully immunised or has been granted an exemption after the parents/guardian have met with a GP or nurse immuniser.

"Our Government is determined to protect our children from the devastating consequences of vaccine-preventable disease.

"While NSW has a very high rate of vaccination among children, we will continue to do all we can to protect those children who remain unvaccinated.

"Forget the scaremongering – there is nothing to fear from vaccination," Ms Skinner said

Good news about vaccination 2 (5/4/2014)
The other bit of good news about the AVN is that the Health Care Complaints Commission has told them to clean up their web site. Also, HCCC has issued a draft of a Public Warning (nobody from AV-SN can complain about me reproducing it here because I downloaded it when they published it on their Facebook page). Objections to the idea of a public warning have of course been lodged, but as these objections took the form of issuing ultimatums to the HCCC and were expressed in several chapters, each with a volume of text approaching that of a later Robert Ludlum novel, I will leave discussion of them for later.

Here's what the Public Warning is likely to say. (The whole thing is a bit long to reproduce here, so I've only included the final warning. You can read the full statement here.

Warning

The Commission considers that AVN's dissemination of misleading, misrepresented and incorrect information about vaccination engenders fear and alarm and is likely to detrimentally affect the clinical management or care of its readers. As seen through the examples provided above, AVN does not provide reliable information to enable its readers to make proper and informed decisions about vaccination.

Given the issues identified with the information disseminated by AVN, the Commission urges caution is exercised when using AVN's website or Facebook page to research vaccination.

The Commission has recommended that AVN amend its published information with regard to the above issues and the Commission will monitor the implementation of these recommendations.

The last word. I hope. (19/4/2014)
The latest edition of Australasian Science is now in newsagents and letterboxes and contains what I hope is the last thing I have to write there about the recently-but-still-deceptively-named Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network.

As I do almost every month, I urge you to subscribe to this excellent popular science magazine. I believe it's the best of its kind in the country (and not just because I write for it) and it is rare to see an article that can't be easily understood by a literate non-scientist.

The AVN circles the drain

March 2014 was a very good month for supporters of vaccination as the Australian Vaccination Network, Australia's most visible and virulent critic of vaccines, ran out of any sympathy the organisation had from public health and regulatory authorities.

The AVN was founded in the 1990s by Meryl Dorey, who was President and public face for most of that time. Until 2009, they had almost unrestricted access to the media and Ms Dorey was often there to provide "balance" when any media outlet ran a story about vaccines. She has always claimed that the AVN was not opposed to vaccination but was simply a source of information that was hidden or suppressed.

You can read the rest here

The warning is back (3/5/2014)
In July 2010 the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) issued its first ever Public Warning, telling people to stay away from the Australian Vaccination Network. The AVN fought the order, and a restriction on their charity status, in the NSW Supreme Court, and to the obvious displeasure of the judge the order was overthrown. (The relevant legislation had been written in 1993 and required the HCCC to only act on complaints made by affected individuals. In this case the complaint had been made by a third party. The judge was not pleased about this and made it quite clear that she was not happy with the law but had to rule according to what it was. The law has since been changed to reflect changes in society and communication since 1993 (when the World Wide Web has just been invented). The AVN claimed an enormous victory in the court, and puts the change in legislation down to ownership of the NSW Government by Big Pharma.)

The HCCC has now caught up on the paperwork, crossed the "i"s, dotted the "t"s, and issued another Public Warning, this time printed on asbestos-impregnated Kevlar. Here is the media release:

Warning about the Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network, Inc. ('AVN'), formerly known as Australian Vaccination Network Inc.

30 Apr 2014

The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission has completed an investigation into the Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network, Inc. ("AVN"), formerly known as Australian Vaccination Network Inc and under section 94A(1) of the Health Care Complaints Act has decided to make the following public statement and warning. The Commission investigated whether information published and disseminated by AVN may be misleading or inaccurate.

AVN was established in 1994 in New South Wales by a group of people concerned about the lack of scientifically-based information cautioning against vaccination. AVN states on its website that the government and the medical community, in general, "exaggerate the safety and benefit profiles of vaccinations whilst downplaying their risks." AVN states it was formed with the purpose of:

providing medically-referenced information on vaccine safety and effectiveness lobbying to ensure that vaccinations are never made compulsory for Australian children supporting those who have chosen not to vaccinate or to vaccinate selectively.

AVN disseminates information to the public via a variety of mediums. These include its website, www.avn.org.au, the magazine entitled "Living Wisdom" (which ceased publication in January 2013), its Facebook page, Twitter account and YouTube. Meryl Dorey, the former President, has also held a number of radio interviews.

The Commission investigation focussed on information provided on AVN's website and some information disseminated on AVN's Facebook page.

Public warning The Commission has established that AVN does not provide reliable information in relation to certain vaccines and vaccination more generally. The Commission considers that AVN's dissemination of misleading, misrepresented and incorrect information about vaccination engenders fear and alarm and is likely to detrimentally affect the clinical management or care of its readers.

Given the issues identified with the information disseminated by AVN, the Commission urges general caution is exercised when using AVN's website or Facebook page to research vaccination and to consult other reliable sources, including speaking to a medical practitioner, to make an informed decision.

The Commission has recommended that AVN amend its published information with regard to the above issues and the Commission will monitor the implementation of these recommendations.

And did the AVN have something to say? Of course it did. And was the response truthful? Don't ask silly questions. You can read it in all its glory here, and here is my analysis using the traditional yellow highlighter to mark "inaccuracies". My comments are in italics.

HCCC Once Again Shown to be Incompetent and Arrogant

May 1, 2014

In a move that displays the worst of medical politics, the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) has once again issued a public warning against the Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network, Inc. (AVN). This office and the way in which they have carried out their "investigation" are an absolute disgrace. They have made themselves into a laughing stock. Far worse, they have clearly demonstrated that nobody can have faith in any statements made by this government body when they continue to rely upon verifiably incorrect and biased information.

The HCCC is far from a laughing stock, the investigation was undertaken very carefully (they didn't want to end up in court again), and the information they relied on came largely from the AVN's own web sites, statements, and publications.

Several years ago, the HCCC conducted a year-long "investigation" into our citizen-run healthcare consumer watchdog group. They did this at the behest of the Australian Skeptics and their splinter group, Stop the AVN – organisations with close ties to pharmaceutical and mainstream medical interests.

I have no idea why "citizen-run" should be an issue. The people who manufacture and distribute methamphetamine are citizens and presumably run their organisations. The claim that they are a "healthcare consumer watchdog group" is precisely the thing that the HCCC has found them not to be, so saying it again doesn't change the facts.

I don't know how many times Ms Dorey needs to be told, but there is no relationship between Australian Skeptics Inc and the Stop the AVN Facebook page other than some commonality of membership. Australian Skeptics had nothing to do with setting up Stop the AVN, and the fact that Stop the AVN was given the Skeptic Of The Year award in 2010 is evidence, as the rules explicitly preclude the award going to any related organisation or individual.

As for the ties to Big Pharma, Ms Dorey might like to make sure that she has some evidence of this, because while the committee of Australian Skeptics might include a nurse and a medical researcher it also contains two lawyers.

Despite strong evidence that they lacked the jurisdiction to either investigate or cite our organisation, the HCCC did both. The AVN took the matter to the Supreme Court where justice was served by the AVN's win. The HCCC was found to have acted illegally and both their investigation and public warning were thrown out. Costs were awarded to the AVN.

The HCCC certainly did have jurisdiction, and the judge made this quite clear in her ruling. The AVN's "win" was due to a technicality (since corrected by legislation). Nobody acted illegally, and the public warning was withdrawn voluntarily. Which is why they were very careful with the new warning.

Within weeks of their loss, the HCCC sought and were given unprecedented new powers specifically to 'get' the AVN. These powers enabled them to file their own complaint against the AVN, investigate and then, pass judgement without any oversight.

The law was changed to reflect the fact that as it stood it was out of date with current conditions. It was not changed to target the AVN specifically, but to give the HCCC the power that everyone thought it already had to investigate complaints about health care providers. Laws are changed all the time as society's expectations and knowledge change – you could once use asbestos to insulate pipes, now you can't; cigarettes once came in colourful packaging and could be advertised anywhere, now they can't; when I took my driving test I had to use hand signals to indicate stopping or turning, now it is illegal to have any part of your body outside a moving vehicle.

Our group has done everything within its power to work cooperatively with Alana McKaysmith (the investigator), Tony Kofkin (Director of Investigations), and Kieran Pehm (the Commissioner). For all this time, the department not only ignored most of our submissions – they also refused to answer questions or provide documentary evidence for their claims, many of which were either demonstrably or intentionally incorrect.

I have seen the submissions (they were published on the AVN's blog) and it is little wonder that the HCCC didn't take much notice. You do not present a convincing argument when you issue ultimatums and deadlines to public servants, especially if your submissions are simply long-winded repetitions of "we are right, you are wrong, nya, nya, ..."

We encourage you read the HCCC's original correspondence as well as our submissions at this link . We invite you to consider the serious implications of government departments and public officials who behave as though they are above the law and allow themselves to become tools for corporate financial interests instead of supporting the tax-paying public as is their stated mission.

It is a dangerous thing to claim that public officials are corrupt. If there is evidence of this then it is relatively easy to make submissions to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Of course, if the claims are found to be baseless the public officials might have recourse to the courts to seek damages for defamation.

The AVN calls on the Government of NSW to explain why an investigation, using taxpayer funds, was carried out in such an incompetent and unfair manner. We would like to ask how a body like the HCCC, which is supposed to protect the health of the citizens of this State, can openly abuse their privileged position in order to conduct a vendetta against a legally constituted citizen-run support group.

More accusations of bias and corruption, so even more reason to go to ICAC. Also, being "legally constituted" is no protection against government action for acting badly. The Office of Fair Trading, who did a lot of the pushing to get the AVN to change its deceptive name, spends much of its time and resources investigating legally constituted organisations, as does the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and there is nothing to stop the HCCC taking action against incorporated medical practices (something which I'm sure Ms Dorey would applaud).

I get mail (31/5/2014)
I received a very nice letter from Troy Grant MP, my state's Minister for Hospitality, Gaming and Racing. It says:

Dear Mr Bowditch

Thank you for your letter and material of 31 March 2014 to the former Minister George Souris MP concerning fund raising activities conducted by the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network. I am pleased to be able to respond in my capacity as the newly appointed Minister.

I have requested the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing conduct an investigation into the matters raised in your complaint and am advised that this is currently underway.

The Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing will write to you directly at the conclusion of the investigation and provide you with any findings on the matter. Thank you for your interest in this matter.

Should you require further information, Mr December, Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, can be contacted on 99 9999 9999 or at December@olgr.nsw.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Troy Grant MP

I published the letter on Facebook (with the contact details of the public servant blacked out, of course – he doesn't need harassment for just doing his job). I was asked why I didn't redact my address. I posted this in reply:

People have questioned the wisdom of revealing my address.

My address has been public for some time. It was published as part of the AVO documentation, and in any case I'm in the electoral roll and it's no secret I live in the Blue Mountains so anyone with the research skills of a typical PhD anti-vaxxer should have no trouble finding me. Also, my company is not a secret (Google will turn up my name on the work web site) and a search at ASIC will give the suburb.

Plus, I don't care if they know. I have a shredder for disposal of hate mail after I scan it and put it up on my site, and if people want to start turning up at my house they will soon see what AVOs were created for.

I've had the President of Scientology in the region turn up at my place for a chat about comments I'd made about CCHR, so I'm not going to be frightened by any of Meryl's flying monkeys. I've been threatened by experts.

Picture for the benefit of flying monkeys.

Shaken baby Vileness (31/5/2014)
Meryl Dorey, ex-President of the Australian Vacination-skeptics Network, spoke at a wooness expo last weekend. A "debate" with her was scheduled but had to be cancelled. She claimed nobody would "debate" her, and when I offered she went Full Mental Jacket on Facebook and her blog, calling me all sorts of names. In the end it became logistically impossible for me to attend as I had commitments on both the days before and after, and getting from my place to the venue and back on the one day would have taken almost 23 hours (I live three hours from Sydney airport, for a start). This meant that she was free to produce her normal stream of lies. I'll have more to say about this next week, but for now I'll just mention that she again brought up the disgusting lies about vaccines causing Shaken Baby Syndrome and containing parts of aborted foetuses. (In answer to a question, she suggested that the products of abortion are sold to vaccine manufacturers to use as an ingredient. Apart from the obvious insanity of this idea, she knows it's not true).

Her filth about SBS inspired me to rework my collection of comments about baby slaughterer Alan Yurko. He killed a 10-week-old baby, and Ms Dorey was one of his strongest supporters. I thought I might also mention some other inhabitants of the anti-vaccination liar cesspit who lie about Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Anti-vaxxers celebrate (30/8/2014)
Because people showed concern when I announced that I had been injured, I published a photograph on Facebook showing what my face looked like. It took almost no time for this to appear.

The thing posting it, "No Vaccines Australia", is of course anonymous, and it was posted in a forum where I am banned from responding. (Note: Jo, Meleese, and Fiona are real-life friends of mine.) Why I should be "Not so Skeptic now" is a mystery, and when asked why it had posted this idiocy it replied "Because I'm a fun guy".

This is a perfect example of the respect that anti-vaccination liars have for anyone who doesn't subscribe to their insane agenda. They don't care how many children die from preventable diseases, or how many are disabled by the diseases, they don't care if their children infect others, they don't care how many women die from cervical cancer, they don't care about people lying in order to get government benefits to which they are not entitled, they don't care how many people they might offend by comparing vaccine researchers to psychopaths like Mengele (yes, Meryl Dorey from the Australian Vaccination(-skeptics) Network did that just this week). Why should anyone be surprised that they think someone being injured is a joke?

And in case you think I'm exaggerating about the Mengele comparison, that nobody could be that insensitive -

The words quoted were written in 1967 and refer to research done years before that. It is because of this attitude that the ethical boundaries around clinical trials are much stronger now than they were five decades ago. But why would you expect anti-vaccination liars to recognise that anything has changed? And remember that they are constantly clamouring for vaccines to be tested in double-blinded placebo controlled trials, where all subjects would be exposed to infectious disease but only some would be given the real vaccine. If they are going to quote Rivers but want vaccines tested to the standards of the Tuskegee and Guatemala syphilis trials it simply indicates the extent of the hypocrisy that they apply to their attitude towards human life.

The more I see of anti-vaccination liars, the more I'm convinced that they want to see more dead children. And people who think like that should be locked away for the protection of society.

And some more good news (22/11/2014)
The Parliament of New South Wales set up a Committee On The Health Care Complaints Commission, and they have issued a report headed "The promotion of false and misleading health-related information and practices". Some of my good friends contributed submissions to the committee (I didn't submit anything because I felt it was being said well and often by others.)

I'm not going to provide a full analysis of the report right now because there is quite a lot to read and quite a lot to absorb. I will however point you towards Chapter 2 which deals largely with the Australian Vaccination (-sceptics) Network, Australia's premier source of anti-vaccination lies.

It has taken many years and a lot of lobbying and campaigning to get the government to finally start doing something about the quacks who prey on the sick and concerned (but scientifically uninformed) members of the public. The last time a committee like this was set up in NSW it was ridiculed and denigrated by the alternative "medicine" industry, and finally hijacked by getting representatives of the industry onto the committee (one such committee member worked for a company which had been prosecuted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission). I can only hope that the results of this inquiry produce better results and make the state safer for its residents.