[AVN] Vaccine Hearing Testimony

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A message from the AVN list.

Sebastiana

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Dear Representative Burton,

The following is my testimony for the hearings on Vaccines: Finding a

Balance Between Public Safety and Personal Choice.

My name is Meryl Dorey and I am an American citizen who has been living in

Australia for the last 11 years.

I came to this issue in the way that so many other parents have - through

the vaccine injury of my own child. (note: Please be aware that with only

one exception- the DPT vaccine - the vaccinations used in Australia are the

same as those used in the USA.)

Almost 11 years ago, my son was born. His was a traumatic birth,

but he was healthy and of a good size. He reacted to his first vaccination

at 2 months - the DPT/OPV combination. His high pitched screaming for 5-6

hours and high fever were of great concern. His development that night of

sleep apnoea absolutely terrified my husband and myself. Today at ten years

of age, he still has severe sleep apnoea as well as growth and immune system

problems that he was left with as a result of his shots. You see, my doctor

felt that it was only the pertussis component of the vaccine which was a

danger to and so, he continued to receive his shots on schedule

until, at the age of 18 months, he was hospitalised with what was diagnosed

as severe gastroenteritis but which we now believe to have been encephalitis

after an MMR vaccine. He spent 3 days in hospital and was discharged with

hand flapping and other symptoms of a child in the autistic spectrum.

He underwent years of medical treatment including the removal of his tonsils

and adenoids before he was 3, in an attempt to improve his breathing (it did

not work). My husband and I feel that all of these conditions are related

to his reactions to the shots, though no doctor has ever stated this. My

own GP recommended that he not receive any more pertussis vaccines but said

that his condition was not related to the vaccine.

It was this kind of denial and illogical behaviour which made me begin my

search into this issue and which led to the establishment of the Australian

Vaccination Network, an organisation much like the National Vaccine

Information Centre in the USA. This organisation was started by health

professionals (including doctors), parents and others who would like to see

full and complete information on both the risks and benefits of vaccination

and oppose any form of compulsory medication or vaccination.

In my work with the Australian Vaccination Network, I have been contacted

via our adverse reactions hot-line by more than 600 parents who believe that

their children have been adversely affected or killed by their shots. Like

the NVIC, we are only funded by memberships and donations and have never had

enough money to advertise our reactions hot-line nationally. This figure,

therefore, would only represent the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the

actual number of vaccine reactions taking place.

Without exception, these cases were never reported by the doctors who

administered the vaccines despite the fact that a significant proportion of

these events took place within a very short time period of the vaccination.

Reporting of vaccine reactions is mandatory in the States of New South Wales

and Western Australia. Despite this regulation, many doctors fear to report

vaccine reactions. They do not want to admit that something they have done

has caused the death or injury of a child; they do not want to expose

themselves to litigation; and they have been taught in medical school

curriclua which have been written and funded by the very same pharmaceutical

companies which produce and profit from vaccines, that vaccines do not cause

serious reactions. Even though they see the evidence of these affects before

them, their very training tells them that it is 'coincidental' or 'would

have happened any way'.

The fact is that study after study has shown that the vast majority - up to

99% - of reactions are never reported. Yet the government and the medical

community rely on these figures which are 99% incorrect. If financial or

agricultural estimates were off by 99%, heads would roll. In this instance,

however, the only heads that roll are those of innocent children and their

families who have been told that vaccines will protect and not hurt their

children.

In trying to balance public safety vs. personal choice, you have started out

with the assumption that if vaccinations were to cease today, or levels of

vaccination compliance were to fall below a certain point, there would be

increases in both the morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases. This

has simply not been shown to be the case. In fact, the mortality from

certain diseases such as measles increased substantially AFTER the mandating

of the measles vaccine.

Yes, there may be an increase in the reported cases of these illnesses, but

almost every study done on the actual severity and mortality from these

diseases have shown that both hospitalisations and deaths declined when the

vaccination rate declined. I will list several citations, but there are

many, many more.* Not only that, but in countries like the USA with

mandated high levels of vaccination, there have been increases in many of

these diseases with, for instance, whooping cough in the mid 1990's

increasing to levels above those of the mid 1960's - years before mandatory

vaccination.

Every parent wants what is best for their child. Every parent wants to

protect them from the dangers of the world. Every parent has a right to

make free and informed choices of the best ways to go about providing that

protection. Events of recent weeks with hearings on the dangers of anthrax

vaccines, hepatitis B vaccines and the withdrawal of the rotavirus vaccine

after it's very recent approval, have shown that vaccination may not be the

best way to go about providing that protection for every child.

In much the same way as the tobacco companies and medical organisations

claimed for decades that cigarettes were not dangerous to the health,

pharmaceutical companies and medical organisations like the AMA and the

American Acadamy of Pediatrics are now claiming that vaccines are safe,

effective and necessary. These claims are not backed up by the published

medical literature. Not only that, but the relationship between these

organisations constitutes one of the greatest conflicts of interest seen in

the modern world.

Since the American courts have described vaccines as " unavoidably unsafe

products that are quite incapable of being made safe for their intended and

ordinary use. " (Lukaszewics -v-Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp.), to mandate that

children or adults receive these shots is both immoral and unethical.

Until vaccines can be made 100% safe and 100% effective, mandating their use

must be considered anathema in any society purporting to be democratic. The

children of America, the children of the future, are counting on you to set

the moral standard by which their lives will guided.

Thank you,

Meryl Dorey

proud American citizen and

National President of the Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.

*Citations regarding mortality and morbidity in countries with high

vaccination rates and low vaccination rates:

Hutchins, SS; Cochi, SL; Brink, EW; Patriarca, PA; Wassilak, SCF; Rovira,

EZ; Hinman, AR; Current Epidemiology of Pertussis in the United States;

Tokai Journal of Experimental Clinical Medicine; Vol 13 Suppl; 00 103-109,

1988

Isacson, Jerker, Birger, Trollfors, Tranger, J., Zackrisson, Gunilla and

Lagergard, , (1992) How common is whooping cough in a nonvaccinating

country?, The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 284-287.

Christie, C.D.C., Marx, L., Marchant, C.D., Reising, S.F., (1994), The

1993 epidemic of pertussis in Cincinnati; Resurgence of disease in a highly

immunized population of children, The New England Journal of Medicine, p.

16-20

Ditchburn, K.; Whooping Cough after stopping pertussis immunisation;

British Medical Journal; 1979, 1, 1601-1603; 16, June 1979;

Romanus, V, Jonsell, R, Bergquist, SO; Pertussis in Sweden after the

cessation of general immunization in 1979; The Pediatric Diseases Journal;

Vol 6, No. 4; 1987.

Matter L; Bally F; Germann D; Schopfer, The incidence of rubella virus

infections in Switzerland after the introduction of the MMR mass vaccination

programme., Eur J Epidemiol, 11:3, 1995 Jun, 305-10

Aaby, P; Bukh, J; Lisse, IM; Smits, AJ; Measles vaccination and child

mortality (letter); Lancet, July 11, 1981; 2 (8237); 93.

Aaby, P; Samb, B.; Andersen, M.; Simondon, F.; No long-term excess mortality

after measles infection: a community study from Senegal; American Journal of

Epidemiology; Vol. 143, No. 10: 1035-41

, CL; Ten years of measles vaccinations: a review of the advantages

and hazards of vaccination; Nursing Times; December 14, 1978; 2059-60.

Bellini, W.J., Rota, P.A., (1994) Virology of measles virus, The Journal of

Infectious Diseases, 170 (Suppl.1) S15-23.

Poland, GA; son, RM; Failure to Reach the Goal of Measles Elimination:

Apparent Paradox of Measles Infections in Immunized Persons; Archives of

Internal Medicine; Vol 154, August 22, 1994; 154:1815-1820

Shasby, M., Shope, T.C., Downs, H., Hermann, K.L. and Polkowski, J., (1977)

Epidemic measles in a highly vaccinated population, The New England Journal

of Medicine, 296, 585-589.

Mulholland, K., (4/2/95), Measles and pertussis in developing countries

with good vaccine coverage, The Lancet, Vol 345, 305-307.

Wassilak, S.G.F., Orenstein, W.A., Strickland, P.L., , C.A., Bart,

K.J., (1985), Continuing measles transmission in students despite a

school-based outbreak control program, American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol

122, No. 2, pp 208-217.

Weiner, LB, Corwin, RM, Nieburg, PI, Feldman, HA; A measles outbreak among

adolescents; The Journal of Pediatrics, January 1977; Vol 90, No 1, pp

17-20.

Meryl W. Dorey,

President

The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.

PO Box 177 02 6687 1699 Phone

Bangalow NSW 2479 02 6687 2032 FAX

meryl@... http://www.avn.org.au

" All truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is

violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident. "

(Schopenhauer)

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Any information obtained here is not to be construed as medical OR legal

advice. The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is

yours and yours alone.