Category Archives: Anti-Vaccination Lobby

Measles: A Gift from a Goddess?

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, Health, Scam, Science by

One of the more ridiculous falsehoods spread by Meryl Dorey in her promotion of disease as better than vaccination, is that in ancient Sanskrit “measles” means “gift from a goddess”.

She further claims that this is so because robust health and “huge” growth follows measles. Which is not exactly what I’d expect to see in a child who’d been bed ridden, suffering fevers perhaps seizures, diarrhea, exhaustion, malnourishment, drowsiness, muscle pain, photophobia, dry cough, bloody nose, possible brain damage, etc, etc and of course the chance of death. This entire claim is utterly bogus and toweringly irresponsible given that some listeners will be influenced by it.

From page 26 of Dorey’s Iverell Forum presentation slides (AVN seminar teachings)

In fact the Sanskrit मसूरिका or “masuurikaa” translates variously as measles, lentil, eruption of lentil shaped pustules, procuress (female procurer) and smallpox. So, with apologies to Sanskrit we shall move on to examine exactly what relationship a Goddess may have with this disease and why. As with many early cultures and belief systems, significant phases in life are assumed controlled by divine power. Diseases are believed to come in response to divine retribution, anger, punishment or even the working of an evil witch or sorcerer.

With respect to this Merylism we at least have enough to visit the beliefs of rural Indian folk. Here we find the goddess Sitala Mataji also known as Shitala, Sheetala or just Sitala. Broadly speaking Sitala Mataji is the Hindu pox goddess, worshipped in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and particularly in Northern India and Western Bengal. With Bengal situated in the north-east of the Indian sub-continent geographical proximity supports a common anthropological view of infectious disease.

Sitala Mataji loves cold and coolness and this is reflected in her name. She likes cold food offerings cooked the day before. One derivation Shitala Devi means the Cold Goddess. Measles is caused by the anger of Sitala Mataji. When we talk about measles and this goddess it’s important to realise this is understanding measles in strictly religious terms. Hindus may refer to measles as choti mai or choti mata (the smaller mother) whilst smallpox is bari mai or bari mata (the larger mother). Before the eradication of smallpox in the 1970’s Sitala was associated with smallpox.

According to legend Sitala is one of seven sisters who live in the neem tree and who bring epidemic diseases. She is often in the company of Gheṇṭukarṇa, the god of skin diseases, Jvarāsura, the fever demon, the Cauṣaṭṭī Rogas, (the sixty-four epidemics), Olāi Caṇḍi/Olāi Bibi, the goddess of cholera, and Raktāvatī, the goddess of blood infections. The measles rash represents “heat” and “dirt” that must come out lest the child die. Child talismans of goat, lion or bear hair warding off the fear which measles brings, and indeed the way measles “frightens” children strongly reflect links to the spirit world.

Shrines to Sitala Mataji can be found near neem trees. Other talismans against evil spirits and fear include spreading neem leaves and rose petals across a child’s bed in the case of Punjabi Christians who also spread neem leaves on the floor and use them to brush the measles rash. Hindus place neem leaves over the entryway to the house and under the infected child’s bed.

They would also keep a can of wet cow dung at their door or child’s door so that people entering – who may be “impure” – can put their feet or leg in the wet dung which is “pure”, before entering to visit the victim. A herb kala dana which is also used for Evil Eye infections should be burnt as it’s smoke is good for measles, assisting the rash to “come out”. Some herbal teas assist in promoting fever which is viewed as assisting the heat and rash to leave the body.

Although Sitala looks out for children and mothers she is simultaneously destructive and protective. In An anthropology of infectious disease: international health perspectives, Inhorn and Brown (1997) cite a number of authors, writing:

Although Sitala is by nature cool when she is angry she becomes heated and attacks with pox diseases, overheating her victims as well. Excess heat in the body then causes the skin rash to appear. The idea is that the disease of measles is the goddess and that when measles occurs the goddess herself is within her victims, burning them. From this it follows that measles victims themselves are in something resembling a “godlike” state and it is appropriate for them and their families to follow a restricted “purification” diet while the disease is in progress [p. 308].

In order to placate Sitala Mataji parents wait until about the fifth day and having wrapped their child tightly in a white cloth take them for a blessing at the temple. The tight wrapping also increases perspiration and the progression of the rash. On returning from the temple wet cow dung is used to make symbols resembling ⋂ on the wall of the house or house compound.

Cotton wool is spaced out evenly stuck to the dung. Red ceremonial worship powder is dabbed onto the cotton wool as Sitala is further encouraged to chill out (no pun intended) with prayers said in the child’s name. The symbols also serve to warn others away.

As expected in areas of counterfeit vaccines/medication and where less than half of “allopaths” are properly qualified there are stories of families following doctors orders to the letter only to loose the child. Others who sought to placate Sitala Mataji and went to the temple found their child recovered. Some Hindu women suggest these beliefs and strong relationship between measles and Sitala are a “carryover” from when smallpox was a major killer.

The legend of the vengeful burning arises from the story of a poor daughter in law ordered by her cranky mother in law to prepare sweets and food for the Sitala Satam celebrations, which were the next day. The daughter in law did but exhausted and having fed her child about 11pm, fell asleep. At the stroke of midnight Sitala Mataji came by and was burnt by the stove which had not been put out. Sitala cursed this woman and said “As I was burnt so let your child be burnt”.

On waking the woman realised her folly and saw her child was burnt. Other villagers pointed out it was the young mother’s fault that Sitala had been pained by the hot stove, become angry and thus, that her child had become burnt. The woman got permission to seek Sitala in the forest and eventually came upon an old woman with dandruff and “some tiny microbes” in her hair. The old lady asked where she was going and if she could spare time to clean her hair of insects and such. The young mother being a rather selfless type complied, handing her baby to the old woman.

After about an hour the baby revived and cried and the mother suddenly realised the old woman was Sitala Mataji in disguise. Showing devotion she fell into the holy lotus position and begged forgiveness for her mistake. This made Sitala very happy who forgave the young mother and promised to always be helpful to her – as long as no stoves were left on on that particular day. The next year the young mother’s jealous sister in law purposely left her stove on so her child would be burnt by Sitala Mataji. She journeyed into the forest but ignored the old woman and returned with a dead baby.

Devastated, crying, seeking forgiveness from the young mother and praying with true devotion to Sitala Mataji she begged the goddess “to make the dead child alive”. Sitala Mataji then blessed this child and later the jealous daughter made a confession and asked for forgiveness. So, the festival became one celebrated with devotion. All sweets and food are prepared the day before. Stoves are turned off and sprinkled with water. Devotees have a cold bath in the morning, and it is women and small children who worship mostly seeking blessing from the goddess Sitala Mataji.

The impact of this legend may be rightly gauged as profound. The life and death of a child is solely down to offending or proper appeasement of the goddess Sitala Mataji. In some North Indian villages as reported by Inhorn and Brown [p. 311] 74% of mothers believe measles cannot be prevented “whether through immunisation or otherwise”. It is a dangerous yet essential part of life. 70% believe no doctors should be seen lest the goddess – who resides within measles – is offended. Of 18 cases among Sikhs in India none were taken to a doctor. Three died [p. 313].

Apart from increasing perspiration, wrapping also prevents “measles-associated pneumonia” – a widely held fear. It is believed pneumonia is caused by cold. Even after recovery, isolation and wrapping continues to prevent “breathing problems”. Sitala has a brother god who causes the gasping for breath seen in pneumonia which suggests measles-pneumonia is also a part of Hindu mythology. In families with severe poverty and illiteracy other children die of dehydration from measles induced diarrhea, which is also seen as a means of removing the heat inflicted by Sitala Mataji.

In simple terms, in the cultures Dorey was misrepresenting, measles is seen as a curse from a goddess. One who demands in response such absolute devotion that children die as their superstitious parents fear offending her with medicine and instead smear cow dung on the walls of their home, pray and burn ritual herbs. In a fit of anger she attacks and burns small children through the fault of the mother who must then carry the burden of hit and miss spiritual appeasement. It is these very beliefs and others like them that will for a long time prevent significant reduction of measles in developing nations.

Clearly there is no gift from any goddess. No “huge” growth spurt. Only a pitiful struggle for survival and the fear of Sitala’s brother god. Ken McLeod on page 24 of Meryl Dorey’s trouble with the truth part 3: lies and fraud offers [bold mine]:

In a Sanskrit dictionary the word “masuri ” means “small-pox,” and the Sanskrit equivalent of the English word “measles” is “masurika मसूरिका”, from ‘a kind of herb’, ‘lentil’ or ‘pillow’, as in “an eruption of lentil-shaped pustules.” There is no etymology involving gifts from goddesses. The World Health Organisation tells of a superstition in the Indian subcontinent that smallpox resulted from a wrathful kiss by the Goddess of Smallpox, Shitala Mata. That is quite the opposite to Dorey’s claim.

One must pause and wonder if Dorey has any remote appreciation of the harsh living conditions and unbridled suffering such villagers may endure. Or if she understands their struggle as she sprouts her own cow dung over the simple truths that control their quality of life. If she is so inclined then why not smear cow dung on her own walls or offer a can full at the next pox party?

Strange isn’t it. We won’t see the antivaccination devotees stepping in wet cow dung before crossing the threshold to visit a sick child. Nor would we see devotees of Sitala Mataji giving their children the saliva of children already infected with measles. All things considered I’m pretty sure who is the most misguided.

Gift from a Goddess? I call cow dung.

Meryl Dorey’s Supercalifragilistichomeoprophylaxis 2011 W.A. tour

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, AVN, Denialism, Legal, Meryl Dorey, Skeptic by

Even though the sound of it
Is something quite atrocious
If you say it loud enough
You’ll always sound precocious
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay

Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network hasn’t been her usual fun loving self since returning from her W.A. 2011 Tour.

Things, it would appear, did not go to plan. It was supposed to have been all so simple. Meryl Poppins was going to float in with her carpet bag of all singing all dancing vaccine myths and in just 15 days tear up the stage in an extravaganza of adoration over a very special seven performance tour.

All of W.A. would turn out to hear one of Australia’s most loved fairy tales. Toils and struggles of the real world would be left behind for two weeks as fantasy and magic came to town. Scarred, battered and exhausted from the toxins in vaccines, this is just what this entire state of sickly people needed.

The favourites were eagerly anticipated.

Supercalifragilistichomeoprophylaxis, would have the kiddies tongue tied and flushed.

The delightful song and dance duo with Big Pharma Myth Conspira Conspira Conspira-see would have the adults on their feet. And everyone of course would sing along to Just A Spoonful of Oscillococcinum.

Step Back In Time with backing vocals from the very talented myths, Diseases Are Harmless and Vaccines Cause Disease were billed as “mind blowing”. For the totally unvaccinated, Meryl planned to team up with Diseases Provide Immunity and finish each show with the moving favourite that any parent can sing to kids, Stay Alive. She would be loved, adored by the media and interviewed at length on air.

But things seemed to go wrong almost immediately. Channel 10 withdrew sponsorship of The Conscious Living (or Lying) Expo after seeing Meryl Dorey’s name on the list. She summoned the Flying Monkeys. She published a piece on Dr. Peter Dingle who was there presenting his Great Cholesterol Myth. This conspiracy theory is a favourite of David Icke, so Meryl was certainly in good company. Dorey – self appointed defender of free speech – then spent two lengthy pieces on her blog whining about Liberal MP Barry Haase for having his say in defence of vaccines – below. Dorey twice more summoned the Flying Monkeys.

In a rushed round up, Meryl Dorey herself reported on the “smallish groups” to turn out to the Meryl Poppins shows. Despite billing herself as a “vaccine expert” Dorey was completely lost when it came to the rubella vaccine in Australia. In a piece that sounds half made up Dorey recounts testimonials from nameless people. At one of her shows Dorey spoke with a midwife who told her of a 22 week pregnant woman who was found to have low rubella antibodies “so her doctor just gave her a rubella vaccine on the spot”.

Here’s why you should never listen to Meryl Dorey and why her misplaced confidence and immediate conclusions are potentially dangerous.

First of all, rubells (sic) is only a risk for women in their first trimester of pregnancy (the first 12 weeks) so there was no need to panic about rubella levels for someone who was already 22 weeks pregnant.

According to The Australian Immunisation Handbook, regarding rubella:

The risk of damage declines to 10 to 20% by 16 weeks’ gestation. After this stage of pregnancy, fetal damage is rare but has been reported up to 20 weeks’ gestation.

Meryl Dorey:

Second, this vaccine has never been tested for safety during pregnancy and except in the case of an emergency, it should not be used at that time.

According to The Australian Immunisation Handbook, under Groups with special vaccination requirements:

The need for… rubella vaccination should be assessed as part of any pre-conception health check. Although the use of most vaccines during pregnancy is not usually recommended on precautionary grounds, there is no convincing evidence that pregnancy should be an absolute contraindication to the use of any vaccine, particularly inactivated vaccines.

Meryl Dorey:

Last, there IS no rubella vaccine in Australia – there hasn’t been for ten years or more since the monovalent rublla(sic) vaccine, Meruvax, was withdrawn and rubella is now only available as part of the combined MMR shot. This woman was vaccinated without being given any of this information and was told outright that she was getting a monovalent vaccine when in fact, she received a three-in-one shot!

Australian Immunisation Handbook, on rubella vaccination:

Rubella vaccine is available as either MMR vaccine or as a monovalent rubella vaccine. Monovalent rubella vaccine: Meruvax II – CSL Biotherapies/Merck & Co Inc (rubella virus vaccine).

I’ll wage good money you can keep returning to Meryl’s post to read, “This woman was vaccinated without being given any of this information and was told outright that she was getting a monovalent vaccine when in fact, she received a three-in-one shot!” for a long, long time. Wrong, wrong, wrong and making up stories. That’s our Meryl.

Then there’s an assumption another person was “misinformed”. Needing a tetanus shot the woman was offered the ADT Booster which has diptheria and tetanus toxoid, or dTap which is diptheria, tetanus and pertussis. You can read the Immunisation Handbook on tetanus here. The woman seems to remember being offered “tetanus and pertussis” which doesn’t exist. Even Dorey realises the potential for patient confusion, but we get:

Whether she misunderstood what she had been offered or the staff member had no idea what was in the vaccine, I’m not sure. But if she had been misinformed, it would not have been the first (or hundredth) time someone had told me a similar story.

Yes, yes indeed. Just like the rubella story above.

Hepatitis B vaccine is to be administered within 72 hours of birth, but Meryl heard from a nurse it is being given as early as 10 minutes. There is no issue here but Dorey seems to think it should be given “three days later”. To make this more absurd, information on the HBV vaccine being given within 72 hours of birth is available on the AVN website. Oh, Meryl!

She also spoke to someone representing someone else who Dorey claims has Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Apparently the person was vaccinated for H1N1 and “within days” was hospitalised. Dorey writes:

She tried to ask the staff if this could be related to the flu vaccine and they all insisted that there was no link…. This link has been known since 1976 when the flu vaccine was first brought into disrepute…. For staff today to be either so ignorant of this link or, even worse, to lie about it and cover it up, is unforgivable.

She finishes off by reminding readers that this is why the AVN exists. So, why you may ask. To publish without checking facts? To spread fear? To make up fallacies and draw impossible conclusions? To insinuate wrongdoing? So it would seem. To be sure however, there’s more to her ranting.

After the 2010 Fluvax debacle in which 3.3 per 1000 children suffered seizures, the appalling conduct of manufacturer CSL coupled with the TGA’s poor response to both, Dorey assumed she’d be welcomed with open arms. Only a year earlier she let Judy Wilyman loose to tell an audience that, “We’re being educated by the media who have pharmaceutical interests”. Time and again Wilyman claimed the media, as part of the Government, Pharma, Media triad, “run fear campaigns” such as “reporting the deaths of three babies from ‘flu”. In this way the community are “coerced into vaccinating”.

The Fluvax issue was why “hundreds of families” as Dorey claimed this year had children in hospital. Comparing all media reports it appears 23 were hospitalised, 47 taken to hospital and over 60 children effected. This is a serious matter deserving it’s own post to sort the concerns from the hysteria. Meryl made – and still makes – incorrect claims about the suspension in 2010 of paediatric flu vaccines by Australia’s chief medical officer.

She claims that parents were unaware their children were being used in a secret trial. As serious as the W.A. event was, this in no way gives Dorey an excuse to be libellous, falsely suggesting that:

[No] parent who gave permission for their precious child to be vaccinated in this campaign was informed that their babies were being used as guinea pigs in a trial that was paid for by the drug companies involved.

Being welcomed as some anti-vaccine Messiah with a magical carpet bag was not exactly how things flowed. Cathy O’Leary, medical editor for The West Australian reminded readers of how much trouble the AVN was in and brought up the “rape with full penetration” analogy to vaccination that Meryl strongly stood by at the time. The article included:

Australian Medical Association WA president Dave Mountain said the group was trying to whip up anti-vaccine hysteria again.

“They are zealots who pick and choose bits of information to make it look like they’re presenting real evidence,” he said. This led to parents refusing to get children and themselves vaccinated, which affected everyone, particularly the most vulnerable who benefited from herd immunity and, in that respect, they were a danger.

Liberal party member and Federal Member for Kalgoorlie, Barry Haase wrote a piece in The Kimberly Page on immunisation and the impact of the AVN. He noted:

Recent reports state the Australian Vaccination Network, an anti-vaccine lobby group; have been holding meetings in Western Australia. I find it illogical that sane parents would pay $15 to hear why they should not save the lives of their children.

For some, obscure to me, reason, this group has a snout on about saving lives. Vaccination has all but wiped out a number of childhood illnesses.

This radical group, based at Bangalow, near, of course, Byron Bay, was stripped of its charity status by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, after health authorities found its information to be biased.

This led to an opinion piece in The Kimberly Page from Ken McLeod, who has had his complaint against the AVN upheld resulting in a NSW HCCC order for the group to publish web site warnings. The HCCC have further published their own public health warning about the Australian Vaccination Network. Ken has also been instrumental in urging the OLGR to pursue the AVN over what became 23 legislative breaches.

As already noted here another W.A. article quoted Dorey as admitting to pro bono legal help in her appeals against the HCCC and OLGR. This raises more questions of what may have happened to pledges or donations secured for legal funds.

Then just recently Cathy O’Leary reported on the fact Consumer Protection is investigating the AVN’s grab for donations in W.A., in light of the OLGR NSW revocation of their charitable fundraising licence.

All in all the Supercalifragilistichomeoprophylaxis W.A. Tour 2011 was a big flop for Meryl Dorey.

Australian Vaccination Network: Consumer Protection Investigates

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, AVN, Health, Judy Wilyman, Legal, Meryl Dorey, Scam by

Meryl Dorey has done it again. Found her way onto the files of yet another government body.

Cathy O’Leary of The West Australian reported yesterday:

Consumer Protection is investigating whether an anti-vaccination group breached charity laws by seeking donations at a series of meetings in WA in the past two weeks.

The NSW-based Australian Vaccination Network held public forums in Perth, Busselton, Jurien Bay and Geraldton, charging $15 and giving out brochures asking people to donate to the group. Last year, it was stripped of its charity status by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing because of fundraising irregularities and it was ordered not to carry out public appeals in that State.

Here’s a copy of the donation form circulated in Perth.

AVN donation flyer

So why would Consumer Protection (apart from the obvious) be interested? As you may well know on October 14th, 2010 just past high noon the NSW OLGR revoked the AVN’s Charity Licence. They had discerned that… well, let’s have Meryl tell the tale:

Media Release heading - from AVN on OLGR decision

Approximately 2 hours ago, I received a notification from the OLGR that they would, effective Wednesday, October 20th, be revoking the AVN’s charitable status. They have sent me a letter listing the reasons for this revocation (those reasons are reproduced below) and also the announcement that is being Gazetted today.

(a) that any fundraising appeal conducted by the holder of the authority has not been conducted in good faith for charitable purposes

The Organisation has failed to publish a disclaimer on its website as recommended by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). This has resulted in an unacceptable risk of potential donors to the Organisation being misled when making a decision whether or not to make a donation, which has led to appeals not being conducted in good faith.

(c) that any fundraising appeal conducted by virtue of the authority has been improperly administered

The Organisation’s website is misleading in that it may lead people making donations to believe that they are donating to a cause which promotes vaccination whereas the Organisation adopts an anti-vaccination position. When requested by the HCCC to publish a disclaimer on its website the Organisation failed to do so.

(f) in the public interest, the authority should be revoked.

The failure of the Organisation to comply with the HCCC recommendation resulted in the Commission publishing a Public Warning on 26 July 2010 advising that this failure “poses a risk to public health and safety”. In this circumstance it is in the public interest to not permit the Organisation to conduct fund raising appeals under the Act.

Pretty straight forward right? Wrong. In fact there were 23 various breaches under the clauses, sections and conditions of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991. You may ask yourself why has Meryl only proffered a, c and f above. The reason becomes readily clear. Dorey seeks to maintain the “not under HCCC jurisdiction” theme.

In effect, as you can’t see above the OLGR decision is based upon far more damning evidence. Never one to let facts intrude upon reality Meryl moves the cups about the table and turns three points into a bogus “entire” decision:

As you can see, the OLGR based their entire decision on the HCCC’s demand for us to declare ourselves as being anti-vaccine and putting their disclaimer on our website – two things which we refused to do (they say we failed to do it – there was no failure involved – this was a deliberate move on our part to defend our freedom of communication). Indeed, instead of changing our current disclaimer to what the HCCC requested, we issued this statement – explaining why the HCCC was wrong and any moves to suppress the AVN were anti-democratic.

Riiiiight. A department of Trade and Investment NSW based their “entire decision” on the Health Care Complaints Commission’s findings. No wonder they can be dispensed with in just two short paragraphs. But wait! That last sentence is rather bold is it not?

What possible “statement” could explain why the HCCC was wrong, suppressive and anti-democratic? That can now be swung around the turret and aimed squarely at the OLGR? Why, it’s none other than the Debating Vaccination article that sells for $5:00 in the AVN Shop dear reader.

Even though it’s available for free via the above link and had also been emailed to members on August 12th, 2010 under the heading Read It In Advance, including a link to Dr. Brian Martin’s own URL. The URL I used when comparing all the free stuff Dorey sells for profit. No doubt because she’s so charitable and all. So deserving of a charitable fundraising licence.

The very “statement” that’s available in many areas for free but sold by AVN will defeat criticism and revocation of their charitable status and authority to fundraise respectively.

It’s all so clear now. A rambling piece of incoherent, self-serving, post modernist waffle that goes as far as claiming scientific fact is subjective truth, and as such, the door to conspiracy central is legitimately open because it’s mere dissent. Written by an erstwhile physicist, antivaccination supporter and Judy Wilyman – PhD hopeful – supervisor. Clearly it just steam rolls two government departments, then. It contains:

There is no rulebook, called the scientific method, that scientists follow. They do not necessarily use the approach of verification, namely finding evidence that supports current ideas, though there is plenty of this. Nor do they commonly use falsification, namely trying to disprove prevailing ideas, though they sometimes do this.

In other words (helping us understand why he might no longer be practicing physics) Brian Martin argues science is about biased verification and rejection of valid falsification. It’s about “prevailing ideas”, not following “the scientific method”. With this marked misunderstanding of the world he lives in, it is thus quite logical to deny vaccine efficacy, and exhume all the fallacies health authorities have patiently put to rest.

Surely there was more to the OLGR decision. The HCCC acted in consonance with dark forces, Dorey claimed. What of this decision? She further wrote (I’ve helped with striking out the long exposed lies), after blaming “active members of the organisation, Stop the AVN”:

14/10/2010 – For Immediate Release:

For over two years, the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), a national volunteer-run health lobby and support group, has been under attack. Our message of individual informed health choice conflicts with the government’s policy which is pro-mass vaccination. Part of this attack has included complaints to the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing (OLGR), the body that oversees charities.

Earlier this year, the OLGR audited the AVN. It found several errors with our bookeeping (sic) system and some minor problems with the way in which we accounted for fundraising income. The OLGR openly stated that there was no evidence of fraud or criminality. Despite this, it has announced that the AVN’s authority to fundraise is being revoked.

“Had the OLGR based its decision upon the simple errors which were found during our audit – errors which any small, volunteer-run organisation can and does make – it would have been unfair but not unexpected.” says Meryl Dorey, media spokesperson for the AVN. “What makes this decision difficult to understand is that the revocation was based solely upon a questionable decision by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) which we believe is not relevant to the OLGR’s mandate.”

The campaign to shut down the AVN has included:

  1. Attacks and threats against our advertisers, members and professional supporters.
  2. Death threats against  committee members.
  3. Hate mail.
  4. Abusive phone calls and emails.
  5. Numerous vexatious complaints against (sic) to various government agencies.

In a democracy, it is always in the public’s interest to allow citizens access to full and accurate information on all issues so they will be empowered to make their own decision. The OLGR’s statement that rescinding the AVN’s charitable status is in the public’s interest seems to confuse the Australian public with the Australian medical industry.

In a true democracy, the government should be defending its policies in the court of public opinion – not by abusing its power by suppressing legitimate dissent.

As you can now see the entire “release” is false as the revocation of authority and a number of events this year reinforce. It is quite right and proper for the OLGR to note the HCCC’s ruling that Dorey misleads the public and as such donors are duped, appeals are in effect scams and money made via fund raising sustains an ongoing “risk to public health”.

It is very easy to grasp. Yet Dorey is asking that members believe that the OLGR found bookkeeping errors “and some minor problems”, then for the persecutory reasons rattled off time and again revoked their licence. In truth fraud and deception was common. That citizens now held her to account was completely her own doing.

Ridiculously the theme of “suppressing dissent” had taken firm hold. It goes without saying that the AVN has for 17 and more years run a lying, scamming, money grubbing campaign of fear and misinformation that far from expressing dissent has led to wide spread ignorance and genuine community health challenges. As for threats and harassment it is grieving parents, volunteers, busy journalists and Michael Wooldridge who can cite actual intimidation.

Dorey used the intervening week to beg for new members (who could legally continue to donate) and money. Her state of mind then further deteriorated as she herself expanded upon and acted out the themes of threats, oppression and dark forces. Her paranoia and flight from reality is captured in an email to members only a month later on November 15th. It included:

Warning To Chiropractors

Members of the organisation that is trying to stop the AVN have made threats to send mock patients to any chiropractic office where the practitioner has a history of providing information to their clients on vaccination. The idea is that they can then report the chiropractor to the chiropractic registration board.

Be on guard for hidden cameras and microphones. [….] Similar things have been happening with naturopaths for some time now. Yet more evidence that we need to stick together and support each other.

In truth it is great news for public health that Consumer Protection W.A. has taken this initiative. Western Australia was to be Dorey’s great revival tour. After the CSL Fluvax scare the entire state waited for their anti-vax Messiah… didn’t they? Surely this was to be her vindication where all the oppressors would be proven wrong.

Yet the fact is in well over a year Meryl Dorey has made not one compliant twitch. Apart from the odd calculated wave to appear deceptively bipartisan her conduct has remained unchanged from that outlined above. Combative, paranoid, proud, arrogant and unrepentant. Meryl Dorey and her AVN remain a threat to public health. It doesn’t matter where they go the message is the same misinformation, leading to the same old grab for cash.

The public have a right to know and to be protected. Kudos to Consumer Protection.

Australian Vaccination Network: Selling what’s available for free

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, Health, Legal, Scam by

If you’ve ever wandered about the Australian Vaccination Network‘s online shop you’ll notice quite a lot of themes.

Anti-vaccination, natural health, the evils of medicine, the bounty of mother earth, cancer cures, vitamin miracle stories, courageous people, tortured children, the horror of government malignancy and a general cornucopia of articles, DVD’s and books usually with one central theme. Conspiracies.

Yet before you go “shopping” and grab a few of those oh-so-cheap “downloadable articles”, or “25% discounted Special Offers!!” DVD’s and books, please be aware you’re buying what is almost certainly available for free, or at most substantially less. As Reasonable Hank pointed out some days back with delightful screen-shotted pwnage on his blog, Dorey scams even those who ask a question, or seek advice. You see, the error filled yet freely available article at whale.to, Tetanus Toxoid Vaccination by Chris Gaublomme is being sold by Meryl Dorey. It gets worse in that she consciously directed a Facebook commenter to her shop rather than to the free site which contains exactly the same information.

I was shocked! Could it be that family friendly and child loving Meryl Dorey might seek to profit from parents’ curiosity? The motherly Dorey who only wants the best for children and their parents? Apparently. With a little digging I found exactly the same information on the International Medical Council on Vaccination‘s certifiably loony site. You may remember them from hosting Meryl’s “Death threats, health fascism and suppression of vaccine truth in Australia” webinar. The question had to be asked then. How much else was she ripping off? Random selection of a few items proved most telling.

The article The MMR vaccine is not holy water – copyrighted to Sherri Tenpenny – is available free on many other sites. HPV Vaccine Mysteries selling on the AVN site, is available in PDF format – one may even say as a “downloadable article” – for free right here. For double the price of HPV Vaccine Mysteries you can download “reprints” from an already published AVN magazine of Debating Vaccination; the mind boggling pseudoscience from failed physicist and PhD enabler of Judy Wilyman, Dr. Brian Martin. Or for free you can download the entire article with identical cover, colours and cockypop right here.

In fact, where might Meryl Dorey be sourcing her “downloadable articles” from? Do you really need to clutter your computer with articles that are available online – sometimes on several websites? More so, do you want to be giving banking details to an organisation with a documented history of financial deception as confirmed by NSW Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing? Who acted to revoke their fundraising licence?

This deceptive conduct has already manifested in 23 (known) breaches of The Charitable Fundraising Act 1991. Breaches carried out boldly and that do not include the hanky panky of selling freely available material. To be sure some articles are $2:50 or even $1:50. All the better to splurge. Yet other items are “discounted” to $25:00 when they exist elsewhere for far less, or in the case of most books almost half AVN’s price.

But of course this is nothing new. In September last year Kate Bensen wrote in the SMH Copyright breaches land antivaccination group in trouble:

An anti-vaccination group is under fire for allegedly breaching copyright laws by selling newspaper and medical journal articles online without permission from the authors.

The Australian Vaccination Network, which was the subject of a public warning issued by the Health Care Complaints Commission last month, withdrew 11 information packs from its website yesterday after complaints from authors. The packs, which were selling for up to $128, included home-made books filled with articles photocopied from journals around the world, information on drugs taken from MIMS, the medical guide used by doctors and nurses, and copies of brochures inserted in medication boxes by pharmaceutical companies. [….]

The president of the network, Meryl Dorey, said she was unaware she had breached copyright but accepted there had been problems with her licence.

”We’ve made mistakes but they’ve been honest mistakes. They’ve been out of ignorance rather than fraudulence,” she said.

One author stressed that apart from never hearing of the AVN, her material was out of date. Also, under copyright law penalties can reflect if material is used in a way that makes readers think less of the author. In regard to the former, selling outdated material is just scamming members again. As for the latter there’s ample scope for that.

Keeping the deception theme alive, in a recent article (November 2nd) in The West Australian Meryl Dorey:

… denied claims the group was involved with religious organisations that have an anti-drugs stance.

Which is rather fortuitous given our present little jaunt about her online shop dear reader. One of the “25% discounted” DVD’s is Scientology’s Citizen Commission on Human Rights, Making a killing: the untold story of psychotropic drugging. You can pad Meryl’s pocket with $25:00 to have and to hold your very own copy… if it arrives. Or watch it free here as a Google Video. Dorey is also selling in her “downloadable articles” scam, the CCHR’s Labelling and drugging kids for profit, which is identical to material on the Scientology/CCHR’s USA sites that’s also available with videos. Dorey has a long history of promoting the CCHR and other material and books she sells are religiously themed and anti-conventional medicine.

So a.) Meryl Dorey is indeed involved with “religious organisations that have an anti-drugs stance”, b.) is profiting from selling their otherwise freely available material and c.) continues to promote these views. Wow. Caught with lies and fraudulence again. Why am I not surprised?

Speaking of books, The Virus and the Vaccine is $35:00 AU at the AVN shop or under $13:00 US on Amazon. Choosing Not to Immunise Our Children is $40:00 AU at the AVN or $25:00 US at Inkview.com. Fear Of The Invisible by Janine Roberts is a whopping $42:00 AU at the AVN. On the promotional site it’s $20:00 US. At Amazon it’s $18:61 US. Drug Muggers: Which medications are robbing your body of essential nutrients… is $35:00 AU at the AVN or $14:20 US at Amazon. Child Health Guide – $33:00 AU vs $16:86 AU at the Aussie online store, Fishpond. The Age of Autism… by Olmsted and Blaxill. $35:00 AU vs $18:65 US at Amazon. The Vaccine Guide – 10 years old – is $44:00 AU vs $13.01 US at Amazon.

On and on it goes. With absolutely no guarantee your product is in stock (there is no notice) nor if it will arrive as per the great Living Wisdom swindle. Which, amazingly also contained free articles within that subscribers had already paid for. Even Peter Dingle’s, David Icke admiration winning The Great Cholesterol Deception is $5 dearer than at Aussie online retailer Fishpond who guarantee rapid delivery. Of course the rubbish on offer ranges from nature-obsessive to offensive (Hep B vaccine – good for new born prostitutes and drug addicts but who else?) to completely fictitious such as homeoprophylaxis or “vaccine guides” written by homeopaths, to New World Order themes.

The best way to uncover the pay-for “downloadable articles” scam is to bring up the offending item page. Highlight only the title and search for that. So why pay for Judy Wilyman’s A new strain of swine influenza… when the same is available here for nicks? Or Dr. Eisenstein’s vitamin D recommendations for the same disease, when it also available at the Center for healthy living?

Who else would publish that gross Greg Damato title Hep B vaccine – good for new born prostitutes and drug addicts… that Meryl is selling her members? Only our old friend Mike Adams – who happens to have it for free. Speaking of Mike I wonder if our Health Danger knows that his MacGyver inspired article How to build a pharmaceutical factory in your back yard and grow your medicine for free is being sold by Meryl word for word. Ecstatic Birth – by Sarah J Buckley is for sale as an article at AVN, or available as exactly the same PDF for free from her own site or even on Mothering.com.

Cancer – How scientific are Orthodox cancer Treatments? – by Walter Last, for sale at AVN or free at whale.to. Perhaps the most face palm-worthy is No Limits by Dianne Trussell. Not only is it for sale but it’s also on the AVN site for free. Many other pieces are seen to be recycled articles from Living Wisdom or Informed Voice written both by Meryl Dorey and other authors. T-Shirts are 40% dearer than similar items from elsewhere.

Back copies of cobwebbed Informed Voice are for sale for goodness sake! Piles of antivaccination brochures, “information packs” and CD’s of old seminars that lie scattered about a moldy old shipping container near a certain ramshackle house. A bit like Steptoe and Son meets The Twilight Zone. My you’d need to be up on your tetanus shots if you’re buying from that shambles.

All up that’s only about 20 items out of many, many more. Material that is freely available or markedly cheaper elsewhere. One is left wondering about the legality of copyright or such price markups with articles and books respectively. Certainly a great deal of material is quite old and even more certainly the bulk is simply pseudoscience dressed up as advice.

The price of some other items, such as Baby Gift packs is simply astonishing. Selling Homeopathic Home Prescriber manuals without warning is exactly why the HCCC sought to protect the public. I for one would be concerned about proper delivery.

It goes without saying. The AVN Shop is a dishonest rip off. A shonkster. A scam. A fugazi. A sting.

Hold onto your money.

[PS: Ample use of “nofollow” was used in linking to such sites of ill repute]

Meryl Dorey caught out lying (again) by her own words

Posted in Anti-Vaccination Lobby, AVN, Health, Legal, Meryl Dorey by

After yesterday’s hysteria from Meryl Dorey about “rabid anti-vaccine safety (cough) press”, to describe accurate reporting about her antivaccination lobbying, AVN fans must be much happier with a piece from Lismore’s Northern Star.

It goes very easy on the illegal money raising tricks and public health damage we know and love from the Australian Vaccination Network. However, in a nice surprise it confirms a scandalous grab for money from businesses to help the AVN in it’s civil action against the HCCC. The piece, Vaccine group aims to win out West includes:

The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) revoked the AVN’s licence to fundraise as a charity last year after a warning from the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) that its website contained information that was “misleading and incorrect”.

The then gaming and racing minister said the group “breached charitable fundraising laws and potentially misled the public” and was no longer permitted to accept charitable donations. The AVN launched a civil suit against the commission in the NSW Supreme Court which is due to begin on November 9 in Sydney.

“We are hopeful of winning on the grounds that the complaint against us was not valid and that the HCCC failed to carry out a proper investigation,” Ms Dorey said.

The AVN had had to depend on donations from members since the OLGR ruling, but its barrister in the civil action was acting on a pro bono basis, she said.

Pro bono eh? Well that immediately calls into question the fate of pledges called for by Meryl Dorey in August 2010. There has been no public announcement from the AVN that donations are not needed. Nor has there been any clear and concise deliberation on the fate of monies donated to and collected by the AVN. This was the case with the raising of almost $12,000 to place a fictitious advertisement in a magazine, and also with the raising of another $12,000 to assist a family “on the run from Hepatitis B vaccination”. Money the family never saw but a story – a lie – which Meryl Dorey still tells to this day along with falsely claiming to have helped a family in QLD.

The AVN has helped not one family in this way. Of course these scams are dwarfed by the money raised through lying to members about placing material in Bounty Bags, given to new mothers. Money was raised but no material produced. So the OLGR has very good reason to revoke the charity licence of a fraudster. You can read up on the court action to date, and how Dorey’s own arrogance actually brought about far worse condemnation from the HCCC than the initial request for transparency on antivaccination status.

Which brings us back to an outrageous email to members in August, 2010. It’s a bumper edition of lies, conspiracies and demonstrable deceit, interspersed with delusions of grandeur. Under the heading Urgent Update – what is happening with the AVN? Dorey goes on a long winded rant of persecution, promises and piffle. Including [bold mine]:

After discussions with our legal advisers, we have been told that there is one chance for us to overcome the push to shut us down – and it is far from 100% even if we are successful.

In speaking with many other organisations and seeking out the best possible legal advice, we have discovered that this is not the first time the HCCC has stepped outside of its jurisdiction to persecute a non-profit organisation. There is another group who was in our situation less than a decade ago. They fought against the HCCC  – all the way to the Supreme Court. And they won! It cost them $150,000 – but they got every cent back and more because the court found that the HCCC had acted outside of its jurisdiction when they tried to prosecute this organisation.

As I said, we will not seek donations from our members – so please don’t worry about donating as an individual. If you have a business however, and are in a position to donate a larger amount – say $10,000 to $20,000 – and this donation can be given as sponsorship so it will be tax-deductible, then we want to know about it.

We are not asking you to give us your money at this point in time. Like we did when we had our large fund-raiser earlier this year, we are only asking for pledges. If we get enough pledges to get this action going (and we need a minimum of $100,000 – $150,000), then we will go for it. We will NOT give up if we are given the means to fight. I’m in this until the bitter end if businesses will support me, as is the rest of our incredibly dedicated committee.

“Push to shut us down”? Paranoid much or just misleading readers? All the HCCC asked for was an admission that the group is anti-vaccine and that their advice is not to be taken as medical advice. Today we have a bit more clarity through which to view this piece. On day one in court it was immediately established that Dorey was most certainly within HCCC jurisdiction. Most curious however is this “other group” who fought against the HCCC.

In Meryl Dorey’s trouble with the truth part 3 – Lies and Fraud on page 55, Ken McLeod highlights Dorey’s three comparisons to the HCCC supposedly stepping “outside of it’s jurisdiction to persecute…”. Quoting Peter Bowditch it’s shown that the Walker Inquiry was not “into the HCCC” as claimed by Dorey. The investigation into Graeme Reeves had nothing to do with “those in the natural health area” and Reeves was in fact deregistered. That finally leaves this mysterious group who defeated the HCCC in the Supreme Court NSW getting back their money “and more”. McLeod writes:

I and some lawyers have gone through the Supreme Court Case Law database, and there is no mention of such a case. So, this claim is pure invention.

Which is certainly Meryl Dorey’s form. Fiction. Now that she has publically admitted to pro bono defence one would hope in the interests of transparency that a full disclosure of any pledges given, collected or declined will be made as equally public. Yet this email yields quite a lot more fiction. For example:

And we are certainly not giving up. We have a lot of work to do and an awful lot of plans that are nearing fruition. For instance, we are planning on sending a delegation to Canberra for the next sitting of Parliament (when we actually have a government in place, that is) to request the following changes to Federal legislation:

1- A requirement for all health practitioners to report vaccine reactions to the TGA when these reactions are reported to them by parents.2- A requirement to reveal the vaccination status of those who contract ‘vaccine preventable’ illnesses.3- The funding of a study using the already-available information from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register’s (ACIR’s) database which currently tracks who is vaccinated and who is not.

Completely false. The AVN has to my knowledge not lobbied Parliament beyond urging members to write letters or lying to senators about unprovable vaccine reactions. Certainly the notion of “sending a delegation to Canberra for the next sitting of Parliament”, is close to hilarious. But there’s more:

In addition, we have made contact (finally!) with labs and researchers overseas who are willing to work with us on testing the currently-licensed Australian vaccines for the presence of heavy metals and other ingredients such as vegetable oils. If these results come back as we expect they will, this information may well blow the currently-held beliefs in the safety of modern vaccines out of the water.

Again false. The AVN has no contact with overseas researchers or labs and no-one is willing to work with them to test anything but the vacuum of truth to similar claims. The money needed to pursue such a venture is extraordinary and this lie is designed as a gap filler for the very same money raising scam they have pulled since the early 1990’s. The so-called independent testing has been imminent for almost two decades and it’s high time Dorey abandoned this pie in the sky waffling. I’ll gladly accept any input to prove this wrong.

Dorey also floats off into some quite bizarre musings:

You may not be aware of this, but the persecution of the AVN has started a tidal wave which is reaching out to all other natural therapies and therapists. Many of these organisations have not wanted to be involved with our group though many of their individual members have been long-time supporters. Let’s face it – this is a very controversial issue and as you can see by what’s happened with me and the rest of the AVN – when you raise your profile as being a pro-information advocate, you are likely to get knocked down in a very ugly way.

So for 17 years, natural therapy organisations have used our resources and directed patients to us for help and support, but in general, they, and many therapists have not taken a stand on this issue.

A tidal wave of persecution? Rubbish. The Wellness Industry is thriving in Australia and in no small part thanks to the paper tiger stand of regulatory authorities. All kicked off because Mother AVN is in trouble? Well that scarcely explains Cure All homeopath, Fran Sheffield snubbing her nose at the TGA and Complaints Resolution Panel (CRP) after a complaint was upheld on November 26th, 2009 as reported here by ABC Lateline.

For 17 years the AVN has had “patients” directed to them for help and support by natural therapists? I doubt it. The position of the Australian Natural Therapies Association is in support of conventional vaccination. As the CRP reported in upholding a complaint against false claims made about the efficacy of homeopathic immunisation – a favourite of the AVN:

The Executive Director of the Australian Natural Therapies Association has stated that no properly qualified natural therapist would recommend homoeopathic ‘immunisation’ as an alternative to conventional immunisation.

Despite claiming yesterday “I always say to people to go to their doctor and get information”, it seems to be a problem as the email continues under, “What has the result of this been?“:

The National Registration Board of the CAA is trying to put through a policy which will require that Chiropractors not be allowed to discuss vaccination with their patients. Instead, they will be required to direct parents to a GP for answers to any questions they may have.

There is a bloc in the WA Parliament that is trying to get homeopathy outlawed due to one woman’s choice to use homeopathic remedies to treat her cancer – a treatment which ultimately failed – but that was her choice. The 100 Australians who die every day on chemotherapy are not considered in this equation – but one woman who dies whilst using a natural therapy is a reason to destroy a 200-year old evidence-based therapy that is in competition with allopathy.

And every day now, there are more and more supplement manufacturers, suppliers of herbal medicines, Chinese herbal medicine producers and others who provide healthy, natural products, who are being targeted, not allowed to advertise their products or services and shut down by the TGA and their minions. The AVN has always been there for these groups – we and our members have supported you. Now, it’s time to see if you have the intestinal fortitude to stand tall and support not only the AVN’s but your own continued survival.

Stop, Stop, Stop! Dorey goes on to ask for $1,000 from any of these businesses she has “always been there for”. Those that must have the “intestinal fortitude” to hand over money to help out the AVN and thus, save themselves. The size of this woman’s ego and delusional narcissism is breath taking.

Dorey is actually claiming that her unnecessary fighting of the HCCC request to have a sign posted on her website and a public warning they issued, which she herself began civil action over is:

  • Persecution
  • An orchestrated push to shut them down
  • Media, advocacy and government plotting
  • Reason for other businesses to pledge large amounts of money
  • The beginning of the end for the Wellness Industry
  • The catalyst for the CAA Regulation Board to prevent chiropractors discussing vaccination
  • The reason WA parliamentarians are concerned at the lack of regulation of homeopathy as evidenced by Penelope Dingle’s death
  • Increased targetting of natural product and therapy providers who are being “shut down by the TGA and their minions”
  • Reason for small providers to hand over money to Dorey for “your own continued survival”
  • And quite a bit more besides…

Fortunately most decisions are made with neurons surrounded by the skull not the intestine, no matter how fortified. The crucial point here is this cost is a cost Dorey alone brought upon herself. She could have done what most other suspect and shonky providers do and simply ignore the request. The HCCC can realistically do nothing beyond the public health warning.

Far from shutting people down, “the TGA and their minions” are simply ignored. Fran Sheffield of Homeopathy Plus responded to a CRP request to post a retraction of false advertising claims that homeopathy could prevent diptheria, smallpox, polio, influenza, measles, pertussis, rubella, mumps, meningococcal disease, etc with:

“Well obviously I’m disagreeing with them and that’s why the retraction hasn’t gone up”

The real question is why has Dorey chosen to self sabotage and why does she assume it’s the responsibility of everyone else to solve this for her? Her terrifying claims about the TGA are close to insulting. Fran Sheffield is not alone. 80 of 82 complaints pertaining to the Advertising Code this year were upheld by the TGA. The two that weren’t were from competing companies.

As written in the recent Auditor Generals performance audit into the regulation of complementary medicine:

The size of penalties attached to criminal offences may also mean that it is seen as not in the public interest to proceed. This view is consistent with legal advice provided to the Advertising Unit about specific breaches.

The TGA has also observed that “prosecution is currently the only available option where administrative requests fail to achieve compliance”. There have never been any cases that have been referred for prosecution action and accepted. As a consequence, the prospect of using prosecution action against non‐compliant behaviour, and as a deterrent, seems limited.

In 2010 a DoHA review found 90% of products reviewed were found to be non-compliant with regulatory requirements. The infamous 31 products selected at random yielded 68 breaches;

  • 20 medicines had labelling issues such as non‐compliance with labelling requirements and/or breaches which may mislead consumers.
  • 12 included incomplete and/or inappropriate information on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).
  • 22 were found to have manufacturing and/or quality issues.
  • 14 did not have adequate evidence to substantiate claims made about the medicines.

No-one is being “shut down” by Australia’s appalling feather touch of the TGA. More so, Meryl Dorey’s claimed position as being the head domino is some cascade of Wellness Industry persecution is demonstrably false and a product of her own ego, cunning and imagination. It’s high time Meryl Dorey stopped crying persecution and took responsibility for her own conduct.

The real victims are the innocent children, babies and parents who suffer from the consequences of decreasing vaccination.