The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is aware of misinformation in recent media and online reports that claim the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are contaminated with excessive levels of DNA. This is not the case.
So opens the TGA report Addressing misinformation about excessive DNA in the mRNA vaccines. It is, for those of us aware of this issue, an understatement. The sheer volume and scope of misinformation, combined with relentless pressure from repeat offenders including members of the Australian parliament, more accurately suggests a campaign. A calculated campaign of misinformation designed to spread fear and intimidate the vaccine hesitant. Despite there being accepted means for discerning DNA residue in vaccines, two claims persist. Namely levels are hundreds of times greater than the accepted safe level, and that aggressive cancers will, and do, directly result.
Background
The original claim stems from a preprint paper by Kevin McKernan dated 11 April 2023. Amplitude, via the Australian anti-COVID vaccine lobby, was lent to this claim in July 2023. The legal guru behind all Australian court cases to challenge approval of COVID-19 vaccines, retired barrister Julian Gillespie, penned The Canaries in the Human DNA Mine. Falsely labelled “peer reviewed” by his anti-vaccine compatriots, it was published in the unabashedly anti-vaccine International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research. Gillespie also crafted the case material used by Dr. Julian Fidge, in what became known as the Fidge v Pfizer case in which Fidge was represented by Katie Ashby-Koppens of P. J. O’Brien and Associates. I summarised the unsuccessful case here, in April this year. Gillespie and Co. followed with a conspiratorial constitutional complaint against the presiding judge, Justice Helen Rofe. Then via a High Court writ they targeted Chief Justice Debra Mortimer for not accepting their complaint. Both complaints were lodged on behalf of Dr. Fidge
Around the same time, the outrage manufactured by the anti-vax lobby shifted from the claim in Fidge v Pfizer that mRNA vaccines were Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), to the claim that vast amounts of DNA were contaminating these vaccines. Julian Gillespie, who wants a COVID Royal Commission, publishes for his “good substack folk” regularly on DNA contamination. He claims to have commissioned Canadian molecular virologist Dr. David Speicher to pursue said contamination, ultimately announcing confirmation on 6 June. Speicher was not a surprise choice for Gillespie. He had published with McKernan, Jessica Rose, Maria Gutschi, and David Wiseman in Canada in October 2023, reaching the contamination conclusions Gillespie wants to hear about.
It bears stressing that Kevin McKernan’s preprints lost credibility long ago, when it became apparent the vials he tested were of unknown origin. More so, if origin is unknown then cold chain transport requirements are by default, breached. In October 2023, David Gorski referred to McKernan’s initial preprint as an “awful study” and follow up studies being “equally as bad”. Thus it is unsurprising further attempts were made to label COVID vaccines as DNA contaminated. The Global Vaccine Data Network provide an excellent refutation of what they call Plasmid-Gate. As a highly COVID-19 vaccinated nation, Australia is used in their piece as an example to debunk the claim of so-called “turbo cancers” resulting from COVID-19 vaccination. SBS recently reported that last year, biologist Phillip Buckhaults from the University of South Carolina spoke before a state panel postulating the possible consequences of DNA contamination. When his comments took flight on social media he quickly followed up on X with insistence that such a risk was “purely theoretical”. They further reported that:
Dr Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said [DNA] fragments were “clinically and utterly harmless”.
“These DNA fragments would have to enter the cytoplasm, which is that part of the cell outside of the nucleus, and our cytoplasm hates foreign DNA,” Offit said. “It has innate immune mechanisms as well as enzymes to destroy foreign DNA.”
Also interested in supposed DNA contamination of mRNA vaccines are Senators Malcolm Roberts, Gerard Rennick, Ralph Babet, Alex Antic and Russell Broadbent. Rennick has pushed both the GMO and DNA contamination angle for well over a year. Broadbent remains vocal in parliament to this day, has congratulated Port Hedland Council for calling for an end to COVID vaccines and has furnished Australia’s PM with material on the matter. Broadbent raised his concerns in parliament on 18 November, and I recommend watching this 5 minute video of him speaking.
Another voice to echo Julian Gillespie, is erstwhile ABC journalist Maryanne Demasi. Perhaps her contribution is best summed up in the COVID vaccine conspiracy film she narrated, The Truth – About COVID-19 shots. Erroneously labeled a documentary, it was raved about by Gillespie. And understandably so, given that it includes all his favourite vaccine conspiracies, champions the case and complaints associated with Fidge v Pfizer and lists Gillespie as a source. Demasi also has a Substack account, and has kept her subscribers up to date with DNA contamination developments. In addition Demasi claims the TGA “hides from” reports of SIDS, post vaccination, the TGA and FDA ignored DNA contamination of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, and of course that the TGA response to the claim that mRNA vaccines exhibit DNA contamination, is wrong.
Last week Jane Hansen passed away from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Jane was a deeply committed and focused journalist who utilised evidence to challenge pseudoscience, scams and disinformation. Jane regularly used truth to expose those who profited from exploitation of the vulnerable. She had journalistic skills equal to multiple tasks. Her presentation style and writing made that abundantly clear.
Consequently, Jane’s colleagues have recently offered other adjectives to describe her as a journalist. Esteemed, celebrated, legendary, star, courageous, compassionate, revered, renowned, tireless, passionate, crusader, genuinely funny, a giant, a hero, a pioneering female, a warrior for truth. Social media reflected the extent of the respect Jane had engendered over the years. Amazing, awesome, tireless warrior, dedicated, excellent, great… and more. A quick search for Jane’s name yields a veritable stampede of honorific headlines, all jostling to make individual statements, yet all condensing around one notion: Praise.
Respected Australian journalist, Ray Martin offered this summary:
“Jane Hansen gave journalism a good name. She was formidable, energetic and ethical.
“She fought relentlessly for the underdog and the disadvantaged – especially women and Indigenous Australians.
“Jane was smart, funny and a reliable friend. We’ll miss her pursuit of excellence, as she tried to keep the bastards honest.”
Jane was also a loving and loved mother, sister and an adored friend of many. I knew Jane only through the occasional email exchange or direct messaging on social media, yet often enjoyed her well known talent for making people laugh. I’ve lost count of the number of times I consulted an article Jane had written to orient myself regarding a specific anti-vaccine insult, or from whom a certain deceit had arisen. One highlight for me was Jane’s work in the making, production and promotion of Big Shots: Anti-Vaxxers Exposed. Made in the early, pre-vaccine days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jane capably bridged the harm that anti-vaccine lobbying had already caused in Australia, and the foreseeable damage COVID conspiracy theories would inevitably bring.
Readers familiar with the tactics of vaccine conspiracy theorists can certainly guess, or may well be aware, of how they have reacted to this news. Fortunately, Jane made a lasting schism in their fragile credibility, leaving in her wake a surging wash of evidence-based reasoning, powerful enough to smother both their deceit and vulgarity. Jane always focused on presenting the facts. Her critics focused on attacking the person. On the day Big Shots aired in 2021, Jane was interviewed on Sky News, and shared this observation, which in my mind reflects both her sense of fairness and respect for sound public health.
I don’t have a problem with questioning a vaccine. This is a new vaccine, we want to know if it’s safe. There’s no point in having an unsafe vaccine; we all want a safe vaccine. But some of the misinformation that’s being spread is just ludicrous.
Jane’s career was extensive, including her role as a war correspondent for Network 10 in both Iraq and Bosnia, later working on the current affairs programme Hard Copy. She worked at Channel Nine for fourteen years. Jane co-authored Boned, the eye-opening book on boys-club mentality in TV media, and also authored the deeply personal and emotional Three Seasons. Her own experiences aided her unbiased assessment of Kathleen Folbigg, culminating in Jane writing and presenting the popular podcast Mother’s Guilt. Of course, Jane also managed her extensive and impressive career at The Sunday Telegraph.
Jane’s tireless campaigning was instrumental to the introduction of the Abbott/Turnbull government’s No Jab, No Pay/Play policies. Introduced in 2016, this public health initiative has seen an ongoing increase in life-saving childhood vaccination and is regarded as an overwhelming success. Jane’s reporting on anti-vaccine responses to it continue to educate the community. The same can be said for her criticism of anti-fluoridation conspiracies. In 2018 Jane was the inaugural winner of The Barry Williams Award for Skeptical Journalism. Australian Skeptics Inc. explain:
The Barry Williams Award for Skeptical Journalism is awarded for journalistic work that critically analyses or exposes issues related to pseudoscience or the paranormal. The award is dubbed “The Wallaby” after Barry’s alter ego of Sir Jim R Wallaby, which he used for some of his more whimsical pieces published in The Skeptic magazine. In addition to a commemorative certificate, $2000 is awarded to the recipient or to a charity or cause of their choice.
Jane Hansen awarded the “Wallaby” 2018
Jane’s respect for evidence-based public health policies was linked to her desire for a more just world. In addition to her work exposing pseudoscience, Jane also reported on childhood muscular dystrophy, childhood medication, childhood cancer, cardiac health, teen vaping, IVF clinics, endangered animals, diabetes, organ donation and much more. Claire Harvey described Jane as “the most passionate journalistic crusader” she’d ever known. Jane’s work will remain and continue to positively influence others.
As a final note I’d like to stress there is no such thing as turbo cancer and no evidence COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer. Jane passed away late on 6th August after being diagnosed less than two years ago with glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. Outside of inherited syndromes or exposure to radiation, the cause of glioblastomas is not known. More common in older adults, they may occur at any age. Research has not identified anything that can prevent development of glioblastoma.
On Monday 22 January 2024 the unique home for all things COVID conspiracy, Café Locked Out, hosted a video titled The Launch of OpenDAEN, A free database of Adverse Events. Cutting to the chase, OpenDEAN, promoted and launched by Sharon Cousins, purported to be an easy and honest means of access to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Database of Adverse Event Notification.
Like its namesake previously debunked here, OpenVAERS, the Australian analogue of misleading information, OpenDAEN, presents decontextualised data in a manner that seeks to create the illusion COVID-19 vaccines are inherently unsafe. That “vaccine injuries” are rampant. Again like OpenVAERS it presents as conclusive fact, reports of negative health experiences observed in, or claimed by, an individual after that individual received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Like the TGA, OpenDAEN uses the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA), to classify adverse reactions. It provides filtering with the European Medicines Agency, Important Medical Events list and Pfizer’s analysis of post authorisation adverse events. An additional adverse reaction of “serious” has been added to OpenDAEN. Sharon Cousins is an erstwhile insurance executive, now presenting as an “independent researcher” with a penchant for criticising COVID-19 vaccines. Sharon could not share her screen and was directing suspended NSW anaesthetist Paul Oosterhuis, the third member of this Zoom presentation, around the site.
The primary data interrogation categories on the index page of openDAEN are:
Case numbers by Year, Month and Sex
Cases by COVID-19 Vaccine Type
Case Numbers by Reaction term and Age
Case by Frequency of Batch Number
Table of case number, date, vaccine manufacturer, MedDRA reactions, Death, Serious cases and the FOI request number the batch number was confirmed by.
The index page offers the following:
Above: Slideshow: OpenDAEN website
OpenDAEN is called a “free database”. Don’t be fooled. The important elements here are reports and post vaccine, combined with the fact almost all adult Australians have had two COVID-19 vaccines, as have two thirds of 5-15 year olds. Random ill health events can and do frequently occur coincidentally with vaccination. It’s also important to realise that the TGA and health authorities encourage Australians to report these events, so that over time a greater understanding of these vaccines will emerge. OpenDAEN.info provides a description on each page footer:
OpenDAEN.Info is a non-commercial and not-for-profit website for the research, study and review of the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) DAEN (Database of Adverse Event Notifications) system in respect of COVID-19 vaccines. The primary source of data on OpenDAEN is the TGA DAEN system and their published FOIs (Freedom of Information).
Decontextualisation
When taken out of context and denied TGA cautionary disclaimers, the reports become hearsay temporally related to something somebody did. Nothing more. This is decontextualisation. But apparently, we are to assume causation exists. OpenDAEN claims to be able to offer up to date, conclusive data related to adverse events caused by COVID-19 immunisation. These adverse reactions are the subject of reports sent to the TGA DAEN. So, the data themselves have a recognisable source. But can absolute conclusions be made with any real confidence? In reality it takes time for clinically relevant events, specific to any vaccination to be investigated, identified and acted upon. Unless already understood and published on the TGA COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Report (2 November 2023), the quality and quantity of adverse reaction is speculation. To make matters worse, the anti-vaccination lobby has invested an exceptional amount of time spreading disinformation via social media, and one of their primary targets has been the TGA DAEN.
The anti-vaccine lobby want every report to be an absolute reality. They want the figures, diligently and honestly provided to Australia by the TGA, to be accepted without examination as conclusive, in their misguided attempt to wipe out COVID-19 immunisation. We saw this claim time and again in the court affidavits of Peter Fam, Meryl Dorey, Julian Gillespie and Katie Ashby-Koppens; reports presented as if confirmation of death and injury in huge numbers. But correlation is not causation. If you haven’t clicked the link to DAEN by now, let’s see what the TGA, but not OpenDAEN, stress about the contents.
- DAEN SPLASH SCREEN DISCLAIMER –
Okay, so it confirms what I stressed above. But most crucially, you have to tick the teeny weeny little box next to I have read and understand the above, to access the TGA data. The disclaimer can’t be missed. Only willingly ignored. The importance of what this means and the restrictions the disclaimer places ipso facto, on OpenDAEN was studiously avoided during the video on 22 January. In fairness I will note that a small header on the TGA DAEN page was visible, but also ignored. It reads; Inclusion in DAEN – medicines does not mean that the adverse event has been confirmed or that it was caused by a medicine or vaccine. Clicking it – which the presenters also studiously avoided – reveals a little more about the DAEN content. Due to size restrictions of a screenshot, I’ll pop the text in a paragraph, and include some emphasis (mine):
The DAEN – medicines allows you to search adverse event reports for medicines including vaccines received by the TGA. The TGA uses adverse event reports to identify when a safety issue may be present. The DAEN – medicines does not contain all known safety information. An assessment of the safety of a medicine or vaccine cannot be made using the DAEN – medicines alone.
Talk to a health professional before starting, stopping, or changing your prescription medicines.
Anyone can report a suspected adverse event, including members of the public, health professionals and pharmaceutical companies. We encourage reporting even when it is not clear that a medicine or vaccine is the cause. Information from these reports is published in the DAEN – medicines and reflects the observations of the person who reported the event.
People who experienced an adverse event cannot be identified. Maintaining their privacy is of critical importance to the TGA.
The DAEN – medicines is a ‘living’ database that is frequently updated. Information may change if we receive more details on an existing report or if we identify duplicate reports and combine them. Updates may also occur as part of our data quality assurance activities.
In short, the TGA DAEN database is constantly growing, contains information from any member of the public, reflects the observations of that person, provides no information about the safety or lack thereof, of vaccines and does not confirm that an adverse event was caused by a vaccine. It cannot even confirm if the event has actually occurred. I might add, dear reader, given that the anti-vaccine lobby has gone out of its way to submit to the DAEN clearly impossible and even bogus reports, one must remain extra vigilant when assessing or querying these data.
Indeed, Sharon Cousins herself relayed an abuse of the TGA DAEN system at the 8:30 mark of the video. She had queried via FOI why a reported death of a 6 year old boy was no longer available on the DAEN. Sharon noted that within her FOI report FOI 4077 (“Batch numbers of COVID-19 vaccines of reported deaths”), it was revealed the initial report was submitted as a hoax. The relevant section of the report reads:
FOI 4077 also requested information about why case number 724925 no longer appears in the DAEN. This report was rejected following review of further information for the case. The information demonstrated that the report was submitted as a hoax and as such there is no identifiable patient. The report remains in the TGA’s internal database. However, it no longer is included in the DAEN as it has been rejected because it no longer met the minimum criteria for a valid adverse event report.
Sharon Cousins
Sharon also said the TGA reply included, “Normally we wouldn’t answer this”, after insinuating she has a positive relationship with them. However, that comment is clearly not there. One appreciates Sharon sharing this information, but cannot ignore that it took an FOI query of a fatality to uncover the truth. How many other adverse or serious adverse reactions were, or will be, “rejected following review of further information for the case”. Sharon was eager to reassure viewers that OpenDAEN was not misusing the TGA website, but rather making it “more user friendly”. It will be of benefit to TGA staff Sharon opined, and she had sent the site link “to the coroners”, and to State and Territory head pathologists.
Batch Numbers
Throughout, much is made of the section allowing search of batch numbers. We learn that when it comes to accessing batch numbers, the TGA, “Doesn’t have any search engines on it, is a little bit clunky and it times out”. The TGA freely provide data in CSV format on batch release assessment of COVID-19 vaccines. One of two release pathways is taken; either based on overseas certification or based on TGA laboratory assessment. The TGA explain this in detail. So, what could be wrong with smoother navigation of COVID-19 batch numbers as a function of vaccine type, reported adverse reaction and de-identified data? Usually nothing, unless one ignores TGA advice and extrapolates to conclusion, based on other available data.
At the 50:00 minute mark Sharon directs navigation through the number of cases per batch number, highlighting batch number FP1430 – COMIRNATY, (Pfizer), in section 4. OpenDAEN has accessed the batch numbers via FOI, and that’s fine. OpenDAEN reveals inordinately more adverse reactions for male and female associated with this batch number, compared to those next to it. Sharon instructed more data access and directed navigation to the batch number table. She continued:
Look at the dates! Look at all the dates! Within 24 hours of the Pfizer being released on the younger children, the five to elevens… it was all advertised, tenth of January [2022], five to eleven year olds… within 24 hours we have reported cases. Now that for me is causal proximity.
Sharon continued on, directing suspended doctor Oosterhuis to isolate reported – not confirmed – fatalities using that batch number and age group. They isolate two boys. Zeroing in on the symptoms of one boy, Sharon reads, abdominal pain, then dismisses adverse event following immunisation as “a very bland one”, then cardiac arrest. She has Paul Oosterhuis explain eosinophilia and eosinophilia myocarditis. He assumes he is explaining the findings of both of “these boys”. In fact the data reveal clearly it is only one boy. A five year old.
The ten year old “fatality” has only Adverse Event Following Immunisation listed. The “very bland one”, dear reader. Then Sharon warns us “It’s a little bit distressing now, okay. The two boys both had the same batch number”. She gets Oosterhuis to zoom in and suggests, “So, screen print that people if you don’t believe us”. After zooming in on the case numbers Sharon has Oosterhuis zoom in on the batch numbers again, as if she hadn’t made that point enough times already.
Now, I am not a lawyer but I doubt the strength of Sharon’s “causal proximity” claim. There is another factor Sharon told us herself, that must be considered. As she points out, the roll out for Pfizer for 5-11 year olds was 10 January 2022. Thus, the first factor I would investigate would be the sheer number of children being vaccinated, at the time of release. Over 11 weeks, 76.6% of those 2.3 million children were vaccinated. 1,761,800 children had one dose. 1,552,500 (67.5%) had two doses. The vaccine for 5-11 year olds is one third the dose approved for children aged 12 years and over. Cold chain transport and storage is vital to the success of mass mRNA vaccination programmes.
Using OpenDAEN to interrogate vaccine batch numbers of adverse reports about 5-11 year olds, over the first two months of the rollout, we see virtually one result: FP1430. Yet what is more likely? Batch FP1430 is responsible for all adverse reaction reports? Or most 5-11 year olds vaccinated in the initial days, were dosed from batch FP1430? By the end of February other batch numbers begin to appear and gradually attract more reports. By late March, FP1430 is just another batch number. More so, there are over 500 unknown batch numbers for that age group. However, if you present your disinformation just right, some might believe in the deliberate harming of children:
– Facebook comment –
What do the TGA say?
There have been no deaths in children or adolescents determined to be linked to COVID-19 vaccination. More detail on these deaths is available in the safety report published on 15 December 2022… If we identify a new death likely to be related to vaccination, we will publish this information promptly, as we have for all other cases since the start of the vaccine roll-out. [Source – 2 November 2023]
Of the 14 deaths the TGA confirm are linked to vaccination, none are in the 5-11 year age group. Yet Sharon is convinced of her claim, has already convinced others and will convince more, simply because of bias. Her defence, I suspect, will be that she used FOI legislation to access reports on batch numbers and the TGA lacks the smooth batch number access and navigation of OpenDAEN. Yet Sharon made up her mind before she even started looking. In fact, Inclusion in the DAEN does not mean the event has been confirmed or determined as related to a vaccine, is utterly ignored when using OpenDAEN.
The reactions reported in January, are based on MedDRA. Seen clearly in the video, were cough, vomiting, pallor, lethargy, rash, injection site rash, syncope, cold sweat, decreased appetite, anxiety, dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain, abdominal discomfort, aggravation of existing disease, excessive sweating, hives, muscle stiffness, chest discomfort. The worst on screen were seizure, appendicitis and a seperate loss of consciousness. Searching the batch number/adverse reaction table for 5-11 year olds in my own time, revealed reports of chest pain, syncope, anaphylactic reaction, paraesthesia, ECG ST segment elevation, nystagmus, pneumonia and many others. Some reports were of one reaction and others of multiple. All reports are of conditions children experience everywhere across the globe. Establishing cause or any relationship to COVID-19 vaccines is the role of health authorities.
Elsewhere on OpenDAEN we read that:
Useful search engines, graphs and tables have been developed into a helpful user-friendly database to assist study, research, review and analysis of the Australian Government publicly available data. […] We believe in sharing this information in an open and easy-to-use format (with search engines, tables and graphs etc.) and to help make it quicker for anyone wanting to source data for their own study, research and review.
The Quack Miranda
So, the team want to share information in a fast open and easy way to help with doing your own research. It sounds almost too good to be true. The Disclaimer and Disclosure tell us:
– Source: OpenDAEN –
Okay then. It is up to the user to get further professional information to confirm if the information is “of value to you”. Accuracy of the information cannot be guaranteed which places further responsibility on the user to seek advice before relying upon it. It’s information they might get wrong and as such will not be liable “for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred” by reason of relying on that information.
It is 2024 and world search and data systems can perform enormous and complex requests with astonishing speed and accuracy, yet when Australian governments roll out never before used experimental gene therapies to millions of citizens, Australians are left to report to an antiquated adverse event reporting system (DAENs) still with both feet in last century.
This amounts to a fundamental failure of Pharmacovigilance and the Australian People. Searching through DAENs remains a nightmare for researchers, where one cannot but question the motivations of the TGA and the Australian health departments who feed it Our Information. OpenDAEN greatly assists researchers and students, and data and IT experts desperately needed to review and criticise the current DAEN system which is not fit for purpose.
Hopefully OpenDAEN will motivate Australian governments to take the needed steps towards a national real-time, transparent, and easily accessible adverse event reporting system, for properly protecting the health of Australians and better facilitating valid Informed Consent. The antiquated DAEN system deprives and seemingly hides needed health data necessary for Australians to provide valid Informed Consent.
COVID vaccine injury class action fund raiser, Dr. Melissa McCann writes:
This is amazing and meticulous work by you and your team.
Strong reminders of OpenVAERS and how decontextualised data are used by anti-vaccine activists to mislead, were apparent during the video. Alluding to what is known as the Lazarus Report, after the name of the principle investigator, one commenter offers:
– Facebook comment –
Suggesting that TGA DAEN statistics are only “(10%?)” of “ACTUAL injuries and deaths”, is linked to a bogus belief of widespread underreporting to VAERS in the USA. I addressed this in a post challenging OpenVAERS, writing.
The figure of 1% comes from a report from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc., authored by Ross Lazarus. Data examined are from 1 December 2007 to 30 September 2010. These data include all possible adverse events. Prior evaluation of the reporting rates of various events confirms that minor events are rarely reported and more serious events routinely reported. A 2014 report on surveillance of adverse events following immunisation in NSW, Australia noted that:
Only 11% of the reported adverse events were categorised as serious.
In short, most adverse events such as a sore arm, nausea, swelling, redness, headaches, vomiting and other self correcting issues are indeed underreported, but make up the vast bulk of adverse events following immunisation. Yet since the Lazarus report, anti-vaxxers love to spread tales of widespread death and terrifying injury, then solemnly add “only 1% are ever reported”.
Paul Offit is a strong supporter of VAERS which he refers to as a “hypothesis-generating mechanism”. Reports there of intussusception approximately once per 10,000 doses led to suspension of his own RotaShield vaccine which was ultimately recalled, before returning as a safe product. In fact health authorities want parents or doctors to report minor events as soon as possible. Much can be learned about self limiting reactions, and more concerning to severe reactions can be gauged by pattern changes, properly identified and suspended under section 29D of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989.
Perhaps the most damning page on OpenDAEN is the resources page. A curated smattering of COVID-19 vaccine pseudoscience and “vaccine injury” class actions, peppered with all the anti-COVID mandate and health advice groups, it seems designed to lead readers into a field of gaping rabbit holes. Dr. Melissa McCann’s COVID class action vaccine injuries video tops the page. The World Council for Health Spike protein detox guide is there. R.F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense Australia, The Zelenko Protocol, The Australian Medical Professionals Society, many of whom we’ve met here before, World of Wellness and the National Institute of Integrative Medicine to name a few.
Conclusion
OpenDAEN is not an exciting addition to the TGA DAEN database. It is not a positive, user-friendly addition to TGA staff or to genuine researchers and academics. It is created, managed, supported and provided by and for respectively, members of the anti-vaccine community, convinced that COVID-19 vaccines are the cause of multiple health ailments and death. No professionals were available for its launch. All invitations were ignored. It has no integrity and no academic standing. No coroners or State and Territory head pathologists will care.
Like its namesake in the USA, OpenVAERS, it is designed to allow users to gather misleading collections of coincidental report material and present this as causal COVID-19 vaccine adverse reactions. To be sure, the results it produces, easy to construct as they are, will find their way onto websites, social media and court affidavits. OpenDAEN won’t enjoy the success OpenVAERS did, because now only diehards remain. During the launch of OpeanDAEN, events two years old were focused on, to craft a demonstrably bogus, yet very serious accusation against COVID-19 vaccines.
So, it’s Sunday morning right. No not now. Back then. Back on… Sunday morning.
I’ve plunged the coffee, added a cup and milk, and am scrolling through that thing called X. You know – what Elon did to Twitter. I meant to check the weather because it’s cool, windy and wet and I hate the heat, so I’m like “Yay! Let me look at the digits”, but somehow I get on X.
There’s a tweet with a screenshot and the screenshot reads:
If you’re not an expert but you think you’ve destroyed the entire foundation of a vast scientific edifice with 10 minutes of Googling, you might want to consider the possibility that you could be wrong.
Even before the caffeine kicked in I knew it was good – the tweet not the coffee – and perhaps I maybe wished I’d said it. Okay, I did wish I did but I didn’t and will now have to learn to live with that. Then I looked at the handle and the caffeine must have just then kicked in because my memory worked. It went way, way back to the afternoon before, when I’d seen it on Twitter / X. It was @GidMK.
Now, @GidMK calls himself the Health Nerd, but has a whole bunch of talent. In fact I even know that:
Well, I actually stole that from the Skepticon 2023 speaker bio for Gideon. I also know stole information that he’ll be involved in a panel discussion and that you can:
Join Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz (Health Nerd) and the award-winning science journalists Melissa Davey and Liam Mannix in this panel discussion looking at science in the media and how to avoid being misled by the headlines you read.
Skepticon 2023 runs over Saturday 2nd to Sunday 3rd December, and you can get tickets for either day or for virtual attendance. As for the tweet itself, well I couldn’t find it at first. I had to do an advanced search, which is all very la-de-dah with lots of typing in little boxes until I found it way, way back in January 2020.
Yes. It was from B.C. Before COVID. And it’s hard evidence that critical thinkers were employing logic and sensibility long before social media platforms realised fact-checking was a thing.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to catching Gideon at Skepticon.
If you're not an expert but you think you've destroyed the entire foundation of a vast scientific edifice with 10 minutes of Googling, you might want to consider the possibility that you could be wrong
In June this year we briefly met suspended GP registrar, William Bay, thanks to his attempt to intervene in the Australian Babies Case. He has summarised his reasons for doing so here. Suffice it to say the Australian Vaccination-risks Network were not happy, making me very happy.
Fast forward to the present, and former AVN president Meryl Dorey, who has taken to feverish promotion of cooker-conspiracy theories on Substack, revealed Saturday that the same William Bay had sent her a formal Letter of Concern. It lists numerous comments about him on her Substack site, that he believes are defamatory. Billy wants the article and every comment removed, topped off with a public apology. This is the latest event since Billy, who proudly refers to himself as the Suspended Dr. William Bay, falsely declared his High Court challenge to have the Voice referendum declared unconstitutional, was a success.
This was not the first time Billy, who often proclaims he’s doing God’s work, declared victory in stark dissonance to the facts. He is soundly refuted by AAP FactCheck here. AAP provide insight into how quickly disinformation spreads between cookers. Billy’s proclamation of victory is a great example of how the uncritical acceptance of a claim can influence belief. It also underscores the power of social media, in this regard. Billy gave a performance of confidence and credibility in a Cafe Locked Out interview, citing as proof documents that actually confirmed his failure.
During the interview he referred to a document on his website’s legal docs page headed “Application For A Constitutional Or Other Writ”. Billy directs viewers to his site then says:
I’m looking at it on my computer right now. It’s a miracle, it’s gorgeous, it’s great. It is a stamped document by Justice Jagot of the High Court itself who has declined to rule on the constitutionality of the referendum. So with this case being dismissed from further need for analysis, in legal circles as my lawyer friends will know… if jurisdiction is not proven it is invalid.
The gorgeous and great miracle was the exact document Billy had submitted for filing. The stamp added by Justice Margaret Jagot references High Court Rule 6.07.2, which deals with the management of frivolous or vexatious applications, and includes:
I direct the Registrar to refuse to issue or file this document without the leave of a Justice first had and obtained by the party seeking to issue or file it.
The upper part of the stamped application is below.
Screenshot – Billy Bay’s rejected application
Of course I am not a lawyer, and neither is Billy for that matter, but he has filed documents with the High Court before this. The Notice Of Filing cover page is part of previous documents he has lodged, displayed on his website. This includes file number, title, registry, type of document; in this case Application for constitutional or other writ, filing party and date. Think of it as confirmation that legal proceedings will take place. Plainly absent from his gorgeous miracle, it also clearly states:
Notice of filing page: Important Information
Staying in theme dear reader, I submit that the evidence before you supports the contention that the Suspended Dr. William Bay did know or should have known that his application was unsuccessful, and did know or should have known that the 2023 referendum is not unconstitutional. This conduct is not unusual for Billy who frequently offers baseless beliefs as fact.
Nonetheless, what followed was an old fashioned pile-on by various “freedom fighters” who took three days and more to decide Billy was wrong. Which interestingly, although they’d never admit it, was how long it took for AAP FactCheck to publish their rebuttal. More so, the stamped rejection of Billy’s application was available on 5 September receiving comment on social media by critics of the so-called freedom movement.
Then on 8 September, long time anti-vaxxer, AVN member, self-proclaimed “journalist” and founder of The People’s Revolution, Tristan Van Rye, better known as Triccy Triddy took to Facebook. Triccy lives in that alternate universe where nefarious global conspiracies of momentous proportion are accepted as fact. His tactics deserve proper deconstruction, but for now bear in mind he is driven by base neoconservatism. There is the ever-changing enemy to fear and there is “us”, constantly threatened by the enemy. Triccy’s a true believer and whilst he’s sowing fear, disinformation and social harm, appears genuinely convinced he is doing good.
In this video Triccy does a sound job of pointing out why Billy’s claim that the referendum is unconstitutional, can only be bogus. Chatter in the cookerverse following Billy’s announcement was reinforcing his other claim, that voting is unnecessary. Triccy had spent months sewing disinformation and anxiety about voting “Yes” and understandably couldn’t allow the chance of lost votes to go unchallenged. Other seasoned curators of disinformation felt the same way and rushed to their live streams. Senator Malcolm Roberts (who himself alleged in parliament that the ballot was unconstitutional), AVN president Aneeta Hafemeister, SovCit grifter Mike Palmer, former MMA fighter and Peacemaker founder Nick Patterson and pseudolaw obsessive Derek Balogh, all had a sudden concern for the spread of misinformation.
In the wake of Triccy’s video, Billy sent him a text message. It was reposted on Telegram:
Triccy, I hearby request and direct you to take down that FB live that you just did about me because I consider it defamatory. We have WON in the High Court. I will continue to show and explain that to the people of Australia; until it’s crystal clear for everyone I encourage you to keep an open mind to things, and in the meantime, I would appreciate it to save us all the trouble if you would remove that video please. Dr William Bay
Billy also sent a Letter of Concern to Triccy in response to said defamatory video. Triccy, in a rare moment of near jocularity, burnt it in his favourite faux lounge fire-pit. Billy however, kept up his booming confidence and applied for leave to issue or file the original application. This matter was heard on 15 September and ruled the original application an abuse of process. See p. 5, para 8:
It is not necessary to consider the question of standing, here in the context of a referendum. By r 6.07.1 leave to issue or file should be refused where the document would amount to an abuse of process. The latter term encompasses proceedings which are foredoomed to fail, as the proposed proceedings are.
Ah, foredoomed to failure, dear reader. A weighty yoke for our suspended doctor to bear. By 19 September, Billy had apologised to Triccy and withdrawn “proceedings”. Triccy was not amused, and announced an end to any further cooperation with Billy. He also took issue with a claim Billy made about employment restrictions imposed by AHPRA. We’ll get to that. First, we don’t want to forget that when Billy was gearing up to sue Triccy for defamation, someone else got their bad ass boots on. In fact there was bad assin’ and chin juttin’ aplenty from our Meryl, all with the hope of provoking Billy.
He was easy to provoke and Meryl went in hard. In a piece titled Distinguishing truth from bullsh*t 101, Meryl hit him where it hurt. It began with humour, as Australia’s most pernicious antivax liar laid out the section heading; Unity is vital – but truth is paramount. Oh, how we laughed! But next came mockery with; Billy Bay’s High Court “Victory”. Ah, the sting of those quotation marks. Then Not the first time Billy has done this, opened the way to a recounting of the failure of the Australian Babies Case. But ultimately came the totally bad ass; Will Billy Bay now come after me for telling the truth about his actions?
Having got the desired reaction, Meryl posted an article, referring to him only as “Bully” as she outlined the specifics of Billy’s letter of concern. The subheading; I don’t take well to threats, can only be described as (need I say it?) totally bad ass, and the article swiftly dispenses with any notion that Meryl is concerned. Within, she refers to a comment reply she wrote in response to Billy’s comment requesting her to “stop attacking” him. She raises the same issue Triccy Triddy had done regarding Billy’s claim on Voice of Freedom that AHPRA had prevented him from working in “any job at all”.
This is another jolly example of that area between remote possibility and reality that Billy exploits. Just as he continued to claim victory in the High Court because he had filed for leave to have his (already rejected) application accepted, there is a submission Billy refers to in the hope of convincing his followers. Simply put it is material submitted in reply from Billy to AHPRA, The Medical Board of Australia and QLD State, in the wake of his suspension. It happens to include:
So, he sought an injunction to prevent AHPRA and the Board from further enforcement of their “compliance letter” so that he can work in positions that don’t “require current registration with AHPRA as a condition of employment”. Neither AHPRA nor the Board have the power to enforce conditions outside their purview. Billy has always been free to work in areas where registration with AHPRA is not required.
Prior to this Billy had submitted an Application for Review of the findings of AHPRA and the Board. On page 7 is a request for an injunction to limit enforcement of the “compliance letter”, so that Billy could work in health care roles seperate from those of a GP Registrar.
The “compliance letter” is clear in that Billy is prohibited from working in health care. All health care, and only health care. In fact, the same document includes a November 2022 affidavit from Billy Bay which presents a clear summary of that letter on page 4, item 15:
The evidence that AHPRA ever sought to prevent Billy working “at all” doesn’t exist. Yet Billy chose to zero in on one part of a much larger, failed application to the Supreme Court. From 27:20 to 28:45 in the interview with Carl Lieberman, Billy talks about what he then thought were defamatory comments from Triccy Triddy. It was “a matter of life and death” for him because if his followers don’t trust him, donations would dry up and this was his only income. You can grab the mp3 file here or listen below. The important part is:
Billy: I even filed an application in the Supreme Court to let me work in any job at all and I lost that one…
Carl: Is that any job in health or any job at all?
Billy: At all, at all Sir… at all! It’s an outrage. It’s a disgrace and a disgust and the people of Australia need to know that, to see how unlawful this AHPRA agency is that they think they can regulate me that much. If they can do that to me they can do that to you.
Carl’s face is priceless as he can’t hide his incredulity. He asks Billy about responding to AHPRA under basic trade-law rights, but Billy had already tried “the international covenant on political and civil rights”. And so it came to pass that Triccy and Meryl called foul on this claim of Billy’s. But they were ten and fourteen days late respectively. Where did they get such bad ass information? Could it be that badder asses had earlier sought to hold Billy to account? A quick visit to Billy’s Facebook page gave me an answer of sorts. Some devious character with an obviously fake name had commented under the video, a day after it was posted:
The plot thickens! There’s also some lucky losing cast iron flying pig standing on an old copy of The Skeptic magazine and snooping around X.
@DrBillyBay Can you support your claim of being prevented by AHPRA to work in “any job at all” please? You’re suspended, and AHPRA suspension outcomes are clearly stated on their website. I’m worried you might inadvertently reinforce Triccy’s claim you “spruik misinformation”.
Humour aside, there are serious elements to consider in the wake of Billy’s ultimately harmless threats against seasoned con-artists. It’s breath-taking to witness Meryl Dorey, architect of the 2016 No Jab No Pay High Court scam, levelling accusations of donation fraud against him. NSW Fair Trading found the AVN guilty of breaching the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991, yet decided not to press charges. As for the money Dorey admitted to hoarding, furious AVN donors had to swallow the loss of their $160,000. Yet she recently wrote about Billy:
So Bully is gaining money from our suffering community under false pretences and I exposed that along with several other long-time supporters of health freedom and informed choice.
Meryl exposed nothing others hadn’t revealed two weeks before. Her own false pretences ensured a career sabotaging public health initiatives and scamming donors. Prior to the formation of the unfunded volunteer group, Stop The AVN, her unceasing schemes ran unchecked. COVID was a double-edged sword; bringing more followers to anti-vaccine conspiracies, but ensuring the increasing irrelevance of the Cult of Meryl. Even the AVN court cases failed. The frustration seeps through in this stand-over advice she offered Billy.
Better than you have tried to censor me for nearly 3 decades and they have not been successful. Perhaps it’s time for you to do some deep soul searching Bully and try to work out why you are actually involved with this issue. Because as far as I can see, it doesn’t appear that caring for our community and the lives of the children and adults therein is your main motivator.
Triccy was far more diplomatic in his criticism, stressing that he meant Billy “no harm”. Unlike Dorey, Triccy appears genuinely focused on change rather than profit and ego. That said, his belief that “we are experiencing World War III, which will be known in the future as The War Against the People”, is based on harmful conspiracy theories of shadow governments. Whilst a key aspect of his rhetoric is that “people will forget their differences”, he is quite skilled at ensuring division between what he wants and what most of us identify as progressive thought.
Billy himself has spent over a year filing for court cases, circling social media and attending protests, after he publicly sabotaged his medical career at an AMA conference in July 2022. Like these other two judging him, he spends a great deal of time spreading disinformation to suit his own bizarre ideology. He also scoops up donations from gullible supporters drawn to conspiracies.
Ultimately, trouble in cooker paradise is nothing short of great news. Belief in conspiracy theories and suspicion of vaccines have both increased post COVID. Researchers are refining their understanding of the factors behind distrust of health authorities. Yet the role social media played in warping uncritical minds during lockdown, has today been replaced by quick-changing narratives adapted to suit. Attacking the Voice referendum is a case in point.
For a long time yet, anything that reflects positive social change will be seen by these players as the latest phase of dark conspiracies. I for one wish them all the infighting and trouble they can muster, and may they tear their angry little worlds asunder.
Losing In The Lucky Country 