Meryl Dorey and the AVN are anti-vaccination.

Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network has hit back at her critics by claiming not to be anti-vaccination. However we (her critics) have allot of evidence to support the position that she and her appalling organisation are indeed “anti-“vaccination.

Anti

a person who is opposed to a particular practice, party, policy, action.

Mery Dorey and the AVN are absolutely opposed to vaccination and it doesn’t take allot of effort to expose her for this. In fact not only is Dorey a liar but she is also an incompetent liar and so her lies are easily exposed for what they are. This is her latest claim about not being ‘anti-vaccine’.

I understand why it is so important for a certain segment of the community to use that term. To call someone ‘anti’ anything automatically paints a picture in people’s minds of something negative. ‘Anti’ is a prefix with bad connotations and labelling the AVN as anti-vaccine will mean that some people will form an opinion of this group based solely on that incorrect moniker. It’s a calculated tactic by those who oppose our rights to choose – but it is not accurate and using that term is immoral if it doesn’t accurately describe us – especially after we have said so many times that we are not anti-vaccine. –Mery Dorey

However on the 4th of February 2010 Dorey clearly stated on Facebook that she was Anti-Vaccination. We even have a screenshot for this:

So Dorey claims not to be ‘anti-vaccine’ but asserts that she would never take another vaccine ever. Just to help clarify Meryl’s position a little further the AVN currently sell t-shirts with the statement “Love them protect them never inject them.” and yes there is a screenshot:

However Meryl is silly enough to still have this item on sale in the AVNs online shop. Seriously if you’re going to make a bullshit claim at least remove contradictory evidence from your own website.

Mery Dorey has also likened vaccination to “Child Rape“.

In Meryl’s fantasy world Vaccination = Rape therefore if you support vaccination, you also support child rape. This is a disgusting assertion to make, and exposes the vileness to Meryl Doreys anti-vaccination ideology. Of course most people are overwhelmingly opposed to child rape, but that has no relation to vaccination; unless you’re Meryl Dorey.

The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission had a few words to say about Meryl and her organisation:

by the Health Care Complaints Commission under section 94A of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993

The Health Care Complaints Commission has investigated two complaints about the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), a non-profit organisation registered in New South Wales that provides information about vaccination. The complaints alleged that the AVN provides incorrect and misleading information about vaccination. 

The Commission’s investigation of the complaints focussed on the material presented by the AVN on its website www.avn.org.au.

The Commission’s investigation established that the AVN website:

 

  • provides information that is solely anti-vaccination
  • contains information that is incorrect and misleading
  • quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous.

On this basis, the Commission recommended to the AVN that it should include a statement in a prominent position on its website to the following effect:

 

  • The AVN’s purpose is to provide information against vaccination, in order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere.
  • The information provided by the AVN should not be read as medical advice.
  • The decision about whether or not to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health care provider.

The Commission recognises that it is important for there to be debate on the issue of vaccination. However, the AVN provides information that is inaccurate and misleading.

The AVN’s failure to include a notice on its website of the nature recommended by the Commission may result in members of the public making improperly informed decisions about whether or not to vaccinate, and therefore poses a risk to public health and safety.

–Health Care Complains Commission; NSW

So did the Office of Liqueur, Gaming and Racing. Who later revoked the AVN’s charitable status.

The organisation’s website is misleading in that it may lead people making donations to believe they are donating to a cause which promotes vaccination, whereas the organisation adopts an anti-vaccination position. -NSW Office of Liqueur, Gaming and Racing

We also have this truly fantastic quote from Dorey on Yahoo groups a few years ago:

There will come a time – I pray to God that it will happen in my lifetime – when those who have pushed vaccines upon innocent, helpless babies – doctors, pharmaceutical companies, government officials – will be proven to have lied and cheated these instruments of death into our children’s bloodstream. When that occurs, the outcry will be heard around the world and there will not be enough hiding places on the globe for these murderers to hide or enough money to pay for compensation. Of course, it will be too late for the babies, like this poor child, to be saved. But we will be able to take satisfaction from the fact that never again will anyone have to be pushed to poison their child because for once and for all, it will be known as poison and we will all wonder how it was we fell for the vaccine lie for as long as we did. -Meryl Dorey, AVN Yahoo! Group, Tue 16 December 2008 9:08 pm Message #36449

Meryl Dorey and the Australian Vaccination Network are strongly opposed to vaccination in any way shape or form and it seems unlikely that this ideology will ever change. Meryl continues to place half baked ideology ahead of science and reason. No matter how many times she is exposed (often due to her own stupidity) as a liar she is likely to continue repeating the same lies and her critics will continue to hold her accountable.

Meryl Dorey and Woodford Folk Festival

Ok, I’ve been slow to get around to this but Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network is set to speak at the Woodford Folk Festival. Somehow Meryl has gotten the idea that skeptics are going to write to the organisers to ask that she be removed as a speaker. So she’s asking her supporters for help to ensure that she will get the chance to spread her dangerous lies and misinformation.

Of course, Stop the AVN (SAVN) and their minions are once again trying to censor this side of the issue. Through one of their main spokespeople – a prominent character with both the Australian Skeptics and SAVN, they have started a campaign on the internet via blogs, their Facebook page and emails to the Woodford management and their sponsors.

….

We urgently need anyone who believes in freedom of speech and communication (no matter what your opinion is about the benefits and risks of vaccination) to send letters to the organisers and the sponsors to let them know that there is a real need in the community for information on the other side of the vaccination issue. -Meryl Dorey

Of course her paranoia isn’t unfounded because that’s exactly want we’re doing. Here’s the email that I sent:

Dear Woodford Folk Festival.

 

I write to you to express concern about your decision to include Meryl Dorey of The Australian Vaccination Network as a speaker at this year’s festival. While Mrs Dorey bills herself an a ‘expert’ on vaccination the reality is in fact far different. Last year the Health Care Complaints Commission conducted an investigation into the information that Ms Dorey and the Australian Vaccination Network provided to the public and concluded: http://skep.li/HCCC-Report

 

“the Australian Vaccination Network’s purpose is to provide information against vaccination in order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere;
the information should not be read as medical advice and;
the decision about whether or not to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health care provider.”

 

The HCCC also issued a public warning about Ms Doreys organisation: http://www.hccc.nsw.gov.au/Publications/Media-Releases/PUBLIC-WARNING-/default.aspx

 

The Australian Vaccination Network was later stripped of it charity status for failing to act in good faith: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/anti-vaccination-group-stripped-of-status/story-e6frf7ko-1225938818276

 

Mrs Dorey is not an expert on vaccination or any other area of medicine and spreads discredited information in order to push a medical ideology that is not supported by science or any credible medical association. The misleading and false information provided Mrs Dorey has the potential to do serious harm to the community.

 

I implore you to reconsider Meryl Doreys inclusion on your list of speakers.

 

Kind Regards,

Dan Buzzard,

Concerned Citizen

Of course I BCC’ed the email to Meryl so she has the right of reply.

 

Homeopathy killed Steve Jobs

The late Steve Jobs was yet another victim of the great medical scam that is Homeopathy. I am left wondering how many more lives must be lost due to this scam. Steve Jobs died of Pancreatic Cancer in October this year after delaying vital surgery in favor of Homeopathy.

ALTERNATIVE medicine is unethical, criminal and likely contributed to the death of Apple boss Steve Jobs, visiting professor Edzard Ernst says.

The world’s first professor of complementary medicine was in Adelaide yesterday to speak at the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association conference at UniSA.

Famous for causing an uproar when, in July, he labelled Prince Charles a “snake oil salesman” for his dandelion and detox remedy, Professor Ernst yesterday spoke of the dangers of unproven complementary medicine.

“They mislead people to the point of being quite dangerous, all of this is idiotic rubbish,” he said, calling for more rigorous testing of claims. –Perth Now

Homeopathy is not supported by empirical evidence, yet it’s proponents continue to promote and sell it in order to turn a profit. Homeopathy is not medicine and should never be used to treat cancer or any other ailment. If you watch just one news segment this year make it this one:

Classroom Socialism

I agree with this.

An economics teacher at a local school made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Gillard/Brown  socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The teacher then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on the Gillard/Brown plan”. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the teacher told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
It could not be any simpler than that.
 
Remember, there IS a test coming up. The next election.
 
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation. -Received via forwarded email, original source unknown.

I didn’t write this but I found it interesting and wanted to share it. Particularly with the current socialist movements that seem to be making allot of noise these days with calls for ‘Wealth Equality’.

The Burzynski swindle changes tact.

It appears the Burzynski Clinic has dropped Marc Stephens as their hired goon because he evidently sucked at playing lawyer. Now they are hiring a “Law Firm” called Dozier Internet Law although considering they had their marketing person misrepresent themselves as a lawyer it’s hard to tell just how legitimate Dozier Internet Law really is.

This is what they write on their blog:

“Attack bloggers” need to be reined in. We are having pretty good success dealing with these types without having to file lawsuits all the time, but when it comes to push, we usually will pull the trigger and sue the “attack blogger”. It’s not free speech to create outrageous lies and propagate them all over the web. So, if you get a communication from us, be it a letter, a copy of a lawsuit, or a telephone call, consider the consequences that are about to ensue.

…

So, when you get a communication from us, understand the consequences. These lawsuits will show up on the front page of Google results under your name. SEO is not the sole province of bloggers, by the way. While your lawyers, particularly those involved with the public interest groups, use your case to gain attention and raise contributions, your reputation is being ruined forever. Your reputation as an employee, your reputation as a college applicant, your reputation as a job applicant, your reputation as a private person, your reputation as a husband, and your reputation as a father or mother. Maybe you won’t be confronted with it, but the impact will likely be profound, from prospective employers passing your resume by to parents avoiding you at school functions. It will happen. –Dozier Internet Law

I think there could be more to this threat than just legal proceeding. Rhys Morgan who was recently threatened by the Burzynski Clinic had google street view photos of his house emailed to him, this was intended not as a legal threat but as a general threat of “We know where you live”. Legitimate Lawyers don’t care where you live, but hired thugs who wish to operate outside of the law do.

Now Burzynski has teamed up with Dozier Internet Law who are threatening to ruin their victims reputation as Employees, College Applicant, Job Applicant, Private Person, Spouse, Father or Mother. I have to ask ‘How does being sued for libel ruin a college application?’ (being sued isn’t a crime) unless of course you have people like Burzynski who threaten to call your school as they did to Rhys Morgan, or threaten to interfere with your family as they suggested to Andy Lewis.

Perhaps I’m reading to far into this but if the Burzynski Clinic is willing to threaten a 17 year old blogger (Rhys Morgan) outside of the legal process by sending him photos of his house and threatening to call his school then I don’t think it is to far fetched to envision these crooks harassing employers, family members and other people connected to their critics.

Threats from The Burzynski Clinic – Rhys Morgan

The Burzynski Clinic Threatens My Family – Andy Lewis

Press Release November 2011 – Burzynski Clinic

Dr Stanislaw Burzynski's cancer scam.

Their are many frauds, cheats and conmen out their to make a quick buck from the suffering of others. But there are none quite so vile as those who target cancer patients. When I first learned of The Burzynski Clinic I was immediately reminded of Penelope Dingle who was scammed into her grave by a fraud out to make a quick buck. As far as fraud goes you can’t get much lower than conning terminally ill patients and their families for easy money.

Dr Burzynski is one of these lowest of the conmen. He sells an unproven, unscientific cancer treatment called Antineoplaston Therapy. This treatment has been criticised by scientists, doctors and skeptics alike. Dr Stanislaw Burzynski has even been on trial for cancer fraud in the past.

At the moment, there is very little solid scientific evidence to show that antineoplastons are effective at treating cancer, and virtually all the research in this area has been carried out by Burzynski and his team – a red flag to the scientific world (as we’ve discussed before).

To explain, scientists are not stupid – whether they work for independent organisations like a research charity or a pharmaceutical company – and they can spot a bandwagon rolling towards them from a great distance.  Once the evidence starts to fall into place about the potential effectiveness of a discovery, it’s guaranteed that the scientific community will start to pay attention and jump on.

The fact that no other labs have managed to replicate Burzynski’s apparent success with antineoplastons or are interested in developing the treatment raises questions. –Cancer Research UK

However Dr Burzynski won’t let a little thing like lack of evidence stand in the way of some easy cash and he’s not afraid to threaten people who expose his scam. Recently 17 year old blogger Rhys Morgan was threatened by the Burzynski Clinics marketing department; which is apparently also the legal department.

Eventually, I decided to write a rather scathing blog about Burzynski and the treatment, which you can find here. The thought of someone being promised an effective treatment when in fact, it’s at best unproven disgusts me. The blog went up on August 11th, 2011. A few comments were posted but it soon disappeared into obscurity again.

…

Then, out of the blue, on the 3rd of November, I received an email from a man called Marc Stephens, claiming to represent the Burzynski Clinic. He was threatening to sue me for libel for my previous blog about the Burzynski Clinic. –Rhys Morgan

However Rhys isn’t the only blogger to be threatened by Marc Stephens. Andy Lewis has also received legal threats for criticising the Burzynski swindle. However legal threats are no substitute for evidence and so far all the evidence points to Dr Burzynski being a callous fraud who like many others in Alternative Medicine is happy to cheat the terminally and their families out of cold hard cash with empty promises and false hope.

The bottom line is that Dr. Burzynski is not a miracle worker. He is not a doctor who sees something that mainstream science has not and who therefore has a cure for many cancers that mainstream medicine scoffs at. He is not a bold visionary. Rather, he appears to be a man pursuing pseudoscience. The reason that mainstream scientific medicine has not accepted the existence of antineoplastons or their efficacy against cancer is because there is no credible evidence to support this thrapy and no one other than Dr. Burzynski has been able to replicate his results. –Orac; Respectful Insolence

This is one scam I’ll be looking into allot further. I consider bogus cancer treatment to be amongst the most heinous of pseudo-science. Using legal threats as a means of censorship also does not sit well with me. The Burzynski Clinic has my attention.

Moron Medical students boycott evolution lectures.

So apparently some Muslim medical students are boycotting lectures on evolution because conflicts with their stonage ideologies. I have to wonder why would a religious person study medicine in the first place, if anything such activities involve acting against the will of god. Creationist like to assert that their god is all powerful yet he apparently needs a helping hand from mere mortals.

Muslim students, including trainee doctors on one of Britain’s leading medical courses, are walking out of lectures on evolution claiming it conflicts with creationist ideas established in the Koran.

Professors at University College London have expressed concern over the increasing number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory, which form an important part of the syllabus, citing their religion.

Similar to the beliefs expressed by fundamentalist Christians, Muslim opponents to Darwinism maintain that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species in a single act. –Daily Mail

Are these really the people that we want to become Doctors, the type of person who puts ideology before science? Religion has no place in medicine and the witch doctor needs to become a thing of the past.

If you want to believe God created the universe and everything in it that’s fine, but you can’t then take up a scientific field and complain that science doesn’t agree with your opinion. If you disagree and think your religion is of any value or worth then you deserve to be kicked out of the medical course. We want competent doctors not religious apologists.

Anti-vax kook wants medical professionals dead.

The anti-vaccination movement is full of nasty individuals, but it’s not often that I find one quite so repugnant as Mark Sircus who actually advocates the lynching of Centers for Disease Control personnel. Mark Sircus writes a blog post titled “String the Bastards Up” where he openly states the following:

Before I go into detail about what has been clear to many of us for years I want to bring the image of the case of a monster who commits mass murder and torments children and their parents. In this case we have a group of them who deserve to be lynched and they work for the federal government at the Centers of Disease Control (CDC). –Mark Sircus

Of course Meryl “I have a brain” Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network is onboard with this one. Evidently these people are so opposed to life saving medicine that they would advocate murder, both Mark and Meryl are long past the point of reason and are now well and truly into the ideological fanatic stages of insanity.

Meryl endorces Mark Sircus

The anti-vaccination movement is really a cult against health and medicine. It is based solely on an ideology instead of science. Allot of people have legitimate concerns about vaccination and there’s nothing wrong with them seeking more information. But the danger comes from people like Meryl Dorey and Mark Sircus who not only spread lies and misinformation based on an ideology but may also be capable of so much worse; fanatical ideology is dangerous.

However some people who follow the anti-vaxxers are simply misguided by the lies a deceit they are fed by the fanatics and really believe they are being fed good information. However this time some of Doreys followers may have seen the anti-vax cult for what it is.

Loyal subjects sense a disturbance in the force.

Meryl Dorey has a new kook!

It looks like that public health menace Meryl Dorey of the Australia Vaccination Network has found a new loon to worship on twitter. His name is Dr. Leo Rebello (@DrLeoRebello) and he’s quite the kook. He bills himself as a “Holistic Health Guru. [sic]” which lends severe doubts about his credentials. Meryl has been retweeting some of his nutty twitter comments.

Comments Meryl retweeted.

Of course he doesn’t supply any reference for his claims; so Meryl and Leo have something in common there. I have long learned that kooks don’t like evidence because it all too often conflicts with their ideologies. However Dr Rebello is even more loopy than Meryl and makes her look like Einstein by comparison. Here’s some more of his wisdom.

Comments too nutty even for Meryl.

I especially like the “VacciNAZIS” but of course no anti-vaxxer is complete without some child rape. Well a comparison between child rape and vaccination that is. They can leave the actual rape for the Catholic Church.

Catholics and Anti-Vaxxers rejoice.

At the start of the year Meryl Dorey claimed that an Australian court had ordered the rape of a child. “Court orders rape of a child. Think this is an exaggeration? Think again. This is assault without consent and with full penetration too. [sic]” In the minds of both Dr Leo Rebello and Meryl Dorey giving a child life saving medicine the the equivalent of rape. I honestly believe that some people; especially those who oppose life saving vaccination are simply beyond reason.

Some ideas do not deserve respect.

I do not respect the opinions and beliefs of those who oppose vaccination, and I thoroughly condemn the actions of those who choose not to vaccinate. Time and time again I see requests from anti-vaxxers that we all respect their decision not to vaccinate themselves or their children.

However some ideas are not worthy of respect. Some ideas are dangerous. Some ideas can even kill people and put the whole community at risk. The idea that we shouldn’t vaccinate against Measles and other diseases is a good example of an idea that deserves no respect. The decision not to vaccinate deserves the same respect as someone who believes they are ok to drive while intoxicated because they ‘know what they are doing’. That is to say “None”. Yet the cries for respect are still coming from the anti-vaccine crowd.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Vaccination has the ability to eradicate disease. Yet we have people who are strongly opposed to vaccination and if those people are expecting any respect from me then they are going to be waiting a very long time. Because if people opposed to life saving medicine want any form of respect from me they must first do the right thing and vaccinate their children.

Respect belongs to those who do the right thing, not dimwitted tossers and their dangerous unscientific ideas.The notion that it should be customary to respect another persons position is just wrong. Some ideas do not deserve respect.