"A horrendous gap in research in this
country"
By Janine Roberts - the Independent on Sunday
has apologised to Professor Moxon and Dr Frith for mistakes
introduced in editing the article below. It was agreed that the
article as I submitted it to the paper accurately portrayed of their
views.
So, to put the record right, here is the
accurate version.<>
The Professor of Pediatrics at Oxford
University, Richard Moxon , has given his support to the plea by
parents last week for greatly improved research into the side effects
of vaccines. [See my previous article "How the UK Health Authorities
gambled to save costs with the health of 8 Million
children."] These parents believe their
children may have been damaged by measles and german measles
(rubella) vaccinations last November. Over 200 had come forward since
last Sunday.
Professor Moxon who is also the head of
the Oxford Vaccine Group thought: "the concerns expressed by these
parents are very sensible. The reports I heard were plausible even if
there is no clear cut evidence of causality." He suggested that
case-controlled studies into vaccine side effects were urgently
required, including studies of children's health before and after
vaccination.
Professor Moxon called for the tripling of
vaccine research funding, remarking: "there is a horrendous gap in
this country's research. Our own group is almost unique in this
country in that we are not beholden to any one funder or drug
company. We need similar groups at other colleges"
Dr. Richard Briggs, a consultant
pediatrician at Warrington District General Hospital, backed the call
for research and added . "I am currently reporting a child as
possibly suffering from an illness caused by vaccination." The child
in question, , had collapsed in a Cheshire school playground a month
after taking part in last year's vaccination campaign. After
brain-scans and lumbar punctures, which were so painful that she had
to be held down, she was found to have atypical Guillian Barre
Syndrome. Recently she has been suffering from spinal needle like
pains. She deeply misses being able to tap dance. Dr Briggs is also
treating another severely damaged child suspected of being damaged by
vaccine.
Dr Peggy Frith, a consultant eye
specialist at the Radcliffe Institute in Oxford, is reporting a child
that had severe eye damage, with eyes so swelled they became fixed,
as a possible victim of vaccine damage. The parents of another child
received a letter from their consultant pediatrician that stated:
"This is to confirm that Andrew seems to be suffering ... as a result
of the previous vaccination. This appears to be a rare complication
with no treatment." Both of these children fell ill after
vaccinations last November.
Professor Michael Steward of the School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine when told of the side effects reported
by parents, commented to my surprise: "These are only what is to be
expected from vaccination with a live virus." He added: "That is why
I am heading a team to develop a synthetic measles vaccine without
any living viral tissue."
Many doctors are reported by parents as
quickly dismissing any suggestion that a vaccination could have
caused their child's illness even when the vaccine's manufacturers
list as possible but rare side effects the very illnesses diagnosed ,
such as encephalitis, arthritis and meningitis. A recently published
study of the stomach illness Chrons concluded that doctors only
report one fifth of the possible vaccine-induced cases.
The Department of Health insist that there
are no children seriously ill because of the November vaccinations.
Their spokesman also insist there are no current cases of serious
illness caused by the MMR vaccine. Yet the Government's Vaccine
Damage Unit made 876 awards between 1979-95 to children for being 80
percent incapacitated by vaccines including MMR.
Some children fell ill very soon after
November's vaccination. Lisa-Jane Finlay's son Ashley became ill a
day later and 2 weeks later was rushed to hospital with extreme
swellings. He had Henock Schonlein Purpura and arthritis.He is still
ill.
Jackie Fletcher, the secretary of the JABS
support group for families with vaccine damaged children, said "It is
extremely difficult for many parents to come forward. They are scared
to alienate their doctors on whom they totally depend for the
survival of their children."
Susan Botes,the professional officer of
the Health Visitors Association, told of working on the November
campaign. "There were waves of difficulty." One was over the need to
warn girls to avoid pregnancy for a month after vaccination. "The
advice was conflicting. The white paper [from the Chief Medical
Officer] told us one thing, our reference works told us another." A
spokesman for SmithKline Beecham, one of the two suppliers of the
vaccine, said they would continue to issue the warning: 'we prefer to
discuss with the physician and make a best judgment on a case by case
basis" He added that the Department of Health considered the risk
small. and so preferred not to warn girls for fear this might deter
some from being vaccinated. Ms Boltes noted that children had the
right to be informed and give consent under The Children's
Act.
Cost cutting measures prevented individual
assessment. Family doctors, although they held the health records of
the children, were excluded from much work as too expensive according
to Dr Kenneth Calman, the Chief Medical Officer. Instead school
nurses were used at an cost of 62p a child. The policy of immunizing
every child, no matter if already immunised, was also cost effective
for it removed the need to check records.
Janet Ellis had learnt that natural
measles gave life long immunity so she saw the November vaccination
as unnecessary for her son, Ashley, and refused consent. Ashley, then
11, had natural measles at 3 months as well as measles vaccinations
at 15 months and again at 6 years, But she was persuaded to consent
by a health visitor. "I could do more than kick myself now. Six weeks
later he fell horrendously ill with encephalitis".
Parents who did not have their children
vaccinated in November were labeled "non-compliers" and targeted in
"mopping up" operations according to the Communicable Disease
Surveillance Centre. The purpose was to achieve an "herd immunity"
that would be as high as possible. Objections were seen as based
solely on "misinformation, family tradition or anxiety." The result
of this pressure, Jackie Fletcher said, "was that many parents felt
bullied into giving consent."
Richard Barr, a solicitor who was
contacted by over 40 families this week, stated: "I have been
instructed to investigate legal action of behalf of a number of
parents who believe that they were not properly informed of the risks
when their consent was sought for their child's vaccination" .
by Janine Roberts of Impact Investigative
Media Productions
Saturday, October 07, 1995
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