http://www.gn.apc.org/inquirer/moxon.html
"A Horrendous Gap in Research in this Country"
"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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