|
First Scots GP defies MMR ruling
http://www.sundayherald.com/13525
A Scottish NHS GP has defied government orders
and is giving single vaccines in a bid to prevent an outbreak of measles in
the Western Isles.
Dr Jean Knowles, a family doctor on Islay, has already given around 15
children the single measles vaccine. Their parents had refused to allow
them to be vaccinated with the MMR injection because of the feared links
with autism .
The GP has also passed on information to other Scottish GPs about how she
sourced the single vaccines. This weekend she called on the Scottish
Executive to end the anxiety of parents in other areas of Scotland by
making single vaccines available across the country.
In a bitter attack on what she sees as the government's unnecessarily
stubborn position, Dr Knowles said: "My worry is that these children
will not be immunised at all. Some parents are saying their children are
not having the MMR jab. It is very difficult for parents. There are
children on the island with autism and they fear this will happen to their
children.
"I do not see what the problem is because the measles vaccine was
available singly for 20 years in the UK. There is no scientific evidence to
say the MMR vaccine is more effective. It would cost the NHS more money
because of two more trips to the doctor's."
She added: "They are changing the rules all the time in a way which
makes it harder and harder to get single vaccines. It is not the chief
medical officer who is going to be looking after patients if there is an
epidemic of measles."
Dr Knowles points out that she has never advertised the fact that she is
prepared to administer single vaccines but is responding to the demands of
the inhabitants of the island. As an NHS GP, Dr Knowles is not charging a
fee for giving the vaccines and only asks parents to reimburse her for the
cost of the purchase.
One of the families which begged Dr Knowles for the single measles vaccine
are the MacLellans . Iain and Katie MacLellan have four children including
a seven-year-old autistic boy, Jamie. They are convinced that MMR played a
part in triggering Jamie's autism. Their younger daughter, Helena, is five,
but has not been protected against measles with the MMR jab in case she too
develops autism. Now, through Dr Knowles, she will receive the single
measles vaccine.
Mr MacLellan, who also has a 10-year-old daughter, Sarah, and a
two-year-old son, Alexander, said: "If it was not for this GP, my
youngest children would not be vaccinated. It is just in the last few weeks
that Dr Knowles has agreed to do this.
"I do think the MMR had something to do with Jamie's autism because
until then Jamie was fine. There was such a change in Jamie. Until then he
was talking but his language dried up and he started throwing tantrums.
"People want to get their children vaccinated, but they want to know
that there is no chance of them getting autism."
MacLellan says that because the family is part of a small island-community,
people are more aware of the heartbreak of bringing up an autistic child. T
his makes the islanders more wary of the MMR vaccine.
Dr Knowles is just the second known NHS GP in the UK to offer single
vaccines. Last week Dr Richard Halvorsen, an NHS GP from London, caused a
controversy when he gave a patient a single measles vac cine live on GMTV.
When Dr Halvorsen orders the vaccine he gives a simple clinical reason to
the Department of Health that unless he gives the child the vaccine singly
they will not be vaccinated and run the risk of catching measles.
He said: "My reason for giving the three vaccines is to prevent the
feared risks with the MMR.
"If the Medicines Control Agency stopped me from giving the single
vaccine in such cases they would be contributing to a measles epidemic. My
fear is that the Department of Health will try to block what I am doing,
which makes me very angry because they would be putting these children at
risk. I hope they will see sense and realise that there is an overwhelming
demand and overwhelming clinical grounds for making single vaccines
available."
Dr Peter Copp, a private GP in Edinburgh, has already given hundreds of children
single vaccines, but parents argue that they should not need to travel to
Edinburgh for the jab. This week the Scottish parliament will debate a
motion put forward by the Scottish Socialist Party to reintroduce single
vaccines.
|
in
this section