DISCLAIMER: All
information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for
general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the
knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended
as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate
is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in
consultation with your health care provider.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
Sandy's Scandals Column
Past and current Scandals
- columns by Sandy Gottstein (aka Mintz)*
* ►March 11, 2010 - School
refuses
access for Gardasil vaccine - www.stuff.co.nz
- "The school's
decision comes only days after Wellington woman Rhonda Renata publicly
blamed the Gardasil vaccine for the death of her 18-year-old daughter
last year. Jasmine died in September, six months after she
received the last of the three injections of the vaccine. Ms Renata
said "right from the first shot" Jasmine complained of ailments
including headaches, weak limbs, pins and needles, abdominal and chest
pains, and a racing heartbeat. She is now waiting for answers from the
coroner. Meanwhile, Timaru mother Julie Smith has started a website,
www.offtheradar.co.nz, out
of concern about the vaccine as she
researched it."
* ►March 10, 2010 - Rapid
Responses: Why did the Lancet take so long? Patient Confidentiality
- John A. Dodge, Hon. Professor of Child Health University of Wales
Swansea - journal article (BMJ)
-
" It is particularly surprising that a journalist for a lay newspaper
under orders to find a big story (Mr Deer's own words) could persuade a
respected teaching hospital to give him such data. Did the request go
to the research ethics committee? Did he obtain written consent from
the parents? Was he not given instructions to destroy all information
which could possibly identify individuals as soon as he had extracted
what he needed, in which case he should no longer hold names and
addresses? Remembering the threat of litigation if journalists should
try to reveal the immunisation status of the child of the then Prime
Minister, I can only conclude that Mr Deer either covered his back and
went through the correct procedures, or else that he assumed that the
parents would have no appetite, or money, to take him, his newspaper or
the hospital Trust to court for violating their privacy. I await his
clarification with interest."
