Stop the Australian Vaccination Network
04Aug. 09
It started after the second “Sunday Night” program dealing with Meryl Dorey and the AVN. I was appalled. How could anyone sit there and say that? How could anyone, in good conscience, sit there and tell a grieving mother whose child had died at the age of four weeks from whooping cough that her daughter’s death had nothing to do with whooping cough? How could anyone send hate mail to these people?
Yet that is what was happening. Members of the Australian Vaccination Network had been sending hate mail. I was furious. Sitting there in the studio, not three feet from Meryl Dorey, it took all of my strength not to launch at her. I can only imagine what the McCafferys were saying to themselves, listening to this woman rant.
I decided then and there to do something about it. I turned to Rachael Dunlop after taping was over and the conversation had degenerated into a slanging match between pro and anti-vaxers.
“I don’t care what it takes, I’m shutting these idiots down.”
That night, I went home and started pacing back and forth in my room. Something had to be done. The only forum I had to reach as many people as possible was Facebook. So I logged in and set about creating a group to counter the AVN’s presence there. I was floored by the immediate response and watched as the membership doubled on a daily basis. The biggest single increase came after Rachael Dunlop gave it a plug on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast. A petition was started and we were under way.
Our first major battle with the AVN occurred on their Facebook fan page. Our members, asking there members one simple question “Where is the evidence to support the claims made by the Australian Vaccination Network?” It didn’t surprise us that the only material we were provided with was the same, tired old quackery that we were used to. They obviously weren’t used to having this material criticised.
What followed was, on one hand, hilarious, and on the other, disturbing. The Australian Vaccination Network rank and file simply resorted to attacking those asking the questions. I can’t repeat here the things that were said there. Needless to say, it was the most base level ad hominem attack — childish and immature to say the very least.
What was eventually uncovered was something none of us expected. The true motives of the AVN were nonetheless exposed. They may sell themselves as “pro-choice” (the latest buzz-word in the anti-vax arsenal) but they are purely and simply conspiracy theorists.
No-one would be the least bit surprised that they invoke the “Big Pharma” conspiracy, but some would baulk at the depth of their lunacy. Indeed, it’s not just the big drug companies trying to take your money, it goes much deeper than that.
The AVN believes that there is a global conspiracy by a European based illuminati that wants to implant mind control micro-chips in every man, woman and child. They believe this illuminati plans a mass cull of human beings.
From Meryl Dorey:
“While we are already seen as rabid, idiotic fringe-dwellers by so many in the mainstream, it does our argument no good at all to bring in conspiracy theories which, though we may subscribe to them, are unprovable.
We have mountains, acres and incredible numbers of medical journal articles that prove our case — why weaken it by bringing up something that will turn 99.9% of the population off of what we are saying? Stick with the facts and our cases will be strong.”
The Australian Vaccination Network engaged in a campaign of censorship designed to silence its critics by summarily deleting all posts made by our members on their Facebok page and banning any of us they could identify.
This initially worked, but as our ranks grew and new members took up the fight, it wasn’t long before they were forced to shut their public page down and resort to a private group, with too few members to matter. This was our first major win against the anti-vax nutters.
The Health Care Complaints Commission will investigate after a comprehensive complaint was lodged by one of our members from the South Coast region of New South Wales. This complaint, if upheld, may see then end of the AVN for good. However, it alone will not be enough and we are appealing to the public for assistance.
If you would like to help shut down the Australian Vaccination Network, you can do so a number of ways. You can join the Stop the Australian Vaccination Network group on Facebook, you can download the complaint made to the HCCC, read it and if you agree you can do one or all of the following:
Sign the petition in support of the complaint
Write a letter supporting the complaint to:
ATTN Ms Kristie Brown — Health Care Complaints Commission, Locked Bag 18, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
Also, send a copy to PO Box 51, Moruya NSW 2537
If you would like to make your own complaint to the Health Care Complaint Commission against the AVN, you can do so by downloading the form from their website.
Meryl Dorey and the Australian Vaccination Network have proven themselves to be deluded, dangerous people who are not only anti-vaccination, but anti-science. They must be stopped.
Tags: Anti-Vax, Australian Vaccination Network, AVN, conspiracy theory, Daniel Raffaele, Meryl Dorey, Vaccination
October 6th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Well done Mad Hatter! Too bad you aren’t anti-vaccine as well as eloquent and insightful.
Dear Young (or not) Skeptics,
Please Google these : Gabby Swank (Gardasil) ; Ian’s Story (Hep B) ; Thinktwice. com. The pictorial evidence on Ian’s site is compelling, to say the very least.
Also, this book, Vaccine Safety Manual , by Neil Miller, has 71 pages of Notes with numerous references to publications by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), WHO (World Health Organization), VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), Merck and Co., Inc., JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association, FDA (Food and Drug Administration), ACC (American Cancer Council), NVIC (National Vaccine Information Center), to list but a few.
This book is available for AUD $27. (approx.) through Fishpond.com.au. It is a large tome, but well worth a read if one wants to have some more facts, supported by data, for argument. With the information Young Skeptics has already gathered from the CDC official website, from Merck and Co.‘s company website, from GlaxoSmithKline’s company website, from CSL’s (Commonwealth Serum Laboratories) company website, from the Commonwealth Gov’t of Australia website; from all this information Young Skeptics has researched (and read) it would seem obvious that the need to silence the AVN is not necessary. Since the vaccination schedule here in Australia, and in America, is so effective at wiping out particular diseases, it will not matter if a statistically small number of the population (>10%) chooses to not vaccinate. Those who choose to vaccinate will have no fear of “catching” one of these diseases because they will be protected, as long as they continue to get booster shots (every 5 years) for all of the vaccines on the current schedule as well as any new ones . Don’t forget your HPV vaccine, Gardasil, boys! The guarantee for that one is foolproof, boys; you will NEVER get cervical cancer! Guaranteed! Merck didn’t want to leave the other half of the population(‘s money) out. Can you guess what HPV really stands for?! Human Papilloma Virus, right? WRONG! Guess again. No clue? Thought not. How’s this then: HELP PAY for VIOXX!?! How funny is that?
So, don’t worry about the AVN, boys, it will die a slow death just as all the vaccine-preventable diseases have done in populations where there is <90% vaccinated. Hold that thought while I find that reference. Or maybe you have it already? Should be on the CDC website. Don’t fret about the AVN, boys, it will soon be past tense just like all those who past away while on VIOXX. Hold that thought while I find that reference. Or maybe you have it handy from your research? Should be on the FDA’s website . Don’t loose sleep over the AVN, boys, it will soon become One Less just like Brooke Petkevicius, 19, Jessica Ericzon, 17, Christina Tarsell, 21, Amber Kaufman, 16, Jasmin Soriat, 19, Megan Hild, 20, Natalie Morton, 14, who have all become One Less after they all were vaccinated with Gardasil. Hold that thought while I find that reference. Or maybe you’ve saved me the time and looked up the data on VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) set up by the US federal gov’t? No? Why not? There are more than 9,000 Gardasil adverse events already on file in VAERS . More than 9,000 girls and young women aged 9 – 26 who are vaccine injured (and they’re the lucky ones) or DEAD (not lucky). More than 9,000 vaccine-injured females since Merck sold us Gardasil in 2006. That means in less than the time it takes to get a university degree, Merck and our gov’ts have conspired to make each of these 9,000 girls and young women One Less daughter, One Less sister, One Less granddaughter, One Less wife, One Less mum, One Less best friend.
The data is there. Go to Thinktwice.com, follow the link to VAERS. Young Skeptics, you can do it! Before someone you know becomes One Less.
One last tip: you are in for a wild ride. Get a strong, large cup o’ joe, a legal pad, sharpened pencil(s), and a keen curiosity; then sit back and let your neurons fire! Good luck ! God speed!
October 6th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
If you are such a science expert can you please explain why the Amish population in the US do not suffer autism or allergies and have very low cancer rates? One doctor that runs a clinic has 45,000 Amish patients and only two cases of autism — in two vaccinated children adopted by Amish families. Odd — considering the autism rate among US children is now 1 in 68 according to the CDC. Even science journals and The Lancet (if you know what that is) will tell you that vaccines destroy children’s gut bacteria which means they can’t properly absorb nutrients in food, leading to learning and behavioural problems. Many autistic children come ahead in leaps in and bounds once the gut flora issue is addressed. But there is more money in Ritalin than there is in Probiotics — so better to keep that information quiet eh! You sound like one of those typical “I’m a SCIENTIST” oooohhhh aaahhhhh look at me” more interested in sounding off in a most uniformed and cocksure manner instead of conducting thorough research into all aspects of children’s health and the impact of vaccines on the developing human body. How can anybody take you seriously. Here is another one to keep you busy as you clearly have too much time on your hands. Go explore the roots of the World Health Organisation — find out who started it — where the original scientists and doctors came from and the type of research they were conducting in the 1950’s. Show us how good your research skills are.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Gut flora and the lancet… smells like Wakefield to me.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Stephen,
I am sick and tired of you anti-vaxxers resorting to ad hominem attack. So, unless you can conduct yourself in a semi-civil fashion, do not expect me to respond.
I am not interested in your conspiracy theories any more than you are interested in actual scientific evidence. Which is obviously nil.
Since you have not provided any links or references to this alleged Amish clinic, I have to assume you’re lying or else someone has lied to you and you have swallowed it whole, just like you swallowed the whole “WHO is an evil plot to kill us all” line.
If what you say has any truth to it at all, why aren’t ALL vaccinated children autistic? Could it be that you are wrong? Of course not. An anti-vaxxer getting something wrong? Where will the madness end?!
October 6th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Hi everyone,
These very long posts are having a bad impact on the CPU on the server. While I am thankful for the discussion, I will now ask you to take any further discussion/debate to the forums
. Comments are now closed
Thanks!
Admin