Vaccination
At 7:56 am on the 17th of May 2016 RNZ reported on Concerns that people are being coerced into being vaccinated by the ‘No Forced Vaccines’ group. All well and fine, but shortly afterwards (8:54 am on 17 May 2016) there was a rebuttal interview with Nikki Turner of the Immunisation Advisory Centre. Still all well and fine, but then up popped a rebuttal of the rebuttal not on RNZ but instead on social media and Youtube where the spokesperson of the ‘No Forced Vaccines’ group showed evidence via a series of slides while the interview played over the top.
It is this rebuttal that this post is about. According to the slides she was misquoted, Nikki Turner either ignorantly or wilfully mislead the public, and everything she had said had a sound reasoned basis to it. It turns out that isn’t true. 75% of the references lead back to one website run by James Mercola. An American who is, in his own words, running “The World’s #1 Natural Health Website” and in the words of his critics “Mercola publishes daily risk-based attacks by heavily syndicated “news” blogs which are frequently afterwards tied to his choice “safe” product alternatives to possibly heal a ill or risk promoted in his explanation articles.”
And here is my ten cents on the videos slides.
I will list the slides on the video by time.
0:44 Vitamin C proven to cure over 30 major diseases
The slide is of the Natural News website. A blog that well…read the wiki entry. The “Vitamin C proven to cure over 30 major diseases” entry is based on the clinical papers of Dr Klenner which were published in between 1949 and 1970. The scientific consensus is that while vitamin C dificiency will harm a sick patient there appears to be no papers I can find that regard vitamin C as a cure for measles. However, vitamin A is used in the treatment of measles. Vitamin C isn’t toxic though so it probably won’t hurt to try, but you should probably read this first.
0:48 Vitamin C the miracle treatment that cured man on the brink of death
An unnamed website. So I have googled it and found that it is a mercola.com. A website and company run by James Mercola. He is also listed on Quackwatch.
1:10 Unnamed website
After a quick search it turns out to be the Mercola website again. See above.
1:20 Do you need to be afraid of measles?
1:22 This is not true. Katherine Smith did not talk about herbal medicine.
Yes she did. She recommended people see a Doctor or a Naturopath. A naturopath is,”a form of alternative medicine employing a wide array of “natural” modalities, including homoeopathy, herbalism, and acupuncture, as well as diet and lifestyle counselling.” She also identified herself as a herbalist and stated that she had looked into it professionally.
1:30 Unnamed website
Which is another Mercola website. See 0:48.
1:34 The voice of Nikki Turner of the Immunisation Advisory Centre
2:07 Measles vaccine more dangerous than measles itself
Another screenshot from the Mercola website. See 0:48. I would suggest you read this. Especially this bit,”But in endemic areas in sub-Saharan Africa, the measles case fatality ratio often ranges from 5%–10%.”
2:28 Unnamed website
Which is another Mercola website. See 0:48.
2:36 Studies show measles vax spreads virus
The website is The Healthy Economist, there are links to the studies at the bottom of the page. It also says this at the bottom of the page.
“The number of measles deaths declined from 7575 in 1920 (10,000 per year in many years in the 1910s) to an average of 432 each year from 1958-1962.17 The vaccine was introduced in 1963. Between 2005 and 2014, there have been no deaths from measles in the U.S. and 108 deaths from the MMR vaccine.”
Which would suggest the vaccine is far safer with 1.8 deaths per annum vs 432 in the unvaccinated population in America.
2:49 Measles vaccine likely caused the death of four infants in Nepal, say authorities.
Which is another Mercola website. See 0:48.
2:56 Twins die minutes after measles vaccination
Which is another Mercola website. See 0:48.
3:04 Unnamed website
Probably this page on a website that advises,”*The information we provide access to is not intended, nor designed to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease.” Further reading on the website founder can be found here.
3:30 Alert recently vaccinated in individuals can spread disease
I was unable to find this slide anywhere.
3:41 Measles vaccine undeniably linked to autism
Which is another Mercola website. See 0:48.
4:04 Most pro-vaxxers have never even looked at a vaccine package insert
Suggested reading.
4:08 CDC whistleblower statement
He has also released another statement,”I want to be absolutely clear that I believe vaccines have saved and continue to save countless lives. I would never suggest that any parent avoid vaccinating children of any race. Vaccines prevent serious diseases, and the risks associated with their administration are vastly outweighed by their individual and societal benefits.” and the paper has not been retracted. Full statement is on here (sorry, I can’t find the original) and a wider discussion is here.
4:41 unamed website
Mercola again. See 0:48.
5:08 Inflammatory staged vaccine photo
5:16 The voice of Nikki Turner of the Immunisation Advisory Centre
In conclusion
My impression of this rebuttal is not good. Basically it is repeats the views of four websites; Natural News (1 time), Mercola (9 times), Greenmedinfo(1 time) and The Healthy Home Economist (1 time). The views of Mercola are reapeated 9/12 times or 75% as proof that Katherine Smith’s assertions (rebutal as least) are correct. To quote wikipedia,”In 2005, 2006, and 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Mercola and his company to stop making illegal claims regarding his products’ ability to detect, prevent, and treat disease.” Further referenced reading on Mercola can be found here and here.
I mean really. If you want to back your views, this is not the way to do it and Mercola.com is not the company you should be referencing. All the anti vaccination lobby, that is really what the ‘No Forced Vaccinations’ group is a front for, need to do is to use their funding (which they get a lot of) to do some actual scientific air tight studies and when the study is criticised to take that critique on board and do an even better study instead of being the mouth piece of a company that appears to prey on peoples fears in order to make money.
