One wonders if Meryl Dorey would have saved herself a lot of bad publicity had she just quietly posted the disclaimer as requested. As it turns out, there have now been two waves of bad publicity for the AVN. The first, after the HCCC report was released some two weeks ago and now the second wave with the refusal to post the disclaimer.

It seems the tide has definitely turned in the media with respect to the AVN. Previously the majority of the reporting was staunchly about “balance” never referring to the AVN as anti-vax and generally giving Meryl a pretty easy ride when it came to her avoiding the question of “you say you’re not anti-vax but which vaccines do you recommend?”.

And if you don’t believe me, listen to Steve Liebermann – who reckons the AVN should be shut down – tear shreds off the AVN on radio 2UE.

In the extensive coverage of the last few weeks, there has only been one example of television that I have seen the term “balanced” used and that was on the frothy morning show Sunrise (not known for hard hitting journalism). This morning the show interviewed both Meryl Dorey and Prof. Booy, who had both previously appeared on Radio ABC 702 Sydney. Even when Meryl got a pretty easy ride from the interviewer, there was no misunderstanding about the agenda of the AVN, as Prof Booy made it abundantly clear by referring to the AVN at least twice as the Anti-Vaccination Network.

You can watch the full story here.

And whilst there was a follow up story in today’s SMH, (following yesterdays front page criticism), interviewing Dorey and detailing her reasons for starting on her anti-vax crusade, it was juxtaposed with a series of rather loopy quotes from Dorey. In a column entitled “Dorey on vaccines” four quotations were published. Although they’re certainly not the most loopy I have seen from Meryl, they nonetheless do not make her look particularly “balanced” and “pro-information” (as she is still feebly clinging to BTW).

“I don’t see that the measles vaccine has done anything for Australia”

“Make no mistakes folks, this measles “outbreak” has been orchestrated for one reason and one reason only – to force the issue of compulsory vaccination.”

More conspiracy nonsense from Meryl, directly contradicting one of my favourite quotes from her;

“…we are already seen as rabid, idiotic fringe dwellers by so many in the mainstream, it does our cause no good at all to bring in conspiracy theories, which though we may subscribe to them, are unprovable.”

Thanks to the hard work of Steve Cannane who kicked this campaign off with the awesome report on Lateline some 2 weeks ago, the tone has been set in the media. Steve did a follow up story last night, this time covering the government’s seemingly disinterest in instigating the vaccination education campaign they have been promising for what seems like an eternity.

In the meantime the McCafferys (who have been extremely brave and stoic throughout this entire nightmare) have contributed to a website in collaboration with Professor Booy called Chain of Protection

Meanwhile Meryl continues unabated. She continues to bleat they are not anti-vax, that the HCCC does not have jurisdiction over them, that she is seeking legal advice etc etc. It’s like a broken record.

Pro-tip Meryl, saying it over and over again will not make it right. And because you arrogantly refused to put up the disclaimer, many more people now know just that.

Below is some of the coverage I have collected from the past few days. If you come across anything else, please leave a comment and I’ll add it here.

SMH Anti-vaccine Group a Threat

SMH Parents who lost baby stonewalled

SMH Still No Warning on Whooping Cough

The Medical News Anti-vaccination Group Declared Unsafe

Northern Star Warning Issued About AVN

ABC News Vaccine Group Needles Opponents
Anti-Vaccination Campaigners Slapped with Warning

New Scientist Anti-Vaccination Website Poses a Risk

International Business Times HCCC Warns Public on Anti-Vaccine Group

Medical Observer Public Warning Against Anti-Vaccination Website

2UE Steve Lieberman interviews Ken McLeod

The public statement was issued after a fortnight’s grace during which time the AVN were instructed to issue a disclaimer on their website stating that;

• • The AVN’s purpose is to provide information against vaccination, in order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere.
• • The information provided by the AVN should not be read as medical advice.

The public warning follows a 12 month investigation into the AVN after 2 complaints were received.

The Commission’s investigation of the complaints focussed on the material presented by the AVN on its website www.avn.org.au. The Commission established that the AVN website:

• • provides information that is solely anti-vaccination
• • contains information that is incorrect and misleading
• • quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous.

The AVN was given 2 weeks to post the disclaimer in a prominent position on their website. When the deadline passed, the HCCC was forced to issue the public statement.

Meryl Dorey, media spokesperson and immediate past president of the AVN responded by repeating she does not believe the HCCC has jurisdiction over the AVN and she is seeking legal advice in this regard. (She has been “seeking legal advice” about this matter for what seems like the duration of the investigation).

In a blog post entitled “AVN vigorously opposses HCCC notice” Meryl (who refers to the AVN as a “consumer advocacy and vaccine safety watchdog group”), states:

“Three times since this investigation started last September, the AVN has provided the HCCC with information on their lack of jurisdiction. Each time, this information has been ignored.”

“The HCCC states that our information is misleading because we do not include data on the benefits of vaccination,…..nobody would expect……those who argue against fluoridation of the water supply to write reports about the benefits of mass medication without individual consent.”

So apparently fluoride in drinking water is “mass medication” now?

But it gets even more hilarious.

“The AVN is currently in discussions with our legal advisors….. to defend against the unsubstantiated allegations that our information is anything but complete, unbiased and fully-referenced from the medical literature.” (emphasis mine).

Unbiased and fully-referenced? Meryl, surely you jest. Even you have admitted you don’t tell both sides of the story. And as for fully referenced? Well the HCCC had something to say about that too.

Fully referenced also might not mean what you think it means Meryl. For example, copying and pasting incorrectly attributed references from whale.to is not considered “fully referenced”.

Meanwhile Meryl is still screeching “free speech” and “democracy”. A comment left on her blog offered a much more sinister reason for the HCCC “witch hunt”.

Tracy says:
July 25, 2010 at 11:51
Doctors are hired assassins for the pharmaceutical companies and the government. Paid to kill and injure … method of death and grievous bodily harm … vaccinations. I tell you, there is something very sinister going on that they are going to such extraordinary lengths to silence the truth!

Hold on to your tin foil hats people!

Not only do the Australian public now know the true nature of the AVN’s agenda, Meryl appears to have got herself in some hot water over scanning and posting a pro-vaccine magazine article on her blog. The article, published in Cosmos Magazine, got her ire when she was apparently misquoted after declining to be interviewed. The publishers are now seeking legal advice about the breach of copyright and will be taking action to have the article removed.

And in another schemozzle, Meryl appears to have passed on the email list from her subscriber base to a third party, which breaches email privacy laws in Australia. Although in a blog post published today she denies this is the case.

This came about with the distribution of a media release from the International Medical Council on Vaccination, announcing their support for the AVN and “condemning the attempts of an Australian Government body to censor and suppress their work.” It was signed by well known anti-vaxers Sherri Tenpenny, VacTruth, Moms Against Mercury, and even Judy Wilyman, amongst others.

AVN readers have already begun to write to the HCCC complaining about the findings. One suggested:

• “The HCCC’s purpose is to provide misleading information about the importance and efficacy of vaccination, in order to perpetuate the substantial amount of one-sided, pro-vaccination information available everywhere.”

Or perhaps the science tells us that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks? There’s no debate about that.

According to the Church there were concerns raised by a number of people, including prominent church members who are experts in the field of ethics and public health, that the message promoted by the Australian Vaccination Network is not in line with the ethos and values of the Uniting Church in Australia.

No Uniting Church in the City venue is being made available to the AVN for tomorrow night’s meeting (update AEST 20:42, please see below; it has been cancelled with plans to reschedule in the next four weeks).

The AVN organised the seminar following the recent spate of adverse reactions to the seasonal flu vaccine in children under five years of age.

Australia wide, over 400 reactions have been reported, in five states, the majority of which occurred in Western Australia. Authorities are still investigating the cause of high fevers and febrile convulsions. Most children recovered, but one child in Queensland died 12 hrs after receiving the vaccine. The coroner found no evidence to implicate the vaccine.

The AVN seminar, “Flu Vaccines and Informed Choice” was described in an e-newsletter;

“This talk examines the risk of flu to children, the effectiveness of the vaccine and the additional risks to children’s health of adding another vaccine to the childhood schedule.”

Both media spokesperson and immediate past-president, Meryl Dorey and Murdoch University PhD candidate Judy Wilyman were scheduled to talk.

“To date, more than 300 serious reactions to the current seasonal flu shot have been reported in children under the age of 5 with one child known to have died within hours of being vaccinated. All the indications are that this figure grossly underestimates the actual number of reactions. In her talk, Meryl Dorey will discuss how vaccines are intended to work and why it is that they often don’t. She will talk about the known side effects of childhood and adult shots and reveal that according to the Australian government, as few as 1% of vaccine reactions ever get reported, leading to a belief that they are perfectly safe.”

.

This is not the first time the AVN has been refused access to a venue after having organised, booked and advertised a seminar. In 2009, they were forced to find another venue at short notice after a school in Mt Barker, South Australia declined their appearance, following notification of the nature of their material.

In a blog post entitled “AVN Under attack” Meryl Dorey described how those opposed to her ideas “…have tried to get venues where I am scheduled to present vaccination seminars to cancel and have harassed those who sponsor such events.”

Whilst publicly claiming to be the “pro-choice”, the AVN preaches a clear anti-vaccination message, designed to scare parents into shunning vaccinations for their children.

They were also recently refused paid advertising in The Child Group magazines, distributed free Australia wide and targeted specifically to parents, for similar reasons.

In South Australia, the AVN was able to secure a new venue at the last minute.

A recent tweet from the AVN (@nocompulsoryvac) published at 12:31 AEST, May 13th said; “Flying out to Perth, WA for our seminar tomorrow nite on flu vax. If you haven’t booked yet, extra chairs have been put in-call 1800 007 468 about 5 hours ago via HootSuite”.

At the time of writing, it is not known if Mrs Dorey is aware of the venue cancellation.

—
UPDATE:

Meryl has just sent an e-newsletter about this. The text is reproduced below. Please write to the Uniting Church to thank them for taking a responsible stance here. Or call them on (08) 9321 9711.

———-

“UNITING CHURCH CANCELS AVN SEMINAR AT THE 11TH HOUR

At about 12:45 this afternoon, I was standing on line, waiting to board a plane that would take me to Perth. I had packed, arranged rides for my children, caught up on my office work for the next few days and was ready to just sit back, relax and enjoy the flight (while going over my powerpoint slides for the 20th time!)

As I was waiting my turn to give my ticket to the hostess, my mobile phone rang. I almost didn’t answer but seeing that it was a Western Australian number, I thought I’d better.

Little did I know…

On the other end of the phone was a Mr Andy Corkill who is the Mission Development Officer for the Uniting Church of Perth.

He was calling to inform me that the Church Council had received calls from the WA Dept of Health and from some of their own congregants including a senior academic from a university in Perth. All these people were urging the church to cancel our seminar which was taking place on Friday night.

Mr Corkill informed me that the Council had met the night before and decided that they would cancel the event and that there was really nothing he could do to change this because it was a decision made by the Council – not by him.

When I told him that we had over 100 people booked in to attend and that I was about to board a flight from QLD to Perth specifically for this event, he suggested that we find another venue. He was quite helpful and said they would be happy to post a sign at the Uniting Church to let people know the location of the new venue – hah!

I asked him where he thought I would be able to find a venue for over 100 people in just over 24 hours and he replied that he couldn’t help with that but I couldn’t have any Uniting Church venues.

So – off to the counter I go and ask them to pull my bags off the plane – down the $750 we paid to the Church for the venue and the almost $700 for the plane fares.

Don’t be downhearted!
A person could really be forgiven for feeling more than a little bit downhearted by these events. After all, there are children all across Australia who have died or been seriously injured by the flu vaccine in recent weeks. There is a little girl in PMH right now who was in a coma for some time and now faces a difficult and uncertain future because of this shot. And yet, the Department of Health and certain academics have decided that Australian parents need to be treated like mushrooms and kept away from any information that might call into doubt the safety of shots.

Unfortunately for them however, this action is going to backfire and backfire badly. This backlash is already starting!

The media in WA is now asking the following questions:

1- Who at the department of health chose to put pressure on the Church to force them to cancel our seminar? Why would a small event, attended by only 100 people, be of concern to the government?
2- Who was the senior academic who used his status as a member of the Uniting Church congregation and a supposed expert on this issue to state that the AVN should not be allowed to speak at a Church venue?
3- By trying to suppress this information, is the government trying to pretend that these reactions never took place? Are they stepping on our right to freedom of communication – a right that has been upheld by the High Court of Australia?

In the meantime, we contacted everyone who was booked into the seminar tomorrow to let them know it’s been cancelled. Several of these people have excellent contacts with larger and better venues in Perth and we are hoping to reschedule this talk for sometime within the next 4 weeks.

Of course, we will let you know as soon as we have rescheduled.

—-
UPDATE#2 16/05/10

The Church has now issued a press release stating their reasons for cancelling the AVN seminar. To read the pdf, click on the hyperlink “Cancellation of Australian Vaccination Network Event” on this page.

To read some of the emails apparently sent to the Church from AVN supporters, go here.

The Child group of magazines, covering Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth are free monthly publications distributed via childcare centres and baby shops and are highly targeted to Australian parents.

The website of Sydney’s Child describes the publication as, “..well established in the marketplace and highly respected by readers.”

“With six publications reaching across Australia, the Child group of magazines offer advertisers the ability to advertise nationally, or selectively depending on their needs. The tailored content within each magazine ensures that the publications always remain locally relevant to readers.”

All of which combines to make this the perfect platform for the AVN to scare parents into not vaccinating with their misinformation about vaccines causing autism, SIDS, shaken baby syndrome etc.

I understand that the AVN applied to purchase a 1/3 page ad in Sydney’s Child, Melbourne’s Child and Brisbane’s Child at a total estimated cost of $8000.

But in a highly principled and responsible move, it appears that the magazine declined the AVN the opportunity to do so, thus forfeiting a large amount of advertising money. This is a honorable move on their part, especially since being a free publication, they rely heavily on advertising revenue.

At question here is how the AVN came to have a spare $8000, after their recent donation drive initiated apparently to keep them from going under. Meryl apparently needed the cash to cover debts, so just a few weeks later she has enough in the coffers to blow eight grand on advertising?

I also wonder if her donors would be happy to see their money being diverted from keeping the AVN running to this new venture. That is, if indeed it is their money.

In August 2009, she was asking for donations to run a Generation Rescue ad, for which they would cover half the costs. An ad which never ran mind you, because we pipped her at the post. So it is possible that they have come to the party here.

In any case, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Meryl was told that The Child group did not want her anti-vaccine money. If she was not already convinced there is a conspiracy to see her silenced, then she ought to be well and truly by now. Paranoid much? Well maybe you should be Meryl!

I would like to clarify that neither Australian Skeptics, Stop the AVN or myself had anything to do with this decision. I’m sure Meryl will blame us, and I certainly wish I had the influence to persuade publishers and journalists to never publish her nonsense again, but I don’t.

(Or do I? *look over there, it’s a reptilian overlord*)

Congratulations to The Child group for adhering to their editorial policy and extending this to advertising:

Editorial Integrity – Our editorial integrity ensures that advertisements are always viewed within the context of a highly regarded, quality publication. That our magazines are seen in such a favourable light contributes positively to how an advertiser’s message is received by our readers.

The Child Group had done a great service to public health by limiting the exposure of the AVN’s misinformation. And by doing so, they may have saved a baby’s life.

Last week, Meryl Dorey, President of the AVN announced the group would close its doors “on or near February 28th” citing monetary issues as the primary reason. This week, after several emails pleading with her members to step up and donate, or at least pledge to donate, she sent out an e-newsletter where she outlined what has been a tough year for her and the AVN.

In it she explains that;

“Approximately 12 months ago, an unremitting campaign of harassment began with a complaint filed by an anonymous complainant against the AVN with the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR)….This whole situation came to a head about 7 months ago when a complaint was filed against both the AVN and myself with the HCCC. ….there have been an unending string of complaints filed against both myself and the AVN every time I’m on either the radio, TV or in newspapers. Without fail, the media will receive complaints stating that they should not be interviewing someone like myself who is not only anti-vaccine (in their words), but under investigation to boot!”

and;

“The people who are behind these attacks are, in my own personal opinion, totally without morals and ethics.”

For a complete and delicious take down of this special pleading email, please head over to @fuzztwin’s post, which precisely and thoroughly destroys her public baa-ing.

The post you see at the top of this blog was the hard-copy version of the article, which also appeared in the online edition of the Daily Telegraph under the headline; “Anti-vaccination group to collapse” (which I like much better as you might have guessed).

Naturally Meryl was very disappointed in this article, telling her email group that;

“I knew I could count on Kate Sikora and the Daily Telegraph to get it all wrong – even when the information was provided to them in writing. One has to wonder how much pharmaceutical advertising the Daily Telegraph takes in every day and whether that would have any influence on the anti-choice, anti-science stance taken by papers such as the Telegraph?”

(Zing! Big Pharma shill accusation)

and

“The people on Australia are done a great disservice by this article and by the Telegraph’s continual refusal to allow science-based data on the dangers and ineffectiveness of vaccines to be published.” (1)

Funny that, I thought it was quite accurate. What was interesting was that according to the article:

“Contacted twice for comment yesterday, Ms Dorey referred The Daily Telegraph to her email.”

So she opted to not even speak to the journalist.

The comments also make for some interesting reading. I’ll bet Meryl would have preferred the one below didn’t get approved, especially since she is desperately trying to shake off the conspiracy theory tag which has recently stuck to her.

Boldarn of N.QLD Posted at 10:36 AM February 16, 2010
As corporate and government lies are exposed increasingly , NWO advocates are panicking and attacking anyone who does not go along with their fascist rules . The mandatory fluoridation of all drinking waters is an important tool of globalists , as it effects the pineal glad ( gland for free thinking ). A fluoridated population is less likely to question anything and is easier to “manage” as NWO policies are rolled out over once free nations . Vaccines play a huge part in Agenda 21 – the NWO population control plan .Good on ya , Meryl Dorey , for your great effort an work ! Please contact me , I am also an activist & would like to send you my free poetry for your use . Peace –Boldarn

I also liked these two;

stewart cooper Posted at 7:49 AM February 16, 2010

Gee, I didn’t know Dick Smith had research level medical qualifications? Do people really listen to this self appointed know all? Witch hunting is alive and well in medieval NSW.

the response being;

Tom c of Sydney Posted at 9:53 AM February 16, 2010

Gee, I didn’t know Meryl dorey had research level medical qualifications? Do people really listen to this self appointed know all? (Hyperlink, mine)

Perhaps Meryl has lost her trust in the media. Maybe because they have ceased taking her information on face value and are beginning to realise she is not someone they should be consulting on issues of vaccine effectiveness and safety. Maybe Meryl’s time in the spotlight is drawing to a close.

Still, with the results of two complaints with the HCCC and the OLGR auditing the AVN this week, there are likely much more serious things for her to deal with.

If you missed the interview that I did with Ian Woolf from Diffusion Radio about the AVN and their impending downfall you can listen to it online here.

—-

(1) Message # 42231, sent Monday February 15th, 2010 11:53 pm

In a e-newsletter sent to subscribers, Meryl Dorey president of the AVN announced:

AVN to close it’s doors at the end of the month

The contents explained that after 17 years, Dorey was;

“…in the next 3-4 weeks…tendering my resignation as President of this great organisation and moving on to the next stage of my own personal development as mother, wife, activist and researcher.”

Which seems pretty clear cut, until further in the email she wrote:

“Without a large injection of capital behind me, I simply cannot continue.”

She used the word injection! Ms Dorey you do amuse! (sorry, couldn’t let that one go…)

She explained that closure at the end of the month could be avoided, but only if:

“..a benefactor or series of benefactors come forward to establish a fund that would guarantee the AVN’s existence for at least the next 2-3 years.”

This is not the first time Dorey has asked for money from her members – a few months ago she was asking people to put aside a percentage of their government paid family allowance to donate to the AVN. Then several days ago she asked for “$100 from each and every member” (AVN Message #42021).

But this comes as no surprise to us, we know she has been in financial difficulty of late. According to documents obtained by a colleague via the the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing (OLGR) (this information is publicly available if a business is registered as a charity), the AVN lost AUD58,000 in the period January through December 2008.

The day following this email, Ms Dorey sent another email clarifying that the AVN would only close if she did not receive the required funds and she was sorry if she had worried her followers.

This clarification became somewhat clouded today however, when she sent another e-newsletter with the masthead exclaiming Living Wisdom/ AVN Closing down sale! (AVN message #42055).

So is she or isn’t she?

Until yesterday I had been wondering why she had not pleaded to the big guns for help, the likes of Generation Rescue and Age of Autism. That was until today when a blog appeared on the Age of Autism website, wherein between asking for an “injection of funds” again (*chortle*). She says the following about the “anti-choice movement”:

“I have had death threats from those who are too cowardly to confront me on the facts of my argument*.

I have had complaints filed against me… I have been called the Baby Killer of Bangalow…and told that I am personally responsible for the current record-high level of whooping cough despite the fact that our vaccination level is currently also at a record high.”

Personally I’m not surprised Ms Dorey wants out, and I suspect it is not solely to do with money. It has not been a good year for the AVN.

There are currently two complaints filed against her with the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC), accusing her of spreading false information about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. We expect the findings to be handed down in the next few weeks. There are also two with the OLGR, the charity watchdog, one alleging she operated without a charity license for 2 years, whilst still collecting donations.

She has also received considerable mainstream criticism for her campaign of scaremongering and misinformation regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Despite the General Medical Council finding Wakefield “callous”, “unethical” and “dishonest”, a complete retraction of the Wakefield et al paper on February 2nd, and a large body of scientific evidence discrediting his work, the anti-vaxers appear to have not changed their stance that vaccines contain toxic levels of elemental mercury, vaccines cause autism, shaken baby syndrome, SIDS and brain damage.

In August 2009, Dorey and the AVN were the target of a national newspaper advertising campaign, financed by entrepreneur Dick Smith warning parents of Australia not to listen to the false claims of the AVN. In publicity surrounding the publication, Smith criticised the organisation for portraying a public face of “pro-choice” when privately being unequivocally anti-vaccination. In a statement Smith said; “They should put on every bit of their material that they are anti-vaccination in great big words”.

Dorey has been heavily criticised for her misuse of scientific evidence, in particular her habit of “cherry picking” data to suit her agenda whilst publicly insisting she only cites peer reviewed studies from medical journals.

Dorey also outed herself as an “HIV denier” meaning she does not believe that HIV is the cause of AIDS. HIV deniers are a dangerous group of individuals, whose influence on South African President, Thabo Mbeki historically contributed to the unnecessary deaths of over 300,000 Africans as a result of delayed roll-out of anti-retroviral drugs.

Dorey also appeared to subscribe to conspiracy theories despite telling her email group;

“We are already seen as rapid 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 prescribe to them are unprovable”.

Yet, she later published a link to a conspiracy blog describing H1N1 (swine flu) as being manufactured by a group of drug cartels for the express purpose of extinguishing a large percentage of the world via compulsory vaccination, aerosol exposure via chem-trails and the implantation of mind control chips. The original story was attributed to (but not credited by Dorey) the world famous conspiracy theorist David Icke. You can see more here.

To top it off, the AVN was awarded the 2009 Australian Skeptics Bent Spoon awarded annually for the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudo-scientific piffle and chosen from a list of public nominations.

Not to mention she has taken a battering in the press for spreading false statistics and scaremongering, and been forced to change seminar venues when organisers discovered the true nature of her ‘information’.

I think this might be the beginning of the end for the embattled AVN. And I for one won’t miss ‘em. At all.

We await to hear the next installment, otherwise mark down February 28th as a victory for science and reason in this country.

—-

*she does not supply evidence for this claim

For the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudo-scientific piffle, the Bent Spoon went to Meryl Dorey and the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

I was honored to present the award, and took the opportunity to highlight some of the reasons why the AVN and Meryl were worthy winners. Apart from the obvious fail of spreading misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, there were several foot-in-mouth occasions I wanted to point out.

1) Meryl is also an HIV/AIDS denier, claiming that since (in her opinion) no two images of HIV look the same, therefore it can’t exist. Apply this theory to clouds for example, which are also vastly different shapes (and can even change shapes whilst you gaze at them), therefore clouds also do not exist.

MERYLOGIC: These 2 pictures of clouds look different, therefore clouds do not exist.

2) Meryl responded to the complaint lodged with the HCCC against her and the AVN by stating in the cover letter that she wished her response to remain confidential since the author, Ken McLeod was a threat to the safety of her and her family. Then she published her response and the aforementioned cover letter on her website the following day.

3) Meryl on the subject of conspiracy theories said the following; “We are already seen as rapid 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 prescribe to them are unprovable”. She then posted a complex and convoluted conspiracy theory on her blog “No Compulsory Vaccination” about the derivation of the swine flu epidemic and the plans of the illuminati to implant mind control chips, distributed by chem-trails from planes with the aim of committing mass genocide by vaccination.

4) Meryl appeared on national television telling a reporter that “we didn’t die from (these diseases) thirty years ago and we’re not going to die from them now”, juxtaposted alongside footage of babies gasping for breath as the journalist detailed the story of the death of Dana McCaffery from the vaccine preventable disease, whooping cough.

An dishonourable mention to Pastor Danny Nalliah for blaming the Black Saturday Bushfires on the liberal abortion laws in Victoria. And for saying he had a vision in a dream that the fires were coming but neglected to inform anyone.

Congratulations to Meryl Dorey and the AVN for joining the ranks of Dr Kerryn Phelps, The pharmacists of Australia and Dr. Viera Scheibner. For more previous winners of the Bent Spoon go here.

Meryl Dorey issued a statement as part of their newsletter;

“The complaint alleges that both the AVN and myself, Meryl Dorey are “health service providers” because we are “providing health education services to the public” for the purposes of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993 (NSW).

Meryl claims that; “Neither the AVN nor myself Meryl Dorey are health practitioners as the term is generally understood colloquially nor have we ever claimed to be”.

Well that maybe so Meryl, but this is not about whether you “colloquially” perceive yourself to be a health service provider. There are in fact laws in NSW which define practitioners, and it seems to the me that both the AVN and Meryl Dorey could well fall under this jurisdiction.

Below is the relevant section of the Code of Conduct defining a health service provider, released in August 2008 by the Health Care Complaints Commission.

I think it is quite reasonable to interpret the lectures, seminars and webinairs conducted by the  AVN as “health education services”, even if the information they disseminate is deluded and verging on dangerous.

The complaint has been thoroughly and diligently prepared. I urge you to check out the entire document in pdf form here. Below is an excerpt from the AVN newsletter released today.

The researcher for the Sunday Night programme, Stephen Tucker invited me to be in the audience for the debate that will constitute this Sunday’s show. This is in response to the substantial negative feedback Channel 7 received accusing the story of bias, one-sided journalism, badly researched, etc etc. You know the drill (you can see details of some of the correspondence here or go to the Australian Vaccination Network website and search for channel 7).

I held my breath as I asked him who was going to be on the panel and he said a paediatrician (I think he said the one who looked after Dana) but Meryl Dorey was not invited. To my surprise and relief, he said they only wanted people with a science background on the panel. Furthermore, they were having a hard time finding a Dr who thought vaccinations were bad. He relayed to me, out of those he had called, some had mentioned there could be some more research, but they all stated there was no link between vaccinations and autism.

To reiterate,

Meryl Dorey will not be on the panel

Channel 7 only want people with a science background on the panel

Channel 7 are having trouble finding a doctor to say that vaccination is bad

I hope they stand their ground on these issues.

If you are going to be on the audience, please take the time to familiarise yourself with the anti-vaxers tactics. There is a link here to the AVN’s response to the story. In brief they use conspiracy theories, screech about toxins in our vaccines, refer to Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Oprah and Larry King Live as credible sources, and exclaim that as educated well research parents, they demand a CHOICE!

You’ve heard it all before.

Please take the time to read this. It’s an invaluable tool for preparing yourself with the neccesary information to counter their arguments.