Homeopath convicted of manslaughter for death of daughter.
Today in the court of NSW, the parents of Gloria Sam were convicted of manslaughter
A jury deemed them to be sentenced to a minimum of 6 years for the father (Thomas Sam) and 4 years for the mother (Manju Sam).
This story came to the attention of the public earlier this year, when we heard about the tragic death of Gloria Sam aged 9 months, from complications as a result of an allergic skin condition, eczema.
Gloria died as a result of a lack of conventional treatment for eczema, a skin disorder that makes the skin dry and itchy and when scratched, weep and bleed. The common treatment is hydrocortisone cream for mild cases but in severe cases, oral steroids in a tablet form are prescribed. As a result of the associated wheeping with severe cases of eczema, dehydration is often a problem, with patients losing large amounts of fluids.
I myself suffer from eczema and have had to take oral steroids on occasion. Eczema has a genetic link and accordingly, my mum suffered attacks so debilitating that she was airlifted from Papua New Guinea in the late 60s to Australia and spent extensive time in hospital, coated in hydrocortisone creme and wrapped in plastic to restore her fluids. She came very close to dying.
My Mum was advised to soak in baths of salt water, and these days pine tar is also touted, but in my experience none of these work. I have been tested for allergies to strawberries, wheat, the usual suspects, but it appears my IgE response is to blame. I even visited a naturopath, who told me to stop eating dairy. Guess what? No change.
During the hearing for this case there was evidence presented from observers on a Qantas flight on which Gloria was a passenger, describing her cries for lengthy periods, indicative of a serious problem. One passenger described her covered in red blotches and appearing as if she were burned.
Fortunately, I have not had a flare of eczema of late but I know when I do, I have conventional medicine to relieve my pain, at least temporarily. However, when I am out of Diprosone (the commonly prescribed cortisone cream) I am in much pain. The worst thing is scratching in your sleep and waking up with bloodied bedding not knowing what you did. This is why my Mum often slept with gloves to avoid tearing her already tender skin away. Years of steroid application also increase the likelihood that your skin becomes thinner and more prone to breakage.
Being the beast that a hypersensitivity disorder is, I need to manage it with lots of sleep, not too much stress and avoiding late nights. These things are not always easy to correct. But as an adult, I make the decision about when and where I receive treatment.
Unfortunately, Gloria did not have that option.
Boston and Cambridge; sceptics and science.
I am now heading back from Boston to NYC (my final stop) after a whistlestop tour doing Skeptics in the Pub on Tuesday and a talk at Harvard Medical school today.
Harvard Campus at Cambridge, MW.
The talk I gave today was scheduled for 30 mins but stretched out to 2 hrs as a result of lots of questions and discussion. I was assured by the head of the department that this is in fact a good sign since it means people were interested enough to firstly, stick around and then have their interest piqued enough to want to probe further. Apparently you should only be worried if half the group gets up and leaves to do experiments. So, even though I got a sort of hammering (and almost missed my bus), it was a productive hammering nonetheless. And having people from Harvard Medical School hold you captive for 2 hrs and offer suggestions and pose probing questions can only be a good thing.
The Blue Man group - hard to take seriously after Arrested Development took the piss.
Boston Skeptics also invited me to be the guest speaker at SiTP on Tuesday night in Cambridge, near Harvard Square (you can watch the video here).
Boston Skeptics in the Pub – Rachael Dunlop – Sept. 15, 2009 from Maggie McFee on Vimeo.
I did spark a slight panic, only made clear to me when I received a text message from Brian Dunning. After I had not arrived by 6:30 pm, the organisers became worried that they had no way to contact me me to find out my whereabouts…or did they?
As is the way of Web2.0, Rebecca put a call out over Twitter to find someone who could contact me. I was alighting from a cab out the front of the pub when I got a text message from Brian Dunning telling me I was required “immediately” at the pub! In the meantime, rumours circulated that I had been kidnapped by Ben Affleck who is in town shooting a film. Sadly this was not true, the much more mundane excuse of being stuck in traffic as a result of Ben Affleck being in town was all I could profer up. Actually, in hindsight, I should have been more worried about being abducted by Adam Sandler and forced to watch his awful excuses for comedy filums. You may not be surprised to learn that Adam has brought monkeys to the set of his movie; I know this because they were evacuated from a large hotel last night when a gas leak was detected. He should stop doing this – they almost always out-act him. But then perhaps this is not a bad distraction.
A strange creature has emerged from the depths of Lake Champlain in Vermont. So, naturally we call him "Champ" the pleiosaur.
Speaking of strange creatures, it seems NSW shares something in common with the state of Vermont in the USA. I spotted this notice on the side of a delivery truck in Boston. Just prior to leaving Sydney, news broke that an Australian crytozoologist had spotted what he believes to be a pleiosaurs in a river near Sydney. It seems this is not an isolated problem. Emblazoned on the side of a truck in Boston, I discovered that Vermont has a similar problem. Their pleiosaurs is named as “Champ”, and the creature has apparently been spotted over 300 times.
Boston is also the epicentre of the unusual performance art group, The Blue Man Group. And you haven’t seen Boston until you’ve seen them, or so the poster says. I must admit I have some trouble taking the Blue Man Group seriously, although I’m sure they are a top class bunch of blokes. But after Arrested Development did a show centred around Tobias attempting to join them after mistaking a poster for a depression support group for the group, it is a little hard to think of them with a straight face.
Even with such a busy schedule I did have time to look around Harvard University yesterday. As you can imagine it is a very impressive campus, reminiscent of its English counterpart, steeped in history and rich in perfectly manicured gardens and historical buildings. Harvard Yard is a large expanse of grassed and tree covered area where students loll about on garden chairs reading texts or playing frisbie. The library towers over the yard at one end, literally dwarfing all other buildings.
The imposing Harvard Library towers over the Yard.
I had just enough time to wander through the maze of colleges, where students live in semester, to get to the numerous Law school buildings. The surrounding areas are very English in their architecture and garden design. Like Cambridge in the UK, Cambridge, MA is steeped in academia and culture. The town itself is dominated by a student population owing to the numerous universities and colleges in the are. And all highly prestigious; from MIT, to Harvard and Tufts University.
One thing that struck me today at Harvard medical school in the Cell Biology Department, was the cramped environment. Just like the labs I saw at Vanderbilt, a private university with plenty of cash to throw around, the lab space was small, dark and very basic. But despite this, some of the best scientific work in the world is done in the Harvard Medical School and surrounding research facilities.
A sceptical alien in New York City.
A skeptical tour of the East Coast of USA.
Sorry for my lack of blogging of late. I am away from home, flitting about the East Coast of the USA for a series of talks and conferences, covering science communication, scepticism, and science. I have already done Dragon*Con which was amazing, Vanderbilt Uni at Nash
ville, NECSS in NYC and am currently on a bus (with wifi) to Boston to do SiTP and a talk at Harvard Medical School. We are currently speeding through New England on the Interstate 90, on the outskirts NYC (see the pic left) on the awesome BoltBus!*
I was thrilled to be a speaker at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS) in NYC on Saturday September 12. A joint effort of New York City Skeptics (NYCS) and The New England Skeptical Society (NESS), NECSS was a huge success. The one day conference was a sell out with over 400 people attending and many people turned away at the door. It’s hard to believe that in a town of over 9 million people, the NYCS are only 2 years old. But, based on the success of Saturday’s conference, a skeptical group in NYC is certainly something that the city wants. The line-up was stellar and featured Professor Paul Ofitt, Richard Wiseman, George Hrab, the SGU team doing a live podcast, Carl Zimmer, John Rennie, John Snyder and many others all overseen and slickly mc’eed by Jamy Ian Swiss.
SGU are joined live on stage for Q&A by Paul Offit and Jamy Ian Swiss
The day kicked off with a talk from Paul Offit, the director of the education centre at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, author of “Autism’s False Prophets“, “Vaccinated” and the co-inventor of the vaccine for rotavirus. Paul talked about the public perception of vaccines as a result of the campaign by the anti-vaxers including Jenny McCarthy, in the USA. (See what they have to say about him here at pauloffit.com).
I was on a panel discussing Skepticism and Media with John Snyder, pediatrician and contributor to the Science Based Medicine blog, and Howard Schneider, journalist and academic at Stony Brook College. Our esteemed moderator was John Rennie recently retired editor-in-chief for Scientific American magazine and a recipient of the Carl Sagan award for the public understanding of science. Rennie also penned one of the most downloaded articles for Scientific American called “15 answers to creationist nonsense” in 2002 (I interviewed John for the Zone – listen to upcoming episodes for full details John’s work). We were invited to give a brief overview of our involvement with the media with an emphasis on conveying skeptical information, then John Rennie opened up the panel for discussion. John Snyder spoke about the damage of “false balance” in journalism and whilst balance is important in most stories, when it comes to giving a platform to anti-vaxers, it can do more harm than good.
L-R: Me, John Snyder and Howard Schneider. We were later joined by Carl Zimmer.
Naturally Howard came to the defence of journalists, by asserting that it is not their responsibility to educate the public, rather the public should research the information presented to them to determine where the truth lies. This was where things began to get feisty and interesting!
According to audience members, it was during Howard’s presentation that I was apparently shaking my head and indicating to John Rennie that I has something to say. On the topic of false balance, I suggested to Howard that if he was to do a piece on the Holocaust deniers, he would not get an opinion from a holocaust denier, not would a journo consider a flat-earther a legitimate part of a science based story.
This discussion was in response to John Snyder’s presentation about the NBC Dateline piece on Andrew Wakefield, “A Dose of Controversy” that had recently aired in the USA. This credulous piece by Matt Lauer and co., gave substantial air time to the discredited scientist and his quackery for autism, including invasive techniques such as colonoscopies on children for which there is no evidence of a benefit. John and I asserted to Howard that when it comes to important health issues such as vaccination, any hint of false claims such as they cause SIDS autism, cancer, contain aborted feotuses, toxic levels of heavy metals plants a seed with parents, scares them and as Paul had also stated, people are very hard to “unscare”.
A packed house. Photo by Tim Farley.
This opinion was echoed very succinctly (more so than I did) by an audience member once questions were opened up to the panel. Questions ranged from why are parents who do not vaccinate not held responsible for the death of those who die as a result of a loss of herd immunity to why are the authorities not doing anything about the anti-vax lobby?
It was a lively and interesting panel which I thoroughly enjoyed and it didn’t finish after we left the stage. The four of us continued our discussions in the green room, to the bemusement of several other participants who were milling around. John made a very good point about the social aspects of vaccine deniers and asked why the social and psychological issues of this area are not addressed. We all agreed that this is a story that has not been covered and would certainly be a worthwhile endeavour.
Howard then asked me how much time anti-vaxers should be given by the medias and my emphatic answer was none. I suggested to Howard that unless journos “went in deep” (John’s phrase) and challenged everything they said, instead of letting them state their piece largely unopposed as was my experience, then they deserved no platform at all. Eventually it was agreed that the anti-vax lobby need be treated as different beasts when it comes to balance in journalism. Because they don’t deserve a platform for their lies and misinformation. Even Howard seemed to agree (mostly).
I interview Travis Roy (aka Scooter) on stage after the conference. Photo Tim Farley.
I am very pleased that the feedback since the conference has been overwhelmingly positive for our media panel. Let’s hope we can do more like these, especially given the (perceived?) gap between what scientists really get up to and how it is reported in the media (this was also an underlying topic discussed throughout the weekend).
NECSS was a huge success and plans are already underway for a bigger and better event in 2010. Thanks to NESS and NYCS for putting on a well organised and top notch event. I hope to be a part of the con again one day!
*BTW, I thoroughly recommend the BoltBus from NYC: $14 on a very comfy bus with free wifi and power points, plenty of leg room and space – thanks to Rebecca and Scooter for the tip off).
Alternative allergy clinic under investigation by consumer watchdog
A chain of alternative allergy clinics is to be investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for false, misleading and deceptive conduct.
The ACCC statement of claim recently filed in Federal Court, says Advanced Allergy Elimination (AAE) and its director Paul Keir had breached the Trade Practices Act by falsely claiming the company can test for, and cure, allergies with natural therapies.
AAE clinics use a “muscle response test” to identify human allergens. The $115 test involves a client’s tricep being monitored as they are exposed to different “allergy testing vials”.
Treatment, at $85 a session, then involves gentle stimulation down the client’s back while they are exposed to suspected allergens through more “allergy testing vials”.
But according to the ACCC, the techniques have no scientific foundation and cannot test for, treat or cure allergies. The ACCC also alleged the chain had told clients that, after treatment, it was safe to have contact with the allergen to which they had had an adverse reaction.
The ACCC is seeking various orders including declarations, injunctions, corrective notices and costs. It is also seeking an order that Mr Keir attend trade practices law training.
Mr Keir said he would defend all the allegations, but had to wait for legal advice before he could comment further. A hearing is listed for June 24.
Consultant allergist Dr John Weiner, of St Vincent’s Hospital, said although he could not comment on the case, bogus alternative treatments had been offered to people with allergies for the past 20 years.
“It’s an ongoing issue. Allergists and immunologists in Australia have been trying to provide education through the media and GPs about this, but because there is a big population of people with allergies and a shortage of specialists, there are a lot of people out there trying to find quick fixes,” he said. “That sort of market pressure means alternative practitioners will arrive.”
Dr Weiner said some of the techniques that had no merit included “applied kinesiology”, “bioprobe” or “vega testing”, and “pulse testing”.
“These are all bizarre and un-validated,” he said, and people should visit a GP first. “If an unorthodox or unproven test is done, there is always a possibility that the patient is not only not cured, but at risk of severe sudden allergies on exposure to things they are truly allergic to.”
Source: The Age on-line
This sort of alternative allergy woo sounds an awful lot like the vega machine, which as been demonstrated to be a scam numerous times. You can read more about it here.
Vaccine fear campaign to be investigated
A news article has just appeared on the online site of The Sydney Morning Herald about the HCCC complaint against the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), submitted by Ken McLeod.
Entitled “Vaccine fear campaign to be investigated” health reporter Louise Hall details allegations about the AVN which she describes as “a group that claims vaccines cause autism, brain damage and cancer..” who are “…allegedly spreading misinformation and endangering children’s health”.
Meryl Dorey, the president of the AVN claims that she fills the gap left by the mainstream medical profession and government bodies and
“We never have and never will tell anyone that they should not vaccinate. We simply fill the information void left by government and the mainstream medical community.”
Of course you do Meryl, you fill the gap with stories of vaccines being the biggest hoaxes of the 20th century, a plot to commit mass genocide and a method for the “illuminati” to implant all recipients with microchips. And you and your followers tell parents that vaccines contain toxic levels of mercury and aluminium, plus cells from aborted fetuses (amongst other things), cause shaken baby syndrome (or shaken “maybe” syndrome), vaccines have never been tested, there is no science to back up the benefits of vaccination, homeopathy, a healthy lifestyle and a loving family are suitable alternatives to vaccination, kids are meant to get childhood illnesses, whooping cough is not that serious, swine flu is a manufactured epidemic, vaccination efforts in the third world “put Hitler and Stalin in the shade”, and that doctors are a danger to children.
Oh, and Meryl is also an HIV/AIDS denier as well as being a member of the Facebook group Australians against vaccination* (odd, since she claims to be “pro-choice”).
If you need confirmation of the depths these people will sink to, then please read this comment, which was left on my blog in response to a post by Toni McCaffery, the mother of Dana who died from whooping cough at 4 weeks of age, some 6 months ago.
Then convince me that these people are well meaning and care about the health of children.
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*if you are directed to your home page on Facebook with this link, it means you have been banned from accessing this page by the administrator. This is most likely due to the following; “First and foremost, THIS IS NOT A DEBATE if you are pro vax don’t even bother”.
Dick Smith sponsors an Australian Skeptics’ advertisement warning parents about the misinformation spread by the AVN
Media Release, August 5, 2009, Embargoed until 10.00pm AEST
Australian parents urged to get the real facts on vaccination
Businessman, aviator, and explorer, Dick Smith, has funded an Australian Skeptics’ advertisement to urge parents to access factual information on vaccination, in the wake of the country’s largest Whooping Cough epidemic.
The advertisement warns people to avoid advice from groups such as the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), which state that they are ‘pro-choice’ but are opposed to vaccination and spread misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
“Dick Smith Foods has funded this advertisement in the public interest, to ensure parents access unbiased, accurate advice from reputable medical sources. The Australian Vaccination Network is no such source,” said Mr Smith.
The advertisement – placed in the Thursday, August 6 edition of The Australian newspaper – warns parents that the AVN is spreading false claims including that vaccines contain toxic quantities of mercury, aluminium, and formaldehyde; that vaccines cause conditions such as autism, and that the AVN is providing incorrect information about the risks of childhood illnesses.
Following the tragic death of three babies to Whooping Cough, Australian Skeptics has established an information page with information on the myths and realities of vaccines and links to reputable sources.
The parents of four-week-old Dana McCaffery, who died from Whooping Cough in March, have welcomed the Skeptics’ actions.
“We implore parents to access reputable sources for information about vaccination. We thank the Australian Skeptics for presenting this information, which informs parents about the risks of preventable illnesses, addresses fears of vaccines with proven evidence, and debunks common myths. It is vital all Australian governments act now and implement comprehensive education campaigns to fully inform parents about the importance of vaccination,” said Toni and David McCaffery.
Eran Segev, president of Australian Skeptics Inc, said: “Australian Skeptics believes strongly that the public should have access to full and factual information so that they can form their opinions and choices in life, not half-truths, mistruths and fantasies.”
The Australian Skeptics has several thousand members across Australia, and investigates paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims from a responsible scientific viewpoint.
Further information: Australian Skeptics
Media contact: Tim Mendham, 0432 713 195
The full complaint to the HCCC about the Australian Vaccination Network.
To read the full complaint, in pdf form, click here.
Health Care Complaints Commission to investigate the AVN.
Today it was revealed that the AVN will be investigated by the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission for breaches of the Public Health Act of 1993.
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 Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) to be investigated by the Health Care Complaints Commission
Today it was revealed that the AVN will be investigated by the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) for alleged breaches of the Public Health Act of 1993. In response, the AVN released a statement reproduced below.
It is interesting to note that Meryl Dorey states that she does not consider herself or the AVN to be “health practitioners” in “colloquial” terms. The manner in which Meryl perceives the AVN is irrelevant in this respect, since the law is quite specific about what defines a “health practitioner”.
This is explained in the complaint, reproduced below;
Meryl also claims that she neither she nor the AVN “dispense advice”, despite her extensive lectures, seminars and webinars conducted on a regular basis where she tells attendees that vaccines cause the illness they’re supposed to prevent, that vaccination is not proven or scientific, and that parents who read a few articles about vaccination will know more about the subject than a peadiatrician”.
See Fuzztwin’s blog for more of the transcript to this recent webinar.
According to the statement from Meryl, she has until the end of August to address the complaints from the HCCC.
If you would like to read the entire complaint in pdf form, click here.
Lifewave website gets a smackdown from the TGA for misleading advertising
I came across this complaint on the Complaints Resolution Panel website regarding an advertisement for LifeWave “magic” patches today.
(NB: I say magic because there is no known mechanism described in science to explain how these things apparently “work”, and I place work in inverted commas because these things have no effect above placebo, so technically they don’t work either).
A print advertisement and Australian website linking to the American version was found to breach the Advertising code sections 4(1)(b), 4(2)(a), 4(2)(c), 4(2)(d), 4(2)(i), 4(7), 5(2), 7(3) (see box below) following a complaint by an individual.
The website, classified as an advertisement by the regulatory body, promoted a range of LifeWave patches, namely the SP6 patch, Y-Age patch, Icewave patch, Energy Enhancer patch, and Silent Nights patch. For a description of the apparent functions of these patches (and an interesting exchange with a believer), you might be interested in reading my previous blog about Lifewave here.
This is an interesting case for consideration, since The Panel first had to decide who was responsible for the advertisements as the parent website (lifewave.com) is based in the US and the website which attracted the complaint is linked to it from Australia. They concluded that the website was in fact the responsibility of the Australian distributor, given that the url had been personalised (www.LifeWave.com/bodyinharmony).
Information on retailer websites is the responsibility of the website publisher
Publishers of websites should be aware that they are responsible for the material they publish, regardless of whether they have copied that material from product packaging or other websites. Some online retailers appear to be of the view that it is acceptable to duplicate information from such sources for the purposes of advertising products for sale, but take no responsibility for the publication of the information.
Reproduced from the Complaints Resolution Panel website.
The Panel found that the claims relating to the patches being effective in appetite control, craving control, weight loss, detoxification, antioxidant boost, anti-aging, skin repair, pain relief, relief of pain from injuries, relief of chronic pain, relief of migraines, relief of arthritis, enhancing energy, enhancing stamina, reducing fatigue, and promoting restful sleep, had not been verified, were misleading, and could not be substantiated by the advertiser, therefore constituted a breach of the code [Section 4(2)(a)].
In the report published on the website, the Panel stated that;
“…they were not satisfied that the material provided by the advertiser constituted even minimally persuasive evidence that the advertised products could have the therapeutic benefits claimed in the advertisements”.
In particular the Panel targeted testimonials published on the website. As part of the code, testimonials are required to be documented, not misleading and be regarded as plausible illustrations for the potential benefits of the product. The concluded that claims such as “wow 20 seconds my pain was gone” and “90 seconds lower back pain was gone”, were indeed not plausible and therefore breached the code (Section 4.7).
The Panel did not accept photos like these as sufficient evidence that Michael Phelps uses Lifewave patches. Funny that.
The website also made claims that the patches were used by the swimmer Michael Phelps and several AFL football players, but the advertiser was unable to provide evidence for this, apart from the following statement;
“(they had) been told by LifeWave staff in Australia who hold training sessions that Michael Phelps has used the patches and that a few of the AFL teams have begun using the patches” and “there are photos on the internet that show Michael Phelps with the patches on his body.”
Then panel deemed this insufficient evidence and therefore concluded that these claims breached the code.
In Australia it is prohibited to advertise products that claim to treat or cure serious diseases/ailments, such as cardiovascular disease. The Panel deemed that the Lifewave website breached this section of the code [5(2)], by including “research” information which referred to “heart rate variability enhancement through nanotechnology” and many other references to heart rate variability, “increase[ing] glutathione levels in the body”, and other references to health issues.
In a meeting held on April 16, 2009, The Panel ruled that the advertiser was to withdraw the advertisements from further publication; and withdraw any representations that the advertised products are safe, or that they have benefits in relation to appetite control, craving control, weight loss, detoxification, antioxidant boost, anti-aging, skin repair, pain relief, relief of pain from injuries, relief of chronic pain, relief of migraines, relief of arthritis, enhancing energy, enhancing stamina, reducing fatigue, or promoting restful sleep.
The Advertiser was given 14 days to comply with this ruling and was instructed to provide evidence to The Panel of this compliance.
Which apparently the advertiser decided did not entirely suit them, since you can still find the website, in it’s shiny misleading, code breaching glory.
Which leads me to question; who is responsible for enforcing these rulings? How is it that these people get a slap on the wrist, ignore the ruling and carry on their merry way, selling products for which there is no evidence of efficacy? There should be a process whereby I can easily and quickly alert the TGA to the non-compliance and there should be substantial penalties for non-compliance.
Until there is, then the TGA Complaints Resolution Panel is about a effective as an ashtray on a motor bike = useless.
