No special treatment for objectors. LETTER - DOCTORS GLAD TO IMMUNISE.

Parents `not Told Vaccination Facts' Legal bid to change vaccine campaign. SOLDIERS SPARED. NSW - Protesters ask government to ease vaccination pressure. Mother sues on school needles. Nursing mothers `facing more complaints'. LETTERS - More information needed on whooping cough vaccine. PARENTS SUE OVER NEEDLES. Mistake `threat' to State campaign. FED - GROUP TO SEEK INJUNCTION AGAINST GOVT CAMPAIGN. Just The Shot Vaccine benefits beat costs, says judge. Prick Flows The Tears As Sheepish Take A Jab At Measles

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No special treatment for objectors. By JOCELYN NEWMAN. 113 words 8 January 1998 The Australian AUSTLN 12 English (c) 1998 Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd MERYL Dorey mistakenly claimed in her letter about the Maternity Immunisation Allowance (No Penalty, 5/1) that parents who registered as conscientious objectors could collect the entire $950 allowance immediately after the birth of their first child. In fact, parents who receive an exemption from immunising their child, for medical reasons or due to conscientious objection, will have to wait until the child is aged 18 months before they receive the second payment of $200 (in addition to the $750 paid at birth). The same conditions apply to parents of immunised children. Senator JOCELYN NEWMAN Minister for Social Security. (c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 1998. Document austln0020010922du1801a6n

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LETTER - DOCTORS GLAD TO IMMUNISE. 290 words 26 March 1999 Herald-Sun HERSUN 20 English (c) 1999 Herald and Weekly Times Limited THE letter from Meryl Dorey from the Vaccination Network, or should I say the "Anti-Vaccination Network" (Herald Sun, March 23), is typical of the disinformation that erodes the good outcomes of immunisation. Until recently, immunisation was done by a number of providers, resulting in too many children failing to receive all their necessary vaccinations. To ensure as many children as possible are protected from preventable and dangerous diseases such as measles, whooping cough, polio and mumps, the Federal Government is paying GPs $18.50 to vaccinate children attending their practice. The money covers the costs of taking on this responsibility, the follow-ups and paperwork involved in reporting to the government. Ms Dorey has also misinterpreted and misunderstood news reports on changes to payments to general practice. As it stands, the Federal Government, through Medicare, reimburses patients $21.50 for a standard GP consultation. If the GP bulk-bills then the patient can sign a form instructing Medicare to pay the doctor directly. As the Medicare rebate has failed to keep pace with inflation and the costs of running a medical practice over the past decade, the government has now agreed to provide more money, but this time directly to the doctor in the form of incentive payments. Like all good business practices, the government is rewarding doctors for a job done over and above what is required. It is not a "bounty" and doctors do not need to be pushed to vaccinate against preventable diseases. Immunisation remains the most effective means of protecting your children from potentially fatal disease and GPs are happy to provide this service. Dr Gerald R. Segal, president, Australian Medical Association, Victoria. (C) 1999 Herald and Weekly Times Limited. Document hersun0020010906dv3q015n5

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News Parents `not Told Vaccination Facts' By Jenny Dennis 156 words 11 November 1998 Illawarra Mercury ILM 14 English (c) 1998 of John Fairfax Group Pty. Ltd. Parents are not being told the real risks of chilhood vaccinations, a seminar in Wollongong has been told. Australian Vaccination Network president Meryl Dorey claims a booklet distributed to parents as part of the Federal Government's primary school measles campaign does not state all adverse reactions to the vaccine. She told the Natural Health for Children seminar that side effects listed in the booklet the Government sent to parents missed 21 adverse reactions included in the manufacturer's insert with the vaccine. ``Parents aren't being told the true facts,'' Ms Dorey said. ``Nor are they being told about the ineffectiveness of the vaccines.'' The Australian Vaccination Network's book Vaccination Roulette includes information of which Ms Dorey believes parents should be aware. She said most people in Australia who had diseases like mumps, measles, rubella, diptheria and whooping cough already had been vaccinated against them. Document ilm0000020010917dubb00k8j

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Legal bid to change vaccine campaign. 299 words 24 July 1998 Courier Mail COUMAI English (c) 1998 Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd THE Australian Vaccination Network plans to seek a Federal Court injunction to change the Federal Government's $30 million campaign to vaccinate 1.75 million children against measles, mumps and rubella. Jonathan Nolan, who is preparing the court application, confirmed yesterday it should be lodged in the next few days. AVN president Meryl Dorey said yesterday forms given to parents as part of the campaign seeking consent for children to be vaccinated were "misleading and downright deceptive". She said it was extremely difficult for parents who did not want their children vaccinated to fill out the forms appropriately. "It could easily be put into plain English," she said. The group also was opposed to an information booklet being sent to all parents of school children. She said it did not inform parents why vaccination might not be appropriate for their child. It listed the most common and mild reactions without stating any of the less frequent but more severe side-effects. "Parents are entitled to know this information if they are going to subject their child to a vaccination," she said. The group also did not believe schools were the proper venues for medical procedures. "There is too much of a risk of an error being made," Mrs Dorey said. "By all means have an education campaign, there is no problem with that at all." A spokesman for federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said the vaccination booklet distributed to students went overboard in giving balanced information and was sourced from the best medical and scientific evidence in the world. "I would be surprised if the Federal Court even gives them standing to proceed with this obscure grandstanding for an unscientific and risky request," he said. Page 5 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

- MICHELLE HELE. (c) 1998 Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd. Document coumai0020010922du7o009e3

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SOLDIERS SPARED. 111 words 17 February 1998 Herald-Sun HERSUN 3 English (c) 1998 Herald and Weekly Times Limited AUSTRALIAN servicemen sent to the Gulf would not be given the cocktail of inoculations suspected of causing the mysterious Gulf War Syndrome affecting many veterans of the 1991 war with Iraq, the Federal Government guaranteed yesterday. Anti-vaccination groups claimed the soldiers could be at greater risk from the drugs and vaccines than from danger in Iraq. Australian Vaccination Network president Meryl Dorey claimed as many as 12,000 American Gulf War veterans had died and hundreds of thousands fallen ill from the affliction. Gulf War Syndrome symptoms include chronic fatigue, skin disorders, headaches, muscle pain, gastrointestinal problems and nervous system disorders. (C) 1998 Herald and Weekly Times Limited. Document hersun0020010924du2h00spf

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NSW - Protesters ask government to ease vaccination pressure. 351 words 8 November 1998 16:14 Australian Associated Press AAP English (c) 1998 AAP Information Services Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Available for personal use but not for sale or redistribution for compensation of any kind without the prior written permission of AAP. SYDNEY, Nov 8, AAP - More than 60 people rallied outside Prime Minister John Howard's office in Sydney today calling on the government to ease pressure on parents to vaccinate their children. The protesters, bearing placards with photographs of children captioned with illnesses including "brain damage", "epilepsy" and "blind", gathered in light rain. Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) president Meryl Dorey called on the federal government to repeal a law requiring parents who don't want to vaccinate to apply for a conscientious objectors exemption or lose childcare subsidies. Many doctors were bullying parents who asked them to sign the relevant forms, she said. She called for the government to organise a study to compare the amount of Medicare funding expended on 5,000 vaccinated and 5,000 unvaccinated children. She said government booklets encouraging parents to vaccinate their children had omitted more than 20 adverse reactions children could have. The booklets were sent out as part of a recent campaign to encourage vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella, she said. "We're calling on the government to fully inform parents and take the pressure off parents. And there should be more research into the side effects of vaccination," she said. Protester Peta Robinson of Heathcote said her son collapsed into a coma when he was 15 months old after being given a vaccination. The boy, who Ms Robinson did not want named, lapsed in and out of the coma over the next year, and then his fine motor skills began to deteriorate, and he became 95 per cent deaf, she said. Ms Dorey said the AVN had 300 members in the Sydney area and 1500 across Australia. She said the group intended to sue Professor Simon Chapman who told last Friday's A Current Affair program on Channel 9 that the groups claims lacked the backing of any significant scientific evidence. (c) 1998 AAP Information Services Pty Ltd All rights reserved. Available for personal use but not for sale or redistribution for compensation of any Page 8 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

kind without the prior written permission of AAP. Document aap0000020020307dub8018j5

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Mother sues on school needles. By OCHEE AMANDA. 333 words 10 August 1998 Courier Mail COUMAI English (c) 1998 Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd THE mother of a five-year-old boy who was allegedly vaccinated at school against her wishes is suing the Federal and Northern Territory governments for compensation. The case is the first known incident in the Federal Government's $30 million campaign to vaccinate 1.75 million children for measles, mumps and rubella over the next three months. The boy was wrongly vaccinated at Millner Primary School in Darwin last Wednesday, just two days after the mass vaccinations began. Australian Vaccination Network president Meryl Dorey said the mother had returned the consent form with all consent sections crossed out. The mother also had spoken with her son's teacher to make sure he would not be wrongly vaccinated, but the boy was vaccinated by the school nurse, Ms Dorey said. She said AVN was advising parents to keep their children home from school to protect them against similar mix-ups. Legal counsel for the mother, Jonathan Nolan, said Northern Territory Health Service had admitted the error. The woman is claiming "substantial" civil damages expected to run into the "thousands and thousands of dollars", he said. Mr Nolan said he was involved in several cases in South Australia and Tasmania where children received the wrong vaccine or were vaccinated without parental permission in separate vaccination campaigns over the past three months. The Northern Territory mother was "totally" traumatised by the vaccination, which had thwarted her commitment to raise her son with natural therapies, he said. A spokesman for federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said AVN was "litigious to the extreme" and was acting upon the "worst anti-science" information. The case was a matter for the school involved and the Northern Territory Health Service. The spokesman said it was unfortunate if a child was accidentally vaccinated, but said there was only a one in one million chance of a child contracting any complications worse than tenderness at the injection point. (c) 1998 Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd. Page 10 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Nursing mothers `facing more complaints'. 411 words 30 March 1998 Courier Mail COUMAI English (c) 1998 Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd COMPLAINTS from women being told to stop breastfeeding in public are on the rise, according to the Nursing Mothers' Association. State president Suzette Powell said she was aware of three instances this year alone where women had been asked to stop breastfeeding in public. One Queensland woman was even asked to stop feeding her toddler in the waiting room of a child health clinic. "It's very sad that in today's world, where everyone is so much more relaxed and open, it's a shame that breastfeeding is still not accepted," Ms Powell said. Her comments follow the case of a woman being asked not to breastfeed her child in a Gold Coast shopping centre earlier last week. The woman, Meryl Dorey, lodged a complaint with the Queensland Anti-Discrim-ination Commission against the Niecon Plaza shopping centre after being told to breastfeed her 30-month-old daughter in a toilet change room. Ms Dorey, president of the Australian Vaccination Network, said after breastfeeding her 21/2-year-old daughter in the centre, the manager told her that if she wanted to do it again she should feed her daughter in the change room. "I would like to say to her (the centre manager), `Would you eat your lunch in that room?' And if she's being honest I don't think she would," Ms Dorey said. There were postcards and magazines with women's breasts on them in the shopping centre but nobody had complained about them. Instead they complained about her doing one of the "most natural things in the world", she said. Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Karen Walters said Queensland was one of the only states which legislated against women being prevented from breastfeeding in public. Under the Anti-Discrimination Act, it is prohibited to discriminate against someone breastfeeding in any public place. She said the commission had not received many complaints about women being told not to breastfeed in public because they were often not aware of their rights. "The small number of complaints may be because there's a greater acceptance of breastfeeding in Page 12 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

public than previous generations," Ms Walters said. "And because women, and particularly nursing mothers, are not aware it's against the law to not allow women to breastfeed in public." Ms Powell said the Nursing Mothers' Association encouraged mothers to breast feed whenever and wherever they needed to. - SUE MONK. (c) 1998 Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd. Document coumai0020010922du3u00czb

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LETTERS - More information needed on whooping cough vaccine. 322 words 1 August 1997 The Australian AUSTLN 10 English (c) 1997 Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd THE face of Nathaniel Eason is being splashed across Australian TV screens and newspapers. His message is that if we don't vaccinate our children they, too, will soon be hospitalised with whooping cough. But the majority of people who get whooping cough have been vaccinated against it. For instance, in the CDI Bulletin (May 29, 1997, Vol 21; No. 11), it says that, " ... [whooping cough] notifications ranged from 2.0 per 100,000 population in 1991 to a peak of 30.5 per 100,000 population in 1994 despite pertussis vaccination coverage approaching 90 per cent". The South Australian Health Commission says that of the more than 1000 cases of whooping cough to have been reported in that State in 1996, only 6 per cent were unvaccinated. This is not a case of failure to vaccinate but rather a failure of the vaccine to provide protection. Let the Government start to provide parents with real information about the dangers and ineffectiveness of vaccines. Until that time, the vaccination rates in Australia will continue to decline as parents become more and more knowledgeable about this issue. MERYL DOREY President, Australian Vaccination Network Bangalow, NSW MORE than 60 years ago I had whooping cough. I can still recall the terror of waking at night, fighting for breath and whooping every few seconds; the blood I coughed up spattering my bed linen and night clothes. Even after I was officially declared free from infection I still had long bouts of whooping; and for three years I had regular chest X-rays to ensure that the scar on my lung had not spread. When I had a child of my own it was a great relief to realise that I could have her immunised against this disease and protect her from the terror I had experienced. FAITH BRENNAN Queens Park, WA. (c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 1997. Document austln0020010929dt8100dxc

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PARENTS SUE OVER NEEDLES. By CAROLYN ALEXANDER. 351 words 22 September 1998 Herald-Sun HERSUN 22 English (c) 1998 Herald and Weekly Times Limited THOUSANDS of parents are considering suing the Federal Government and state governments for vaccinating children without their consent. About 50 have already started legal action, including some parents whose children had adverse reactions to vaccines. Parents claimed they were not informed of the risks. Compensation could run to tens of thousands of dollars for individual cases, predicted Darwin litigation lawyer Jonathan Nolan. Mr Nolan, who claims to be the only lawyer in Australia acting for parents on this issue, said he had been swamped with calls since the Federal Government's vaccination drive began six months ago. He said families from Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Tasmania had started legal action, with the first case due in the Federal Court on October 2. Several families, including one from Melbourne, claim their children became autistic and two families claim their children were hospitalised for a week after being vaccinated. Others said their children had been jabbed with re-used needles, risking blood-borne infections, or that their attempts to raise their child naturally had been thwarted. "There are some children it is very inappropriate to vaccinate," said Mr Nolan. "Most (parents) are not so concerned about the money - they just want to warn other parents." The Federal Government's vaccination drive includes a bid to vaccinate 1.75 million children against measles, mumps and rubella by November. President of the Australian Vaccination Network Meryl Dorey said parents were being bullied into agreeing to the injections, without being told all the facts. "One teacher asked a child why his father did not care that he was going to die from measles because he was not vaccinated," she said. "Our phones have been running hot with calls from parents whose children are being harassed and discriminated against in school." The AVN is taking the Federal Government to the Human Rights Commission for alleged human rights breaches against parents and children during the vaccination process. A spokesman for federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge declined to comment. (C) 1998 Herald and Weekly Times Limited. Page 15 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Mistake `threat' to State campaign. 274 words 24 June 1998 Adelaide Advertiser ADVTSR 7 English (c) 1998 Advertiser Newspapers Limited THE Maitland vaccination bungle comes at a time when a huge Statewide vaccination program the biggest mounted in South Australia is being planned for schools. More than 180,000 children in 750 primary schools will be offered a one-off vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella between July and October. A national anti-mass vaccination group, the Australian Vaccination Network says the Maitland mistake will erode public confidence about "the ethics and morality of mass immunisation". The forthcoming campaign is part of a $30 million federal move to change the age at which children receive their second dose of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, It is also a bid to contain the size and impact of a threatened measles epidemic next year following last year's New Zealand epidemic. Parents will be asked to give their permission for the MMR injection and no action will be taken if they refuse. "The idea is to have a one-off campaign to make sure all children have a second injection and pick up those who have not been immunised at all," says Health Commission epidemiologist, Dr Robert Hall. Under legislation now being drafted for State Parliament, parents who did not comply with mass immunisation risked having their child sent home from school if there was an outbreak. The move falls short of barring non-immunised children from school, which Federal Government sources say is a long-term aim. Ms Meryl Dorey, the president of the Australian Vaccination Network, said the Maitland incident was one of many recent mistakes made by State and local health authorities. (C) 1998 Advertiser Newspapers Limited. Document advtsr0020010921du6o00b6h

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FED - GROUP TO SEEK INJUNCTION AGAINST GOVT CAMPAIGN. 411 words 22 July 1998 Australian Associated Press AAP English (c) 1998 AAP Information Services Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Available for personal use but not for sale or redistribution for compensation of any kind without the prior written permission of AAP. CANBERRA, July 22, AAP - Parents opposed to the federal government's immunisation program were risking the lives of Australian children, Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said today. The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) announced it would seek a Federal Court injunction to change the $30 million immunisation program, claiming consent forms were misleading and the government had failed to explain all the risks of vaccinations. Dr Wooldridge described the move as a nuisance legal action. "Our legal system allows any individual, no matter how nonsensical their position, to take nuisance action like this," a spokesman for the Minister said. "The federal government will vigorously defend the matter if the Federal Court even gives them standing to proceed, which is doubtful. "These people are irrational. Their position is based on bad science and they would be very happy to allow Australian children to be totally exposed to an epidemic that can cause death." The $30 million measles control campaign will involve almost 7,300 schools. Information kits are being sent to each primary school child and parents are asked to sign a consent form. The immunisation schedule is being changed, bringing forward children's second dose from high school to before their first school enrolment. The campaign will offer a one-off free dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to all primary aged school children so they do not miss their second dose because of the change to the immunisation schedule. AVN president Meryl Dorey said that as well as "misleading and downright deceptive" consent forms, the group strongly objected to the accompanying information booklet which it said did not fully inform parents of the reasons vaccination might be inappropriate. "It only lists the most common and mild reactions without stating any of the less frequent but more severe side effects," Ms Dorey said in a statement. "The government, in its commendable zeal to protect the health of children, has raced into this campaign without apparently conducting the necessary research to show what might truly be the most cost effective, safest and efficacious way to reduce mortality from measles." Page 18 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Earlier today, Dr Wooldridge released survey findings which showed that of 500 parents questioned by Wallis Consulting Group, 95 per cent supported the campaign. (c) 1998 AAP Information Services Pty Ltd All rights reserved. Available for personal use but not for sale or redistribution for compensation of any kind without the prior written permission of AAP. Document aap0000020020307du7m01jj1

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NEWS AND FEATURES; AGENDA Just The Shot Megan James Megan James Reported And Co-Produced The ABC-TV Science Unit Documentaries On Vaccination Aired On September 23 and October 3. 2,513 words 18 December 1996 Sydney Morning Herald SMHH 9 English Copyright of John Fairfax Group Pty Ltd Immunisation is a topic which gets many people hot under the collar, as MEGAN JAMES discovered when she presented a Quantum program on the subject. Here, she writes about the need for a wide-ranging debate on the benefits and risks of childhood vaccination. ON Monday the ABC was due to make a regular rebroadcast of a two-part Quantum documentary originally screened 11 weeks ago. It didn't. For the first time in Quantum's 12 years, ABC TV management withdrew a program from the schedule because of the controversy it caused. The program was about a medical issue that involves every Australian, but which many health authorities would prefer was not debated: the benefits and risks of childhood vaccination. The Quantum team behind the program knew it was a divisive issue. We were careful to exclude the views of those who advise against vaccination. We balanced both sides of the debate in air time, and the emotional weight of the case studies discussed. And yet dozens of furious letters followed from doctors and heavyweight institutions such as the Australian College of Pediatricians. One letter, from Dr David Vaux of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, ended with: "Vaccination is not an issue that needs to be debated." From the medical establishment's perspective, Vaux makes good sense. Why have a debate about vaccination when, says Vaux, "next to clean water, vaccination is the most effective health measure available"? When it's rid the world of smallpox and Australia of polio? And when 118 Australians died last decade from diseases that vaccines may have prevented? The simplest response is that vaccines have side effects. And Australia's health authorities do not deny this. The debate is about how serious these side effects are and how often they occur. The problem in Australia is that anyone who raises concerns and questions about side effects is lumped in with those who assert that vaccines kill and injure more children than they protect. But a long way short of saying "don't vaccinate", there are some well-founded and moderate criticisms of Australia's current vaccination Page 20 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

schedule that consumers deserve to hear. The first debate is about exactly what information people should be given on side effects at the time of vaccination. In 1992, after a woman was blinded by an operation intended to improve her sight, the High Court ruled that doctors have a duty of care to warn of all side effects of all medical procedures even if the occurrence is rare. Many doctors argue that this is an unreasonable expectation. Dr Roy Robins-Brown, from Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, says he does not think that doctors need to warn their patients of very rare risks. "Few people can conceive what this means or how to balance this against the risk of not taking the vaccine," he says. Often the explanation goes no further than an assurance that the benefits in protecting their child from disease far outweigh any risks. But vaccine critics such as Maureen Hickman, the president of the Australian Council for Immunisation Information, say that's an insult to parents' intelligence. "It's clear from the hundreds of parents who write to us that a large percentage of the population is told nothing at all about the risks of the vaccine most often associated with serious side effects, DPT," says Hickman. DPT is the "triple antigen" diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccination, the whooping cough or pertussis component of which is linked to most side effects. But it's not just a question of no information, it's a question of which information. And how different medical professionals interpret the information. A Commonwealth Department of Health booklet for parents, Understanding Childhood Immunisation, states that the "most careful long-term studies show there is probably not a link between DPT and brain damage". But overseas, one of the world's most respected medical bodies has found that there probably is a link between DPT and brain damage, albeit limited. The study was by the US National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM), a group that advises the US Government on health issues. The IOM's 1994 review of the huge British National Childhood Encephalopathy Study states that "the balance of evidence is consistent with a causal relation between DPT and the forms of chronic nervous system dysfunction described in the ... study in those children who experience a serious acute neurological illness within seven days of receiving DPT vaccine". The IOM says the risk of "chronic nervous dysfunction" (problems ranging from learning disabilities to severe brain damage to death) is rare but measurable. This is not to underplay the seriousness of whooping cough. In 1994, Australia had about 4,000 cases. Many children suffer terribly: long coughing fits ending with the characteristic "whoop" as they struggle for breath. All medical authorities say whooping cough causes brain damage at a far higher frequency than the vaccine. Pneumonia can be a complication and, in very young infants, the disease has a death rate of between one in 300 and one in 2,000.

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With many suspected side effects, the fairest thing to say is that the jury is still out. Yet Australian medical authorities tend to interpret this as "not guilty". Dr Gavin Frost, a senior adviser to the Federal Government on vaccines, says: "I don't believe it (DPT) does cause permanent damage ... because that's been the experience in Australia and many countries before, during and after that analysis by the IOM. "Certainly, children have chronic brain damage; some of those have received vaccines and some have not, and I find no evidence which leads me to believe that more have it after the vaccine and therefore possibly due to it." A Newcastle clinical immunologist, Dr David Sutherland, says: "I don't recognise rheumatoid arthritis as a result of hepatitis B vaccination." Such medical professionals don't want to raise what they see as unwarranted fears. That may lower immunisation rates further, leading to more disease and deaths than vaccines could ever cause, they argue. But the danger of this line of thinking is that doctors may fail to investigate possible side effects. Next week, a group of concerned parents and health professionals will present the Federal Health Minister, Dr Wooldridge, with 150 reports of what they say are injuries to their children, mostly from DPT. While more than a million children are vaccinated each year in Australia, this is the biggest set of suspected adverse reactions ever given to the Australian Government -all previously unreported. The cases are mostly of children with serious disabilities, ranging from epilepsy to severe brain damage. They have been compiled since 1991 by the Vaccination Awareness Network. Stacey Chapman, of Milperra, says her son Rhys, now 5, became epileptic after his 18-month DPT, HIB and polio vaccinations on May 7, 1993. "He had no signs of any ill health before the shots, but by midnight on the same day he was hot, frothing at the mouth and he turned blue. My husband called an ambulance and we took him to Bankstown Hospital." Rhys has been on medication to control his seizures ever since and Chapman now sees a GP who administers vaccines one at a time. The parents, from lawyers to farmers, say they were not warned of any serious side effects of vaccines. All say the medical professionals they approached ruled out any connection between the change in their child and the vaccine. The doctors neither filed a medical report nor sought an investigation. Many of the parents had tried to get health authorities to look into the cases, but were told investigations could not proceed because parents didn't have a record of the batch or lot number of the vaccination given. This time, says VAN spokesperson Meryl Dorey, "we've recorded the cases as closely as possible to the official NSW forms for adverse events. Many are still missing the vaccine lot and batch numbers, but this time the ball is in the Government's court to record and investigate the cases." Page 22 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

This is not to claim that these 150 "anecdotes" constitute scientific evidence of vaccine damage. The doctors involved may well be correct in saying they are all sad coincidence. But without investigating all cases, how can parents be sure that medical authorities are not underestimating the rate and severity of vaccine side effects in our community? Pro-vaccination experts such as Frost are pushing for better medical reporting of suspected vaccine side effects. A Serious Adverse Events Following Vaccination Surveillance Scheme was set up in early 1995. There were 160 notifications in its first year, mainly of prolonged crying, fits, severe local reaction and of children in hypertonic (floppy) states. BUT there are still fears of under-reporting, as it's only in NSW that doctors are required to report adverse events to the scheme. It's voluntary in other States and territories. In Australia, it's only recently (see story below) that a case of vaccine-associated damage has been compensated. Australia does not have a compensation system for vaccine injuries, although a number of other nations do, including New Zealand, Britain, Japan and the United States. In the US, where vaccination is compulsory, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has compensated about 1,000 families in the past four years for serious vaccine-associated injuries, 75 per cent of them related to DPT. Even given our vastly different populations, it is hard to accept that not one Australian child has experienced a serious side effect of vaccines. Frost argues that as long as vaccination is not compulsory here, there is no legal obligation to have a compensation system. On the question of whether pro-vaccination governments have a moral obligation to compensate vaccine-related injuries, Frost says: "I think a child who is damaged in Australia, whether by trauma, by vaccine, or by injury, is compensated in many ways. Australia has a social security system which provides the needs of a child who is brain damaged - from whatever cause. Special treatment, special care, special education." But the public remains in the dark about how frequent and severe side effects are. And Australia's support services for the disabled do not pick up the pieces to the same extent that a compensation system would. Without suggesting that parents should stop vaccinating, perhaps, as vaccination critics argue, it's time our medical authorities stopped attempting to stifle debate by attacking those who present moderate criticisms. The National Health and Medical Research Council has recently added five more shots to the list of vaccinations recommended for all Australians, not just infants. If ever public confidence is to be improved, it had best be soon. VACCINE FIGHTS HEAD FOR THE COURTROOM Page 23 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

LATE last month, for what is believed to be the first time in Australia, a court recommended a payment for an injury attributed to a vaccine. The Medical Panel of the NSW Workers Compensation Court recommended that a Newcastle nurse be compensated with a six-figure sum for permanent impairment from crippling rheumatoid arthritis. Four expert witnesses gave evidence that her condition was related to the hepatitis B vaccine, and the court's medical panel concluded that her routine hepatitis B shot was the most likely cause of the arthritis. Judith Mascord worked for Newcastle's Mater Hospital Community Aged and Mental Health Services. Her work involved dressing wounds, which put her in a high-risk category for coming in contact with hepatitis B. "I'd had hep B vaccinations before, and felt fluey, but not too bad," she says. On August 18, 1994, she was told by hospital staff that it was time for her next hep B vaccination. Three days later, her symptoms began: pains in ankles and feet, jaw spasms, and her finger joints and later her shoulders locked at work. By February 1995, she had to have her knees drained of fluid. Mascord says she was not warned of any side effects of the hepatitis B vaccine. In fact, while the National Health and Medical Research Council's current handbook on vaccination lists "transient and minor" joint pain as a possible side effect, it makes no mention of arthritis occurring after hepatitis B vaccination. But, as an example of how the official acceptance of possible side effects may be changing, the draft for the 1997 version of the handbook does list "arthritis" as one adverse event that has been reported. But it goes on to state "there is inadequate evidence to either accept or reject the possibility that they are caused by hepatitis B vaccination". Mascord's solicitor, Trevor Carter, expects more cases to follow. "We're investigating the case of a 13-year-old boy who began suffering severe arthritis two weeks after a standard rubella vaccination," he says. In the Supreme Court of Queensland, a 25-year-old woman is seeking damages for the alleged negligence of a general practitioner who administered a DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) vaccination and against the hospital that treated the alleged reaction. The woman's solicitors, Ebsworth and Ebsworth, say that after her second DPT immunisation at six months of age, she suffered a severe and immediate reaction, including fever and convulsions. This allegedly led to severe brain damage and blindness. Two other cases involving the DPT vaccine have been lodged - one in NSW, the other in the Victorian Supreme Court. Both involve teenage boys who developed cerebral palsy after they were given their second DPT vaccinations at four months of age. Dr David Sutherland, a Newcastle clinical immunologist and medico-legal consultant, is critical of the increase in medical litigation. "I think it's getting silly. I don't believe arthritis is a consequence of hep B vaccine. I can't tell you it never occurs, but it doesn't fit with our current understanding of the course of the Page 24 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

disease. "We have to define the level of proof that we require, because otherwise we'll effectively create a new tax which will push up insurance premiums, and people will stop having vaccinations. I just wonder where it is going to stop." Dr Paul Spira, a Sydney adult neurologist also involved in medico-legal work, admits "the litigious side is selfgenerating. Once a case has been tried there is a 'find effect'". But he believes there is a genuine change in medical and scientific circles about possible side effects. "I'm a great believer in vaccination in general, but I think with DPT there is increasing evidence showing the first dose can cause febrile convulsions and sensitises the child, then the second one can, in rare cases, cause brain damage. "The fact that they are looking to introduce acellular vaccine is an admission that there is a problem with the whole-cell vaccine." Document smhh000020011015dsci00u9c

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Vaccine benefits beat costs, says judge. By STEFANIE BALOGH. 533 words 24 September 1997 The Australian AUSTLN 5 English (c) 1997 Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd A NSW Supreme Court judge entered the national immunisation debate yesterday, saying the benefits of childhood vaccines outweighed any possible risks of immunisation. Justice Michael Grove was delivering his ruling on a medical negligence case in Sydney, believed to be the first in Australia involving the effects of immunisation. He found that general practitioner Leonard Lotzof, of Sydney, was not in breach of his duty of care when he vaccinated David Bonello 18 years ago. And he had not acted negligently when he neglected to tell the Bonello family about the possible risks associated with immunisation. David, 19, who is severely brain damaged, had attempted to sue Dr Lotzof for negligence, claiming the vaccination he received at the age of four months caused his disability. David's family argued that before he was given the triple antigen injection for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, he was a healthy and normal baby. Dr Lotzof, they claimed, was told David had a chest infection but asked the family to "trust him" and went ahead with the vaccination. It was a claim strongly denied by Dr Lotzof during the trial and one which Justice Grove found was unsubstantiated. Justice Grove said it was "easy to recognise" the Bonello family had "blurred with the passage of years" some of the events and details of November, 1978, when David was immunised. He also said they may have had a subconscious "desire to blame someone for the occurrence of tragedy". But Justice Grove said there was no evidence before him to suggest that childhood immunisation was not "compelling, prudent and desirable". And he added the risk of spreading and contracting whooping cough was "so damaging that a doctor should not be found negligent for failing to inform the patient of remote serious risks of vaccination which remain, on the evidence, yet to be established as real". While David's father, Joseph Bonello, said he was "too disappointed to comment", Dr Lotzof's wife, June, greeted the decision with tears of relief. Mrs Lotzof said her husband, who is dying of cancer, had asked for the case to be expedited. "He was just so keen to see that the immunisation of children continues because he was devastated when he first started practising more than 50 years ago as to the terrible illnesses and deaths that occurred," she said. "The thing that upsets him is the low immunisation rate here." Dr Lotzof's lawyer, Lucy Bylhouwer, said although Justice Grove had commented on immunisation, the hearing did not require him "to decide whether or not the whooping cough vaccine was related to David's problems". A spokeswoman for the United Medical Protection, which funded the doctor's defence, said the judgment highlighted that "the decision by Dr Lotzof to vaccinate David was the correct one and consistent with good practice in 1978 and today". But Meryl Dorey, of the Australian Vaccination Network, a lobby group supporting voluntary immunisation, disagreed and accused Justice Grove of not delivering justice. Page 26 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

"All parents are entitled to know all the relevant risks before submitting to any medical procedure," Ms Dorey said. (c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 1997. Document austln0020010929dt9o0054d

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News And Features Prick Flows The Tears As Sheepish Take A Jab At Measles By Nadia Jamal 431 words 4 August 1998 Sydney Morning Herald SMHH 3 English (c) 1998 of John Fairfax Group Pty. Ltd. The needle came as a surprise to six-year-old Sivash. His mother had told him the nurses at the school were going to put cream on his arm. Instead, the pupil of Kent Road Public School at Eastwood found himself among thousands of children yesterday who were the first to receive a measles injection as part of a national immunisation campaign. "It hurt," he said. And while his classmate, Phillip, 6, said the needle did not scare him, a Year 2 pupil, Yosha, 7, said: "It felt like I was stung by a bee." One of the biggest mass immunisation campaigns undertaken in Australia began yesterday with students in 18 primary schools in the metropolitan, Central Coast and Hunter regions being the first in NSW to line up for a free measles vaccination. About 650,000 students aged 5 to 12 in all primary schools in the State will have the vaccine sometime in the next three months. It is part of the Federal Government's $30 million campaign to protect them from a forecast measles epidemic. The school's principal, Mr Allan Wilson, said about 300 of its 330 pupils took part in the program. Parents had to give permission for children to be vaccinated. Mr Wilson said some students had opted to go to their doctor for the needle, while others had parents who did not believe in vaccination. "Out of the whole school we probably only have half a dozen families who have not responded either way." The State's measles co-ordinator, Ms Janet Broome, said every school would have two immunisation nurses and a clerical support worker on hand for the vaccinations. She said children would have three vaccines - measles, mumps and rubella - in one needle. The Federal Minister for Health, Dr Wooldridge, said that having measles may not just mean a few days off school. Page 28 of 29 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Measles is a dangerous disease that can cause complications such as pneumonia, permanent brain damage and, in some cases, even death," he said. "One in eight children is not properly protected, and the experts tell me we can expect an epidemic in the next 12 months." Ms Meryl Dorey, a spokeswoman for the Australian Vaccination Network, a parent group which has opposed vaccination, said schools were a "dangerous" and inappropriate place for a medical procedure. But the president of the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations, Ms Beverly Baker, said schools had always been an acceptable and accessible venue for immunisation. Document smhh000020010919du840080i

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