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haemorrhage of the right cerebral hemisphere and retinal right to attend on the residential address of any parent suspected haemorrhages were noted. In the case of Baby A., the findings of abusing children. A notice’? is served on them to present their found subdural haemorrhages of the right and left cerebral child forthwith to a nominated medical practitioner at a hospital or hemispheres as well as retinal bleeding. It is also interesting to some other place so specified so a medical examination of the note that both mothers had urinary tract infections during child can take place. pregnancy and were treated with antibiotics. Under the law, the Director-General of the Department of The father of Baby A. is fighting for his life and is presently Community Services may keep the child for "such period of time seeking sufficient worldwide medical expertise to file an appeal. as is reasonably necessary for the child to be examined". A court Many medical professionals around the world have responded to _ of law will ultimately decide the fate of the baby, i.e., whether the his request for support, including Dr Archie Kalokerinos who baby would be returned to the care of the parents or whether it gave evidence in the Walters trial. would be fostered out to family or other carers. Following a hear- Another tragic case in the United States is that of a mother who ing, it is possible that the court could refer the matter to the has been jailed for life for allegedly shaking her quadruplets. The _ police. The situation may then arise where a person is charged naturally conceived quadruplets were born two months prema- with a criminal offence (SBS), even though the injuries to the turely, weighing around three pounds each. When the babies baby may well have been reported to the appropriate authorities were three weeks old, they were given hepatitis B vaccine—fol- by that person as a serious vaccine adverse event. lowing which, all four babies became ill and It is clear that the diagnosis of SBS requires required hospitalisation. Two babies ultimately meticulous medical investigation. This investi- required insertion of shunts in their brains to gation will be made much more difficult in the release blood and fluid as a result of subdural future with the recent endorsement by govern- haemorrhages. : — The problem is the ments around the world of hepatitis B vaccina- Immediately the babies were hospitalised, . . tion of all newborns. As more vaccines are the medical professionals made a diagnosis of failure of medical released onto the market, the number of serious adoption and the maternal grandmother has | PFOfessionals to | ree. nour childen and ata younger age been dismissed by state authorities as a recognise that The problem is the failure of medical profes- possible candidate. i sionals to recognise that vaccine adverse In the United Kingdom, a 35-year-old lawyer vaccine adverse events do occur and that they are guilty of was recently convicted of the double murder of events do occur labelling them "coincidental" or "by chance". her baby sons. Christopher died in 1996 and Harry in 1998. Sally Clark was accused of shaking Harry to death. Because of that accusation, it was alleged that it was too much of a coincidence to believe that Christopher did not die in 1996 in exactly the same way, even though death at the time was attributed to "natural causes". Harry was diagnosed with retinal haemorrhage; however, one medical expert prior to the trial had doubts about this diagnosis, as he claimed he had been looking at the wrong slides. This disclo- sure weakened other medical experts' evi- In Australia, six deaths" have been report- ed from vaccines in the 27-month period from 6 June 1997 to 2 September 1999. Because of the under-reporting and under- recognition of such events, it is likely that death and other serious injuries occur in much higher numbers than the public has been led to believe. In other words, it is more politically correct to label the death or injury of a baby as SBS than to investi- gate the safety and effectiveness of vac- cines which are considered by govern- ments and the majority of the medical profession as the only panacea for the and that they are guilty of labelling them "coincidental" or "by chance". dence of SBS, but it was not sufficient to sway the jury from a treatment of infectious diseases. verdict of guilty. Christopher was vaccinated 23 days before his Clinical trials prior to licensure of vaccines are notoriously death, and Harry on the day he died; so it is feasible that both of small, and this inhibits researchers’ ability to establish accurately these babies could have died from a severe vaccine adverse the cause and effect relationship between vaccines and serious event.” adverse events. Vaccine trials are usually funded by vaccine man- There was a divergence of medical opinion at the trial of Sally ufacturers themselves and are unlikely to quantify accurately the Clark as well as at the trial of the father of Baby A. The question _ true "risks vs benefits” ratio, lest it reflect on sales and marketing must be asked whether juries are capable of understanding com- strategies. plex, conflicting medical evidence empowering them to judge a What is seriously lacking is independent scientific research person's guilt or innocence in such cases. It is interesting to note — with large numbers of trial participants, where one half is given that in the Australian case of Walters, a Judge alone found the the vaccine and the other half is given a placebo. defendant not guilty. Dr Mark Donohoe, the Sydney medical practitioner who gave evidence for the defence in the Walters trial, was very explicit in ACCURATE CASE ASSESSMENT his SBS research when he said:'5 It should be noted that SBS may not always result in the death "There exist major data gaps in the medical literature regarding of a baby. In New South Wales recently, parents of a child suffer- SBS. These are summarised as: ing a serious vaccine adverse event were suspected of SBS. The * Lack of clear definition of cases. There is an urgent need for baby has been removed from the care of the parents and placed standard criteria, to identify certain cases for the purpose of unith a No: ant af Cam Sa: MACS ——EEEEE———————S—OSX—s_l—X—X—X—X—X—X—s—sX—X— The problem is the failure of medical recognise that vaccine adverse and that they are guilty of labelling them "coincidental" or "by chance". ACCURATE CASE ASSESSMENT It should be noted that SBS may not always result in the death of a baby. In New South Wales recently, parents of a child suffer- ing a serious vaccine adverse event were suspected of SBS. The baby has been removed from the care of the parents and placed with a Department of Community Services (DOCS) foster parent. The law in New South Wales" gives representatives of DOCS the NEXUS - 39 professionals to events do occur Continued on page 81 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2000