Hilary's Desk

Ever heard of something called “challenge”, “dechallenge” … “rechallenge” (CDR)? It goes like this. Give a person like me, antibiotics (challenge), and the body happens to go nuts. Big rash (urticaria). But as a doc you aren’t sure, so you stop the drug for a while (dechallenge), and then give it again (rechallenge). Result = Big rash, face and neck swells and I can't breath. The rechallenge proved that the antibiotic was causing the reaction. The same principle applies to all drugs, foods, whatever. It could be called “immunology 101” Real basic. Or you would think, right?  Read Full Blog

Jasmine is not alone. But her mother is the first who has decided to go public with all her information.  Read Full Blog

What follows is a letter to Dr Stewart Jessamine which gives a overview of the issues as they stand today:  Read Full Blog

Rhonda’s focus turned to the question of “why did Gardasil do this and how?”. In reviewing Jasmine’s medical records and all the talks Rhonda and I had, I was most concerned at certain aspects of Jasmine’s last few months, in particular the deterioration of her ability to make decisions, and to work out how to do simple jobs which she had done since childhood. It seemed too me that apart from the other symptoms in Jasmine’s body, there was something going on in her brain.  Read Full Blog

In October 2009, Rhonda Renata emailed me about the death of her daughter Jasmine on 22nd September 2009. She had emailed John Key, Tony Ryall, and a few others and had got the usual fluff political responses from a dogma-ingrained system. From the time of Jasmine’s death, she had scoured the internet and found many cases of Gardasil recipients who had had similar stories to Jasmine. She wanted answers as to her daughter’s death, and wanted to know what to do next.  Read Full Blog

How would you feel if your healthy child died, or had a serious reaction to Gardasil? What would you expect to happen in terms of your concerns, and your “need-to-know”? How would you go about finding closure? What are the obstacles along this way?  Read Full Blog

What do scientists know about the flu vaccine? Not much really, in spite of it being used for years. This particular blog is not for the faint hearted. Read Full Blog

WE mothers are not the crème de la crème of society. WE did not go to medical school. WE are mere mothers, who can’t possibly understand all medical science. And WE know this, because they infer so, in their medical articles about us. And in lay-press articles, we hear patronising messages such as vaccines being just like “hard hats”, “seat belts” and “steel-capped boots”. Strange. NONE of those things go ‘into’ a body. Neither do they have potential to train-wreck the immune system in a finely tuned biological-wonder.  Read Full Blog

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A recent abridged email provides another piece to the jigsaw puzzle: Read Full Blog