Hilary's Desk

The Lancet has retracted the 1998 paper (1). Now, all the pillorying and slandering of Andrew Wakefield will start in earnest. The question is, "How does Richard Horton manage to go to sleep each night?". And here's why.  In 2004, the Lancet "partially" retracted the paper, on the basis that Andrew Wakefield never declared to the Lancet, financial conflicts of interest. When confronted in front of the GMC, with 1997 faxes , and proof of receipt, showing that that required information had indeed been received by the Lancet, Richard Horton said that he had never seen it. Read Full Blog

We all like things to be safe, and whatever we buy, or accept from a doctor, to not kill people, right?  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

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

"Bodily Matters” by Nadja Burbach. Read Full Blog

Making vaccines compulsory, isn't something you hear much about in New Zealand media, BUT... if we aren't careful, mandatory vaccination will become law in this country. While those who tweak the strings around the wrists of politicians have kept very quiet in public, in private, there have been, and are, far more intense discussions going on about making vaccines mandatory, than ever before. How do I know? Read Full Blog

We have very strange habits. Like: refusing to wait in doctor's waiting rooms, unless we're the first there in the morning. Refusing to take our patently infectious sick children into waiting rooms, or doctor's surgeries and wait there.  "What???" I hear you screech.  "How irresponsible is that???"  Quite the contrary.  The current medical system which encourages sick people to sit in their waiting rooms has created a culture of contamination and complacency, which one day, might return to bite them.  And you. Read Full Blog

As the UK medical gestapo proclaim 1,000 measles cases a national disaster, and go after parents who have refused to vaccinate their children against measles, there is an interesting "discussion" at the BMJ website. Peter Flegg, an infectious disease specialist has made some extraordinary claims. That's nothing new. He's done that at the BMJ for years. For those who want are keenly following the UK situation, here is the debate. Read Full Blog

So you think about the really bad days in the 19th century and decide to look at your family tree. Looking at the death causation in your 5 century old family tree, you start to wonder how all of your ancestors survived in those REALLY bad old days when diphtheria, polio, measles, mumps, whooping cough and the plague stalked the earth, and they didn’t have vaccines for most of those things. Read Full Blog