Hilary's Desk

Following on from yesterday's blog about Paul Offit's Science Friction, .. today's blog is about how Nikki Turner's presentations to the Parliamentary Select Committee are tainted with the same "blight".  Part of Paul Hutchison's recommendations to Parliament included Nikki Turner's unfactual statement (under her IMAC guise) that if vaccination against measles...

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The subject of a previous blog on Paul Offit, was his porkies in his new book "Deadly choices" Dr Offit has authored another document, where, amongst various dictatorial objectives, he wants to force yearly "exemption reviews" by a "state-approved counselor" (inquisitor/brainwasher), to brow-beat parents who chose not to vaccinate - who will no doubt then be billed by the st...

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This is the first in a series of blogs on this topic. This one is a long blog but you need to read it very carefully.  You need to understand exactly how the information provided by the MOH to Dr Hutchison is so misleading and the implications of that for the whole debate.  In December 2010, the Ministry of Health (MOH) replied to other submitters, and my written and oral p...

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Do you, like some other kiwis I know, roll up and get your five yearly "pneumonia shot"? You did know, of course, that it was useless, right? Of course not. I mean, if that was the case, your doctor wouldn't have given it to you, right? You did know that the Cochrane Collaboration, medical doyen of evidence based medicine, has stated that the polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine is useless since...

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On March 1, The Wall Street Journal ran an article on fever  which was discussing the American Academy of Pediatric’s latest policy document on fever and antipyretic use.  which is exactly the snow-job you’d expect of an organisation wedded at the hip to Big Pharma. Out of interest, I submitted an e-response to Pediatrics. In the event of it not being put up, here is ...

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Several times, I’ve been asked to explain my silence, and why I have not written about Andrew Wakefield in the past. My concerns started in 1981, and go much deeper and relate to much more fundamental issues than “that” paper. It’s up to Andrew Wakefield to clear his own name. It’s up to Deer to prove he’s right. There are far more serious, fundamental i...

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Dear Professor Crane,  In my print copy of the Herald (attached) the following comment is attributable to you: “The benefits of paracetamol for fever control still outweigh the potential of later allergy development..” and…”there were few other options for fever control in young children.” and ... that you don’t know how paracetamol is causing alle...

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What's your thoughts on Full Body Scanners?  That they are a total over-reaction?  My reaction is pretty much the same as The Washington Times, which unlike most New Zealand newspapers, does thoughtful analyses on really meaningful topics.  You all know the term, "The war on terror".  This "terror" can be interpretted in many ways, but lets start with the "terror" which resu...

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Today, we are told that fever is good for you!  Now where might you have heard that before?  Oh yeah.Here of course. And you'll find a chapter called "Fever Pitch" in the book we wrote in 2006.  And then there's the chapter called "Bringing chickenpox to the boil" in our second book, published in 2008, which detailed some of the dramas created by Pfizer, who didn't like IAS ...

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The function of the placenta is an overlooked non-thought, because the medical system considers it redundant the minute a baby's head makes an appearance.  Don't you think that strange, given that for nearly nine months, the placenta has provided nutrients, oxygen and... stem cells to the baby?  This magnificent organ provides an amazing service, which is utterly abused, particularly ...

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Long time readers here will know that immediate cord-clamping is something which makes me angry enough to write lots of blogs on it.  In the latest BMJ, a retired consultant obstetrician, in a column called Personal View calls for the practice to be stopped.  Why does an obstetrician have to be retired before saying the blindingly obvious?  It’s utterly insane&nbs...

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In the Sunday Star Times today, Judge David McNaughton delivered a swift message to Starship doctors about predictive and substandard medical care, and the presumption of guilt without good cause.  The Judge found Famaile Lino not guilty of abusing his six month old child after Starship jumped to conclusions, and robustly defended their own preconceived mindsets.  The L...

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 "Surprise: Scientists discover that inflammation helps to heal wounds".  Interesting headline, huh? Remind you of anything?  Like "Fever helps the body successfully fight disease, and using drugs to reduce fever, gives the infection the advantage." ??  So why did the medical mantra of treating sprains with RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), become so popula...

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In his book, "How Doctor's Think", Dr Jerome Groopman describes an ultrasound doctor, who detects in a baby, inside a woman 5 weeks from giving birth, a strange shaped space inside the baby's brain which should look like a tear-drop with sharp edges, but just doesn't look quite right.  Not badly wrong, but just not quite right. Because the shape is pretty near...

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You don't think you need to know?  Well, according to Dr Jerome Groopman, you do.  Dr Groopman belongs to a rare species in medicine who tell it as it is - perhaps because he's been at the butt end of a few medical bum deals in his day. He knows what it feels like to be run over by his own medical system, and has the clout to write about it.His writing is vitally important, and utterl...

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In a brilliant article called Lies, Damned Lies and Medical Science (pdf) a bright light was shone upon the reality of medical practice across the board, .... by what I thought was an almost extinct species - honest scientists.Thank goodness that some actually exist. It gives me hope for the future!  The fact that medicine is often damned lies, is something we've b...

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I've had all my shots."  So said Javelin Thrower Stewart Farquhar.  This just about epitomizes the effort which the average New Zealander puts into learning about the real world. Fact.  The things which bite you on the bum in India, are NOT likely to be the things for which you have had shots. FACT: What might hit you harder on the bum if you go to India now a...

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What epidemic? "Numbers have been on the rise since June this year, but they really spiked up in August," said Dr Alison Roberts, of the Ministry of Health' ... Hiding behind the word "epidemic", as a scare tactic, Alison Roberts continues: "We have been expecting an epidemic around now. New Zealand has a whooping cough epidemic every four to five years, and the last one started in 1999." ...

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By Peter Butler.  Here is the follow up to “VOICES AND CHOICES”. I make no apology for returning to a topic which I believe is absolutely crucial in everybody’s lifestyle. Most of us would agree that the ability to exercise freedom of choice is a fundamental human right. It plays a big part in our uniqueness (See “Facts many People Prefer to Ignore”) but it ...

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