Steven Tunley Writes to “60 Minutes”

Subject: Getting the point (10/6/11)

Dear 60 Minutes

I refer to your program “Getting the point”.

My daughter is one of the victims of vaccination. In May 2009 she had her first dose of Gardasil the HPV vaccine co-developed by Dr Ian Frazer, CSL and Merck. She felt unwell immediately post vaccination. She had her second dose 4 weeks later and almost immediately had a seizure. Since that time a normal 19 year old has been severely impacted by poor health issues. So serious were these that for close to 3 weeks she was under the care of Prof Ron Penny the noted immunologist at St Vincent’s Hospital. During this time she was observed having repeated seizures, tachycardia where her heart would move from 70 to over 180 beats per minute in seconds, uncontrolled violent tremors and more.

Why did this occur? I believe that my daughter is one of up to 8% of women who have an existing or genetic predisposition to an Auto Immune Disease (she subsequently was diagnosed as having had glandular fever and being a celiac!). A list of these can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disease as you can see it is extensive.

With regard to Gardasil, Merck was able to gain authority to release the vaccine at the conclusion of Stage One Trials (normally the trials of new vaccines extend for 3 trials). Interestingly Merck removed from the trial what it calls “certain at risk groups”, these were people that Merck determined had or were likely to suffer from a suppressed immune system. Yet despite this and the fact that Stage 2 and 3 trials were not completed, the vaccine was introduced with no warning that those who had or may have a family history of an AID should be aware of potential risks!

What makes this worse if that is possible, is that in Australia the Federal Government made this available at schools where there was no knowledge of the medical history of the recipient or their family and following this no formal follow-up to determine any adverse reactions. There is a voluntary reporting system run by the TGA but it is notorious for under – reporting of adverse reactions (as is the VAERS database in the USA where it is believe that only between 1 and 10 in 100 hundred adverse events are recorded) and by breaking the nexus between GP and patient (as was the case for some that received Gardasil) and therefore an already unreliable reporting system was further compromised. We reported the issues with our daughter to the TGA who referred it to the vaccine distributor for follow up and from whom we have had no follow up of any consequence. I imagine 60 minutes would love a story where say a person accused of a war crime by the Hague was permitted to investigate the alleged crime theirselves and report back to the Hague on the findings – yet that is what happened here and elsewhere with regard to vaccines!

I will ignore commenting as to whether Gardasil is efficacious let alone offers any cost benefits vs pap smears which have been remarkably effective in reducing the incidence of HPV and Cervical Cancer. A simple Google search will provide much evidence that challenges the benefit of Gardasil other than to Merck and the patent holders.

As I have become involved in and more aware of the issues that some young women face following vaccination I have become aware of an alarming number of young women that have been seriously impacted post Gardasil vaccination. For instance a cluster of up to 20 young women in Australia that have been diagnosed with MS post Gardasil vaccination. As recently as last Saturday I was contacted by a Mother whose daughter fell seriously ill post Gardasil vaccination and has now been diagnosed with Adult Onset Still’s Disease a very rare AID. Of concern is that as no one is warned of possible causal links between the vaccine and subsequent illness , few make the link. Yet, as the awareness of serious illnesses arise more and more people are making the connection, yet no Authority is considering this – I guess as the liability issues it may create outweigh the need for fair and honest investigation of the truth.

I want be clear I am not anti vaccines. There have been many illnesses that have been stopped by the judicious use of vaccines. I am however totally opposed to vaccines being marketed without appropriate risk warnings or introduced early with NO follow up as to issues that may be linked.

I grew up in the 80’s where 60 Minutes was a serious “must watch” and fearless current affairs show, so good that it was a Sunday evening must watch. I believe 60 minutes would be well served with a follow up “ Getting the Point – the other story” where young women, their parents and GP’s talk about the dirty side of “fear marketed” vaccines, promoted using glamorous electronic and print media. I know many of these young women and their parents and would be happy to introduce them to you … in the spirit of balanced and fearless reporting which is of course your true heritage.

I can easily be contacted on any of the phone numbers below and look forward to your contact.

Sincerely

Stephen Tunley