Wendy Lydall - irresponsible vaccine denialist

Many visitors to this blog complain that I am closed-minded, cowardly, offensive, litigious, vitriolic, or perhaps even mentally unbalanced.

Well, they might be right.

In the meantime, though, I'm going to continue writing letters for the simple reason that quackery kills people.

(Image credit - anonymisation by me)

Wendy Lydall is an Austrlian author whose book is called "Raising A Vaccine Free [sic] Child".

The two children above appear on the book's front cover. I do hope they are models, and not actual future victims of the bizarre anti-vaccination movement.

Wendy helpfully provides an indication of her stance on child vaccination, including such fascinating subject headings like:

VACCINE MYTH NUMBER THREE: "When vaccinated children get the disease that the vaccine was supposed to prevent, they get it less badly"

VACCINE MYTH NUMBER FIVE: "Without vaccination there would be epidemics"

VACCINE MYTH NUMBER SIX: "If enough people are vaccinated, the disease will die out"

VACCINE MYTH NUMBER ELEVEN: "Vaccines are scientifically tested for safety and effectiveness"

"Medical malice - Contamination and the origin of AIDS"

The advert which promotes the book in this month's Nexus Magazine is even more irresponsible. It claims

• The "vaccine industry" has "introduced coercive measures in many countries in order to achieve compliance [in vaccination for children]"
• Vaccination is "an unscientific...procedure"
• The book promoted by the advert is a "scientifically-based guide to the myths, facts, problems and solutions associated with raising a vaccine free [sic] child"
  
  

All of the claims above are, needless to say, industrial-strength bullshit. Here's my urgent protest to the ASA.

"I write to complain about an advert appearing in "Nexus" magazine (August-September 2010, Vol 17 No 5, p63).

The advert, for Wendy Lydall, promotes a book, "RAISING A VACCINE FREE [sic] CHILD".

I suspect that the advert may be in breach of ten sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code. I can provide an original copy of the advert by post, if required.

1. The advert contains the text:

"Vaccination is presented to parents as a safe, scientific procedure, which no responsible parent would query. But an increasing number of parents are questioning the validity of this 200 year old [sic] ritual. The vaccine industry has responded to this skepticism [sic] by introducing coercive measures in many countries in order to achieve compliance. Since its inception in 1795 by Edward Jenner, vacccination has been an unscientific, commercially-based procedure, which is aligned with powerful pharmaceutical interests. At the same time, infectious diseases pose a significant threat to the health and well-being of children in all strata of society. Anti-vaccinationists make statements which contradict official pronouncements. Some activists make wild claims for alternative methods of disease prevention. How does a parent find a way through the maze of conflicting information? In this book, Wendy Lydall presents a comprehensive, scientifically-based guide to the myths, facts, problems and solutions associated with raising a vaccine free [sic] child."

2. The advertiser's website [1] gives a good indication of the contents of the book, which contains subjects headings like:

(i) VACCINE MYTH NUMBER THREE: "When vaccinated children get the disease that the vaccine was supposed to prevent, they get it less badly"

(ii) VACCINE MYTH NUMBER FIVE: "Without vaccination there would be epidemics"

(iii) VACCINE MYTH NUMBER SIX: "If enough people are vaccinated, the disease will die out"

(iv) VACCINE MYTH NUMBER ELEVEN: "Vaccines are scientifically tested for safety and effectiveness"

(v) "Medical malice - Contamination and the origin of AIDS"

3. My complaint concerns exclusively the following claims from the text of the advert itself:

(i) The "vaccine industry" has "introduced coercive measures in many countries in order to achieve compliance [in vaccination for children]"

(ii) Vaccination is "an unscientific...procedure"

(iii) The book promoted by the advert is a "scientifically-based guide to the myths, facts, problems and solutions associated with raising a vaccine free [sic] child"

4. Under Sections 3.1 and 50.1 of the CAP Code, I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate any of these claims.

5. Under Section 3.3, I challenge whether the claims "exaggerate the value, accuracy, scientific validity or practical usefulness" of the book.

6. Under Section 2.1, I challenge whether the claims are "truthful".

7. Under Section 2.2, I challenge whether the advert has been "prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society."

8. Under Section 6.1, I challenge whether the claims "exploit the credulity, lack of knowledge or inexperience of consumers".

9. Under Section 7.1, I challenge whether the claims are misleading.

10. Under Section 9.1, I challenge whether the advert "cause[s] fear or distress without good reason", and I challenge whether the advert uses "shocking claims...merely to attract attention".

11. Under Section 10.1, I challenge whether the claims encourage unsafe practices (namely, refusing to vaccinate one's children).

12. Under Section 50.3, I challenge whether the advert discourages esssential treatment.

13. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or with the alternative medicine industry in general. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser.

Footnotes:

[1] http://www.vaccinefreechild.com/contents.html
"