UK: Girl, 13, was given cancer vaccine ‘without consent’

[Guest guest]

From: Jackie Fletcher <jackie.fletcher@...>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4926406.ece

Sunday Times

12 October 2008

Girl, 13, was given cancer vaccine ‘without consent’

Isabel Oakeshott, Deputy Political Editor

A new row has broken out over the government’s

programme of mass vaccination of schoolgirls

against cervical cancer after a mother claimed

her daughter received the jab without either of them consenting to it.

Debbie has filed an official complaint

against health professionals who she claims took

the 13-year-old aside at school and administered the injection.

About 300,000 girls are receiving the Cervarix

vaccine in schools this autumn to protect them

against the human papilloma virus, a sexually

transmitted infection that causes most cases of

cervical cancer. Some parents and religious

groups are unhappy, fearing it could encourage

promiscuity, and one Catholic school has opted out.

, a Christian, says her daughter, who has

diabetes, agreed with her that she should not

have the injection at Stromness academy, Orkney,

because she was too young and could also suffer

an adverse reaction because of existing health problems.

Orkney NHS Trust said yesterday it was launching an “urgent investigation”.

said: “We all discussed it at length as a

family. I just didn’t feel comfortable with it. I

told my daughter that if she really wanted it,

she could have it, but she agreed with me. I

couldn’t believe it when she came home and said

they’d given it to her anyway.”

The cervical cancer programme is a UK-wide

initiative and the case will be keenly watched in

England. Campaigners said they had had similar reports from other parents.

Disputes over parental consent for children’s

medical treatment have raged for years. A test

case in 1983 established that children can be

given treatment without parental permission.

Gillick, a mother of 10, had brought the

case to stop doctors prescribing contraception to

under-16s without parents’ knowledge.

Although the health department expects girls to

discuss the vaccine with their parents, those who

want it can receive it even if their parents are opposed.

A spokesman said it was up to the professional

administering the jab to be satisfied consent had been dealt with.

claims her daughter was not even asked:

“She didn’t say yes or no because she was never

directly asked. They talked to her, then just gave it to her.”

Jackie Fletcher, a campaigner with Jabs, a child

immunisation campaign, said: “We have had

first-hand accounts from parents going to the

doctors to discuss vaccines and the children

being taken by the clinic nurse and vaccinated without consent.”

An Orkney NHS Trust spokeswoman confirmed it had

received the complaint, adding: “We take this

complaint extremely seriously and will be

investigating fully as a matter of urgency. If

there are lessons to be learnt they will be

incorporated into the vaccination programme in Orkney.”

Life saver

Anti-cervical cancer jabs are being offered to

every 12 and 13-year-old girl in a programme that

ministers believe could save 400 lives a year.

Over the next two years, a “catch-up” programme

for 14 to 18-year-olds will take place in schools.

**********

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/65696

GIRL GETS SEX JAB AGAINST HER WILL

The new anti-cancer vaccine

Sunday October 12, 2008

By Lucy ston

A PROBE was under way yesterday amid claims a

ish teenager was “hoodwinked” into being

given a controversial sex cancer virus jab.

Health officials are investigating after a mother

complained her 13-year-old diabetic daughter

received the Human Papilloma Virus inoculation against her will at school.

Debbie , 47, even considered police action

after discovering daughter, Gail, was injected

despite signing an official form refusing consent.

The teenager was inoculated as part of the

ish Government’s campaign against cervical cancer.

Mrs , from a rural part of northern

Scotland, said yesterday: “My daughter and I

talked about the vaccine and she said she didn’t want to take it.

“We don’t know about the long-term safety of this

vaccine and my daughter is not at all interested

in boys so she is not at risk from the virus

anyway. So we sent the consent form back refusing

the jab. She went to school by herself on the day they were doing the jab.

Top of Form

“The nurse asked her some questions - which she

couldn’t answer - while looking at her consent form.

“Then without warning the nurse gave her the jab.”

Mrs added: “It’s appalling. We never

consented and I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to any one else.”

Writing on his internet blog, Mr said: " On

the day, our 13-year-old daughter, who by the way

has type-1 diabetes, was taken aside from the

other girls and told by the doctor that she was

the only girl in her year who had handed in a

consent form with a cross in the 'No' box. As

they started to talk, and without being asked if

she wanted it, the doctor jabbed her. "

Last year the ish Government launched a

multi-million pound vaccination campaign to

protect all girls aged 12 to 13 against cervical cancer.

Over the next few years 120,000 girls will be

inoculated at an estimated cost of £30 million. A

“catch-up” campaign is also underway for older

teenage girls up to 18-years-old.

HPV, which is spread by sexual contact, is blamed

for causing 70 per cent of cases of cervical cancer.

There are more than 300 cases a year in Scotland.

A third are terminal and the life time risk of

women developing the disease are 1 in 124.

But concerns have been raised about the vaccine

and in the United States, doctors have linked the

jab to eight deaths and suspect it may be

implicated in 3,461 adverse reactions in

patients, including paralysis and seizures.

Of 42 women who were given the jab while

pregnant, 18 reported to have experienced side

effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to foetal abnormalities.

The Sunday Express is refusing to divulge which

health board is at the centre of the controversy

in a bid to protect the teenage girl. However,

the authority’s medical director will hold an investigation on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the health board said

yesterday: “We can confirm we have received a

complaint from a member of the public regarding

the consent procedure of the Human Papilloma Virus immunisation program.

“We take this complaint extremely seriously and

are investigating fully as a matter of urgency.

If there are lessons to be learned from the

investigation they will be incorporated into the program.

“The health of young people is of paramount importance to us.

“Our medical director will lead the inquiry on

Tuesday and both Mrs and her daughter have been invited to attend.”

Medical expert Dr Halvorsen, author of

The Truth About Vaccines, yesterday said he has

fears over the safety and effectiveness of the new vaccine.

His worries are backed by US drug regulators, who

have refused to licence the UK version of the

controversial jab, manufactured by drug giant

GlaxoKline, because they believe its safety

record has not yet been proven.

He said: “The version we are using contains an

immune stimulating ingredient – AS04 – with which

we have little experience and which may lead to

immune related problems in later life.

“I would not give it my daughter. This is being

rushed in and it will make billions of pounds for drug companies.”

Jackie Fletcher, from Jabs, a support group for

parents who believe their children have been

damaged by vaccines, also said she has reservations.

She said: “A number of questions need to be

answered before we continue giving this vaccine to girls.

“Instead of using an unproven drug we need to

educate women and girls to take charge of their

sexual health and start smear tests after they become sexually active "

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Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

Vaccines - http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm

Vaccine Dangers & Homeopathy Online/email courses - next classes Sept 10, 2008