Anti-vaccine chiropractors 50 – the CAA Boards Extravaganza

This is the final post in this series. It has to end somewhere, and OCD dictates that it ends on a nice even number. There is enough material in here for maybe six more posts, but, again, OCD dictates that it all gets piled into this post. So, I thought I would finish off with a post featuring only Board Members of the various State and National Boards of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia franchises. Sort of like McDonald’s, but with more clowns. Sorry for the length, but, it ends here.

There is a reason I have no respect for the chiropractors who feature in this series, and their friends. And there is a reason I’m so blunt about my dislike for them. Their deliberate misinformation is a public health threat. They are a threat to babies. Here is a prime example:

Remember back in 2011, when Meryl Dorey compared vaccination to the “rape of a child…without consent and with full penetration too”? That despicable, delusional remark was made due to the outcome of a Family Court case, in which a magistrate agreed that a child could be immunised, according to the father’s wishes; and against the wishes of the anti-vaccine harpy who is meant to be the child’s mother. This is where I first came across our first guest. My favourite black, cast-iron flying pig wrote a wonderful post back in the day, which is well worth a read.

Warren Sipser appeared at that Family Court hearing as an expert witness. He is not a doctor, as the Herald Sun headline screamed; he is a chiropractor. He is a chiropractor. A chiropractor who believes he is qualified to act as an expert witness on the subject of immunisation. Think about that for a while.

Sipser is a board member of the CAA Victoria outlet. He is/was a member of the callous anti-vaccine banshees, the Australian Vaccination Network. He conducts his manipulating business at Sipser Family Chiropractic. In the Herald Sun article linked above, Sipser is named as “paediatric chiropractor and author Dr Warren Sipser”. Author? Let’s have a look at his book, and his expertise. Remember, this guy gives advice as a “paediatric chiropractor”. He gives advice to mums and dads of brand new babies.

Here is the website of Sipser’s book. You can see in this screenshot, he links clearly to his chiropractic business:

First off, I have used screenshots of Chapter 6 of Sipser’s book under Fair Dealing provisions of the Commonwealth Copyright Act 1968.

Secondly, I did not read any other chapter except the chapter on vaccines, and you can’t make me. The twenty-odd pages I read to get these screenshots took up valuable minutes of my life which I will never get back. I want to send an invoice to someone, but, I don’t have the vital life-force to find out to whom it should be sent. This is not a review of the chapter. Like this whole series, this post is about providing examples of anti-vaccinationism by Australian chiropractors.

Thirdly, if the Chiropractic Board of Australia have any difficulty obtaining a copy of Sipser’s book, then, something is clearly not right.

The chapter title page sets things up, I think:

A statement of intent, one would think.

Sipser gets straight into it. He claims the AVN publish research findings in their magazine. Read that back to yourself out aloud:

Pages 251 and 252

Disease have not been controlled by immunisation, and diseases have simply been renamed. Read that last sentence. It’s just that simple:

Page 253

The primary concern of your doctor, when considering immunisation for your family, is his/her finances:

Page 254

The anti-vaccinationist’s favourite Nirvana fallacy: vaccination doesn’t equal immunity:

Page 255

This is a cracker. Sipser won’t even tell people the difference between ethylmercury and methylmercury. This is dishonesty at its most rampant:

Page 256

And, of course, the mercury is injected directly into the bloodstream. What this “lead based compound” is, who knows. He doesn’t appear to say:

Page 257

Sipser lies about thimerosal being present in “many” vaccines, and has difficulty spelling it. So, I guess the doctor didn’t forget to tell you something which isn’t true:

Page 260

Still having difficulty with facts about vaccines, Sipser needs to bone up on what doctors should be telling people:

Page 261

There is a “lethal combination” in vaccines, which don’t work anyway:

Page 262

Did you know that vaccines may be contaminated, and that Neil Z. Miller is a reliable source? Did you know regulation and testing of vaccines is “often poor”?

Page 263

ANTIFREEZE! DRINK! This one has everything:

Page 264

GREG BEATTIE’S GRAPHS! DRINK! I only ever thought Dorey and Beattie had the wontons to post these things, but, here we have Sipser publishing them in his book:

Page 265

Of course, vaccines cause autism, ADD, and allergies:

Page 268

Now Sipser gets on to those alternatives. I’m guessing you already knew what they are. That’s right, homeoprophylaxis, citing the deranged, debunked, discredited Isaac Golden:

Page 269

Finally, Sipser  advises you as to what you should do, should you be so stupid, sheepish and chemical-laden as to have had an immunisation: see your chiropractor, of course.

Page 272

Roy Smith is also a board member of the CAA Victoria outlet. He is a member of the Australian Spinal Research Foundation. He conducts his manipulation business at Back In Line Chiropractic, in Melbourne. He is nowhere near Sipser’s league, but, I couldn’t find any obsequious posts about the benefits of immunisation; so these posts had to be included:

Smith asks: “Let us know what you think about this content”. It’s anti-vaccine bollocks linking vaccines to autism and falsely claiming that payouts have been made for autism, instead of the facts, which are that payouts have been made to people who are already autistic. Big difference:

Why not post the studies showing no link between vaccines and autism, and ask what people think?

Smith asks: “What do you think?” I think he should check and make sure it’s not a Daily Mail article from five years earlier which has already been well and truly debunked. That’s what I think:

This does the rounds every few years. Then, it gets debunked again.

Sam Bettison is a board member of the CAA ACT outlet. He conducts business at Back in Balance Chiropractic and Massage, in Canberra. The links page for that business shows these two cosy organisations under the same category. It’s delicious:

[Edit October 26 2013: Correction received by Mr Sam Bettison who supports immunisation, and who has left his position on the CAA ACT Board:

My name is Dr Sam Bettison, and I am a chiropractor working in Canberra. It has come to my attention that you refer to me in your blog post of 11 September 2013 titled “Anti-vaccine chiropractors 50 – the CAA Boards Extravaganza”. In this article you have incorrectly labelled me as being anti-vaccination. I would like you to correct this.

I am not anti-vaccination, and have never been. I have never said anything to a patient to suggest that they should not vaccinate themselves or their children. As a health professional and a chiropractor I align myself with COCA’s published policy on vaccination (http://www.coca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Vaccination-Policy.pdf), namely that:

1. immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases;
2. this is supported by overwhelming evidence of the risk/benefit profile of mass immunisation;
3. this is also generally supported by the WHO and governments around the world as an extremely important health intervention;
4. as a health professional I have a duty to work in the interests of public health, and supporting the above is a part of that, and;
5. giving specific recommendations regarding immunisation beyond the above is outside of the scope of my training and practice as a chiropractor.

This is what I explain to my patients when the topic arises. I make it clear that I respect and support an individual’s right to their own choice, whilst at the same time explaining my position on vaccination. To do otherwise would be unprofessional.

Further, while I have previously held the position of secretary on the board of the CAA ACT, I resigned from that position earlier this year.

Personally I am vaccinated, as are my wife and children, and we are all regularly vaccinated according to the recommended schedule for vaccinations in Australia. This is a practice that I intend to maintain. I do not agree with the AVN’s position on vaccination.

I am clear with my patients about my views and my support of vaccination. Your assertions are damaging to my professional reputation. You would have been well served to undertake more comprehensive research prior to publishing your article. I would like you to publish a retraction of your statements concerning me on your blog, accompanied by an apology, by no later than 31 October 2013. If you do not do so I reserve the right to take further action.

Regards,

Sam Bettison ]

Rory Onley is a board member of the CAA South Australia outlet. He runs an operation called Joslin Family and Sports Chiropractic.

He shared that Bought trailer:

Poor form

Anyone who saw the last post would remember who features in that trailer:

Wakefield, on Infowars.

That anti-vaccine meme from The People’s Chemist: 

Again…

That influenza immunisation anti-vaccine meme:

Again…

And this anti-vaccine meme which would be interesting if it was true; but it isn’t. Oz immunises his kids:

Would it be correct to think that these people do not get anything right?

Joshua Tymms is a board member of the CAA Western Australia outlet. He operates a business called Duncraig Chiropractic. His “about” page is basically a testimonial.

Tymms shared this rubbish from Mike Adams. How do we know it’s rubbish? It’s from Mike Adams:

Mercury is scary, for everyone except those who understand dose-response, and why certain ingredients are there.

Taylor Vagg is a National CAA board member. And, she is also a board member for the Australian Spinal Research Foundation. Look, she is a big deal. How big? Now, I’m not yanking your chain here. But, there is an award at Macquarie University, and Vagg won it. The award is for “Manipulative Excellence”. I’m serious. I’m not making it up. Here it is on Vagg’s “about” page:

Vagg is an excellent manipulator at Fremantle Chiropractic. This is the sort of thing this person, who sits on two chiropractic boards, considers to be appropriate information:

Pathways to skeptical antennae quivering.

And, yes, we have seen that before. Here is the section on vaccines:

Okay. That’s done. Before I finish up I thought I’d do a quick list of the various anti-vaccine chiropractic board members who have appeared in any of my posts. Remember, these people are the elected representatives of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia, and the Australian Spinal Research Foundation, the former being the largest representative body for chiropractors in Australia. They have money to burn, and PR companies to burn it on. They lobby politicians, journalists, and our community, demanding acceptance, and respect. They insert themselves into universities and attempt to determine what is taught there. They are driven by the desire to have everyone believe in the magical mystical subluxation as much as they do, and they attack any chiropractor who refuses to toe the line.

Here are some of the anti-vaccinationists at the top of their representative bodies. This is only a snapshot of the real number, taken from publicly available evidence, as has appeared only in my posts. These are board members past and present:

CAA National:

• Tony Croke
• Billy Chow
• Taylor Vagg

CAA QLD:

• Colin Clarey
• Sandy Clark

CAA NSW:

• Joe Ierano
• Nimrod Weiner
• Tim Shakespeare

CAA ACT:

• Sam Bettison [see edit above. Mr Bettison asserts that he has left the CAA ACT Board, and is fully supportive of immunisation]

CAA VIC:

• Warren Sipser
• Roy Smith
• Alfie Dimalanta
• Angus Pyke

CAA SA:

• Brett Hill
• Amy Herreen
• Andrew Timbs
• Mario Stefano
• Rory Onley

CAA WA:

• Joshua Tymms
• Warren Genders

AUSTRALIAN SPINAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION:

• Nimrod Weiner
• Tony Rose
• Ali Postles
• David Cahill

In the interests of balance, I though I should also include all of the board members of the Chiropractic and Osteopathic College of Australasia, whose anti-vaccinationism has featured in this series:

What did you say, champ? There aren’t any?

Please tell your family and your friends, and your work colleagues, and anyone who will listen: if you are insistent on seeing a chiropractor make sure it is a COCA chiropractor. Stay away from the CAA.

And, if you get a moment, remind the CBA:

The Chiropractic Board of Australia cracks down to protect the public.

The Chiropractic Board of Australia is cracking down on chiropractors who step outside their primary role as healthcare practitioners and provide treatment that puts the public at risk.

To protect public safety, the Board has:

– ordered practitioners to remove all anti-vaccination material from their websites and clinics
– removed several courses from the list of approved CPD programs, and
– introduced random audits of practitioner compliance with the Board’s registration standards. [Media Release August 8 2013]

Thanks for reading.