We must indeed follow the science I’m no conspiracy theorist – more answers are needed on mRNA-based Covid vaccines
THERE’S been a worrying trend in politics in recent years where dogma, hyperbole and adherence to false “received wisdom” have been allowed to triumph over observance of the law, empirical evidence and truth.
This has manifested in various ways but has almost always been accompanied by vilification of those raising the alarm and the monstering of those most affected.
Such behaviours are evident in the handling of the Horizon scandal, the victims of malpractice in gender medicine, women attacked for defending sex-based rights and the victims of Covid-19 vaccine injury. While I have been on the receiving end of such attacks, I remain resolute in my position. This is not because
I am pig-headed, a dinosaur or a conspiracy theorist, it’s because I draw on my professional experience and critical thinking skills to analyse, evaluate, and interpret information in a logical and systematic manner.
No more clearly can this be demonstrated than by a recent attempt from “an unnamed SNP source” who contacted the Dundee Courier advising it that the questions I have been raising in Parliament on behalf of vaccine-injured constituents constituted “apparent support for conspiracy theories”.
The sad reality is this was an ill-informed political smear rather than an accusation of substance, and when I represented the factual basis of my concerns to the journalist – who initially seemed very eager to participate in the smear – the story was dropped.
Investigating clinical injury is something I have done many times. Thankfully such injuries are often transient and a full recovery is achieved. In most cases they are down to human error as opposed to negligence but addressing concerns thoroughly and diligently is essential to reassure the injured party and minimise any repeated risk.
On rare occasions, the impact can be far more serious, with the consequences devastating or even fatal. In either case, the need to investigate without an agenda is paramount as there is nothing to be gained by trying to protect any individual, organisation, corporate or political interest for risk to be understood, managed and mitigated.
Since I started looking into vaccine injury, I have established that there are serious questions to be answered but to date there has been little political appetite to do so north or south of the Border.
Politicians, clinicians and industry each carry a duty of honesty and candour, and they must not dismiss emerging clinical evidence. Whether we like it or not this issue must be addressed openly and urgently.
After decades of direct involvement in the management and delivery of numerous clinical trials, my starting point is a matter of unavoidable fact.
ANY agent has the potential to cause harm or injury to the subject. The responsibility to identify, report, and address such risks are the foundation of good clinical practice and are central to any clinical trial protocol.
Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines are the standards on which good science is based. GCP is not about having a nice bedside manner or knowing which treatment to prescribe – it is a set of internationally recognised ethical and scientific quality requirements that must be followed when
designing, conducting, recording, and reporting on clinical trials that involve people.
The rights, safety, and wellbeing of the trial subjects are the most important considerations and should prevail over interests of science and society, including commercial or political interests.
Clinical trials should always be conducted in accordance with the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki, GCP and applicable regulatory requirements.
And this matters because there are allegations that the big pharmaceutical companies responsible for developing the mRNA-based Covid vaccines have deliberately hidden evidence of significant complications in their published trial data.
I spoke to one woman who was severely injured during the initial trials but who discovered all record