The dangers of a culture of silence and compliance exposed in the Shrewsbury maternity scandal are being repeated in the Covid vaccine programme, as doctors keep quiet about things which go against the current ideology.
Individualising treatment, monitoring, safety, informed consent, and prescribing within the limitations of your knowledge – how well have these principles of sound clinical practice been applied in the pandemic?
by Dr. Mark Shaw I watched BBC Question Time on the TV on Thursday then listened to Radio 4’s Any Questions the following Saturday (27th March). I could not believe what I was not hearing. Not to worry, I thought, just ring in to Any Answers immediately following. Having got through to a call handler, I described my astonishment that, in the debate on vaccine passports, the single most important view (concerning medical ethics), had not been discussed. I explained that I would like to talk with the presenter (Anita Anand) about this glaring omission and that, if not able to do so myself, would be happy if at least one person was invited to air that view in the 45 minute programme. The lady acknowledged this and asked me to stand by for the duration of the programme in case I was invited. Almost the whole of ‘Any Answers’ was devoted to the vaccine debate but I didn't receive a call and no one else had been allowed on, for even a minute (out of around three hours of airtime over the three programmes), to bring up a matter that the public so rightly deserved to hear. The issue I refer to is that the Government, by not immediately outlawing vaccination passports, is implicitly coercing the public into being vaccinated...
by Dr Mark Shaw I wouldn't say I was anti-vax in stance but I do think that vaccination should be carried out only where absolutely clinically necessary. All forms of medication involve some risk – no matter how small. The decision to medicate our immune systems should be one that is taken with the utmost care and diligence. The extraordinary pressure to be vaccinated has come from, among other reasons, a desire to exit lockdown speedily. The two issues (lockdown and vaccination) have become inextricably and painfully linked by the abandonment of the following principles that should form the backbone of healthcare: First do no harmDon't panicProperly evaluate riskEnsure action is founded on solid evidence based medicineDo not over-exaggerate or over-promise So the problem with the Government's strategy is that it is rolling out a vaccination programme in a blanket approach that does not allow the public to make a properly informed decision based on evaluating their own relative risk of suffering from the effects of catching Covid. A clinician should only advise a patient to undergo treatment when they have been informed of all the pros and cons – so that the clinician has the patient's informed consent. Informed consent (in this case of the public) can only have been obtained when the relative risks have been presented in...
There's been a big push to insulate old homes to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. But is this causing harm to health as humidity rises in homes not designed to be insulated?
In the spirit of Mrs Merton we might ask: "So why were healthy children and young adults coerced into receiving unnecessary multiple Covid vaccinations from a $1.4 trillion global pharmaceutical industry?"
With prescriptions of antibiotics, painkillers, sedatives and opioids rising considerably during the Covid lockdowns, is overuse of medicine making us unwell, asks Dr Mark Shaw.
The Online Safety Bill, with its requirement to censor 'legal but harmful' content, would only reinforce the growing tendency of news and social media to repeat Government-approved propaganda.
Dr Mark Shaw writes that the one-sided, wall-to-wall media coverage of the Queen's death was understandable, but for many it was painfully reminiscent of the Covid propaganda of the last two and a half years.
Retired dentist Dr Mark Shaw says the Government, the healthcare profession and the BBC have breached their contract with the public over Covid and taken us for fools.
Some say insect and bird numbers have dropped precipitously in recent decades. Others point out some species are burgeoning. What's the truth about the 'insect apocalypse'?
Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid was a champion of vaccine mandates for healthcare workers and pushed for a Christmas lockdown last winter. He must not become Prime Minister.
How can we be protected from the sort of fraud we have endured over the last few years? How can we improve risk evaluation and keep our guard? It should start at school, with children taught to think for themselves.
Ethical scepticism refuses to let the perpetrator of a gross injustice off the hook and evade accountability just because the alternatives may be worse. Ethical sceptics should have no confidence in Boris Johnson.
While the Government is keen to 'move on' from partygate, the public can hardly move on from the lockdowns when we've been misinformed, taken for a ride and then taken to the cleaners by the partyers in No 10.
