40
Following the very damning testimony from Rosie O’Hara’s doctor, Madeleine heard the plaintiff’s side then call Dr. Sebastian Goring, a university professor of some sort who was apparently an expert on infectious disease.
She sighed, settling in once again to having her authority as a parent crushed like a beetle under the heel of a shoe.
“Dr. Goring, what is your experience in handling measles cases and the disease’s effect on the community at large?” Patrick Nevin asked.
The older bespectacled gentleman crossed one leg over another. “I was a family GP for twenty-five years before becoming a clinical professor in University College Dublin. I have spent considerable time studying and treating infectious diseases and also served as a member of an infectious-diseases symposium at the School of Public Health at John Hopkins University, Maryland.”
“Thank you for that. Very fine credentials you have, Doctor.” Goring nodded in response, waiting for the next question. “Can you comment on the impact that the MMR vaccination has made to children and indeed adults in this country?”
“Of course,” said Dr. Goring. “Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1985, the death rate was close to twice what it was from polio. The measles vaccine changed all that. Statistics show that for every one thousand children who get the disease, approximately one will die from it. Among some children who don’t die from the disease, there is a chance of suffering lifelong, debilitating injury.” He paused for a moment, just as he had been coached to do. They wanted to make sure that the judge made the correlation between what had been said and Rosie’s situation. “Yet, there is currently no legal requirement in Ireland stating that you must vaccinate your children, even though results show the MMR vaccine is very effective. The HSE, as well as disease-control authorities internationally—such as the CDC in the US—have determined that the vaccine is more than 97 percent effective for measles. Those who are vaccinated have only a small chance of contracting a mild form of measles, mumps or rubella,” said Dr. Goring.
“Pretty conclusive,” Nevin agreed. “But about this belief widely held by anti-vaccination proponents like the Coopers, that the MMR vaccine causes autism?”
At this question Dr. Goring looked annoyed. “This ‘movement’ of sorts gained credibility in 1998 when a British gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield, published a paper in the medical journal The Lancet. In his paper, this...individual supported a belief based on entirely anecdotal research, that the MMR vaccine caused autism. Very quickly, Britain’s General Medical Council revoked the doctor’s medical license, and in 2010 the journal retracted the study. They announced that it was utterly clear that the statements in the paper were completely false. It was all nonsense. However, the damage was done and, even now, you still have the conspiracy theorists and antigovernment tinfoil-hat wearers who promote this false line of thinking. And also, quite frankly, this line of thinking also persists because idiot Hollywood celebrities continue to propagate this nonsense and spread it to a gullible, starry-eyed public.”
Across the courtroom, Madeleine visibly flinched. It was as if she had been slapped. How dare he? Celebrities had nothing to do with her decision, nothing at all! She had to stop herself from standing up and telling this blustering ignoramus so.
“So you have all these celebrities practicing armchair medicine—armchair science—and passing this faulty and highly illogical information on to members of the community who are inclined to believe the tabloid reporting so prevalent in today’s media. I can tell you straight, when people choose not to vaccinate their children because of personal, religious, political or any nonmedical viewpoints, they put their own children and other people’s children at risk.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” said Nevin, clearly worried that the doctor was laying it on a bit thick. “You said choosing not to vaccinate based on nonmedical viewpoints. What do you mean by that?”
Dr. Goring considered the barrister and uncrossed and recrossed his legs. “I mean in situations where if a vaccine was administered to someone that a medical complication would occur. The proteins most often implicated in vaccine allergies are egg and gelatin, with perhaps rare reactions to yeast or latex. The number of people who experience this type of hypersensitivity is relatively low, but when it is experienced, it is quite serious.”
“I see. Like in the situation of Kate O’Hara and her late husband—who were faced with a child who experienced a severe medical reaction when the first round of vaccinations was given. In your view, was the decision not to vaccinate their daughter justified?”
Dr. Goring nodded. “Yes. From my viewpoint as a medical professional, this was completely justified. The allergic reaction that Rosie O’Hara experienced as a baby was quite rare, but it could have been fatal if it hadn’t been recognized and addressed for what it was. Rosie is fortunate that her mother, Ms. O’Hara, is a licensed medical professional who had the scientific and clinical wherewithal and abilities to address it promptly, as well as seek proper care and counsel.”
Listening to the exchange, Madeleine closed her eyes. Not only were her and Tom being painted as “gullible, empty-headed people” readily influenced by celebrity, but now Kate was being compared to Florence Nightingale.
Honestly, could things get any worse?