Via CBC News Vancouver, some good news: B.C. judge orders vaccinations for 2 boys over their mother's objections. Excerpt:
A B.C. judge has ordered the vaccination of two children over the objections of their mother, who questioned the safety of immunization.
The case went to provincial court in Salmon Arm, in B.C.'s southern interior, because of the father's concerns about recent measles outbreaks and a warning that education officials might not allow his two sons to attend school during an outbreak unless they were immunized.
The mother attempted to introduce a report into evidence written by a U.S. doctor who testified in the high-profile case of a Michigan mother who fought for years to keep from vaccinating her young daughter.
But Judge Stella Frame questioned Dr. Toni Lynn Bark's qualifications to speak about immunology, virology or epidemiology as well as her claims to be an expert in "vaccine adversomics."
"It is difficult to know whether or not this is junk science or a recognized emerging field," Frame wrote in her eight-page decision.
"Presented as it is in her report, her theory or opinion sounds like a conspiracy theory."
'Vaccination is preferable to non-vaccination'
The ruling highlights the role of the courts in adjudicating splits between parents divided over vaccination.
Frame's decision refers to an earlier B.C. Supreme Court decision in which a judge rejected attempts to link vaccines to autism. Frame said she had reached the same conclusion.
"The current best evidence is that vaccination is preferable to non-vaccination, that it is required in order to protect those who cannot be vaccinated as well as to protect ourselves, and that any adverse reaction the person may have from the vaccine is largely outweighed by the risk of contracting the targeted disease," Frame wrote.
