Just how many spurious reasons can the DHHS possibly find in their age old game of “Oh no…..illness can’t be caused by environmental contaminants!?”
We sympathise with John Alford from Lilydale and Clive Stott from Grindelwald, and a long list of many others, about their complaints about their treatment at the hands of DHHS officials, All the available evidence indicates there is no public health issue, HERE
In the Rosebery heavy metal poisoning case, the spurious reasons that were turned out by DHHS officials to justify their failing to undertake a proper population based health survey in Rosebery are truly amazing:
• That the yellow lids on SARSTEDT specimen bottles contaminated the urine samples with cadmium. DHHS could not prove that specimen bottles obtained from Analytical Services Tasmania for these samples were contaminating samples.
• That one person with extremely high levels of blood cadmium might have swallowed cadmium button batteries. This person was subjected to an X-ray which found that no cadmium batteries had been swallowed.
• That the body manufactures cadmium.
• That high levels of biological cadmium found in blood and urine could only be caused by smoking. Some of these residents didn’t smoke at all and another who was a life time smoker had the expected cadmium level of 4.
• That one resident who does not, or has ever smoked, was ‘seen’ smoking. This allegation was included in the Final Report even though it was totally incorrect.
• That some residents who returned high levels of arsenic from urine samples must have been eating fish/seafood/mushrooms. None of the four people involved ate fish/seafood or mushrooms at all and also knew that a person had to refrain from eating these prior to testing.
• That specific medications being taken by several residents were causing their biological metal levels to be high. These residents were taking none of the alleged medications at all.
• That because one person was pregnant, this was the only cause possible for her higher levels of copper.
• That the cause of one woman’s higher copper levels was because she was on the pill. This person was not on the pill.
• That one person’s illness was caused by Hormone Replacement Therapy. This person had not been on HRT for well over a year before falling ill. This same person, now back on HRT, and still smoking, has had normal levels of blood cadmium and copper since leaving Rosebery.
• That residents had intercurrent illness.
• That it is good for you to have nickel in the body.
•That one resident was told over the telephone that she had cancer. This resident does not have cancer.
• That alcohol causes many of these symptoms even though none of the residents involved in the investigation drank alcohol.
“This sounds like a June Bug event..an account of hysterical contagion”. (Dr Ian Sale Hobart Psychiatrist – comment on Crikey.com article on Rosebery 10-7-09).
All residents diagnosed by Dr Ernst were suffering from a somatic illness.
Two members of Tasmania Police visited two residents and asked whether the residents might have enemies who would try to poison their properties.
The houses were built with fill material from waste rock therefore the heavy metal contaminants could not have come from the Rosebery Mine.
• That batteries from historic mining activities had been disposed of on one resident’s property.
• That the properties may contain sheet metal or buried car bodies that caused high metal levels.
• That mullock was brought in many years ago and dumped on the properties.
• That the gas bubbles could possibly be methane. (from sewage?)
• That “the elevated (heavy metal) levels are natural, being associated with sulphide mineralisation in the Rosebery area.” In the ‘absence of evidence’ (on the public record) given that no hydrogeological testing in
any investigations in Rosebery was carried out, this is the worst example of non science from the DHHS imaginable.
• That the death/illness of pets could have been caused by snake bites.
The list goes on…..
The DHHS can also pull rabbits out of hats if it needs to.
If you would like to add to this list from your own experiences with DHHS non science, please don’t hesitate to contact us:
Kay Seltitzas and Marsha Stejskal
And
William Comment 6, HERE – I am so pleased that Rosebery is a viable place for you to live. It isn’t for many other people whose health has suffered so badly from heavy metals in Rosebery.
The Cradle Mountain Water authority distributed a special newsletter for Rosebery residents in November 2010. You can download and read this newsletter below.
It seems to me that the major points in Concerned Resident’s article are backed up by this newsletter – not what you called “unfortunately introduced non-supported material” William?
Dr Chrissie Pickin needs to provide honest answers to the Rosebery community as to whether or not the DHHS has done any testing for ecoli in groundwater from peoples’ properties where sewage infrastructure has
failed or in Rosebery generally.
It would be a denial of the right to know for people living in Rosebery if Dr Chrissie Pickin does not provide this information.
Dr Chrissie Pickin also needs to explain to the public why Rosebery has so many cases of “Rosebery belly”. What investigations has Dr Chrissie Pickin commenced about these unsolved questions?
These are fair questions William. It is interesting William, that the state’s media has chosen not to enlarge upon this issue.
I think that any controversy in Tasmania that involves the role of Slater and Gordon in a legal dispute should be enlarged upon as a matter of public interest. One could only question the independence of the Tasmanian
media if they didn’t.
Isn’t this why we have TT in any case.
Download: Cradle_Mountain_Water_Newsletter_2.pdf
