On 28 December 2016, The Australian newspaper published an article about the AVN’s fundraising for the High Court challenge. The author, Kylar Loussikian, will be familiar to many of you. Earlier this year, he spear-headed an orchestrated smear campaign against Judy Wilyman PhD, at the behest of “our friends” the Australian Skeptics, Friends of Science in Medicine and Stop the Australian Vaccination Network.

In the article, the Minister for Better Regulation, Victor Dominello was quoted as saying that the government took “very seriously potential breaches of the Charitable Fundraising Act and the Associations Incorporation Act” and that “NSW Fair Trading will review this matter to assess whether there have been any breaches of relevant legislation and regulations”.

We are able to confirm that the AVN has not, to date, received any communications from the Department of Fair Trading. Consequently, we are unable to comment on specific issues raised in the article, at this time.

However, we would like to take this opportunity to reassure our members and sponsors that any funds raised for the proposed High Court challenge were applied only to that purpose. We engaged the services of an independent book-keeper earlier this year to record and track all sponsorships and donations. In addition, we have been in recent contact with our accountant who will be preparing the AVN’s annual financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2016 (the AVN’s financial year runs from January 01 to December 31), and a financial statement specifically in relation to the High Court challenge project. We will share this statement with members and sponsors as soon as it becomes available.

The consultant Immunologist who examined Ben as part of the investigation into this adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) stated that “clinically, the temporal association, biological plausibility and lack of other triggers would be consistent with a post-vaccination ADEM, which has been described for a number of vaccines including the Diphtheria Tetanus Polio (dTpa) combination vaccine.  As such this represents a serious AEFI with probable causality.”

ADEM stands for Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, an autoimmune condition affecting the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).

Amazingly Ben survived, and spent a lengthy period in rehabilitation, eventually learning to walk again, albeit unsteadily. However, the autoimmune reaction that attacked his spinal cord caused permanent harm, and he lives with the ongoing effects of damage to the function of many of his systems, and is unable to provide for his family.

Despite being unable, so far, to obtain government or other compensation for his injury, Ben and his wife lived off savings and family help for a couple of years until they hit a financial wall. Their house in foreclosure, Tanya full-time caring for Ben, and their bills piling up, they swallowed their pride and turned to the public for help. The wonderful generosity of their donors has kept the Hammonds in their home, and able to both buy medical supplies and put food on the table for their five kids.

Their last GoFundMe aimed to raise money for a move from Kalgoorlie to Perth, where they could be closer to more advanced healthcare services and support from extended family. This is still their goal, but has temporarily been put on hold while the more immediate costs of living need to be covered, and the family awaits an upcoming court date.

The Hammonds want to say a big thank you to everyone who has kept them going over the last two years, and in humility ask for further assistance knowing there are many others who are also struggling. For those who can help, it would mean so much to them right now.

As some would be aware, Ben is currently engaged in litigation against the WA government hospital that administered the vaccine to him, and whilst his legal team are generously acting for him in a pro bono capacity, this does not extend to the costs of obtaining the necessary expert reports required to succeed. These expert reports don’t come cheap.

After four long years, the Hammonds are finally standing right before the finish line and we can help them get the justice they have been fighting for all this time.

If Ben is successful in his litigation, it will be a watershed for vaccine injury law in Australia. You need to know that in helping Ben to win his case, you will not only be delivering to him and his family a much-deserved personal victory. You will also be delivering a big win to our entire community!

If Ben is successful in his litigation, finally there will be accountability in Australia for the real harm that vaccines can cause – hospitals and government departments will know that they can be held responsible for harming people with their coercive policies around vaccination and they will no longer be able to walk away scot-free!