UK woman lost nursing license and facing criminal trial for anti-vaccine event

Discussion in 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) News' started by kazenatsu, Nov 27, 2021.

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  1. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    A UK woman had her license to practice nursing revoked and is facing a criminal trial, all because of what she said about the vaccine, and for putting together anti-vaccine protest gatherings.

    A former nurse from the United Kingdom is expected to face trial next month for organizing three anti-lockdown rallies, the Daily Mail reported.
    Kay Shemirani, also known as Kate Shemirani, is a vocal anti-vaxxer who lost her license to practice nursing in the United Kingdom earlier this year. A panel of nurses and midwives determined that she had fallen "seriously short of the standards expected of a registered nurse and amounted to misconduct," according to a document outlining several charges against the case for her to retain her nursing license.

    Shemirani had "actively discouraged people from wearing masks, adhering to social distancing, and taking vaccinations," the panel said.
    She has also "been a leading speaker and/or lead organiser at a number of public events, including at an anti-Covid protest in London's Trafalgar Square," the panel said, and has had her account blocked by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The panel, in its investigation, found that Shemirani had denied the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also told national and local news outlets that vaccines are ineffective and have been "rushed through" because "they want to kill you," the document says.
    Shemirani has placed members of the public "at serious risk of harm that could prove fatal," the panel found.
    Health officials have been recommended that people get vaccinated against the coronavirus for months.​

    Shemirani's lawyer plans to argue that the charges are "unconstitutional," according to the Daily Mail.
    "We are facing three charges of holding an event, which could be equated to organising the event, and very simply we submit we are not actually organisers," Robert Bullock said. "There are other factors legally, on the basis of human rights. Of course, we are referring to the simple right of assembly. That is longstanding and that would simply have to be abolished."​

    https://www.businessinsider.com/for...l-organizing-anti-lockdown-rallies-uk-2021-11


    So as you can see, this appears to be the state of "free speech" in the UK right now.

    Over across the pond in the US, the First Amendment of the Constitution says "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

    This woman had her nursing career taken away by the government, and now they are attempting to put her in prison, all because of her expressing her beliefs about the vaccine, and gathering people together for a peaceful protest to send that message to the public.

    Her anti-vaccine comments were even made outside of her job, so they took away her nursing license based on things she said while she was not working at her job.
     
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  2. kiwimac

    kiwimac Well-Known Member

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    Even in the US you may not yell "fire" when there is none. There are limits to 'free' speech and consequences for breaking them.
     
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  3. dharbert

    dharbert Well-Known Member

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    Don't be fooled. We don't have freedom of speech across the pond either these days...
     
  4. dharbert

    dharbert Well-Known Member

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    "Even in the US you may not yell "fire" when there is none. There are limits to 'free' speech and consequences for breaking them."

    Yep. Like publicly calling someone a white supremacist 100 times a day, then getting sued back to the Stone Age for it...
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
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  5. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    many countries have a "do no harm" system in place, if she is found to be doing harm to many many people, she can lose her license in many countries
     
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  6. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    and some republicans here want to create new laws where you can sue doctors when you're not even harmed by them, never even been seen by them
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
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  7. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And those "limits" should definitely not apply here.

    I read her comments and they are very hyperbolic, and some of them extreme, but they could conceivably be arguable personal opinion based on the facts.

    I suppose sometimes the line between false slander, on the one hand, and legitimate political expression of belief can be a thin and blurry one.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
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  8. dharbert

    dharbert Well-Known Member

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    Having said that, rights that are limited are no longer rights, they are privileges...
     
  9. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I totally agree.

    Of course almost all rights have limits in certain extreme situations. But it can easily be a very slippery slope, once you say certain rights are no longer absolute and subject to a "fudge factor" in favor of the common public good.

    (If you accept this, then this; if you accept that, next it will be something else)
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
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  10. Aleksander Ulyanov

    Aleksander Ulyanov Well-Known Member

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    Balderpoopy. Our most fundamental rights are limited all the time and for no more profound reason than simple public convenience. Try making a speech about Freedom on an early Sunday morning outside of an apartment complex full of hard-drinking college students one time. Hell, try getting a permit to make the same speech outside of your local shopping mall next monday
     
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  11. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Same here
     
  12. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    You mean in Australia.

    (Especially the states of South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria, which are home to Australia's big city areas)

    Yeah, former prison colony, what do you expect?
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
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  13. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    As MAC POINTS OUT - “FREEDOM OF SPEECH” does not include shouting fire in a crowded theatre

    There are many many constraints upon nursing registrations
     
  14. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Yep! Higher standards of care apparently

    What do you think would be an appropriate action to take if a nurse advices to use acupuncture on a snakebite?
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
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  15. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Can't have people who "believe wrong things" serving as nurses in hospitals, now can we?
     
  16. dharbert

    dharbert Well-Known Member

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    Well, I should say certain people have freedom of speech. For example, you can be Kathy Griffin and walk around with an effigy of Donald Trump's cut off head and not have anything happen to you. However, if you were to do the same with a effigy of Biden's head, you'd be ostracized, fired from your job, and the feds would be stuffing you in a van...
     
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  17. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Nope - it is evidence based practice all the way. I know of one nurse who was disciplined because she decided to use spiderwebs on wound care
     
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  18. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Do you REALLY REALLY want us to go there with the very recent Gosar incident? Now how about we get back on topic

    And BTW if any medical professional had pulled any stunt like Gosar or even the recent Boebert incident they would be disciplined. We sign on to a “Code of Practice” you know

    https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/
     
  19. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    What does this have to do with the nurse's practice?
    As long as she is properly doing her job in the workplace.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2021
  20. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Wow! Do you think we just carry bedpans and give back rubs? :roll:
     
  21. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2659/

    EVERYTHING we do is guided by EBP
     
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  22. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    So what? What is your point?
     
  23. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Going back to the OP - was her stance on vaccines in line with EBP?
     
  24. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    That nurse sounds like a nutcase friend of mine who is in thrall to shock jocks and anti vaxers. She sounds deranged at times and yet she’s not stupid as a rule.
     
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  25. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Agreed but bottom line is when we register we agree to abide by a Code of Conduct. Break the code and there are consequences
     
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