Current Events > Austrian doctor killed herself after death threats by anti-vaxxers

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/florian_krammer/status/1554763349438697472

https://www.dw.com/en/austrian-doctors-death-puts-spotlight-on-hate-speech/a-62700680

Lisa-Maria Kellermayr was an outspoken advocate of vaccinations and other measures to control the spread of COVID-19 virus. This made her a target for conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.
For months, she reported attacks on social media, as well as threatening letters from people writing they wanted to "slaughter" her and her staff. People purporting to be patients came to her office during working hours to disrupt the practice.
The 36-year-old physician was found dead in her medical practice in the lakeside resort of Seewalchen am Attersee in Austria on Friday. Prosecutors said three suicide notes were found at the scene and that they are not treating the death as suspicious.*
On Wednesday, an autopsy was conducted at the request of Kellermayr's family. "No evidence of third-party interference has come to light," a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in the city of Wels in Upper Austria said afterward. Kellermayr had reported multiple incidents of abuse and threats to the police. She said she felt she was not taken seriously and received no protection although, she alleged, some threats came from violent right-wing extremists already known to the authorities.
Kellermayr then hired an armed security guard at her own expense. By the time the State Security Service in Austria began to take action at the end of June, the doctor had already closed her practice. She had done so because of threats to her life made by COVID-19 deniers and anti-vaxxers, she told her followers on Twitter. Police investigators in Austria initially said that the alleged abusers could not be traced because the threats were sent anonymously online. However, journalists were able to identify two suspects in Germany within a matter of hours on Monday.

There should be an investigation into the conduct of the police in this matter imo

Sounds like Austria should also be penalizing the anti-vax movement, which is also what other countries with anti-vaxxers should do.

RIP to her.

Anti-vaxxers are absolute scum. Their big thing lately is to claim that every pediatrician is actually a child predator.

What a tragic loss of life and a fucking horrible story about police being unwilling to help as well as all of those people making threats who will never get in trouble for what they've done.

For some reason violence and threats against healthcare workers are not only rarely punished, they are often treated like expected workplace hazards. And in fact defending yourself is often grounds for being fired.

DarkRoast posted...

For some reason violence and threats against healthcare workers are not only rarely punished, they are often treated like expected workplace hazards. And in fact defending yourself is often grounds for being fired.

Yep. Without fighting back they have to be able to get a patient to calm down and receive treatment. Meanwhile cops escalate all day and get paid vacations when they kill someone.

Bump

Why arent antivaxxers sent to prison for bioterrorism again?

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Why arent antivaxxers sent to prison for bioterrorism again?

iirc Austra has (had?) a far-right politician in charge

Anti-vaxxers: "How dare you doctors push a vaccine on us! I'm gonna send you deaths threats and stalk you in your office making you fear for your life!!!"

Also Anti-vaxxers: "Doctor, please I need you to help me. I have [insert illness/injury here]. Please help me, you can't refuse me!"

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Why arent antivaxxers sent to prison for bioterrorism again?

wish they gotten stopped. already on a new variant taking hold.

BA 4.6