Countrygirl
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http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/ME_Judgments.htm
In his Judgment, Mr Justice Otton said in answer to his first question (“Is there a condition, disease or illness called ME?”): “I do not share Dr Kendall’s scepticism on this disease. He has not persuaded me that the condition does not exist as a clinical entity other than in the minds of sufferers….I accept Dr Findley’s opinion as a neurologist: ‘There is no doubt that [CFS] (synonymous with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) exists and is a genuine and common condition’ ”.
“Question 2: what are the principal or typical symptoms or characteristics? ….I accept Dr Weir’s finding from his work in this field that ‘a characteristic feature is an extreme variability of their severity together with a tendency to relapse if the patient over-exerts himself even on days when he feels marginally better’ ”.
“Question 3: what causes it? On the evidence before me and the present state of medical knowledge as opposed to theory and speculation, I am unable to answer this question with total certainty…I was impressed by Dr Weir’s research conclusions…I am prepared to find on the balance of probabilities that the chronic activation of the immune system is due to an agent provoking this activity probably by an as yet unidentified virus. I also accept his conclusion that the condition can be triggered by a viral infection or emotional stress or the trauma of an accident. I accept without reservation that he had had experience of other patients who have been diagnosed as suffering from CFS as a result of the trauma of an accident”. In this regard also I accept Dr Findley’s evidence which is based on similar clinical experience”.
“I accept the majority view of the experts that physical, psychological and infective stresses of all types can result in deterioration in the condition and impair recovery….Once it is established that CFS exists and that a relapse or recrudescence can be triggered by the trauma of an accident…it becomes a foreseeable consequence”.
The plaintiff duly won his case and was awarded £162,153.00 in compensation
It is thus enshrined in UK law that ME/CFS is a physical, not psychiatric, disorder, although the mechanism by which a relapse may occur following trauma is via “nervous shock”.
Curiously, it proved to be extremely difficult to obtain all the transcripts. It was variously said that they had been inadvertently lost by the Transcript writers; that they had not been approved by the Court; and that they no longer existed, none of which was true.
Now why should that be? Case law is there to be quoted and relied upon