Dr. William Reeves dies

[JayS]

There's nothing wrong with feeling angry and bitter but what you chose to do with these feelings is important and shows a person's character. We can chose to hold on to the anger, making ourselves embittered to the point that it hurts our mental and physical health or we can chose to use it as impetus to be proactive and improve things as much as humanly possible.

How can we demand respect and compassion , when we ourselves can't give it?

“Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

John Donne

Barb C.:>)

I wasn't 'angry' about Reeves at all. Then I read that Suzanne Vernon considered Reeves 'remarkable,' and that she 'will miss him.'

I demand nothing from her, zero. She can feel however she wants about her valued colleague.

The idea that someone who feels that way is in this to help us is beyond my comprehension. That's something I won't let go of, and I don't care if anyone thinks that reflects poorly on my character.

 

[Yogi]

The only way we are to get research and treatments into ME is for these criminals to die off. This is very good news as William Reeves caused so much unnecessary suffering and deaths. He has blood on his hands. When the rest of his partners in crime die then and only then will we start getting proper treatment. This is the only way that science proceeds- the old guard have to die and then the new researchers start to do real science.

He has been very lucky as he died quickly unlike so many people like with ME who suffer long and painful death.

His family should be ashamed of his legacy as he caused so much human suffering.

 

[Levi]

Right Yogi,
As we speak, there are numerous and plentiful scientific researchers and grad students lining up and chomping at the bit to do some real scientific research/publishing on ME/CFS . . .

So they can make a name for themselves.

When the rest of his partners in crime die then and only then will we start getting proper treatment. This is the only way that science proceeds- the old guard have to die and then the new researchers start to do real science./quote]

 

[Sing]

There is a long tradition of people denying, maligning, abandoning or attacking those who are weak, poor or disabled. Human history is insistent on this point. The more we can organize and speak up strongly and clearly for ourselves, the less our situation will be governed by these kind of people and this approach. It is a form of bullying, an attempt to build oneself up at the expense of those who are weaker. Extremely common--"common" in the sense of vulgar and cheap. Let us take our sense of hurt and anger, and turn this into toughness and clarity, into unsentimental determination.

 

[barbc56]

You are entitled to feel anything you like about someone's death. These are personal feelings.
No-one can be criticised here for their personal feelings.

It is only a crime if you do something to hasten or cause or incite someone's death. That we have not done.

I kind of agree with you but wonder if this is the appropriate place to express these feelings.. How much will these comments hurt our community and make us look like heartless self centered souls that some have said about use. Let's not sink to their level.

I do understand these feelings. I just don't think this is the place to experess it. Particularly, since this anger/issue has been expressed so often at other times.

Barb C.:>)

 

[barbc56]

I wasn't 'angry' about Reeves at all. Then I read that Suzanne Vernon considered Reeves 'remarkable,' and that she 'will miss him.'

I demand nothing from her, zero. She can feel however she wants about her valued colleague.

The idea that someone who feels that way is in this to help us is beyond my comprehension. That's something I won't let go of, and I don't care if anyone thinks that reflects poorly on my character.

My bold.

I just read her statement on facebook and found it touching. I can't say anything about her statement on the CAA website as I can't find it. I would appreciate the link if anyone finds it.

I may get moderated for this but I don't care. I find some of the comments here morally repulsive and it makes me ashamed that some in our community would celebrate someone's death.

Thinking like this is alkin to saying , "well there goes another whiner/faker who wanted to spend our good money/taxes for a nonexisten disease" when someone dies from me/cfs. Wouldn't/ shouldn't we all be horrified of someone said this?

This will come back to haunt us.

It took me years ( I am probably older than most of you) but I finally learned to recognize that yeah something made me angry, even wallow in it a bit but then move on as the past is the past and there's nothing I can do than learn from it. I try to let go of that anger with things that are not in my control, as it's wasted energy. I don't want to tell people what to think or leave the impression that I am "holier than thou" as I know it is easier said than don, don't always do it myself as I am only human, but certainly a worthy goal.

I have a suggestion. that people delete these hateful threads and perhaps start another thread to diss Dr. Reeves without mentioning his death. it would show that we are indeed a compassionate community. I did not like him but like I said above I will not lower myself to make these type of comments.
End of rant.

Barb C.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Mindy Kitei wrote in her blog today:

"The Centers for Disease Control’s Dr. William “I just know CFS is psychological!” Reeves has died at the age of 69 from a heart attack—astonishing, considering he had no heart. In 2007, the National Institute of Health’s Dr. Stephen “I know CFS is due to childhood stress!” Straus, died at the age of 60 of a brain tumor—astounding, as Straus had no brain.

I do not have words to describe the incalculable suffering Reeves, Straus and the rest of the CFS marionettes at CDC and parts of the NIH have caused, with manipulator Dr. Tony Fauci (who serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease) pulling the strings—though depraved comes to mind. Had there been justice in the world, those in government like Reeves who’ve turned ME into a joke would have died excruciating and humiliating deaths from vagina dentata years ago. "

Thank you Mindy for telling it like it is.
http://www.cfscentral.com/2012/08/empirical-nonsense-and-death-of-cdcs.html?m=1

 

[CJB]

My bold.

I just read her statement on facebook and found it touching. I can't say anything about her statement on the CAA website as I can't find it. I would appreciate the link if anyone finds it.

I may get moderated for this but I don't care. I find some of the comments here morally repulsive and it makes me ashamed that some in our community would celebrate someone's death.

Thinking like this is alkin to saying , "well there goes another whiner/faker who wanted to spend our good money/taxes for a nonexisten disease" when someone dies from me/cfs. Wouldn't/ shouldn't we all be horrified of someone said this?

This will come back to haunt us.

It took me years ( I am probably older than most of you) but I finally learned to recognize that yeah something made me angry, even wallow in it a bit but then move on as the past is the past and there's nothing I can do than learn from it. I try to let go of that anger with things that are not in my control, as it's wasted energy. I don't want to tell people what to think or leave the impression that I am "holier than thou" as I know it is easier said than don, don't always do it myself as I am only human, but certainly a worthy goal.

I have a suggestion. that people delete these hateful threads and perhaps start another thread to diss Dr. Reeves without mentioning his death. it would show that we are indeed a compassionate community. I did not like him but like I said above I will not lower myself to make these type of comments.
End of rant.

Barb C.

This man and his actions vis a vis ME/CFS were criminal and he was never held to account. It is high time the ME/CFS community got indignant and demanded some accountability and action.

Tania, you're right - he got away with it.

Barb, this community is diverse in their treatment at the hands of physicians, disability carriers, length and severity of illness, awareness of Reeves complicity in the failure of ME/CFS research/treatment to go forward, etc.; to expect everyone here to react in a way that you find publically acceptable ignores this. I just don't feel like pandering to the gd public right now. This community is entitled to outrage and anger and the reaction has been extremely muted in light of the extent of the damage done. The public is ignorant and misinformed about ME/CFS in large part due to players like Reeves. It's time we got over worrying about being seen as angry.

I do not see anything here that's hateful. I see Reeves victims reacting in honest and righteous ways. Decades of our lives have been disappeared.

I would like to see a thread started that delves into the history of his influence on ME/CFS patients' lives.

 

[Dreambirdie]

This community is entitled to outrage and anger and the reaction has been extremely muted in light of the extent of the damage done.

Yes, extremely muted says it. You should see some of the comments on Facebook.

The public is ignorant and misinformed about ME/CFS in large part due to players like Reeves. It's time we got over worrying about being seen as angry.

I do not see anything here that's hateful. I see Reeves victims reacting in honest and righteous ways. Decades of our lives have been disappeared.

Reeves and his ilk are responsible for long term IRREPAIRABLE DAMAGE to people with CFS. Thanks to him and his CDC buddies we were reduced to, and are still considered, psych cases and malingers by 99% (or more) of the medical community. Thanks to him patients are wasting away in dark rooms without a chance at real life. Thanks to him we have practically NO FUNDING for research for this disease. Thanks to him PWCs are being abandoned, denied necessary medical care by insurance companies, dying early deaths from heart disease and rare cancers.

So why should we worry about speaking the truth about Reeves cruel and ugly legacy? Really! How much worse could it possibly get! The LEAST we can do is let the world know exactly what we feel about this man and why.

 

[pollycbr125]

I may sound a heartless bitch but im sorry I cannot be sorry about the passing of a man who has done so much damage and suffering to so many people . I often wonder what the state of play today would have been had the likes of Reeves and Wessley not been allowed to get a stranglehold on ME . The criteria and definition has been so dramatically altered over the years that it bears litttle resembla
nce to the original definition of ME . Thus research has basically been screwed over the past 20 odd years and hyjacked by the psych brigade leaving patients with neurological or immune problems with no care , treatment and basically left to rot as these patients are never studied . Lets hope the future is much brighter .

 

[GracieJ]

If people in the CFS community cannot express their outrage here, where can they? This is a man guilty of criminal acts. He is getting away with it in this world but will definitely answer for his actions in the next. Justice will prevail. True, there is still a political game to be played. Collective righteous indignation is good. We need a little anger lighting a fire under passive people. Taking a firm stand that these things have been wrong from the beginning takes nothing from Reeves' grieving family. It really is not about him, if you think about it. There are those who feel change will not take place with CFS politically until a generation of players -- and maybe two generations of players -- have passed on. I personally feel some relief that one of those players is out of the picture.

 

[GracieJ]

As CJB so succinctly put it, "Decades of our lives have disappeared." Multiply that by how many people?

Then multiply that by lost relationships, lost opportunities, lost fortunes, lost livelihood.

Yes, we can be angry. And yes, we can ask for accountability from organizations speaking for us to our detriment. May this spur us on to better things with increased determination.

 

[Desdinova]

While the man may have blown the whistle on the CDC. He did it because he could see what was coming down the road and realized that when the music stopped he would be the only one without a seat. He did it to save his own skin.

I'm sorry for those who loved him, for there loss. I never wished his demise just that he have an epiphany and realize how wrong he was about CFS and ME and try to make up for his wrongs. Or that he one day be brought before some form of court (criminal, civil or both) and made to atone for his crimes.

 

[Wayne]

Count me as one of those pwCFS who believes this thread is quite appropriate. That it’s taking place at the time of Reeves’ passing makes it, in my view, even more appropriate. How else will honest researchers (and possibly future historians) ever know what he did to the CFS community for such a long period of time unless it’s expressed and described by pwCFS so unequivocally and honestly? How do you use diplo-speak regarding a sense of betrayal most of us feel by a man who should have been helping us instead of undermining as at literally every turn?

As to whether we should be concerned about his family’s reactions to a thread such as this? My own take is that his family is most likely quite aware of our feelings about him, so I don’t believe they’ll be coming to visit this forum, and so don’t believe it’s an issue. My own issue is that as many people as possible, especially more recently diagnosed pwCFS, have a chance to learn more about the history of CFS. And learn more about the role governments and people like Reeves contributed to the widespread abuse most of us have had to endure in many different forms -- from doctors, family, employers, friends, etc. I myself have gotten a better education from reading this thread, and have even appreciated some of the humor. Reading this has even been somewhat cathartic.

 

[CJB]

There is a long tradition of people denying, maligning, abandoning or attacking those who are weak, poor or disabled. Human history is insistent on this point. The more we can organize and speak up strongly and clearly for ourselves, the less our situation will be governed by these kind of people and this approach. It is a form of bullying, an attempt to build oneself up at the expense of those who are weaker. Extremely common--"common" in the sense of vulgar and cheap. Let us take our sense of hurt and anger, and turn this into toughness and clarity, into unsentimental determination.

What Sing said. Toughness, clarity and unsentimental determination.

 

[SilverbladeTE]

Wow I'm getting censored out faster than Frankie Boyle at a Mitt Romney fund raiser!

 

[silicon]

Mindy Kitei has written a blog:

　http://www.cfscentral.com/


I hope Hillary Johnson writes about this. She has her blog off-line at least at present; hopefully that's only temporary. I think she would have to be long dead to not want to write about this.
　
umm ... Hillary?
　

I really like this idea. Even better would be if a knowledgeable and well-known journalist (Tuller? Marcus?) wrote a retrospective on this man’s dark, oppressive legacy. This point in time could become a potentially powerful opportunity for consciousness-raising about the pathetic plight and history of people with ME/CFS…a teachable moment perhaps…as we reflect on the passing of one of the villains of the sad ME/CFS saga.

 

[Dreambirdie]

I really like this idea. Even better would be if a knowledgeable and well-known journalist (Tuller? Marcus?) wrote a retrospective on this man’s dark, oppressive legacy. This point in time could become a potentially powerful opportunity for consciousness-raising about the pathetic plight and history of people with ME/CFS…a teachable moment perhaps…as we reflect on the passing of one of the villains of the sad ME/CFS saga.

Yes, Silicon. This is a really good idea.

Who do Tuller and Marcus write for? I forgot. We should send them some emails about this, along with a link to this thread. They should know the details of the sordid history of Reeves at the CDC and how his actions devastated the lives of so many who suffer with this dreadful disease.

 

[free at last]

we all know the wrongs that have been done from so many. very painful wrongs for some familys. But the old saying too wrongs dont make a right applys here. Though i fully understand why that ideal might be a little to hard to swallow for some. But please lets be respectful to hes family. They have likely done no wrong

 

[silicon]

Yes, Silicon. This is a really good idea.

Who do Tuller and Marcus write for? I forgot. We should send them some emails about this, along with a link to this thread. They should know the details of the sordid history of Reeves at the CDC and how his actions devastated the lives of so many who suffer with this dreadful disease.

I believe David Tuller writes for the New York Times and Amy Dockser-Marcus writes for the Wall Street Journal.