Jonas found guilty

NEWS FROM JONAS HEARING:- This is preliminary via phone and so I apologise if there are any errors which I will correct later if any of this is wrong. Stuart Jones has been found guilty of misconduct. His fitness to practise is considered impaired and he is considered to have brought the reputation of his profession into disrepute. Stuart Jones was contrite through the whole Hearing admitting all charges after initially denying them. He has been issued with a warning (caution?) which will remain on his record for 2 years.

Who is Stuart Jones?

Wayne if you are interested see

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/showthread.php?4269-Dr-MyHill-s-License-in-Jeopardy&highlight=myhill struck

or

http://jdc325.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/defence-document-finalfinal.pdf

or

http://www.supportdrmyhill.co.uk/

Thanks, I'll check it out. From what Kina mentioned, it sounds like he's getting off easy.

Wayne

Why does our disease attract such drama?

I have been in conversation with a former fibromyalgia / CFS researcher. Why did he leave? drama.

I can't even find a knowledgeable doctor in my city of one million because they are in the closet. Why? I don't know why because I can't find them. Surely they are here, but they hide the fact. Why?

I'm sure drama is one of the reasons.

God bless the doctors and researchers who are willing to stick with us and publicly claim us.

Tina

Terrible decision by the HPC.

I agree. Thank you andysnat. :>)

It's true that the verdict may not have sent a message to the UK medical fraternity in general but at least this Jones guy would have sweated on it, as ANY court case is scary stuff, even if it does appear that he got off lightly.

And....... I agree what is it about this condition that causes so much negative publicity, silent (and perhaps not so silent) smirks and disbelief?

A warning that gets removed after two years? That's nothing.

maybe not for him, but its a change of the discourse, and a triumph for Dr Myhill's courage and persistence - it may not seem like much, but it sends a message - docs working in ME are not fair game to be publicly humiliated - and he clearly accepted he was wrong - lets see what else falls out of this one, its not over yet

Quite agree sian - it has seemed a very bad year for insults from a coterie of the ignorant in the UK.

I'm no Myhill fan and reserve judgment for further investigation, but her support base exists partly because of how pathetically neglectful the medical establishment has been on ME/CFS. Compared to the suffering and poverty many of us endure daily indirectly and directly because of dubious decisions from medical authorities, who's going to give a flying toss about Jonas' situation?

I don't know enough about the whole saga to judge whether Myhill engages in quackery as claimed by others or whether Jonas is just another pretentious tosser as implied by others. Wouldn't be surprised either way but I'm not going to be investing in much more time and effort finding out. My current impression is Myhill had a few questionable statements on her website but the response to it was generally excessive and all charges or sanctions were dropped anyway. Out of interest, what did Jonas allegedly say to be put on trial in the first place?

The patient community are expected to happily swallow whatever the medical establishment has to say about ME/CFS and are branded irrational extremists for questioning their authority, but will Jonas and the Bad Science crew now do the same? Questionable authority doesn't feel good when the shoe is on the other foot does it?

It's the association with somatization and medically unexplained psychosomatic functional illness, in the medical and public collective consciousness. Such an association taps into a massive pre-existing ocean of psychobabble, n00bery, incompetence, and assfacts. Carrying on a long tradition from the days of Freud and Charcot when the scientific understanding of these issues weren't beyond the stage of astrology before astronomy became dominant. A lot of society's negative attitudes towards presumed mental illness can be traced back to the public interpretation and reaction to the "work" of Freud et al. Also the association with the lazy stupid welfare sponge archetype isn't helping either, which elicits powerful responses in the human psyche.

Good points Esther. I agree that Jonas should be allowed his opinion just like Myhill is allowed hers. It would be a concern if Jonas was reprimanded mostly because of the disrepute issue rather than his actions actually being inappropriate. I don't know whether Jonas attempted to discuss his concerns about the website to Myhill first before deciding to take formal action.

You're spot on about a culture which has permitted the mistreatment of CFS for decades and is likely to go on doing so. Having the lowest funding to societal burden ratio is a good indicator of what society thinks about the illness(es) under the CFS umbrella. Combined with the frequent ridicule we endure, and the way the medical establishment handles legitimate criticism of studies like the PACE Trial and how the results are continued to be spun by proponents, all this amounts to a giant "f*ck you" to me.

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It should be noted that the discourse re portrayal of ME sufferers/carers//campaigners/ME Community has now been escalated on from the historic contempt/scorn/denigration, to portraying ME sufferers as so called 'Extremists', criminals, and and as virtual terrorists - some of those who support 'Jonas' have bought into those portrayals and are exploiting them.
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If you are in any doubt about the visceral levels of anger/rage against informed ME sufferers/carers/campaigners, look no further than the blog that proclaims that its existence is to vent anger:


Blog Comment:
http://jaycueaitch.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/the-gmc-owes-stuart-jones-an-apology/
Guy Chapman:
The ME/CFS extremists are actively dangerous. One of them has already been convicted of criminal harassment against Simon Wessely.

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Please note that Mr Chapman gives no references or official evidence for his gratuitous claim of an actual criminal conviction of an ME sufferer/campaigner obviously Mr Chapmans wild accusation would not even be accepted on Wikipedia without relevant references!



Please note that these people (Skeptiks) do not stir themselves to expose the Dangerous Quakery by the likes of Phil Parker and his NLP/Coaching/Hypnotherapy Lightning Process scam, with its wild and unsubstantiated claims (despite the numbers of ME sufferers who have become much more ill from doing the Lightning Process) ..

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And despite the attempted suicide of a young ME sufferer after doing the Lightning Process, as reported by a national Norwegian Television News agency:

http://translate.google.no/translat...o/helse-forbruk-og-livsstil/1.7891470&act=url

The family hoped 13-year-old with chronic fatigue syndrome would be well on the course "Lightning Process". Instead, he broke down and tried to kill himself

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ME sufferers believe they are getting worse after they have tried the controversial training program, "The Lightning Process" (as linked from the Norwegian news Report):

http://translate.google.no/translat...o/helse-forbruk-og-livsstil/1.7891470&act=url



ME patient's experience with the Lightning Process (as linked from the Norwegian News Report):

http://translate.google.no/translat...o/helse-forbruk-og-livsstil/1.7891470&act=url


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UK Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority have already found against Lightning Process Advertising:

Letter from UK Trading Standards Services on Phil Parker Group and Lightning Process 30th March 2011 http://frownatsmile.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/trading-standards-on-phil-parker-group-and-lp/

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And the Advertising Standards Authority made a conviction against unlawful advertising by Lighting Process Trainer Alastair Gibson, who trades under the name With Inspiration:

http://www.asa.org.uk/Asa-Action/Adjudications/2010/6/Withinspiration/TF_ADJ_48612.aspx

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UK Trading Standards Information Letter about the Spurious Health Claims of Lightning Process Trainers:

Trading Standards on Phil Parker Group and the Lightning Process:
http://frownatsmile.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/trading-standards-on-phil-parker-group-and-lp/
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To pretend that Jonas's libel, which almost shut down Myhill's practice down, is the same as him getting a reprimand is to miss the balance of power here. You may not be a fan of Myhill - I am, she's helped me a lot - but I like her other patients almost lost the power to consult her as a result of these libels (which I believe she is pursuing in a civil court as well). Andy Wright has already been shut down. I dont see any of the criticisms levelled at GET, PACE etc having the same effect - because they represent the current status quo. So - yes, we should question, not credulously accept any old quack, - but the ME community also has a vested interest in maintaing the plurality of the resources available. And the larger socio-political context is important for understanding the bigger picture