• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Judy Mikovits has been arrested

liquid sky

Senior Member
Messages
371
The last paragraph:


We're famous!

Such a shame that sides were taken by Cort in that article. Nothing to show empathy for Judy who just may be completely innocent and sits in a jail cell. Just empathy for the rich folks and their daughter. What about all the seriously ill patients left to rot while the WPI stops research in its tracks by firing and then jailing their lead investigator. They receive no treatment like Andrea has been able to enjoy from Judy's research to enjoy.

I think many patients have a huge emotional investment in that data.
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
Such a shame that sides were taken by Cort in that article. Nothing to show empathy for Judy who just may be completely innocent and sits in a jail cell. Just empathy for the rich folks and their daughter. What about all the seriously ill patients left to rot while the WPI stops research in its tracks by firing and then jailing their lead investigator. They receive no treatment like Andrea has been able to enjoy from Judy's research to enjoy.

I think many patients have a huge emotional investment in that data.

I took it to mean that both sides lose, but Cort will have to answer this himself.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
The grant is from the NIH and they have strict regulations on accountability. If material is indeed missing and it wasn't reported, the WPI would be in a lot of trouble with the federal governemnt. I'm just reporting a fact and not saying it specifically pertains to this case.

This makes sense.
...

Also with insurance.. one has to report a crime to the police. As far as I see it really WPI had no option but to report missing things.
 
Messages
20
Such a shame that sides were taken by Cort in that article. Nothing to show empathy for Judy who just may be completely innocent and sits in a jail cell. Just empathy for the rich folks and their daughter. What about all the seriously ill patients left to rot while the WPI stops research in its tracks by firing and then jailing their lead investigator. They receive no treatment like Andrea has been able to enjoy from Judy's research to enjoy.

I think many patients have a huge emotional investment in that data.

I have read several posts written by Cort and I never got the impression he was taking sides. It's not his fault that the Chicago Tribune reporter chose to use that one brief quote. Besides Cort is entitled to his opinion just like all of us. If JM is innocent then she will be vindicated. I've seen a lot of comments being made about Andrea on various blogs and forums. I'm not sure I understando this!
 

maryb

iherb code TAK122
Messages
3,602
Location
UK
Its hard to come back, even if vindicated when headlines such as 'discredited scientist' hae been used to describe you, that is not true and most people know that. What are people trying to do kill her career, the level of attack astounds me, keep piling it on, I just hope what goes around comes around.
 

jace

Off the fence
Messages
856
Location
England
Also with insurance.. one has to report a crime to the police. As far as I see it really WPI had no option but to report missing things.

The writ was issued more than a month after the sacking-by-phone. When did the WPI first say there was missing property at the lab? I don't think I heard about that until the writ.

My recollection is that after the sacking, we were told that Judy did not have her notebooks, and had been locked out of the lab. Patients were asking the WPI to let Judy have her notebooks back.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
The writ was issued more than a month after the sacking-by-phone. When did the WPI first say there was missing property at the lab? I don't think I heard about that until the writ.

My recollection is that after the sacking, we were told that Judy did not have her notebooks, and had been locked out of the lab. Patients were asking the WPI to let Judy have her notebooks back.

nods yes I know.. but maybe that is where the "conspiratory" charge has come from. The cops may be thinking she conspired with another who got them for her. Who knows...

I'd prefer not to judge either way at this point.. there are too many possible things which could of transpired. Everyone is innocent till been found actually guilty.
 

liquid sky

Senior Member
Messages
371
I have read several posts written by Cort and I never got the impression he was taking sides. It's not his fault that the Chicago Tribune reporter chose to use that one brief quote. Besides Cort is entitled to his opinion just like all of us. If JM is innocent then she will be vindicated. I've seen a lot of comments being made about Andrea on various blogs and forums. I'm not sure I understando this!

Cort is just as entitled to his opinion as any of us, but when he speaks for PR, he should realize that he is representing a large patient group with various opinions. He only spoke of WPI and their plight, nothing about Judy and her plight.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
Just Posted on FaceBook by Lilly Meehan

Lilly Meehan
I have just spoken to David, Judy's husband, who asked me to get the following message out to the patient community. Dr. Mikovits and the WPI are in negotiations right now, and the criticism coming from the patient community towards the WPI is not helping Dr. Mikovits. They ask that everyone please hold off on their criticism of the WPI for the sake of Dr. Mikovits and the negotiations in progress. Many have asked me what they can do to help, and at the moment this is what you can do: please, everyone, despite the strong feelings everyone is experiencing, please back off in the furor being expressed online and in direct contact with the WPI. Please stop and urge your friends to stop. Later today Dr. Mikovits' husband is planning to send a direct message, but for now has asked me to convey this message to all of you. Permission to repost

This message has been reviewed and approved by David, husband of Dr. Mikovits.

Thank you everyone,

Lilly Meehan
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Thanks Sushi - waiting to hear and much hoping all will come right now for everyone brought in to this nightmare.
 

maryb

iherb code TAK122
Messages
3,602
Location
UK
Cort is just as entitled to his opinion as any of us, but when he speaks for PR, he should realize that he is representing a large patient group with various opinions. He only spoke of WPI and their plight, nothing about Judy and her plight.

I agree totally. Of course Cort is entilted to his opinion and I respect that, but I would like to know that he makes it clear it is his own personal opinion and not that necessarily of the members on PR.
 

maryb

iherb code TAK122
Messages
3,602
Location
UK
Thanks Sushi for that info. Good to hear people are talking, that is the only way forward in my eyes.
 

Ecoclimber

Senior Member
Messages
1,011
On Monday evening, Mikovits' former employer, the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, filed signed affidavits in district court in which a coworker states that she enlisted him to take the lab notebooks for her.

The affidavit from graduate student researcher Max Pfost states that he used her desk and office keys to take 12 to 20 lab notebooks, which he hid at his house in a large, multi-colored "Happy Birthday" gift bag before turning them over to Mikovits in mid-October.

"As I left for work at WPI that morning, Mikovits further requested that I keep her informed as to the whereabouts of WPI personnel so that Mikovits could avoid detection in Reno," Pfost wrote.

The affidavit also states that Mikovits had the two of them set up "a new separate email account for our secret communications about WPI" and that Mikovits told Pfost she was hiding on a boat "to avoid being served with papers from WPI.



Affadavit of Max Pfost

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-pfost-affidavit-1-20111122-pdf,0,3711476.htmlpage\

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-pfost-affidavit-2-20111122-pdf,0,4628981.htmlpage
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I agree totally. Of course Cort is entilted to his opinion and I respect that, but I would like to know that he makes it clear it is his own personal opinion and not that necessarily of the members on PR.

I thought it was quite clear that it was his own opinion. Im glad they posted his opinion as they mentioned what others were thinking and his comment balanced the article.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Good people do bad things all the time, it's not some crazy conspiracy.

If what we are hearing is all true, the WPI can say what Judy has done has caused them great damage (eg to their reputation which no one can deny it has. This has harmed them). The evidence of all that is one the forums expressed by those who supported Judy who then were angry at WPI. They could sue Judy for not only what she's done but also the damage done to their rep.

Who knows why Judy did it (or maybe Max is lying to try to save himself??.. it all now comes down to her and him).. whether to hide something in those notebooks she didnt want scrutinized or maybe due to a fear that she wouldnt be able to follow up and prove she's right about XMRV at a later date (not only just to help us but also maybe to clear her own reputation up) and hence thinking she needed that info.

This whole situation is sad.. both her and WPI HAVE now been badly affected. I personally think both Judy and the WPI only did want to help us.
 

Ecoclimber

Senior Member
Messages
1,011
Dressed in a prison-issued blue jump suit with an orange T-shirt underneath, Mikovits entered the courtroom and took a seat on a bench already occupied by a few dozen similarly dressed male and female inmates. They sat in a large room-within-the-room that had white metal bars for walls. They looked like they were in a cage. Four bailiffs with Taser guns strolled around the open part of the court. The other inmates included heavily muscled and tattooed men and street-tough women. The 53-year-old scientist, who has been in jail since last Friday, appeared composed but wildly out of place.

Science Insider

Her next court date before a Ventura County judge has been scheduled:

December 19, 2011
1:30 PM Pacific Time
Court Room #13
Ventura County Superior Court
800 South Victoria Avenue
Ventura, California
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Dressed in a prison-issued blue jump suit with an orange T-shirt underneath, Mikovits entered the courtroom and took a seat on a bench already occupied by a few dozen similarly dressed male and female inmates. They sat in a large room-within-the-room that had white metal bars for walls. They looked like they were in a cage. Four bailiffs with Taser guns strolled around the open part of the court. The other inmates included heavily muscled and tattooed men and street-tough women. The 53-year-old scientist, who has been in jail since last Friday, appeared composed but wildly out of place.

Science Insider

Her next court date before a Ventura County judge has been scheduled:

December 19, 2011
1:30 PM Pacific Time
Court Room #13
Ventura County Superior Court
800 South Victoria Avenue
Ventura, California

from that science insider link "Mikovits, who has denied wrongdoing through lawyers handling her civil suit, posted bail shortly after the hearing and is expected to be released as early as this evening. "

That is good to hear.
 
Messages
15,786
Good people do bad things all the time, it's not some crazy conspiracy.

I have trouble viewing this sort of IP (intellectual property) theft as a "bad thing". In most IP employee vs employer cases, people do something illegal or in breach of their contract for emotional reasons. The work they have done is their baby, and they have often spent years nurturing it, but there's a piece of paper somewhere saying that it belongs to guy that doesn't even love it, just because he paid for it.

If the allegations are true, then she did the wrong thing, and the stupid thing, but I wouldn't equate such an action to doing a morally bad thing.