News announces ME is a mental illness: Please ask for retraction

Discussion in 'Action Alerts and Advocacy' started by Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012.

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  1. Bergamot

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    The Ottawa Citizen (Canadian nation's capital main news paper) published a big article clearly listing CFS as a mental illness. Am not totally sure if the problem comes from the journalist or from the Canadian feds.
    "... 5.9 per cent include acute stress reaction, chronic fatigue syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, schizophrenia, bulimia, anorexia, dementia phobias and illness-related drug and alcohol use." http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health...ise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    Please send complaints and ask for immediate retraction, the ICD-10-CA classifies ME and CFS in Chapter 6 as “diseases of the nervous system” under G93.3.The contact is http://www.ottawacitizen.com/about-ottawa-citizen/contactus.html
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
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  2. Ocean Senior Member

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    Where did they get that from? How absurd.
    Ocean, Jun 30, 2012
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  3. Bergamot

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    It seems to come from a federal spokesperson and fed psychiatric public service statistics.
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
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  4. Ocean Senior Member

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    So in Canada is CFS officially considered a mental disorder?
    Ocean, Jun 30, 2012
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  5. Bergamot

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    Please contact the editor in chief and the news agency's writer to complain along with us, at gnott@ottawacitizen.com, rtran@postmedia.com

    I sent the following email:
    Dear Mr Gnott and Ms May,

    Either Kathryne May or her source is grossly out of line in today's article titled "Mental illness claims continue to rise in federal public service". Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or rather Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a neurological disease and not a mental illness as reported by Ms May.

    It is officially classified as such by the World Health Organization: “Diseases of the nervous system” code G93.3 http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en#/G93.3

    And the ICD-10-CA, developed by CIHI for morbidity classification in Canada, also classifies ME or CFS under “Diseases of the nervous system” code G93.3 http://www.cihi.ca/CIHI-ext-portal/pdf/internet/ICD_VOLUME_ONE_2012_EN

    Additionally, the Expert Consensus Panel, selected by Health Canada, in their Overview of the ME/CFS Canadian Consensus Document http://www.mefmaction.com/images/stories/Overviews/Canadian_ME_Overview_A4.pdf specifies on pages 1 and 9:
    "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis" and "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" are used interchangeably and this illness is referred to as ME/CFS. The Expert Consensus Panel, selected by Health Canada, established clinical criteria, and developed an integrative diagnostic and treatment aproach to ME/CFS.
    Classification
    ME/CFS is an acquired organic, pathophysiological, multi-systemic illness that occurs both in sporadic and epidemic forms. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ICD-10 G93.3), which included CFS, is classified as a neurological disease in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Chronic Fatigue must not be confused with ME/CFS because the "fatigue" of ME/CFS represent physiopathological exhaustion and is only one of many symptoms. Compelling research evidence of physiological and biochemical abnormalities identifies ME/CFS as a distinct, biological, clinical disorder."

    And Also:

    "...WHO headquarters clarified that "it is not permitted for a condition to be classified to more than one rubric as this would mean that the individual categories and subcategories were no longer mutually exclusive". Thus ME ,(and CFS), classified as a neurological disease in the WHO ICD, cannot also be classified as a somatoform disorder, which is classified as a mental or behavioural disorder."


    Therefore, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, as cited in Ms May article, has nothing to do in the statistics of the mental health claims of Federal Public Service, as it is a neurological illness and it should be pointed out. If indeed there is an epidemic of ME/CFS in Federal Public Service, it would be a great topic for a new article. ME/CFS is the object of 0$ in public funding for research, despite a 25% increase over 5 years.

    If you or a person you love had a brain trauma, you would not want yourself or them to solely receive the cares of a psychiatrist... neither do the ME/CFS sufferers. Please retract this damaging misinformation.

    Sincerely,

    A very concerned citizen.
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
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  6. Bergamot

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    Of course not. But Psychiatrists still try to pass it as such.
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
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  7. ggingues Senior Member

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    ggingues, Jun 30, 2012
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  8. Enid Senior Member

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    Oh dear - and from the country of the superb Canadian Consensus - how can the paper/writer be so ignorant. Will add comments where we can.
    Enid, Jun 30, 2012
    #8 Last edited by Enid, Jun 30, 2012
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  9. Mark Moderation Team Lead

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    Here's the full paragraph from which the above extract was quoted, (my emphasis):


    They clearly list CFS under a list of "mental health claims", which they earlier describe as claims for "mental health conditions" and place under the banner of a headline about "mental illness claims".

    So how do you not read this paragraph as saying CFS is a mental illness? :confused:
    Mark, Jun 30, 2012
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  10. Bergamot

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    This is sad, the new does not seem to be written by one of the paper's journalist, but rather by a writer from the Postmedia News agency, so this means that the same news is being spread all over Canada and beyond. If any of you give have advice on what to do.
    A shout out to ME Agenda who sent me the nice clean info about the classification in ICD-10 and who is do a fantastic job at watching the rewrite of it and of the DSM-5. Thank you http://meagenda.wordpress.com/
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
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  11. madietodd Senior Member

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    I've emailed the publisher. Might as well start at the top!
    madietodd, Jun 30, 2012
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  12. Bergamot

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    High Five! Thank you!
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
    #12 Last edited by Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012

  13. Kina Senior Moderator

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    I think asking for a retraction probably won't work. Somebody could write a piece to be published in the editorial section of the Ottawa Citizen.

    Eg: "You recently published an article in your paper that erroneously stated that CFS is a mental disorder... . :)
    Kina, Jun 30, 2012
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  14. Bergamot

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    Thank you Kina. Now I realize how much smarter this is. All volunteers welcome to write an editorial piece. I have no more juice to pull this through...and it would be weird to write an editorial at the same time as I just sent a complaint.
    Bergamot, Jun 30, 2012
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  15. pamb Senior Member

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    Thanks for the heads up and excellent model letter. It has been sent - from a disappointed Canadian citizen and resident. I'm afraid I'm with Kati, the Rituximab Tourist, and pretty disgusted with the state of affairs in Canada. sigh
    pamb, Jun 30, 2012
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  16. Kina Senior Moderator

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    In Ontario, the code for 'CFS' is for a neurological disorder under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, so in Ontario it is officially not a psychiatric disorder. I am not sure what the codes are in other provinces.

    Kina.
    Kina, Jun 30, 2012
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  17. waiting Senior Member

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    The reporter has simply taken the report at face value about which illnesses are included under the category of mental illness.

    I think ME/FM Action Network (mefmaction.com/) should send 2 letters in response, one to the Ottawa Citizen and one to the Board of Management at the federal government's Disability Insurance Plan.

    The author of the report is unclear from the article: it could have been written by the insurance companies who are underwriting the policy for federal government employees or it could have been written by the federal government, perahps using statistics from the insurance companies. We don't know where the data came from.

    A letter should be sent to the Ottawa Citizen requesting they print a clarification on the original article to say that while "CFS" is categorized as a mental illness by the report (whoever authored or provided the stats for it), it is, in fact, categorized under "Diseases of the Nervous System" by the WHO and the CIHI, as Bergamot and ME Agenda so clearly listed.

    A second letter should be sent to the Disability Insurance Plan's Board of Management at the federal government to inform them that the statistics in the report for the category of mental illness are slightly overinflated (maybe our resident statisticians can clarify the significance of the error to the overall mental illness percentage) because of the incorrect inclusion of "CFS", which should be in the neurological category.

    [This is a link to the website for the Disability Insurance Plan Board of Management: http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/doc.php?did=49&lang=eng. And here's the 2010 Annual Report: http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/doc.php?did=548&lang=eng.]
    waiting, Jun 30, 2012
    #17 Last edited by waiting, Jun 30, 2012
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  18. Bergamot

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    The bad news has spread all over. I found it in 11 main news papers. I don't know about radio or TV and couldn't find signs of it in French. Just in times before everyone is in vacation. Like I said, since it is coming from a news agency, Postmedia News, the exact same release by Cathryne May is now in:

    The Vancouver sun: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    The Montreal Gazette http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    Canada. com : http://www.canada.com/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service with optional trim/6857965/story.html

    The Calgary Herald http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    The Edmonton Journal http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    In the Province (BC) http://www.theprovince.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    The Star Phoenix http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/Mental illness accounts almost half public service/6857279/story.html

    The leader Post http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Mental illness accounts almost half public service disability/6857279/story.html

    The Windsor Star http://www.windsorstar.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html

    The Victoria Times Colonist http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Mental illness claims continue rise federal public service/6857321/story.html
    Bergamot, Jul 1, 2012
    #18 Last edited by Bergamot, Jul 1, 2012

  19. Bergamot

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    Mental Health is THE hot topic right now and there is also a plan to crush the public services in Canada. How can we take this opportunity to talk about ME ? Suggestions?
    Bergamot, Jul 1, 2012
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  20. Bergamot

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    Please "like" and react on the Ottawa Citizen's Facebook page on the right see "May Twelfth" and also on the left further down, the article is posted (look for the bald guy holding his head). https://www.facebook.com/TheOttawaCitizen
    Bergamot, Jul 1, 2012
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