Woolie
Senior Member
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@Countrygirl just posted this on another thread, but it deserves its own (there have been some previous threads on the topic, but none I can see that supply the full details).
Its a report from Tymes Trust, posted on their facebook page, which gives details of various emails and meeting minutes involving the UK Research Collaborative, that were released following a successful FOI request.
The full doc is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/92m09l9tq55pihh/Behind the Scenes - Research Collaborative.pdf?dl=0
Highlights:
Some key notes from a meeting held in January 2013 (bolding is mine):
Email from Esther Crawley to group, March 2014:
Do people see evidence here of an organised campaign by a small but powerful and well-connected group to discredit patients who disagree with them?
Its a report from Tymes Trust, posted on their facebook page, which gives details of various emails and meeting minutes involving the UK Research Collaborative, that were released following a successful FOI request.
The full doc is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/92m09l9tq55pihh/Behind the Scenes - Research Collaborative.pdf?dl=0
Highlights:
Some key notes from a meeting held in January 2013 (bolding is mine):
Action Points raised at the same meeting:* ‘Coming out’ about the harassment has led to increased support for CFS/ME researchers, for example, from colleagues who were not aware of the situation. Harassment is most damaging in the form of vexatious FOIs.
* Complaints are also causing problems. Researchers are still dealing with complaints about them to the GMC.
* House of Lords Debates on CFS/ME can result in Parliamentary Questions which often require detailed responses
* ….. researchers are using strategies to reduce the impact of harassment and put the case for research into CFS/ME including:
- Learning about the FOI Act and using strategies to reduce time spent responding...
- Coming together as a research community to respond to criticisms...
- Working with trusted journalists to cover the problems associated with CFS/ME research
- SMC – run FOI Act brainstorm
- ALL – look for opportunities to publicise CFS/ME research and give background information about the condition
- Support4rs – work with Peter White and Simon Wessely to develop resources for dealing with harassment
- SMC – run a press briefing on biosocial illness to improve public understanding.
Email from Esther Crawley to group, March 2014:
Esther Crawley email said:“Stephen has obviously helped me a lot with this. Although we have mentioned the harassment, this is part of the previous story and is to help identify what is new and different at the moment…..”
in another email to Stephen Holgate and Peter White: “As you can see – I have sent the form to the executive. I mentioned the harassment bit in the email because early feedback suggested this might be a problem with the charities
Do people see evidence here of an organised campaign by a small but powerful and well-connected group to discredit patients who disagree with them?