One of these is the UK's 'Dr Crippen' blog where the denigration and deliberate taunting of those with M.E., Lyme and fibromyalgia by NHS GPs is common.
"Dr Crippen" has retired from the NHS.
He continues to blog (though his postings do not attract as many comments as they used to) and he continues with his Guardian column or at least, he had an article published last week. The blurb on the Guardian site has not been amended to reflect his retired NHS status and it's not known for how long the Guardian might retain him as a columnist, now he's no longer a practising GP.
As Min says, one of his most recent Guardian pieces had included a bash at Fibromyalgia.
"Dr Crippen's" posting announcing his retirement from the NHS is here:
http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2010/03/joys-of-retirement-bring-on-scooter.html
Sunday, March 07, 2010
The joys of retirement : bring on the scooter
"A short while ago, I retired."
[...]
"So, after much thought, and some regret, I have resigned from the GMC. I'm no longer registered. I am no longer a practising doctor and I am not allowed to practise."
"I have retired earlier than many doctors, and that has had repercussions on my pension, which is not as big as it might have been. It's hard to get 40 years in as a doctor anyway and, because I had done law before medicine, I was a particularly late starter. But I will not starve, and I am luckier than many."
"The GMC tell me I'm still entitled to call myself "doctor" - even if you are no longer registered with the GMC, they cannot take your qualifications away from you. You are still a "doctor" albeit non-pracitsing. I've never been the sort of doctor who signs in at hotels using the title, so that is of little interest to me..."
[From the Comments to the above posting]
"And it is not a spoof. I really am an ex-doctor now and have been for a few weeks. I did take several months of NHS BLOG DOCTOR a few years ago; I guess I was "blogged out" but I did not start the rumours that I was dead, or have been committed, or was being dried out somewhere. The truth was far more boring. I just stayed away from the internet for 3 months."
---------------
I understand "Dr Crippen" was a senior partner in his practice. He told his readers some time ago, that he was on a salary of 75% of 155K pa. One does not give up that kind of salary lightly, especially with four teenagers to educate.
I suspect that a political issue within his practice, perhaps relating to forthcoming changes that were not to his taste has prompted his decision to quit earlier than he might otherwise have done.
"Dr Crippen" did not do much in the way of research for his postings around ME and CFS which have been ill-informed and have often contained errors and misconceptions, as well as being intensely provocative.
Min mentions "Dr Crippen's" love of the phrase "ME militants".
In this posting, last year, following the publication of the Lombardi Science paper, he wrote:
http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2009/10/myalgic-encephalomyelitis-me-science.html
Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) : science, quackery & mental illness
"The
militant wing of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) brigade broke out the champagne when a recent article in Science reported that a retrovirus had been found in 67% of ME patients compared to under 4% of the general population. Sadly, the study only involved just over 100 patients and is thus inconclusive..."
in which the embeded link was for Jodi Bassett's site
http://www.ahummingbirdsguide.com/whatisme.htm
It was suggested to him that rather than make assumptions that Jodi Bassett would be one of those celebrating in response to the Lombardi study, he should have first approached Jodi and her colleagues for their position on XMRV.
He made no comment, of course, and the link remains unamended.
I see a colleague of Jodi's has had a Rapid Response published (6 March 10) on the BMJ site in relation to ME, CFS, the use of "ME/CFS" and "CFS/ME", with some references to XMRV:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/340/feb11_1/c738#232323
"The incubation period for ME, G93.3, is only approx 3-7 days, which effectively eliminates many 'causes' considered for 'CFS', including CMV, EBV, and XMRV, which have much longer incubation periods."
"Those of us who actually are ME-defined (Ramsey, Hyde) are deeply distressed by these behaviours; these illogical and unscientific approaches. By this 'highjacking' of our extremely debilitating Neurogenic disease - simply to try to make theirs "sound more serious". How unscrupulous!"
"P.S. The WPI's XMRV study was NOT done on any ME-defined (Hyde, Ramsey) G93.3, patients."
So, I'm afraid "Dr Crippen" now has considerably more time on his hands. Let's hope he spends some of that time better informing himself around the illness before penning future articles on ME.
Someone in the comment section has suggested he might consider entering politics.
No, no, please someone, find him something else to keep him occupied.