• 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.

BBC names Myhill website complainant

Messages
165
This from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-11550075

A GP has been suspended from practising medicine for a year by the General Medical Council (GMC).

Dr Sarah Myhill, 52, who has a private practice near Knighton, Powys had claimed she was a "pioneer" in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome.

The GMC imposed an interim ban while it investigates her claims, but it said Dr Myhill might pose a "risk to patients".

She was banned from prescribing drugs for 18 months by the GMC in April, and told to take down part of her website.

It came after a group of GPs based in Yorkshire claimed she had provided "inappropriate" treatment to a patient in June 2009.

Dr Myhill recommended vitamin and magnesium injections for suspected chronic fatigue syndrome, a treatment an expert said had "no clinical or biochemical basis".


Stuart Jones, a senior clinical scientist at Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex, also raised concerns about advice on the doctor's website concerning breast cancer screening and child vaccinations.

The website discouraged women from using the oral contraceptive pill, recommended an alternative method of breast cancer screening and restated the link between the measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism, which has now been discredited.

The latest GMC hearing heard that there were "repeated and significant concerns raised by former patients, medical practitioners and other members of the public".

GMC panel chair Dr Peter Maguire said: "The circumstances which bring patients to your practice by their very nature make your patients vulnerable, notwithstanding any actual health issues.

"The panel is satisfied that, based on the complaints made, and the concerns raised, there is sufficient information before it to indicate that there may be impairment of your fitness to practise and that such impairment may pose a real risk to patients.

'The panel has been extremely concerned by your possible lack of understanding of the requirements of modern day best practice, as well as a seeming lack of perception and understanding of the consequences of your actions."

Dr Myhill tried to challenge the interim conditions at the review hearing, which was held in public at her request.

It was attended by around a dozen of her supporters.

The hearing also heard that the GMC had received further complaints since April's ruling.

They included a suggestion that Dr Myhill had attempted to exploit a loophole in a requirement she take down information on her website by posting a link to an "ungagged" version of the site.

Dr Myhill said she could not be held responsible if other people had chosen to copy her website.

Her 12-month interim order will be reviewed within three months.

Dr Myhill has been asked to comment.
 
Messages
165
If it is felt that I should remove it or moderators should, then I am more than happy to do so.

The motivation was protectional really - lest the Myhill supporters be blamed at a later stage for being the ones who originally publically named him. Something the Myhill supporters have been accused of in other areas.

If moderators consider this thread is inappropriate then please remove and I apologise unreservedly for any offence. Put it down to my relative inexperience of forums.

Craig
 

ukme

Senior Member
Messages
169
Strange they mentioned the chap in Romford and yet did not say who the group of doctors are in Yorkshire..
 

curry

Senior Member
Messages
107
I'm not sure I understand why.

Because a 'name and shame' thread like this, will lead to this doctor being faced with harassment, such as hate mail and probably other unpleasant things.

I don't agree with this doctor's views, as I admire Dr Myhill, but don't like to see when the frustration about the GMC resorts to questionable campaigns against an individual.
I also would like to believe this doctor had acted with best intentions and knowledge in mind to protect the safety of patients.
 
Messages
5,238
Location
Sofa, UK
I am too closely personally involved to make an objective decision on this particular matter so I will pass the buck and leave it to other moderators to rule if Craig should be required to rename his thread. I will just give quick reactions from an emotional place...

Because a 'name and shame' thread like this, will lead to this doctor being faced with harassment, such as hate mail and probably other unpleasant things.

Did Jones name Dr Myhill? Did Jones shame her? Did his actions lead to harassment of her? Did his actions lead to unpleasant things? Does being repeatedly referred to in foul, sexist, abusive language by his mates on the Bad Science forum count as hate mail?

Should he be immune from the same consequences?

If he has a complaint about facing similar consequences himself, should he focus that complaint at those responsible for publicly revealing his name?

How did the BBC get his name, if the GMC took adequate measures to protect him from public disclosure?

Whose fault is this situation?

I also would like to believe this doctor had acted with best intentions and knowledge in mind to protect the safety of patients.
Oh God, so would I!

He's a doctor and a very highly paid public servant so of course I would like to believe he carefully considered the entire matter and treated it with the appropriate serious reflection, and wasn't just bashing off an email in an idle moment without thought for the consequences.

I would like to believe he discussed his concerns with his fellow professional before taking any action.

I would like to believe he knew something about Dr Myhill or something about ME/CFS and considered the full consequences of his actions before sending his email.

I would hate to think he was just "having fun".

That would be sick and irresponsible behaviour, if he thought the whole thing was a big joke, wouldn't it?
 

pictureofhealth

XMRV - L'Agent du Jour
Messages
534
Location
Europe
Sorry if I'm missing something here, but the name has already been published by the BBC -a worldwide media corporation - and is likely to have been read by millions already. So it is unlikely that posting it on this thread will be tantamount to 'exposure'.
 

Min

Guest
Messages
1,387
Location
UK
Did Jones name Dr Myhill? Did Jones shame her? Did his actions lead to harassment of her? Did his actions lead to unpleasant things? Does being repeatedly referred to in foul, sexist, abusive language by his mates on the Bad Science forum count as hate mail?

Should he be immune from the same consequences?

If he has a complaint about facing similar consequences himself, should he focus that complaint at those responsible for publicly revealing his name?

How did the BBC get his name, if the GMC took adequate measures to protect him from public disclosure?

Whose fault is this situation?

Oh God, so would I!

He's a doctor and a very highly paid public servant so of course I would like to believe he carefully considered the entire matter and treated it with the appropriate serious reflection, and wasn't just bashing off an email in an idle moment without thought for the consequences.

I would like to believe he discussed his concerns with his fellow professional before taking any action.

I would like to believe he knew something about Dr Myhill or something about ME/CFS and considered the full consequences of his actions before sending his email.

I would hate to think he was just "having fun".

That would be sick and irresponsible behaviour, if he thought the whole thing was a big joke, wouldn't it?



Jones said on BS:

I actually find this quite funny as the my initial contact with the GMC was just a speculative email to the general enquiries email asking whether it would actually be worth submitting another complaint given the failure of the previous 6 efforts. This was written with some haste during a coffee break and hence contained a few typos. Amusingly, after submitting my full complaint the GMC decided to use this email to front the complaint to Myhill *sigh*.


So depriving Dr Myhill of her livelihood & making her liable for huge legal fees because he was bored in his coffee break is amusing to him.
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Personally i think it is fine for this to be reposted here form the BBC website. I do not think it is fine to harrass anyone that you do not agree with.
I am concerned about the statement in the BBC report that there were "repeated and significant concerns raised by former patients,"
The reason i am concerned by his is because i have supported Dr.Myhill on the understanding from her supporters that none of her patients have ever complained about her. Am i now to believe that this is not true?
For the record i have had testing done with Dr.Myhill and her advice has been very helpful to me.
 
C

Cloud

Guest
Sorry if I'm missing something here, but the name has already been published by the BBC -a worldwide media corporation - and is likely to have been read by millions already. So it is unlikely that posting it on this thread will be tantamount to 'exposure'.


My thoughts as well. Craig was only keeping us informed of the developments as he had all along. Besides, Craig didn't break the news, he was only linking to it as a courtesy.
I don't understand why this post would even be singled out for any judgment of possible "name and shame" posting, when that's common practice on this forum anyhow (ie. Reeves, White, Wessley, McClure, etc).
 

leela

Senior Member
Messages
3,290
I don't understand why this post would even be singled out for any judgment of possible "name and shame" posting, when that's common practice on this forum anyhow (ie. Reeves, White, Wessley, McClure, etc).

Not to mention there was only naming, no shaming.

The real shame is what has happened to Dr Myhill and its outrageously disproportionate consequences.
If those consequences are in part a result this person's actions, and he is publicly known already as one of the complainants,
it is useful to have that information--particularly in light of the casualness with which he purports to have lodged his complaint.

Between Dr Wakefield's fate and Dr Myhill's, I see a pattern here that truly warrants a full review of the GMC and the national health care program altogether.
 
Messages
16
The only pattern I see emerging is one called "what has happened to Dr Myhill cannot possibly be her fault in anyway whatsoever, so let's blame/scapegoat the complainant because they obviously didn't think that their actions would have such serious consequences", with the implication being that they wouldn't have complained if they had actually thought it through? Which is ridiculous.

There's no harm in posting this. You're just bringing people's attention to something that has been published elsewhere, and it's something that Stuart Jones/Jonas will have to take up with the GMC and/or the BBC if it bothers him that much or leads to harassment.

His identity and casualness or whatever is irrelevant though. What Dr Myhill and her supporters should be doing (and should have been doing) is addressing the substance of the complaint(s) instead of looking for scapegoats.
 

Min

Guest
Messages
1,387
Location
UK
So the complainant, Stuart Jones, clinical scientist works at Queens Hospital Romford. This is the same hospital as Prof Findley - wasn't he medical adviser to AfME , & hasn't he overseen a trial of the Lightning Process?

Stuart Jones stated on BS that senior colleagues had drawn Dr Myhill's website to his attention.

Here's what one person on David Icke's forums says about his or her treatment in one of Prof Findley's fatigue clinic:

...I saw it all first hand at the Prof Findley's CFS Unit at Oldchurch hospital and i can tell you no one got better with the Graded Exercise that they changed name to Graded Activity so it couldn't be sued for maybe cos it toned down the truth of it all-they are/were so cruel in there towards patients who i saw to be extremely sick some who's lips would go blue and were as white as sheets.They were forced into walking the unit with physios who barged in on enforced rest periods too noilsily disturbing the quiet.
Of course it was nearby a Neurosurgical ward and this was most disturbing as were the fluorescent strip lights from the Nurses station every night for a month and brain tumoured ops and patients afterwards that didn't know what day it was and moaned and groaned all night and were confused as to their whereabouts-and a Professor who saw fit to say to his patients of ME-called CFS-"we will break you to make you" and he did always have his female patients in tears, but cute enough to know he was cruel cos anyone who had a husband or near relative who was a Solicitor he'd quickly move of out the Unit to somewhere better privately for different treatment-drugs likely-i saw one young lady whose mother was going to raise the roof with Findley for giving a Neuro drug that made her body fill up with fluid..that was at my initial first visit-that ought to have been my big warning. I noted near the Unit was a small library and Psychiatry was prevalent-i guess it would need to be cos of brain ops. But if you think about it why are folks getting so ill? They are extremely polluted-and will be moreso after ops cos of drugs and more drugs and more drugs...it is barbaric victorian stuff...i saw many CFS patients who returned cos so ill,one local lass and she was odd as she kept staring at me until they shut her curtains around her and i was warned not to speak with her or take any notice of her-she was only 21 yrs and i heard her in tears. Of course this was back in 2000...i know much better now.

That Prof hid all physical tests and ignored and yet he was supposed to refer onto any other type of Consultants if anything found like heart probs-he did not-and would become very angry if anyone dared ask for medical records-always go over their heads straight to Medical Records not Secretaries. Such must be his conscience and lies to want to hide things from people.

He also thinks Gulf War syndrome is a psychological illness...

http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112436&page=23
 
Messages
16
See... you're doing it again... it's just not possible for Dr Myhill's website to contain reams of nonsense that can justifiably be complained about, so it's all Stuart Jones' fault... urged on by his evil senior colleagues... even though none of the specific sections of Myhill's website that Stuart Jones' complained about had anything to do with ME/CFS...
 

leela

Senior Member
Messages
3,290
The only pattern I see emerging is one called "what has happened to Dr Myhill cannot possibly be her fault in anyway whatsoever, so let's blame/scapegoat the complainant because they obviously didn't think that their actions would have such serious consequences", with the implication being that they wouldn't have complained if they had actually thought it through? Which is ridiculous.

There's no harm in posting this. You're just bringing people's attention to something that has been published elsewhere, and it's something that Stuart Jones/Jonas will have to take up with the GMC and/or the BBC if it bothers him that much or leads to harassment.

His identity and casualness or whatever is irrelevant though. What Dr Myhill and her supporters should be doing (and should have been doing) is addressing the substance of the complaint(s) instead of looking for scapegoats.

I don't see any scapegoating here, but I admit I skimmed some bits. I think people are just trying to put the pieces together and trying to understand how this bizarre witch hunt came to be. I don't agree that the potential casualness is irrelevant; if he didn't have a serious complaint, and never intended for her to be sanctioned so severely, that would have relevance, since the GMC's handling of it went way beyond what one would expect under the circumstances, incuding misleading Dr M on her legal rights. I'm not saying I know one way or another what this man's intention was, I just don't think it should be dismissed out of hand.
To be honest, though, I think it was more like Dr M who was scapegoated by the system.
 
Messages
16
The problem with this line of thinking/argument is that nobody would ever complain about anything if somebody suffering severe consequences/penalties as a result of the complaint being upheld is universally considered to be an unacceptable outcome. It's the responsibility of those who might be complained about to behave in a way that prevents the complaint from being upheld.

For argument's sake, let's go with the hypothesis about the (serious) complaint about the (iffy) website being the difference between the GMC acting in the way it has done and not acting it all/the other (more serious, I think) complaint not being sufficient in itself to initiate Fitness to Practice whatevers.

Even if that is the case, the responsibility for what happens next is entirely down to Dr Myhill and the GMC and whether Stuart Jones acted seriously or casually or whilst off-his-face on caffeine is still irrelevant.

Obviously, I'm not going to agree with anyone here about the extent to which Dr Myhill is responsible for the situation she now finds herself in, but those who think she is completely innocent should be focusing on the GMC instead of the complainants (although focusing entirely on that at the expense of addressing the substance of the complaints has backfired horribly).
 
Messages
33
See... you're doing it again... it's just not possible for Dr Myhill's website to contain reams of nonsense that can justifiably be complained about, so it's all Stuart Jones' fault... urged on by his evil senior colleagues... even though none of the specific sections of Myhill's website that Stuart Jones' complained about had anything to do with ME/CFS...
Why would people here JUMP to defend this Jones clown? They act like they have no experience with bully denialist doctors determined to maintain their control and the outdated and abusive status quo. If someone has CFS and they've tried to get help from mainstream doctors, they have a belly full of it.

Even if Myhill's site contained "reams of nonsense", so what...? People reading websites are not automatically patients being treated by the doctor who expresses opinions on the website. Isn't there any freedom of speech in the UK? And anyway, I see "reams of nonsense" on EVERY TV commercial advertising a prescription drug.

Man, I thought things were bad here in the U$A for CFS patients...but things appear even worse in the UK--your medical system really IS stuck even deeper in the dark ages.

Myhill should move to the US like Wakefield did, where she might be able to at least practice a little bit of real medicine...
 

Angela Kennedy

Senior Member
Messages
1,026
Location
Essex, UK
Insignificount is misrepresenting people's concerns here, or possibly just misunderstanding them.

That a member of the BS forum has behaved as Stuart Jones has is an important part of the picture, the case, if you like.

My particular problem with BS is the selective outrage and scepticism they display. Big honchos or aspiring ones on the BS forum would, it appears, never officially complain (or even consider on the forum) about the abuses against ME/CFS patients (using psychiatric measures), or the Lightning process. They are certainly not equal opportunity sceptics. So, they are either unable to understand the scientific and ethical problems in psychogenic explanations and their treatments (which means they are not the brightest stars in the heavens and don't really understand science), or possibly are acting as ostriches to avoid the inevitable cognitive dissonance, or there is a failure of courage going on.

Whatever the Myhill issue is about, Insignificount, you are failing to understand the real issue here, which is the psychogenic dismissal and abuse of ME/CFS patients using LUDICROUS claims, fallacious reasoning, and bad science to do so, and how that NEVER gets tackled by the likes of the BSers, or the medical establishment, or the government. Myhill has now been taken away from patients she was helping, who now will be stuck with the option of dangerous treatments, or nothing at all, or looking for someone else, until that person too is ruined by the full might of a Jonas thinkey-likey on his coffee break.

Go back to BS and say that - then watch the meme of the "crazy PR forumites" and "stupid woman Angela Kennedy" get propagated, again. They'll do anything but try and understand the issues. I know that the BS forum is not a homogenous membership - but the big cheeses on there, the aspiring big cheeses, and the little helpers, are the ones who direct the ethos, if you like, of that group of people. Something is rotten there, and I think it's cognitive dissonance, failure of courage to tackle Bad Science when it's state authorised, or inability to understand Bad Science when it's 'tainted' by social science and the humanities ( a key problem in psychogenic explanations for example), possibly all three. This matters because of things that happen as a result, like Jonas and his bull-headed mission and its actual effects on patients (let alone Myhill), and their ongoing pronouncements from ignorance about CFS patients, which are all extremely damaging.

Jonas acted from a position of ignorance, possibly with wilful disregard for the consequences for others. He has caused catastrophe for many people over issues which are uncertain at best. There are so many other people, who do real harm to patients, that he could have gone after if he was in the mood for crusading, and his behaviour on the BS forum inflamed matters even more. He cannot escape criticism for that, much as might think he should and BS high-fives he gets.