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Canadian Lawyer Advocates for ME

Old Bones

Senior Member
Messages
808
From The Advocate, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, March 9, 2017:

"Red Deer lawyer campaigns for medical research
More government funding needed

A Red Deer lawyer says the lack of government funding for medical research into a disease that is shattering Canadian lives is shocking.

'I deal with these people so I know it’s not psychogenic. I talk to them. They want their lives back. They want to get back to work. They’re not depressed. A lot of them, interestingly, were high performers and they were successful.'

Read the full article here:

http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/red-deer-lawyer-campaigns-for-medical-research/

The lawyer, Brent Handel Q.C., wrote an article which appeared in the June 26, 2015 issue of The Lawyers Weekly, a newspaper for lawyers across Canada.

"Validity of chronic fatigue bolstered by research

For decades, plaintiffs’ personal injury lawyers have fought an insurance establishment that, at best, did not understand the condition and usually considered it made up. According to Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an Illness, a recently released report by the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the lack of understanding has been compounded by doubts over the validity of the disease which hindered medical research and prevented possibly hundreds of thousands of people from being properly diagnosed."

"The bottom line for civil litigators is that the area of ME/CFS will change drastically over the next few years as this research filters its way into courtrooms. As it stands now, ME/CFS plaintiffs are subject to an intense credibility review by the presiding judge. If the judge believes the ME/CFS plaintiff, judgment will follow for the plaintiff, and if not, the case will be dismissed. As researchers refine the development of a specific diagnostic biomarker for ME/CFS and make it widely available, and as the Institute of Medicine report filters through the medical community, credibility will no longer be the issue — the simple issue will revolve around whether the plaintiff has the diagnostic biomarker for ME/CFS. If yes, it means a judgment for the plaintiff and vindication for ME/CFS victims."

Read the full article here:

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/articles/2414