Dr Wakefield sues the BMJ in Texas.

[currer]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/04/BritMedJ.pdf

Well worth a read.

 

[Enid]

Well worth a read indeed currer.

 

[justinreilly]

Interesting. Don't know enough about the Wakefield case to say if BMJ and Godlee did conduct a campaign of libel against Wakefield, but it wouldn't surprise me considering their campaign of lying about ME.

 

[justinreilly]

I wonder why he isn't suing them in the UK since their libel laws are ridiculously strict. In the UK, the defendant has to prove what he said was true (which is crazy); in the US, the plaintiff has to prove they are false and in some cases, done with 'malice.' Perhaps he fears that the UK establishment has done such a good job of either discrediting or railroading him that people will be biased against him there.

 

[Levi]

Well, for one thing Wakefield lives in Texas. Although Texas does have a punitive damages limit, it is pretty generous and a probably better deal than for the UK. Plus, Texas citizens are mostly anti-science and do not even believe in evolution. Definite home team advantage there.

I wonder why he isn't suing them in the UK since their libel laws are ridiculously strict. In the UK, the defendant has to prove what he said was true (which is crazy); in the US, the plaintiff has to prove they are false and in some cases, done with 'malice.' Perhaps he fears that the UK establishment has done such a good job of either discrediting or railroading him that people will be biased against him there.

 

[natasa778]

Wakefields Lancet science is solid, but that is completely beside the point, as this is not about his findings or replications etc. This case would not be about science and whether it was correct (for God's sake do we put researchers on trial for science?), and it would not be about what went on at GMC. GMC "trial" was not a legal one - GMC is not a court of justice.

The case is about what went on in the last 12 months - lies and fabrications by Deer and BMJ, who alleged AW faking data, manipulating records etc. He is claiming they lied about all that and that their allegations are based on nothing at all. AW would only have to prove that they were AWARE that their allegations were baseless.

Btw top echalons of UK legal system are populated by old-boys-network club, just like the GMC. The other arm of old-boys-network club, many of them family members and close friends of judges and politicians, populates executive and director boards of large companies, including media and pharmaceutical ones. James Murdoch, Crispin Davis, Paul Nuki et al. being just tip of the iceberg. To expect anything resembling fair trial and justice in the UK is laughably naive.

 

[currer]

Wakefield's statement contains fascinating information from his side of the case - read it, because Wakefield has had a hard time in getting publicity for his story..

 

[Lou]

I have to agree, Levi, with much of what you say about Texas, differing only in that it's Austin, the Palo Alto of Texas(relatively speaking), where the suit was actually filed.

 

[Firestormm]

BMJ issues statement: http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/20...LeftBrain/rightBrain+(Left+Brain/Right+Brain)

 

[currer]

I am glad the case is filed in Texas as I think Dr Wakefield may stand a better chance of a fair trial there than in Britain.

The BMJ editorial is a chilling example of how powerful the forces are against Dr Wakefield, and I am impressed By Dr Wakefield's courage in standing up for himself and his professional integrity. From reading his statement I would think his case is a powerful one and hard for the BMJ to defend itself against.

I was almost going to say that I would now expect to see another outpouring of vitriol against Dr Wakefield in the press and broadcast media - however - wouldnt such a press campaign be contempt of court with a case now pending?

 

[currer]

The BMJ is not going to help ME sufferers either. It will not report the successful Norwegian Rituximab trials.

 

[justinreilly]

Where can I find Wakefield's deposition?

 

[natasa778]

Whistleblower Scientist Accuses BMJ of Institutional Research Misconduct

Dr. David Lewis, internationally known whistleblower and respected expert on institutional fraud, released a report today calling for a formal investigation into the practices of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), and specifically into the actions of its editor, Dr. Fiona Godlee, and Brian Deer.
...

http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/01/...nal-of-institutional-research-misconduct.html

this from the full report (available through the above link):

To support their new fraud theory, Godlee, Deer, and the BMJ's lawyers engaged in the
most reprehensible conduct I have ever witnessed involving any scientific journal
[Attachment 1 - Rapid Response emails]. To paint a dark picture of institutional fraud at
UCL, it is my opinion that they used the same tactics of which they accused Dr.
Wakefield, and now UCL at large... ...

 

[Enid]

Thanks natasha - and wow ! Will all the truth come out now.

 

[currer]

Lewis added: Apparently scientists who question certain government policies and industry practices can be destroyed for a price. If so, this kind of tabloid science poses a genuine threat to public health.

 

[SilverbladeTE]

Thanks natasha - and wow ! Will all the truth come out now.

They will (and have been) ffighting this tooth and nail.

As I'e said, this is a $50 billion a year industry
Governments let themselves be made as the ones who'll carry the the insurance burden of any vaccine problems
the political fallout would make Watergate or any other issue look like NOTHING by comparison ("You wrecked our children!"....doesn't matter who was actually responsible, voters when this is revealed will go nuts on who ever is in office..so governments will do anything to avoid this)
and so on.


Vaccines are reprehinsible, collective STUPIDITY when used as they have been, and potentially, species suicide.
We don't know jack squat as a species and we've been injecting our infants with foreign DNA/RNA for a century as one huge collective experiment and money spinner....way to go, ass clown Homo Sapiens! Stuff it, I'm a Vulcan!

Vaccines should be like any legitimate medical treatment:
-free from commercial abuse
-free from egotistical, authoritarian, governmental mandate EXCEPT in true, dire emergency, ie small pox or similar

 

[justinreilly]

I read the report. The grevious fraud alleged against Fiona Godlee seems very in character with her treatment of ME in BMJ.

This guy seems great. He says he's been investigating full time this story on his own initiative for this org, NWS since beginning of last year. He may be receptive if we bring up Godlee and BMJ's misconduct re ME. I wrote him a short note just to alert him to the situation, plan on writing him further later (too busy now). If anyone else can, that would be great, at least to plant the seed in his mind. I think it may very well bear fruit at some point. Think if we had this guy on our side...

email: lewisdavel@aol.com

 

[justinreilly]

email to Dr. Lewis at lewisdavel@aol.com Please write him a couple of words of encouragement if you can. Thanks!

Dear Dr. Lewis,

I read with great interest your report on the apparent fraud conducted by BMJ, Dr. Godlee and Brian Deer. I am not sufficiently knowledgable on the subject, so I can come to no conclusion as to whether BMJ and Dr. Godlee have committed fraud in that instance, though I must say, the evidence you muster is extremely compelling.

I do wish to alert you to the fact that any fraud BMJ and Dr. Godlee may have committed in this instance is completely in character with their misconduct regarding their reports of the research on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis aka "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." I am sorry that I do not have the time or health to further evidence that misconduct to you at present. I just wanted to alert you of a pattern of disingenuous and dishonest conduct regarding ME which is consistent with that which you allege, for whatever that is worth.

Some notable academics and reporters have investigated in depth other similar misconduct re ME including Hillary Johnson (oslersweb.com), David Tuller, Dr. Jamie Deckoff-Jones and Prof. Malcolm Hooper. Unfortunately, this information has been unable to gain a widespread audience, similar to the difficulty that Dr. Wakefield's defense has. I fully appreciate how busy you must be with this extremely important issue of Wakefield and getting to the truth, whatever it may be, for, obviously finding the truth is the only way forward for dealing with such an incredibly harmful disease as autism. I can only pray that you, and/or others equally stellar and unbiased, will at some point (sooner better than later) take a hard look at the malfeasance and nonfeasance that has been committed against ME science and patients for the last three decades in the US and UK.

In closing, I offer my heartfelt thanks that you, though uncompensated and have nothing to gain but the satisfaction of finding the truth and helping millions of sick, are on the case! Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Justin Reilly, esq.
M.E. Law & Policy Center

 

[Firestormm]

You know there are two threads running about this I believe. Darn confusing.

Time: Wakefield: Great Science Frauds: http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/13/great-science-frauds/#andrew-wakefield

LBRB Deer responds to Lewis's complaint: http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2012/01/brian-deer-responds-to-david-lewis-complaint/

You know the whole issue of Lewis's complaint - those tick-sheets from the children's gut biopsies - it was ridiculous and actually provided more evidence that had previously been claimed 'lost' by the defence. Even if you ignore Lewis's 'form' the accusation he makes is nonsensical in the extreme. Have a read through the supporting articles to the above.

I spent a day last week reading back through it all and refreshing my addled brain. This latest effort really has only played into the opposition's hands and undermined - if that were possible - Wakefield even more. Lewis makes some school-boy errors in his complaint. Citing accusations of 'fraud' when there were none - at least not in the articles to which he refers. No wonder the BMJ have instructed their lawyers to 'defend the claim vigorously': http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/20...vigorously-against-andrew-wakefields-lawsuit/

 

[justinreilly]

Dr. Lewis responded graciously to my email and another follow up. I posted my reply email below. He gave me permission to summarize part of what he conveyed to me, which was that he forwarded the email to Dr. Wakefield and his lawyers to see if they wanted to look into it. He said he may have an opportunity to look into the BMJ/ME situation to an extent next year, at least ancillarily to further research he wishes to do on the BMJ/Wakefield situation.

The professors I mention were a couple of law professors at NYU with whom he is in contact regarding autism.

I don't know much about the Wakefield situation, but Margaret Williams said that Prof. Hooper knows Dr. Wakefield and has supported him from the get-go which says a lot to me.

Dr. Lewis,

I believe I read a law journal article by the NYU profs about settlement and/or awards in autism vaccine injury as juxtaposed to the Public Health Services' categorical statements that it has been proven that autism is not caused by vaccines, which is telling. I don't remember the allegations that other conditions had to be claimed. That is very disturbing.

Regarding the BMJ and ME generally, the situation is that there is a small group of de facto insurance lobbyists, trained as psychiatrists and posing as scientists who are very well funded and churn out large numbers of review articles in the journals and book chapters which present their position that ME is psychogenic. Some of the chief wrongdoers are Profs. Simon Wessely, Peter White, Michael Sharpe and Trudy Chalder. Some are directly employed by insurers and others have more tangential links. They are also involved in governmental organizations such as the Medical Research Council and Science Media Center from which they can disseminate their falsehoods easily while protecting themselves from censure.

Although many psychology and psychiatric journals have published work by these charlatans, BMJ is the only journal of which I am aware that has taken an active, coordinated role in publicizing the psychogenic position on ME, through editorials and the like, in a manner resembling a public relations campaign. Fiona Godlee and Simon Wessely are the central actors in this campaign by BMJ.

I am from the US and have studied the malfeasance and nonfeasance at US NIH and CDC extensively, but only in the last two years have been exposed to the situation in the UK. During this time period, the chief controversy was over the possible connection between ME and the retrovirus XMRV. The connection between ME and XMRV (though perhaps not related gamma retroviruses/Murine Leukemia Viruses) has been shown to be most likely non-existent, which was the position of BMJ. While BMJ appears to be nominally correct on that major point, the actual writings and conduct of BMJ during this controversy have been very unprofessional. I have not reviewed this situation since its occurrence, so my memory is not crystal clear on this situation. Thus I can not say whether their actions rise to the level of provable fraud as their actions regarding Dr. Wakefield seem to have, judging from your evidence. My impression is that they were not as bad as in the Wakefield instance. I do remember clearly a pattern of disingenuousness and egregious misstatements of significant facts by Dr. Godlee and Prof. Wessely.

At the time, I received an email from Margaret Williams indicating that Dr. Godlee has long been engaging in this sort of improper conduct re ME. Margaret Williams and her husband Prof. Malcolm Hooper have long been far and away the greatest authorities on the systematic malfeasance of Wessely and his co-conspirators in the UK. Their website meactionuk.org.uk is a treasure trove of incriminating information on this matter.

You may forward this and my previous email, and any others in the future to Dr. Wakefied, and his representatives. Generally, I encourage the dissemination of anything I write on this topic, so feel free to disseminate anything to anyone you wish, except if I indicate that it should be kept confidential.

It may not be worth bringing to the attention of the lawyers other than as an "fyi" since obviously I am mostly just relating impressions and don't even remember if there was provable fraud in the case of BMJ and ME. As I remember it, if US evidence law is applied in Wakefield's case, he may be unable to introduce other 'bad acts' of the defendant unless it demonstrates a modus operandi or 'signature' style similar to the instant case. So not entirely sure it has any use in Wakefield's case.

Instead, the main function of my letter was to alert you that this sort of actions are in character for BMJ and Dr. Godlee and also to alert you of the ME situation generally. Generally, in my readings, I have noticed that there appears to be a similar approach of suppression of science in a number of so-called 'contested illnesses' and 'contested causations' of well established diseases-

- generally around: ME, Lyme Disease, Fibromyalgia;
- links between retroviruses and ME and MS and
- links between vaccines on the one hand and ME, Autism, AIDS (possibility of HIV in early polio vaccines), Gulf War Illness (possibility of Squalene in vaccines), and Mesothelioma and other cancers (SV-40 virus in polio vaccines) on the other.

I can only myself confirm that the US and UK governments and a limited number of 'scientists' have definitely and consistently over 28 years acted grossly improperly, sometimes fraudulently, with regard to ME. It strikes me from the alleged parallel, similar actions with regard to other diseases that they could certainly have occurred in these other diseases.

In any event, Prof. Hooper and Margaret Williams would probably be the ones who could address the BMJ/ME question most definitively. I expect they would be happy to speak with you, Dr. Wakefield or your representatives. Their website is meactionuk.org.uk. I have alerted them of our correspondence.

I have appended below a somewhat more thorough discussion of the situation in the UK re ME I wrote to give some context.

I hope very much that you receive assistance with your work. Good luck on all your pursuits!

Sincerely,
Justin Reilly, esq.
M.E. Law & Policy Center

----------

Overview of Abuse of ME Patients and Sabotage of ME Science in the United Kingdom

The central problem for patients with ME is that a small cadre of charlatan 'scientists' in the US, but even more insidiously, in the UK have monopolized the discourse on the disease and have succeeded in marginalizing patients and bona fide ME science. They have done this by 'manufacturing doubt' and fake science purporting to show that ME is (at least partly) psychogenic. However, as chaired Harvard Medical School Professor of Internal Medicine Anthony Komaroff, MD notes, there are over four thousand articles in peer-reviewed medical journals proving that ME is a frank organic disease.

Prof. Simon Wessely and a small group of co-conspirators have lied about ME for decades to make it seem as though it is a mental illness. Their method is as follows: First, they caught a lucky break when the US CDC inappropriately renamed the disease from ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) to "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." The "Wessely School" then invented a new definition of "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", known as the Sharpe/Oxford/1991 "CFS" definition which defines nothing more than Idiopathic Chronic Fatigue, ie fatigue with no known cause. They conduct many studies using this patently invalid definition. Because the cohort defined by the Oxford definition contains only about 10% pwME and 90% pw Idiopathic CF and mental illness (chiefly depression) the results of their studies often show inconclusive and varying results and suggest a psychological component. Prof. Wessely and his colleagues then exaggerate or lie about even these invalid findings to claim that ME is psychogenic.

These insurance lobbyists, trained as psychiatrists and posing as scientists are very well funded and churn out large numbers of review articles in the journals and book chapters which are brimming with these lies. The over-all message they push is that organic attribution of ME is a form of denial and dodging of responsibility for the patients' mental illness, to wit "abnormal illness beliefs" including fear of movement (kinesiphobia) and fixating on and 'amplifying' bodily sensations (ie hypochondriasis). Thus, they claim in summary, the only proven "treatment" is CBT/GET, ie telling the patient that they do not have an organic illness, they merely have these abnormal illness beliefs which can only be overcome by constantly increasing exercise. The main thing, they emphasize, is to restrict medical testing, treatment and assistance to the patient since this will only be a waste of resources and exacerbate the patient's hypochondriasis by making him believe that medical testing, treatment and assistance are appropriate.

Numerous people have had their disease severely exacerbated in the UK by being "treated" with CBT/GET. Some people have been involuntarily committed to mental hospitals ("sectioned") in the UK and have been forcibly "treated" with CBT/GET, denied basic assistance such as help up off the floor following collapse during forced exercise or even during an attempt to walk or crawl to the bathroom, administered anti-pscyhotics in the absence of any significant mental-illness, much less psychosis. Some have even died as a direct result of this treatment both from routine "treatment" and that during "sectioning."

One can go on and on with the multitude of outrages committed by this cabal against pwME, but I don't want to overwhelm you! Please take a look at the excellent website of Prof. Malcolm Hooper, PhD for information on the relentless campaign of misinformation by Prof. Wessely and colleagues. meactionuk.org.uk. Thank you for your consideration.