She says she's seen 250 women who have had breast implants who got CFS. Maybe she is right about that. I'm not aware of any studies on it, but if she has seen that many patients who fit that bill then I don't see anything wrong with her saying so. I think you will convince more people though if you frame this and other exposures etc. in terms of you've seen it, you can see there are links there but there needs to be proper research to confirm it. Your own certainty is not enough basically, it's not how science works.
I think attacking conventional medicine for failing to come up with appropriate treatments is fair. Though I think it is unwise to frame it in those terms because the minute you say "conventional medicine" in a negative sentence it makes it sound like you do not believe in the principle of conventional medicine, and that you believe in alternative medicine. Well, from my experience alternative medicine is BS. The principle of conventional medicine is right, the problem is with the abuse of conventional medicine, evidence-less medicine being passed off as evidence-based medicine, and the politics and influential groups that promote these things as good. That is what should be attacked, not "conventional medicine".
It's important to get details like the name of the hospital, the cost of the study, etc. right. I think if you are going to invest time and effort in going on the attack about something like PACE you need to make sure there are no holes in your armour, because projectiles are going to be fired at you, of that you can be sure. You basically nullify any good points you made because they will simply focus on your weakest points.
A more general point is that watching the video she comes across as a bit emotional. I don't mean that to sound bad like it perhaps does, I know she cares and is passionate about this and I think that is to her credit, but all I mean is that this sort of thing is more effective if you come across calmly and individually removed from the topic. I imagine that having seen so many sick people with ME and in addition she has been attacked herself for her work, that makes it hard not to come across passionately about the topic, but it would be more effective if she came across as not emotionally invested, or at least able to apply professional distance to the situation (even if that appearance of professional distance is not all that real.
You have to think about your audience and what you are trying to achieve. I imagine others involved in this movement are like minded, and she sees lots of patients and talks to them about the same topics and you can speak like this with them, they are agreeable, on your side, but you have to look into that camera and see the most critical, unforgiving, skeptical audience and even enemies who are going to pick it apart and attack it. She mentioned MPs so this sort of campaign needs to be a bit more appropriate for that, so you need to adjust the way you talk about the topic to engage effectively with your true audience.
I think it is very good to talk about the targeting of doctors who want to work in ME. That is something we need to hear more about, it needs to come out in the open and for questions to be asked about who is targeting these people and why. But carefully; I imagine some doctors do promote quackery and maybe that is why they were struck off. But if Dr Myhill has faced 30 complaints, 7 hearings and the GMC and found nothing wrong, then that suggests she is being persecuted for nothing other than the fact she does not agree with the BPS approach and that can't be right. Are those complaints from the BPS supporters then?
If she decides to talk more about that I hope she will review her approach to ensure she gets the most out of it.
I do think it is brave to do this because it's clear that speaking out makes you a target. I appreciate Dr Myhill doing it. I believe strongly that this sort of thing needs to come out in the open, keeping quiet just maintains the power with those who want it to remain as it is, it's actually better, and even safer, to put this out in the open - so long as you do it carefully. I just hope any future videos will be a bit more careful. Maybe Dr Myhill and those who like this video a lot will not like what I have to say, and will feel upset with me, but I am actually just trying to give important constructive criticism because I think a campaign like this can have a positive impact if done correctly. I do think such feedback needs taking on board though or such a campaign is likely to fail.
