Zoe Norris Book - "Chronic Fatigue - A Mystery No More"

jeff_w

jeff_w

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She writes, "I also write this book in memory of Sophia Mirza, Lynn Gilderdale, Emily Collingridge and every single sufferer who fought the disease and the misunderstanding of it so courageously, but sadly died too young with ME/CFS."

Is she legally allowed to name the dead, in this fashion, without the their families' permissions? If not, then I hope they sue her for this and win. Then, perhaps all the money they win can be given, graciously, to the Open Medicine Foundation.

To add insult to injury she says, "Oh, and (ME/CFS) is most definitely not a terminal disease, let’s put that myth straight too. I was appalled to see this being falsely spread around."

If that weren't enough... she also writes on her blog, "Something which has struck me is the enormous amount of charities etc. now covering the disease. I couldn’t quite believe it. I don’t know if this is truly helping patients to reach speedy recovery but based on my test results future researchers looking at the illness will be wasting time, effort and funding; the research is already done and reported in science journals. Yet it is not being followed or used."

So, she's not in favor of charities and research dedicated to this disease. She's opposes, in her own words, "time, effort, and funding" devoted to this disease.

It would be very worthwhile to investigate whether or not she has done anything legally questionable in her book. If she has, a lawsuit is surely in order.
 
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Gingergrrl

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jeff_w said:
She writes, "I also write this book in memory of Sophia Mirza, Lynn Gilderdale, Emily Collingridge and every single sufferer who fought the disease and the misunderstanding of it so courageously, but sadly died too young with ME/CFS."
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I find her wording interesting that they fought the "misunderstanding" and also died "with" ME/CFS vs. from it. Not sure if that was all intentional or just more poor wording choices? I really do hope she had permission of the families involved before using their daughters names.
 
I

IreneF

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Gingergrrl said:
I find her wording interesting that they fought the "misunderstanding" and also died "with" ME/CFS vs. from it. Not sure if that was all intentional or just more poor wording choices? I really do hope she had permission of the families involved before using their daughters names.
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There's a saying along the lines of "you can't libel the dead."
 
I

IreneF

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jeff_w said:
She writes, "I also write this book in memory of Sophia Mirza, Lynn Gilderdale, Emily Collingridge and every single sufferer who fought the disease and the misunderstanding of it so courageously, but sadly died too young with ME/CFS."

Is she legally allowed to name the dead, in this fashion, without the their families' permissions? If not, then I hope they sue her for this and win. Then, perhaps all the money they win can be given, graciously, to the Open Medicine Foundation.

To add insult to injury she says, "Oh, and (ME/CFS) is most definitely not a terminal disease, let’s put that myth straight too. I was appalled to see this being falsely spread around."

If that weren't enough... she also writes on her blog, "Something which has struck me is the enormous amount of charities etc. now covering the disease. I couldn’t quite believe it. I don’t know if this is truly helping patients to reach speedy recovery but based on my test results future researchers looking at the illness will be wasting time, effort and funding; the research is already done and reported in science journals. Yet it is not being followed or used."

So, she's not in favor of charities and research dedicated to this disease. She's opposes, in her own words, "time, effort, and funding" devoted to this disease.

It would be very worthwhile to investigate whether or not she has done anything legally questionable in her book. If she has, a lawsuit is surely in order.
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Wouldn't you need to show some kind of damage? Being wrong has never stopped people from publishing.
 
M

Mij

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Are there legal consequences for falsely mentioning the WHO's interest to promote her book?
 
Esther12

Esther12

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There's loads of nonsense on the internet about CFS, and lots of people trying to make money from unsupported claims. It seems like this book and this person are a minor thing, and not worth much attention.

Having said that, I'm sure I've spent lots of time arguing with random people on the internet, and it can be a helpful way of working out one's own beliefs and arguments.
 
Snow Leopard

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Esther12 said:
There's loads of nonsense on the internet about CFS, and lots of people trying to make money from unsupported claims. It seems like this book and this person are a minor thing, and not worth much attention.
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Agreed.

It's just a book. She feels entitled to receive some compensation for her effort in writing the book, regardless of how much we may like or not like the book.

There are far more important issues out there to spend our energy on.
 
Gingergrrl

Gingergrrl

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IreneF said:
There's a saying along the lines of "you can't libel the dead."
Click to expand...

I disagree and I think people deserve truth and respect and this does not stop because the person has passed away. But this would be left to the family to decide. But if me or my family member passed away, I would not want our name linked to something we did not believe in.
 
jeff_w

jeff_w

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Gingergrrl said:
I disagree and I think people deserve truth and respect and this does not stop because the person has passed away. But this would be left to the family to decide. But if me or my family member passed away, I would not want our name linked to something we did not believe in.
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I agree with this. I feel that Zoe Norris is extremely irresponsible in her messages that our disease shouldn't be further researched. She is also preying upon the financial well-being of very sick people.

What if family members of people with CFS/ME were to read her book? They could come away with some very misguided ideas that ultimately do harm.

If there were any basis for a lawsuit, I would sue her and give all the money to the Open Medicine Foundation. In the lawsuit, I would only ask for all of the proceeds from her book, as I wouldn't want to completely destroy her.
 
jeff_w

jeff_w

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Snow Leopard said:
It's just a book. She feels entitled to receive some compensation for her effort in writing the book, regardless of how much we may like or not like the book.
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The fact that she feels entitled to compensation does not mean that her feelings of entitlement are legitimate.
Snow Leopard said:
There are far more important issues out there to spend our energy on.
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I agree with you there, @Snow Leopard
 
Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard

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jeff_w said:
The fact that she feels entitled to compensation does not mean that her feelings of entitlement are legitimate.
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So now you're telling people what they can and cannot feel?

Regardless of my personal feelings, this thread is rather ugly. I think the best thing we can do right now is take a step back from this...
 
Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard

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jeff_w said:
I did no such thing. Re-read the sentence. I said her feelings of entitlement are not accurate. Never said she "couldn't feel" them.
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You said 'legitimate'.

One of the few things I have learned in my life is that telling people that their feelings are illegitimate is the #1 way to piss them off.
 
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