The Persecution of Heretics

September, 29, 2014 | 12 Comments

Comments

  1. The beauty of being a blogger with no link to the medical profession is, or can be, quite a powerful weapon.

    For instance, I could write about a certain healthcare professional alleging malpractice or alleging links to the industry.

    Chances are my post will be deemed as that of just a blogger with an opinion, ie; not worth pursuing through the courts as an act of defamation.

    There have been instances where healthcare professionals have taken umbrage to what bloggers write, in those instances the professionals who have objected have drawn the subject matter to themselves by objecting to what was wrote.

    Leonie Fennell v Patricia Casey springs to mind.

    Leonie, a blogger, made observations about Irish psychiatrist Patricia Casey. Threatening letters were sent to Fennell via Casey’s lawyers.

    Fiddaman v Benbow (GSK)

    I, myself, felt the wrath of GSK’s lawyers when I made comparisons to a former GSK employee. The employee, Alistair Benbow, was unhappy that I had insinuated that he was lying – GSK also took umbrage to me using their logo in a video slide show I created. The whole affair went viral and the focus was put on Alistair Benbow.

    I highlight these two blogger instances to show how effective bloggers can be opposed to someone within the medical profession making the same observations.

    If, for example, you (David Healy) made the same observations as Leonie and I and you chose to write about it then you would be in a situation where (because of your name/fame and profession) you could be sued.

    Lawyers would much rather target high profile figures because those same high profile figures will have a much bigger readership and/or the monetary gain for the alleged victim would be easier to ‘negotiate’ with an out of court settlement…should it ever get to the stage of court proceedings that is.

    It’s a deterrent, it’s almost like a written law that has never actually been written.

    The GMC cannot come after the likes of myself or Leonie Fennell but they can bare their teeth at medical professionals who write publicly.

    Lawyers can, if they wish, send out threatening letters to bloggers but those they are representing will become the main focus and not the person making the observations.

    When Leonie received threatening letters, she wrote about it. When I received a threatening letter I also chose to write about it.

    The social networking websites republished these letters thus making the stories much bigger than what the lawyers would have wanted. Their intent, as far as I can see, was to test the water, to see if they could use intimidation as a means of getting the blogger to cease and desist.

    It’s a privileged position to be in.

    A blogger is only answerable to himself/herself, he/she has no editor looking through proposed articles and deleting potential defamation action.

    Professionals who go public with their thoughts have it tougher though, much tougher.

  2. Yes, Please see the link provided on the NIH (National Institute of Health) here in USA that correlates the increased risk of Benzodiazepines and Dementia. Pretty scary stuff. More easily digestable forms of this study or synopsis can be easily found by inputting “Benzodiazepines and increased risk of Dementia. How many of us have been virtual labs with our Psychotropic immersed brains since approximately 1980. I use that as a starting point, as was on the cusp of post Tri-cyclic, MAOI, era and advent of SSRI, SNRI, and we can not forget the anti-psychotics….look at Risperdol, and all the negative effects. I could go on and on, but these new findings are truly disturbing.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3460255/

  3. It’s a strange world, and getting stranger. The last few times I’ve been to my family doctor, I’ve begun to wonder: who’s pushing HER around?

    She’s begun to say things like “you have three months to get your cholesterol down through diet and exercise, or I’ll have to put you on statins.” Have to? Or, last year, when I had a trivial symptom, and an EKG produced a trivial finding, she sent me off for tests. A thorough exam and a decision to do nothing would have been reasonable — and closer to her old modus operandi. A “stress-echo” would have been precaution at its finest.

    Instead this turned out to be a lulu of a test where the “stress-echo” (results perfect) was followed by a big nuclear medicine scan with contrast (also perfect). I shared the waiting room with two people on scooters who obviously had congestive heart failure and a world of complex problems. They eyed me curiously as we chatted. The bill was about $7500 after Blue Cross discounts, of which my share was $2000. (Guess that’s my vacation for the year, and then some.)

    When I griped a bit, this really intelligent, confident, down-to-earth woman sort of scuffed her feet and mumbled like a sixth-grader who’s been sent to the principal’s office: something about how she “had no choice” due to my “atypical chest pain” and “abnormal EKG” and “at your age…” WTF? One factor is the huge new $750 million building they recently opened, just humming with big scanners. The mortgage on that baby definitely needs to be paid.

    Another has been the buyout of lots of medical practices by the hospitals themselves, which is supposed to create an “integrated” and “accountable” system. A third might be malpractice suits — but those have been around for decades and are actually going down in our area. So who is this fast-changing system “accountable” to? The investors? The insurance company? The scanner company? Some govt agency tasked with assuring the “quality” of the whole mad privatized patchwork?

    Only one thing I know — it ain’t you or me.

  4. Of course they will do whatever it takes to silence their critics.
    And if they are willing to cheat with their ‘Clinical trial results’, then of course they are willing to falsely accuse critics.

    If you look at the pharmaceutical business as a whole, I’m pretty sure Pablo Escobar rolls over in his grave saying he sold the wrong kind of drugs!!

  5. A sentiment which originated from the crew of Allied bombers during WWII is: “They could tell when they were over the target when they could see, hear and feel the flak.” Another way to say this is that “If you’re not catching flak, you’re not over the target.”
    As someone who has been investigating, observing and reporting on the pharmaceutical industry for nearly 20 years, I have to say I feel like an inept bomber. I’ve never been close enough to catch any flak (ie: no one seems to be shooting at me) or maybe they are, but if they are, I’ve never really felt in any danger.

  6. I have not recognised the fact that I am to a victim of persecution, and we all become a part of a Wheel of persecution:

    I’m persecuted by the media and their way of portaying me for a sudden burst of violence.
    I persecute GSK for their pill that made me violent.
    GSK persecute doctor Healy for his attempts to tell the truth about the pill.

    I’m so curios to see what means GSK would use if they Went after me, the global Company versus one lone end user of their Product?

  7. There is definitely a huge control exerted by the pharmaceutical industry and by medicine. One of the problems when capitalism, expansion, and monopoly become the cardinal virtues.

  8. They could use this friendly and transparent interview for starters…………..

    A polite British interviewer with JP Garnier about Seroxat

    https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIjbtyxUNhQAdh52BQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTBzNWN0ZjRuBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMjY-?p=seroxat+youtube&vid=0203f2987b0e18edd3b34211adfef3d6&l=5%3A52&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608010250923278407%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dk_p89zIddjk&tit=JP+Garnier%2FBBC+Radio%2FAndrew+Witty+-+The+Seroxat%2FPaxil%2FAropax+issues+remain+unresolved.&c=25&sigr=11ac96c8i&sigt=12mj6maj7&age=55500903530&&tt=b

    “We are done with this topic”

  9. When I had withdrawn from SSRI’s and was writing about it I was approached by Good Housekeeping magazine for an interview, I agreed if I could agree it before going to print and gave the interview.

    The copy they wanted to print missed out anything about suicidal ideation, the withdrawal effects, etc etc etc. I said if they want to tell my story they could but in full. They didnt publish. Says it all. Censorship all around.

    • Good for you standing your ground! People need to know the dangers. I was recently diagnosed with a condition called SIADH, which essentially means low sodium levels, and was directly caused by Duloxetine at low dose. The withdrawals are horrendous. My current Psychiatrist re-diagnosed me from Major Depression to Bipolar, basing it on my extreme reactions to SSRI, SNRI, anti-depressants. Too many Primary Physicians are still prescribing these powerful medications for folks who come in describing a temporary funk.

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