In bed with the enemy

by John Herd:

In the early years of the CFIDS Association of America (CAA) the organization was a dynamic organization, doing its best to represent and help patients.

As Kim McCleary became more entrenched in the CAA, taking over increasingly more control of it, their [her] advocacy still began to change. Instead of acting as a diplomatic advocate trying to make advocacy headway with government officials and agencies, her actions and statement about health department activities and/or lack there of were becoming increasingly anemic.

Effective diplomacy is one thing, but increasingly respected advocates and informed patients were talking about McCleary being “in bed with the health department.”

At the same time it was becoming increasingly evident that
(A) McCleary was not willing to work collaboratively with other CFS organizations or advocates,
(B) that the CAA was no longer interested in providing any kind of services to aid or assist patients, and
(C) that the CAA’s actions were all about what was economically best for the CAA, in McCleary’s mind. Read more>>