Jane Colby, April 28, 2011:
Dear Editor,
Oh dear, poor Dr John Monaghan of Portiuncula Hospital, showing himself up like that in public (IMT, April 15, 2011, http://www.imt.ie/opinion/2011/04/the-pace-of-chronic-fatigue.html).
In arguing that ME/CFS is a manifestation of patients’ self-delusion, he appears astonishingly ignorant of a basic fact; the real rift is not between doctors and patients, but between different groups of medical researchers, with patients caught in the middle.
Many of these are children, some severely ill, suffering unbearable neuropathic pain, unable to be cuddled and too weak to stand.
Dr Monaghan appears unaware of the present state of scientific knowledge concerning this illness. He appears not to know of virologist Dr John Chia MD, whose extensive research on samples of stomach lining has demonstrated infestation with enteroviruses (relations of poliomyelitis). He also appears not to know of research at Dundee University (2009), showing blood abnormalities (elevated cell death rates and inflammation) in children with ME/CFS, also consistent with a persistent viral infection. In fact, I am left wondering if he knows anything much about this illness at all.
While he is in the mood for letter-writing, he may like to approach the Flat Earth Society; I feel sure they would welcome a new member.
Alternatively, if humility lurks somewhere within, he may wish to google the Enterovirus Foundation and start from there.
Jane Colby, FRSA,
Executive Director,
The Young ME Sufferers Trust,
Holder of The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service:
The MBE for Volunteer Groups
www.tymestrust.org
4 comments:
Really, what an attention-seeking uninformed arse of a man. I hope he gets ME, I am sorry if this is very mean-spirited but this is the only way him and his ilk will believe. We simply do not have to take this crap from them.
To people like this their ignorance is bliss. I once had a pshyc nurse friend tell me people don't acknowledge problems becuase then they would have to act on them, and they don't want to. He sounds like one LAZY, ignorant man. Eventually, he will lose all creditbility creating his own demise.
To people like this ignorance is bliss. I once had a psych nurse friend of mine tell me that people don't want to acknowledge because then they would be in a position to do something about it. This is one LAZY, ignorant man. He will lose all creditibility creating his own demise and then wonder why it happened to him. Clueless.
brilliant letter from Jane
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