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An open letter to Professor Peter White by Gurli Bagnall 2007
'It is clear to those who follow developments that the dangers of iatrogenic disease, disability and death have reached the point where medical treatment is now the leading cause of suffering due to health issues. Many books have been written on the subject and patient concerns are constantly ridiculed by the medical profession and those influenced by it, as we see in ME. Time and again, history shows that decades after various concerns were first aired by the lay community, the medical profession issues a statement: "It has been discovered that.."
The advice we have been given and the pills we have swallowed, have resulted in epidemics in obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, eating disorders and psychiatric conditions to name but a few. If you become an in-patient in hospital, the chances are that you will take an unwelcome guest home with you - an untreatable super bug.
In short, the medical profession and psychiatry in particular, are manufacturing their own business to the financial advantage of themselves, the pharmaceutical industry and hangers on. The disadvantaged are the sick, the dying and their families.'
Response to Dr. Peter Manu by Gurli Bagnall 2007
'It was indeed kind of Dr. Manu to take the trouble to favour us with a copy of his C.V. Having looked through this extensive list, I was left wondering why I did not feel impressed.
Perhaps it is because many who have high IQs in certain areas, barely rank as idiots in others. Perhaps it is simply that, according to hospital records, the medical profession is the third biggest killer and cause of disease after cancer and cardiac conditions. Or going a step further, maybe it is because some researchers take into account the whole of society rather than just hospitals records, and lean towards the view that preventable medical error outranks ALL other causes of death and disease.
Dr. Manu's note that preceded his CV and explained his views on ME, left me wondering what qualified him to pass an opinion at all. Not that he actually referred to ME. He prefers the title, chronic fatigue syndrome ( CFS) - a condition, concocted by self-serving members of his profession and a condition which bears no resemblance to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
His attempt to persuade his readers of his neutrality, had the exact opposite effect. Ill informed comments such as: "..there is no proof that CFS, as currently defined, is a physical or psychiatric disease" must have raised many hackles. This issue is not about a concocted disorder, the definition of which is determined by conflicts of interest and nothing else. It is about a scientifically proven, and a WHO accepted physical disease that is both life-destroying and life-taking. Dr. Manu's statement is blatantly untrue and he can hardly be surprised at being criticized for it.'
The Deified Doctor Syndrome (DDS) by Gurli Bagnall 2006
'Health is supposed to be the medical profession's business. Reason tells us that whatever is called for, be it drugs, acupuncture, herbs, supplements etc. the medical profession should be able to respond. Yet the statistics leave us in no doubt that instead of curing us, they are either killing us off, making us seriously ill or not making any difference at all.'
The Pros and Cons of ME clinics by Gurli Bagnall, 27 July 2006
'What life saving strategies do the clinics have? How do the Clinics deal with heart failure or any organ failure for that matter? How many will die of such failures, or cancers or despair -induced suicides while undergoing a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and psychotropic drugs? In whom should we have faith?
"Seize this opportunity," Ms. Adcock urges. What opportunity? From my hospital-type bed and motorized wheel chair, I don't see the new clinics presenting any opportunity at all.
Rather than castigate a group of seriously ill people for being "shrill" and "hysterical", it would have been more appropriate if Ms. Adcock had praised them for their courage.'
OPEN LETTER TO MS. AUDREY ADCOCK by Gurli Bagnall, 28 July 2006
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN By Gurli Bagnall, 19 June, 2006
A recent article on the dangers of complementary and alternative medicine prompts me to point out that conventional medicine can be equally dangerous.
*O* Civilization: Another word for barbarism by Gurli Bagnall 17 June, 2006
[On the inquest into the death or Sophia Mirza.]
'At one time, sick people recuperated or convalesced. Now according to a group of megalomaniacal brain-washers and self-elected "law-makers", they are expected to rehabilitate along with murderers, rapists and thieves.
Logically a sick person has to recover from his disease before he can "rehabilitate", but the above mentioned gang have promoted the concept that certain illnesses are crimes. Commonly, the "offender" is sentenced to and must engage in, graded exercise, and adapt his thoughts and actions according to the dictates of CBT. If he cannot or will not do this, it is quite likely that the police will come to break down his front door so the men in white coats can take him away by force if necessary.
The law which states that a person can only be sectioned if he is a danger to himself and/or others, has been swept aside by the above mentioned self-serving monsters masquerading as doctors.
Many will dismiss this as fanciful rubbish. After all, we live in civilized societies where such things could never happen. Unfortunately, they can and they do.
It happened to the recently deceased Sophia Mirza.'
FAILING THE MEDICAL SLEUTHING COURSE By Gurli Bagnall 22 May, 2006
'The thing that confused me the most when I was first catapulted into this nightmare we refer to as ME, was the inconsistencies. That I was expected to swallow every crazy explanation the "experts" came up with left me wondering if I really WAS mad.
The recent CDC report of their study into genetic mutations in ME brought this to mind rather forcefully. In the UK, the Wessely "school" claim that the typical ME sufferer comes from the lower socio-economic classes while in the US the CDC now say the genetic study shows that the hysterical, upper class professional, white woman model of ME, was after all, not correct. No apology has been issued but then it never is.
Which ever you look at it, both models were designed for the same purpose. They are manipulative, pathetic and transparent attempts to maintain control - to absolve the authorities and society in general of all responsibilities. But how stupid. How arrogant.'
See also: My comments on the CDC's latest 'CFS' press release
GENETICS AND M.E. By Gurli Bagnall 15 May, 2006
'If science is to follow this line of inquiry, then let it be honest with realistic terms of reference. As it stands, it could well be another route to the psychiatric dustbin. In fact, with the endorsement of people like Simon Wessely, it is a certainty.'
See also: My comments on the CDC's latest 'CFS' press release
Open letter to: Ms. Alice Green (Concerning the Parliamentary Enquiry) By Gurli Bagnall April, 2006
'The inability to read and understand scientific literature has been demonstrated repeatedly by those who push the mental disorder barrow, and while I do not suggest that you have conflicts of interest, your presentation does demonstrate the same lack of intellectual acumen which plagues all who do.'
THE CHEMICAL PLAGUE By Gurli Bagnall 7 April, 2006
'Plagues of the bacterial and viral variety are spread by parasites that feed on infected vermin. Where chemicals are concerned, the vermin and parasites are no less real than the fleas and rats that dispensed the bubonic plague. The only difference is that fleas and rats do not and cannot consciously make a choice to destroy. The parasites and vermin associated with the Chemical Plague, can and do.'
Matters Arising out of the Wessely Lecture - By Gurli Bagnall, February 5th 2006
Simon holds a consultancy position not only within the UK MoD, but also within the US equivalent. Both organizations have a vested interest in covering up the facts about GWS. Waffling on about the medical triumphs of the Gulf Wars and the absence of infectious diseases amongst the veterans is a diversionary strategy.
*O* BEFORE THE LIGHT DIES  By Gurli Bagnall, October 2005.
With the production of more and more psychiatric drugs, each supposedly better than the last, mental disorders should now only be found in the history books. But they are not. Far from it. We now have an epidemic of psychiatric illnesses such as we have never seen before.
And what about ME? What about the Gulf War Syndrome? Given that the mountain of evidence pointing to these being organic diseases is ignored, and given that the victims of them are swept under the psychiatric carpet to be stomped on, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to realize that there is a massive cover-up afoot.
It boils down to the fact that, despite the billions thrown at research every year, medical science has barely scratched the surface of disease. So who benefits from those billions?
COERCION, CORRUPTION AND CONSPIRACY: A LETHAL MIX. By Gurli Bagnall, August 2005
Schaefe: Children in America are being medicated to death—death by mind-altering drugs. [They] are coerced into mental health screening, they are forced into psychiatric treatment and they are prescribed dangerous psychotropic drugs. America's children are oftentimes denied contact with their parents, they are restrained without parental knowledge and they are given many different psychiatric medications. [End of quote.]
This is not just a matter of classroom behaviour. We also see it, for example, in our own international ME communities.
*O* What is it About Psychiatry? By Gurli Bagnall, 12 July 2005.
"[Psychiatry] is a field where fads and fancies flourish. Hardly a year passes without some new claim, [But]The early promises of each of these discoveries are uniformly unfulfilled." (US) Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Mental Health, 1961
What is it was about the medical profession and psychiatry in particular, that attracts the sort of person who will deliberately put a seriously ill child into a swimming pool and stand watching as he drowns. The expert who knew best, who would brook no argument, and who insisted the childs weakness would disappear once he ran out of breath, was wrong. Had the boy fully clothed mother not jumped in to save him, he would have drowned
[Response to Wessely on Co-cure I would like to thank Professor Simon Wessely for his interest in my piece entitled "What is it About Psychiatry?". It is heart warming to note that, as Director of King's Centre for Military Health Research, he is taking such a keen interest in children with ME.
However, I feel I must point out that the title he gave his response ("Libelling Paediatricians"), is misleading. According to the Collins Concise Dictionary, libel means "the publication of defamatory matter" and it can only be defamatory if it is not true.
From the entire article, the professor was only moved to comment on the reference to a child suffering ME being placed in a swimming pool where he very nearly drowned. It was but a small section and the rest (99% referenced) spelt out quite a number of psychiatric horrors which the professor presumably thought were perfectly in order since he chose not to comment.
As for the "let 'em sink or swim" strategy, I am puzzled as to what made the professor think I was referring to the child in the Isle of Man. The "therapy" is not unique to that one case as I am sure he is aware. ]
London Criteria - Dr RN Perrin By Gurli Bagnall, May 2005
AN INTOLERABLE OBSCENITY by Gurli Bagnall, 21 March 2005
The job description for Trainee Clinical Fatigue Therapists in some of the new network of 12 Fatigue Clinics across England, was the last straw. While the language used was not unexpected, to see it in black and white was nevertheless a body blow to those who suffer Myalgic ncephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) as defined by the WHO, for it is at them that the proposed "services" are aimed.
COOKING THE BOOKS by Gurli Bagnall, December 2004
"'You've got the fox in charge of the henhouse," DeAngelis said in an interview. 'The pharmaceutical industry spent $4.9 million in 2003 to lobby the FDA. That's like saying, I'm going to lobby the police department to keep cousin Guido from getting arrested for bootlegging.'" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 Nov. 2004)
In the interests of keeping ourselves safe from medical harm, and as citizens of democratic countries, it is up to each of us to resist tactics such as those mentioned above, and to do whatever we can individually towards bringing ethics back to medicine and in particular, the principle of "first do no harm".
GWS and Simon Wessely by Gurli Bagnall, 15 November, 2004.
He [Simon Wessely] claimed to have had 53 conflicts of interest during the course of his career and exhorted all to accept that this was now the way of the world. “It is time we all grew up,” he said. “Everyone has conflicts. Everyone has agendas. Everything affects patient care. Our own personal prejudices, likes and dislikes….”
Anne Foxey, Nutrition Specialist, had a much better handle on the subject. Her rapid response stated: “The only free lunch is the cheese in the mousetrap.”
The current Inquiry by the UK House of Commons Health Select Committee into the Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry, is an indication that the sort of attitude demonstrated by Simon, is causing considerable concern not only amongst those who have suffered the effects, but also in certain official quarters.
Margaret Williams’ excellent piece regarding the inquiry, highlighted how much is at stake. “Some people were earning considerably more from individual pharmaceutical companies by talking for them every fortnight, twice a month, than they were earning from the university or the NHS that they work for,” said
Dr. Wilmshurst in his testimony.
RESPONSE TO ELLEN GOUDSMIT, MISUNDERSTANDING re PACE by Gurli Bagnall, 27 October, 2004
Due to poor health, I have to be selective about the issues I follow. When PACE raised its head, I put it on the back burner for two reasons. First, if pacing is to be studied in conjunction with CBT and GET, then it is simply more of the same psychiatric regurgitation we have become so used to. On the other hand, it is a waste of time and money to study pacing on its own as a coping strategy, for there IS only one expert in this regard and that is the patient. Whether he suffers ME, cancer, heart disease, Motor Neurone or any other physical ailment, it is not for others, however well qualified, to dictate how much activity that person can and should pursue.
Nonetheless, I am aware that PACE has become a very controversial subject so when I saw Ellen Goudsmit’s piece entitled “Misunderstandings re PACE”, I read it.
I would like to comment on some of the issues raised by Ms Goudsmit as being matters of general concern in regard to many aspects of ME.
*O* MEitis? A SLENDER STRING TO OUR BOW by Gurli Bagnall, 24 October, 2004
In the UK, 1988 also saw a change to the title, MEitis. The psychiatric drive to this end had succeeded and the disease was re-named the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Sufferers quickly learnt that this was an attempt to trivialize them and their suffering, and to label the condition a mental disorder.
After many years of protest, the authorities reluctantly conceded that ground must be given. From then on, the disease was to be known as CFS/ME, but from the perspective of the psychiatric lobby, this presented a problem. While MEitis has been listed as a neurological disease by the WHO International Classification of Diseases for almost 50 years, an underhanded attempt was made to include it under mental disorders as well. Professor Simon Wessely failed to achieve this objective so now the pressure is on to delete MEitis from the official records altogether.
*O* TESTIMONY PRESENTED AT THE INQUIRY INTO THE GULF WAR ILLNESS AND "SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS" IN PSYCHIATRY.by Gurli Bagnall, 6 September 2004
"Patient welfare respected"? Now there's a novel idea and not one that is experienced by many GWS/I or ME sufferers. Perhaps that is because many are too ill to demand respect - they being bed bound, wheelchair bound and/or housebound often from the onset of their illnesses. AIDS victims, on the other hand, are rarely debilitated until the latter stages of the disease. They can make their physical presence felt.
Wessely's behaviour and tactics - such as the recommendation that nothing more than routine tests be carried out - suggest very strongly that he does not want to find himself in Gallo's position. Good heavens! Those darn activists might actually find the causes and the cures!
*O* PSYCHIATRY AND PERFIDY by Gurli Bagnall, July, 2004
"Academic psychiatry has all but lost contact with the population it is supposed to serve..Criticism is, if not actively discouraged, then politely but very firmly ignored." N. McLaren, M.D. Psychiatrist, Australia, 1999
In the face of undeniable evidence to the contrary, X never admits to being wrong. In his (or her) mind, he is omnipotent. As a self perceived superior being, he demonstrates contempt towards others who he has neither met nor spoken to. He attacks their characters and personalities and makes no secret of his displeasure if his judgment is questioned.
The [psychiatric] Diagnostic Manual no doubt lists a condition or two under "Personality Disorders" that match the behaviour, but what happens when people in positions of power, such as politicians and medical diagnosticians, fit the description? What happens to society when the same politicians and diagnosticians receive pecuniary and other rewards for manufacturing mental disorders where none exist?
OPEN LETTER TO CONSULTANT, DR. JH by Gurli Bagnall, 17th February 2004
Your business is supposed to be health, but only on your terms - irrespective of whether or not those terms are in the patient's best interests. If someone does not respond or cannot tolerate your methods, tough! Correct me if my memory has let me down, but last time I looked, I believe The Health and Disability Commission's Act stated that the patient should be given all the options and allowed to make the choice if that is his or her wish.
PERSONALLY SPEAKING by Gurli Bagnall
Instead of the balanced individual of at least average intelligence who I believed myself to be, I have been deemed to be a pathetic, snivelling, neurotic, lazy, lying, devious, unintelligent person of poor character just waiting - even as I deny the need - to be taught how to think and behave; how much and when to exercise; and to swallow the psychiatric drugs the "therapist" is itching to put into my mouth.
The trouble is, the people who make these judgements, are strangers. I have never met them. I have never seen them. I have never spoken to them on the telephone. For all I know, they could be a bunch of modern day Jack the Rippers.
I take these judgements very personally. Just who, I have wondered, are these clairvoyants masquerading as psychiatrists?
Review: Video - Who Will Protect the Children? by Gurli Bagnall
"Who will protect the children?" is an apt title and as I watched the video, I thought of Gordon Thomas' book "Journey Into Madness - Medical Torture and the Mind Controllers" in which he said:
"Nothing I had researched before could have prepared me for the dark reality of doctors who set out deliberately to destroy minds and bodies they were trained to heal."
It occurred to me (as it has done on other occasions) that some of the doctors referred to by both of the speakers on the video, are not so very different from the subjects in Thomas' book. The cold, hard deliberateness with which the extensive scientific evidence of the physical nature of ME/CFS is routinely dismissed or ignored, goes beyond abuse. It speaks of an agenda that is not concerned with patient welfare.
While families agonise helplessly over the suffering they are forced to witness, the sufferers themselves have to deal with the cruel physical and mental consequences of inappropriate attitudes and treatments for psychiatric disorders that did not and do not exist. It is hard enough for sick adults to protect themselves against misdiagnoses and mistreatments, but this video highlighted that where children are concerned, some are even denied parental protection.
COMPENSATION - It's no laughing matter by Gurli Bagnall, May 2001
I chose the best of a bad lot. His name should have been a warning, it being closely related to "Quack".
My second visit saw me sitting before the great man sweating, visibly shaking, trying not to scratch my skin off in an effort to relieve the itch...and, well you know the scenario. I asked for some sick leave from work. He frowned and said in a stern, angry voice, "You don't need time off work! You need pills for your emotions!"
If I had been contagious, I would have flung my arms around his neck, wept and wailed, breathed all over him and wiped my nose all over his shirt and tie...
Gurli Bagnall's Story
The Birth of The Bounty Hunters. In her book "Benzo Junkie", Beatrice Faust tells how one of the fears she used to experience, was sustaining some sort of injury that would leave her brain damaged. In the benzodiazepine experience, she said, the thing she feared most, had happened. It happened to me as well.
The story is fiction based on fact. It takes place in New Zealand in the years 2002 and 2003, and concerns a pharmaceutical company which manufactures a range of drugs that cause serious physical and mental illnesses. To suppress complaints about the serious adverse reactions and give the company a financial edge in the market, political co-operation has been bought from three high ranking members of parliament.
(See below for further information and puchasing details for 'The Bounty Hunters')
Articles on the topic of Benzodiazapines:
Will the accused please rise! by Gurli Bagnall, November 2001
In 1988, the Committee on Safety of Medicines in the UK warned against prescribing benzodiazepines for more than four weeks, yet a Panorama documentary shown on BBC television in May 2001, found that some patients for whom the drugs were first prescribed after that date, have been kept on them for ten years and more. With its population of 50.4 million, 17.5 million prescriptions are still issued annually in the UK. 1.5 million patients are still on long-term prescriptions. (Official 1999 figures).
The Price of Modern 'Miracles' by Gurli Bagnall
The specific effect of BZDs is upon the central nervous system which makes them mind altering. A normally cheerful, outgoing person can become a cringing, fearful individual, or a surly, violent one. Cognitive functions and intellect are frequently impaired and the toxic nature of the chemical, has the potential to cause lasting damage. Where the adverse effects and addiction had been misdiagnosed as a psychiatric disorder, more mind altering drugs were prescribed and some of those unfortunates, were admitted to mental institutions where electric shock treatment was administered in some cases.
It's time to look the facts in the face (Reply to BMJ) by Gurli Bagnall
The price of self-made ammunition is discontent (Letter to BMJ), by Gurli Bagnall
What about the victims of medical error? (Letter to BMJ), by Gurli Bagnall
A little honesty goes a long way (Letter to BMJ) by Gurli Bagnall
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