Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Dr. William Reeves - Another Mark Whiteacre? Criminal Negligence Perhaps?

For those of you who don't know, Mark Whiteacre was a biochemist at Archer Daniels Midland, who is most famously remembered as one of the highest level corporate whistleblowers in the history of corporate America.  He got the inside scoop on a price fixing scandal on Lysine and other products, and got his bosses in trouble, while he himself had his own embezzlement scheme going on within the company.  A similar thing can be said about Dr. Reeves at the CDC - he blew the whistle on his bosses, and yet he continues to be hypocritical to the extreme by stating that the retroviral program at the CDC was taking the lead in an attempt to replicate the WPI XMRV results.

Reeves acted unethically by stating to the press that he did not expect the agency (CDC) to replicate the WPI findings of XMRV in ME/CFS patients.  He acted unethically in that he pre-judged someone else's findings, before doing any research of his own.  He put his credibility, and quite possibly his career on the line - and he will be watched very closely.  Falsifying data won't go over this time.

But why would the CDC engage in such sinister behavior?  Their mission is to protect the public from emerging infections, and in this case they've failed miserably.  The pharmaceutical companies rely on them to lay out their research roadmaps for the future - if they put out junk science, how is the pharmaceutical industry to develop new treatments?  And why would they want to intentionally try and deny scientific facts???

It's certainly not in the interest of the drug companies, CFS/ME/FM/Gulf War Syndrome patients.  It seems the CDC's motto is if it isn't a deadly disease, then feed them Thorazine, Zyprexa, and Amitriptylline, and keep them so sedated they can't think straight - something that's already difficult enough for these patients - now we'll turn them into living zombies!  For the drug companies this would only represent five or six dollars a day - so it wouldn't contribute much to their bottom lines - Amitryptilline and Thorazine are off patent and cheap.  But anti-retrovirals would be a potential goldmine for the pharmaceutical industry - rather than sell just to HIV patients, now they could quadruple their sales to CFS/ME/FM/Gulf War Syndrome patients.

So who would not want that?  The first that come to mind are HMO's PPO's, publicly funded health plans.  Having to pay $1000 or more for XMRV treatments for an indeterminate period of time is something they would not take sitting down.  The second that comes to mind is blood banks - now they've got to worry about tainted blood on an unprecedented scale - making HIV and Hep C look like child's play.  Then comes the issue of liablity and lawsuits - like in Canada after the Canadian Red Cross was found negligent.  If they can keep it as a neuropsychiatric illness, then they can keep putting off liability.  It's criminal negligence at it's finest - the CDC knew of a viral link for twenty years, and they failed to act on it, and thousands more people became ill!

7 comments:

  1. The huge number of people with ME/CFS costs the economy millions of dollars, costs insurance companies (well, those few that recognize the illness), costs so much in terms of human misery that spreads to family, friends and communities. The CDC has been complicit in ignoring this for years. They should be brought up on charges, seriously.

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  2. Hillary Johnson has said much the same has you have. Others, including myself, have long believed your arguements were the case for the extreme neglect, actually, deliberate criminal intent by the CDC as a whole and those that ran the CDC/CFS program.
    Great article. Nice writing. Dig some more and see if you can't find documents or people that will tell you if there was some sort of concerted plan to keep the CFS sick from getting insurance disability when the AIDS/HIV people were getting it - but as I have said elsewhere, those AIDS/HIV people "were well behaved and died quickly" while the CFIDS people stayed terribly sick and disabled for years and decades.
    Also, documentation or real contacts about WHO and WHEN did the CDC and others really know that the US blood supply was at risk? I and many other CFIDS sick KNEW NOT to give blood from the get-go. I felt like i had the worst virus times a million and that was enough proof to me to not give blood even when the blood banks were crying that they were in crisis. I wanted to give blood, but knew that it was very possible that I would be making others sick. Plus, my internist made sure I understood that CFIDS people have 30% less blood volumne than normal people (hence our low BP, dizzyness, etc) and I would be in crisis had I given any blood. BUT, back to the blood and organ situation with CFIDS people: IF WE ALL KNEW not to give blood when we got sick then tell me why the CDC and those in charge of the nation's blood supply did not know? They knew, they were withholding that info and continue to do so even now. I emailed the people at the Red Cross and told them that with the new XMRV they had to be on guard. I got a very stupid email back, not form letter, but some idiot writing it that said that they didn't believe the virus or CFIDS could contaminsate the blood supply. Hey, I tried, they don't listen and so we will be facing another AIDS/HIV in the blood supply situation AGAIN.
    Reeves should have been removed years ago. WHY has he NOT been removed? WHAT does HE KNOW about the goings on at the CDC?????

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  3. Want to see something interesting????
    go to www.cdcchatter.net and go to the section titled: "New progressive leadership needed for CFS at CDC"
    Posted by: Anonymous on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - 12:00 AM.
    This site is meant for CDC people (and outsiders if they know about it but most don't) to talk about CDC issues. There were so many negative comments about the CDC/CFS program under Reeves BY THE CDC STAFF and some comments that the webmaster considered personal attacks against Reeves, that the 36 comments were removed. The webmaster allowed an update to another site with an article written about the CDC and its CFS scandal. But, if you want to see the comments from the CDC staff themselves that were removed, go to the SEARCH box on the bottom of the page on the left side and put in CFS . This will bring up all the comments that were removed fro public viewing. Very interesting to hear the CDC staff complain about the CDC/CFS/Reeves. You don't need to be a CDC staff member, but most of the public did not know this site exsisted. It does not belong to the CDC but they must allow it according to law, the CDC people just can't go to the site on CDC time or using their computers. WWW.CDCCHATTER.NET -

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  4. I too saw the numerous nasty, stupid and thoughtless comments put out there by the CDC people. There are a couple of CDC people who are certifiably crazy - in additin to nasty.
    NOT worth bothering with this site or reading the comments. No insights just nasty and stupid comments directed at the CFIDS sick. One guy said that the CDC should get rid of the CDC/CFS program - I agreed! Move it to anywhere else within NIH or even EPA - seriously, ANYWHERE but the CDC.
    Just a group of nasty stupid people. The rest are supercilious. And THIS is the nation's major health organization? Great. And we wonder why so much money is wasted and no progress made on diseases like CFIDS. Esp. when they KNEW that there was a retrovirus out there decades ago and killed off the research. Thanks CDC, may those who did the most damage to CFIDS research lay in bed with a good case of CFIDS - mean of me, yes - but I have had it with them. Haven't we all?

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  5. WHEN the possibly TWO Retoriviruses (XMRV and DeFreitas Retrovirus) are found in the blood supply and all fingers point towards the CDC as knowing that those Retroviruses existed, were out in public and in the blood supply, the CDC will be devastated beyond recognition. The CDC is already battling too many wars on too many fronts from gross incompetence, negligence, and possibly extreme criminal activity. However, should/when this situation of TWO Retroviruses known by the CDC for three decades explodes, the wars on many fronts will go nuclear. I have to wonder if that is not part of the reason that many senior, heavy-hitting researchers have left and the CDC can NOT get top-notch staff anymore. There are major organizational issues within the CDC and the staff are very unhappy. BUT, what did those senior top-notch people know that made them leave in droves?

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  6. im sick im week im tierd im so lonley inside i live in a country that will help people in other countrys but they wont help me why i didnt ask for cfids i didnt do some thing i wasnt saposed to just one day i became ill my family has served in olmost very war there was most of my family has been in law inforsement important for our country to run but yeat a second class citizen gets medical treatment better then me or anyone else with cfids can some one explan how im saposed to be proud to be an american wich in my own way i am butamerica and the cdc just close there eyes to this how can you look in the mirror Americia im your family just as every other cfids person but yeat you turn your backs on us why you cant even understand what we go threw daily honor and trust who or what im 47 and if your not going to call this a medical condition until 2037 do you relize id be 77 years old is that a reason i should stand up for my country im not alone so many others have it worse then me i agree we schould help other people in other countrys get the proper heath care but what abput me or us people with cfids ehy wont you help us we dont die yung we just live a horrible life until our bodys give out or we give up how many people with cfids have taken there own lifes you think because they were week minded know they are lost in there own country that wont help them some people live to be80 years old with cfids so when i look at our flag i get so sad cause it will help some one out side our country but just push us aside but see its not like aids you dont die from it you just suffer and suffer why wont you help us we need our country to stand up for us just as aot of us have protected our country you say land of the free well as i sometimes get towalk on my land im not free im being held prisoner by the cdc whats the diffrence things arent going to change my fingers hurt my neck hurts i dont no how much more of the
    is i canhandle
    my adult kids dont want to hear it anymore my husband walks around with this blank stair when he looks at me so we have the president and the cdc that just dont care i know let me find a blind person from onther country bring them to america and you can make him see but gess what when he couldnt see he could walk correctly be around all kinds of noise i bet he had no pain plus all the other stuff that comes with cfids real simple the blind person had a life but people with cfids dont and there familys suffer get desroyed from not being able to help them but so what we let someone see this ugly place i bet if that person spent one weekend with someone with cfids he would rather be blind im still probaly not getting threw to anyone on how we need the help you have been hidding from us well to the cdc and anyone elsethat wants to push us under the rug i just hopeknow one you know ever gets this i wouldnt wish this on anyone not even the cdc im wasting my strenth next time you look in the mirrior i hope you see the word CFIDSover and over i wounder is any body out there does anybody really care because its not the cdc and your make beleave smiles when you pretend to make progress on something go ahead have a nother cup of coffie and laugh this off your just a bunch of miss fits its easy to help some one that isalready dying but dont no how to help us that may last longer then you LOOK IN THE MIRROR WHATS IT SAY OVER AND OVER CFIDS CFIDS CFIDS CFIDS CFIDS OH WELL
    some of you

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  7. Here's my suggestion on a campaign:- give blood. Contact all the CFS/ME patients we can. Arrange mobile nurses for those that are bed-bound or with feeding tubes, those in wheelchairs that can't make it. Tell the press. Whatever the press ask only one message is needed:- CDC says we are OK. We would like to donate some for the benefit of the public. Have pictures of the blood donors (particularly those in wheelchairs or with feeding tubes).

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