ME/CFIDS/CFS/FM more UK
Montague and Hooper reply to Dr Shepard and HealthWatch

Part 2 Continued from Feb12(part1)

Re: HealthWatch



1. ????? In his letter of 11 July 2001 HealthWatch Chairman and solicitor Malcolm Brahams of Messrs David Wineman (Craven House, 121 Kingsway, London WC2B? 6NX)? states that the Montague / Hooper paper? "makes a number of statements about HealthWatch which are completely inaccurate and are almost certainly defamatory".? In his subsequent letter of 13 July 2001 enclosing a submission (which Dr Shepherd states in correspondence he asked the HealthWatch Press Officer Michael E Allen to prepare), Malcolm Brahams further states: "There are no grounds whatsoever for suggesting either that we are funded by drug companies or that we were set up to serve their interest.? Your assertions to that effect are unjustified and are an insult to the highly qualified and hard working people who make up my committee".



2. ????? In the accompanying submission? (the one which also appeared on the HealthWatch website), it states:



(i) ????? ? "HealthWatch is funded in the main by membership
subscriptions.? In the distant past, small sums have been received from Pharmaceutical Companies".

(ii) ????? ?? "HealthWatch has issued a number of Position Papers which contain views endorsed by the committee....we have looked at all these
and cannot find the? phrase represented as if a quotation:? `Diagnoses...that may encourage unnecessary treatment for non-existent diseases'"

(iii)?? "Some of our members are opposed to various methods of treatment "

(iv)? "Membership of HealthWatch is open to anyone who agrees with our constitutional aims".



3.? In his various correspondence Dr Shepherd states about HealthWatch:



(a) ????? "It is untrue to say that HealthWatch is funded by drug
companies"

(b) ????? "It is untrue to say that the clearly- stated aims are to promote pharmacological interventions and oppose all forms of alternative and complementary forms of therapy.? No such statement exists"

(c) ????? It is untrue to say that HealthWatch is specifically opposed
to specific interventions such as homoeopathy, acupuncture, dietary modulation etc. Recent speakers at HealthWatch meetings have included John Diamond (the distinguished journalist who recently died from cancer)

(d) ????? It is untrue to say that membership is only open to those who promote the pharmaceutical industry



Shepherd categorically states :? "There really is no evidence to support these highly derogatory allegations about HealthWatch".???? We respond to these various points in conjunction with each other.



4. ????? re: Healthwatch being funded by drug companies.????? We note the admission by the Press Officer of HealthWatch that in the past,
the organisation has received money from Pharmaceutical Companies.? In our belief that this was indeed the case, we relied upon the book Dirty Medicine, which states



???????????? "In 1992, the minutes of the Campaign Against Health Fraud? (the name of the organisation before it changed its name to HealthWatch) Annual General Meeting disclosed that in the year 1991-1992 the Campaign received a grant from the Wellcome Foundation.? Other granting bodies included medical insurance companies and other pharmaceutical companies".



????? The book also makes it plain that it was public knowledge that
the Campaign was? funded by the Wellcome Foundation.?



?????? We further rely upon Hansard (Lords) 28 April 1993:364-382, which records a debate in the House of Lords in which the Earl Baldwin of Bewdley said:



"Drugs company money has gone into Healthwatch, the body that has set itself up to expose unacceptable practices in medicine (but unacceptable, one may ask, according to whose agenda?)...
I know of examples where highly promising lines of research into? complementary medicine are being stifled by the influence of drugs company funding....Vitamins and minerals cannot be patented".





?????? We also rely upon Hansard (Lords) 10 May 1995:66-68, which
records another? debate in the House of Lords in which the Countess of Mar said:



???????????? "Is the noble Baroness? (the Minister of State, Home Office) aware of the activities of an organisation - formerly the Campaign Against Health Fraud and now called HealthWatch--which has been systematically destroying the reputations of people working in complementary medicine, particularly those in nutritional medicine??????????????? The information which HealthWatch has provided to the media has subsequently been proved false...."



??????? The Minister of State replied:



??????????????? "The noble Countess is right in saying that HealthWatch has been subject to investigation....if any organisation uses its funds in order to campaign against another organisation on the basis of flawedresearch,the Charity Commission will be concerned".



???????? The Countess of Mar said:



??????????????? "Does the noble Baroness approve of the fact that the organisation is supported by the Wellcome Foundation and by Private Patients Plan, amongst other pharmaceutical and insurance companies?"



?????? On the basis of the above, we cannot accept either from Dr
Shepherd or from the Chairman of HealthWatch (acting in his dual capacity as a solicitor in the firm of Messrs David Wineman) that what the paper stated about HealthWatch was ? defamatory. Moreover the information upon which we relied was already in the public domain.

?

5. ????? re: the claim by HealthWatch that no statement exists which
says that the organisation? opposes "Diagnoses...that may encourage unnecessary treatment for non-existent? diseases".??? We note the acknowledgment by the Press Officer of HealthWatch (Michael E Allen) in his Submission which accompanied a letter dated 13 July 2001 to Professor Hooper from the Chairman of HealthWatch that? "we have looked...and cannot find the phrase represented as if a quotation: `Diagnoses...that may encourage unnecessary treatment for non-existent diseases' ".



???? The information upon which we rely comes from the HealthWatch organisation itself.

???? It is the HealthWatch Subscription form for 1990, a copy of which we possess.? That document gives a contact telephone number (then given as 01-673-4401) and the document clearly states the campaign's aims as being? " To promote...Better understanding by the public and the media that valid clinical trials are the best way of ensuring public protection.?? To oppose...Diagnoses that are misleading or false, or that may encourage unnecessary treatment for ...non-existent diseases".???? Quite certainly Simon Wessely unceasingly promotes his belief that despite it being? formally classified since 1969 in the WHO International Classification of Diseases as a neurological disorder, ME is a non- existent disease? (for example: Microbes, Mental? Illness, the Media and ME: The Construction of Disease.? Simon Wessely.
The 9th Eliot Slater? Memorial Lecture, London, 12 May 1994;?
Eradicating ME: Report of a meeting held on 13 April 1992 at Belfast Castle. Pfizer / Invicta Pharmaceuticals:4-5).



???? The HealthWatch document also states:


?????????????????? "The Campaign Against Health Fraud (`Quackbusters') exists to combat the growing problem of quackery.It was formed by a group containing doctors, lawyers, journalists and others who are worried that quackery has acquired a veneer of respectability and has worked its way into otherwise respectable news media. It plans a programme of public
information..."



?????? The same HealthWatch document also states (in bold type) "Leading members of? the Campaign include.... Professor Iain Chalmers.... Dr David Pearson....Dr Chris Bass....Dr Simon Wessely" (amongst others).



????? We therefore retain our belief that we made no "false or misleading allegations"? about HealthWatch.



6. ????? re: HealthWatch being opposed to alternative and complementary medicine?????? We note that in the Submission prepared by the HealthWatch Press Officer, it is acknowledged that some of the Campaign's members are opposed to various methods of treatment.



?????? It is known that HealthWatch members appear generally to be opposed to the use of? non-pharmacological interventions, especially treatments which are referred to as ????? "alternative and complementary" such as dietary modulation and nutritional supplementation.?



?????? This often-stated position of HealthWatch members is clearly of some relevance in the organisation.? It becomes even more relevant when members or associates of HealthWatch sit on Government advisory committees.



?????? In the past, HealthWatch members (including Dr Charles
Shepherd) have been involved in a number of cases where medical practitioners were brought before the? Court, professional tribunals and media regulators.? Members of the charity have also been involved in public and highly critical media exposure of medical practitioners ? who practise alternative and complementary medicine.



?????? We refer to the fact (mentioned in correspondence by Dr
Shepherd) that the late John? Diamond was a speaker at HealthWatch meetings.? In this respect, we recall that ?????? John Diamond received the HealthWatch `journalist of the year' award and that he was well-known for his regular articles in the Saturday Times Magazine and in other media outlets (including television) in which he attacked alternative and complementary therapies.



????? In view of the above, we retain out belief that we have made
no "false or misleading allegations" about HealthWatch.



7.?? re: membership of HealthWatch



???? We here rely on our knowledge that membership of HealthWatch has been refused to those who promote `natural' medicine. Further, whilst professing that " Membership is open to anyone who agrees with our constitutional aims", the organisation's own literature states "Applications are subject to approval by a Membership committee".





With the above in mind, we retain our belief that no-where in the original paper did we make "false and misleading allegations" about Dr Shepherd or about HealthWatch, nor did we make a "personal attack" upon either Dr Shepherd, Professor Pinching or Professor Wessely.? On the contrary, we simply presented factual information.



We confirm that the original paper has been amended accordingly.



We also confirm that a copy of this document will be sent to Professor Liam Donaldson (Chief Medical Officer); to Professor Allen Hutchinson (Chairman of the CMO's Working Group on CFS/ME); to Professor Peter Fidler (Vice Chancellor, University of Sunderland) and to Ms Alison Steel (Head of Corporate Affairs, University of Sunderland).? A copy will also be sent to Dr Shepherd.



The known correspondence which Dr Shepherd has sent concerning the Montague / Hooper paper is listed in Appendix (3) to this present document.






Sally Montague

Malcolm Hooper?

Part3 tomorrow Feb14