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Interviews with survivors, victims' families, policy makers, and health care workers. What went wrong? How can we make health care safer? Host Scott Simpson, uses his counselling skills to evoke the secrets, stories and solutions. https://www.patreon.com/rss/MedicalErrorInterviews?auth=2eY8hVY9bd5o78a8cmpNSURYZ2VrqXrq
- 94 - Laura Johnson: Grievous medical incompetence kills her father...and how many more?
When Laura Johnson’s father Bill, a healthy and active senior, went for a simple medical procedure, Laura’s gut instincts told her to miss work and go with him to keep him safe. But Bill told her he had a friend accompanying him and assured Laura he would be fine because “how bad could they mess this up”. Tragically, Laura’s instincts were right. Her father was not safe in that hospital under their care. And the doctor responsible for Bill’s care, is the daughter of a doctor who is imprisoned for medical fraud. The medical apple does not fall far from the criminal tree. Laura shares what happened to her father, how he was blamed when the procedure went wrong, and how staggering levels of medical incompetence lead to his early death. Connect with Laura Johnson: https://m.facebook.com/laura.g.johnson.7 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 14 Jun 2021 - 29min - 93 - Carol Sunnucks: The joy of birth, the harm of medicine, the betrayal by the systems
Medical error and harm can take many forms and occurs in almost every medical context, except perhaps during autopsies. So when a medical error occurs during a joyous event like childbirth, it can not only impact the immediate experience, but may also cause lifelong suffering and disability. This is what happened to Carol Sunnucks when she went to the hospital to give birth to her son Kai. It was a hard labour and they had to use a suction device to pull Kai out -- but the doctor failed to check Carol for internal damage after that difficult procedure. This would prove to be catastrophic to Carol’s health and future. To make matters exponentially worse, the medical error and the damage it was causing was not detected for so long that any hope of Carol recovering her normal bodily functions is seemingly gone. Layered on top of that is the betrayal Carol subsequently experienced by both the health care and legal systems. Carol and I talk about her experiences and what she’s doing to make meaning out of someone else’s failure to do their job. Connect with Carol Sunnucks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.sunnucks.92 Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaibaby28 Email: CarolSunnucks@hotmail.co.uk
Mon, 31 May 2021 - 1h 01min - 92 - Ashanti Daniel, RN: Are nurses immune to doctors’ gaslighting? Not if you’re a black woman
Ashanti Daniel is one of those people who knew their career destiny as a child - and then made it come to fruition. As a nurse, Ashanti had the inside view of how the health care system operates - so when she got very sick and was hospitalized multiple times, she thought that being a health care worker would afford her legitimacy in the eyes of her medical peers. But Ashanti quickly discovered that being a black woman with ‘normal’ results from routine medical tests, trumped years of working as a health care professional. While medical gaslighting is endemic throughout the health care system, it is especially evident if you have a disease that has no biomarkers, and you are a female of colour. Ask any one with a complex chronic illness, and you will most assuredly hear a story of doctors denying the patient experience of their own body, and instead attribute physical symptoms to psychological causes. And this is based on nothing except the doctor’s biases, prejudices and ego. For black female patients with a complex disease, it could be argued that the operationalized ‘standard of care’ is gaslighting. As Ashanti experienced, a doctor can write whatever they want about a patient in the medical records. It doesn’t have to be true. The amount of power doctors wield over people is the power of life and death. At their whim, they can deny testing, ignore a diagnosis, and label a person as mentally ill. In some jurisdictions, doctors can have a person committed to a mental hospital against their will. The medical system is a pathological mess, driven and controlled by a god complex culture. Until doctors change their culture, there will continue to be -- as Long COVID patients are discovering en masse -- many doctors that inflict great harm by disbelieving patients. Connect with Ashanti Daniel, RN Instagram: @AshantiRN Twitter: @AshantiRN Linktr.ee: www.Linktr.ee/AshantiRN Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Mis
Mon, 17 May 2021 - 52min - 91 - Andy McCulloch’s daughter Colette: Why Can’t You Hear Me? An inquest into medical negligence
In the early hours of the 28th of July 2016, Colette McCulloch was hit and killed by a bus. Eighteen hours earlier Colette had walked out of the specialist care facility for autistic adults where she was being treated. Throughout Colette’s short life, her parents Andy and Amanda, sought out medical professionals to try to explain and ease their younger daughter’s extraordinary mind. Since Colette’s death Andy and Amanda have been fighting various medical and legal authorities to uncover the failings in her care and treatment. In our interview, author Andy McCulloch tells the story of his daughter's life and untimely death: the years in which her autism went undiagnosed, her lifelong battle with eating disorders and the lack of support for her complex needs. In spite of these challenges, Colette forged a path to university to pursue her passion for literature and to have her writing published. Over the past year Andy and Amanda have written a book about their family’s experience with the health care system titled “Why Can’t You Hear Me?” - and it includes some of Colette’s writing, where she articulates her experiences grappling with a world forever at odds with her. With this book, Colette’s dream of having her words published has come to fruition. Colette's story is ultimately a call to action and a message of hope for a future in which autistic people will be better understood, appropriately cared for, and able to flourish. Connect with Andy McCulloch: Twitter: @AndyMcCulloch5 Buy his book: Why Can’t You Hear Me? Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses
Mon, 03 May 2021 - 56min - 90 - Michelle Hedgcoth: How transvaginal mesh ruined my body and my career - but not my spirit
Implanting plastic mesh inside our bodies doesn’t sound like a smart thing -- and it wouldn’t have happened to Michelle Hedgcoth if a previous medical error hadn’t damaged her body. Michelle was a healthy and happy career woman when she gave birth - but the doctor, who had given Michelle an episiotomy, failed to sew her back up after the baby was delivered. This failure would have devastating consequences on every aspect of Michelle’s life. In an effort to ‘fix’ their mistake, doctors performed a surgery to implant plastic mesh into Michelle’s abdomen. Plastic mesh that can disintegrate releasing toxic and sickening poisons -- plastic mesh that can twist, break apart and pierce internal organs -- plastic mesh that can attach itself to organs so that it can never be detached. In this interview, Michelle tells us what happened to her in the health care system, the impact it has had on her body, her health, her family, her career, and what she is doing today to make others aware of the dangers of mesh implants. Connect with Michelle Hedgcoth: Twitter: @WCmeshfighter Facebook: WestCoastMeshFighter https://www.facebook.com/Westcoastmeshfighter Instagram: WestCoastMeshFighter https://www.instagram.com/westcoastmeshfighter/?hl=en Website: http://WestCoastMeshFighter.com Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the sno
Mon, 19 Apr 2021 - 40min - 89 - Marc - FQID: Antibiotic fluoroquinolones can cause toxicity and severely injury people: FluoroQuinolone Induced Disability
Like the vast majority of people, you have probably taken an antibiotic at some point in your life. And it probably helped you. However, a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones can cause permanent and severe damage -- this is known as fluoroquinolone toxicity, or, in the US, fluoroquinolone induced disability - FQID. This is a global health care problem that few know about -- or are warned about by their doctor. Why is that? In this episode, I chat with someone who has insight not only into the dynamics that keep this medical harm mostly hidden from the public, but has also been profoundly impacted by fluoroquinolones. Marc from Germany is just one of 10s of 1000s of people around the planet who have been injured by these antibiotics. Marc shares how he finally connected the dots between his declining health and repeated use of fluoroquinolones, and what he does to help alleviate the toxicity symptoms so that he has an improved quality of life. The statistics of harm from fluoroquinolone toxicity are vastly under reported because the toxicity symptoms may not noticeably manifest until days, weeks or months after the antibiotic use. This makes it difficult for those affected to identify the cause of their symptoms, and a challenge for physicians to tease out….or even acknowledge. Symptoms include tendon rupture, aortic rupture, hypoglycemia, nerve damage, mental health issues and -- surprisingly to me -- a dysfunctional response to exercise known as post exertional malaise, the hallmark symptom of the neurological disease ME, or myalgic encephalomyelitis. As you will hear, Marc postulates that some people diagnosed with ME may have fluoroquinolone toxicity. Is he connecting more dots, that the medical system is missing? Connect with Marc: Twitter: @FQID2 Marc’s Doctor is Dr. Stefan Pieper https://praxisdrpieper.de Dr Pieper released a "Springer essential" at scientific publisher Springer in German with basic facts about diagnosis and possible treatment regarding FQID (Fluoroquinolone Induced Disability) https://springer.com Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degre
Mon, 05 Apr 2021 - 57min - 88 - Marcus Sedgwick: Author of ‘All In Your Head’ - What happens when your doctor doesn’t believe you
Multiple award winning author Marcus Sedgwick is best known for his popular fiction books, but his experiences with deeply entrenched medical gaslighting inspired his new book titled “All In Your Head - What happens when your doctor doesn’t believe you.” Marcus describes how he got sick with flu like symptoms...but they never went away. Marcus was thrown into a world he did not even know existed, a world where very sick people are disbelieved and often belittled by physicians. A world Marcus is also seeing unfold for the millions of Long COVID patients around the world, where their physical symptoms are often dismissed as psychological. With Long COVID we are witnessing millions of people being medically traumatized by global gaslighting. Marcus and I discuss the immense pressure physicians are under, from the government and insurance companies, and why the medical system has been set up so that it is in the physician’s best interest to say ‘it’s in your head’ rather than in your body. #FollowTheMoney Connect with Marcus Sedgwick www.marcussedgwick.com ‘All In Your Head’ preview: https://marcussedgwick.com/all-in-your-head/ Twitter: @marcussedgwick Instagram: @marcussedgwick Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 22 Mar 2021 - 51min - 87 - Alice Urbino: scam ‘lightning process’ causes internalized gaslighting - beware of charlatans
When Alice Urbino was a young teenager she got the flu and never got better. Her mother - desperate for her daughter to recover - paid for what she thought was a legitimate treatment -- even though young Alice could plainly see the ‘lightning process’ was based on pseudoscience. Nevertheless, Alice was pressured to partake in a cult like atmosphere with absurd rituals that amounted to brain washing. Alice was made to believe that she chose to be sick, and that even expressing feelings of nausea or fatigue were signs that she wasn’t trying hard enough and that she had the wrong attitude and that’s why she was still sick. Not surprisingly, young Alice was brain washed and internalized the blame and shame and soon became depressed and started hating herself. For years, belief in this ‘treatment’ affected Alice’s mental health and belief in herself and the physical symptoms she experienced. In our interview, Alice tells us how she overcame the internalized gaslighting caused by the lightning process, and to warn us about what she learned about the lightning process’s infamous founder Phil Parker, who professes to have the “ability to step into other people’s bodies...to assist them in their healing”. Parker - who is often called out as a charlatan on social media - has a long history of financially preying on the sick, vulnerable and desperate. Link to Phil Parker’s old prototype page: https://t.co/VNjPRdxjjd?amp=1 Connect with Alice Urbino: twitter and instagram are both @aliceurbino Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden
Mon, 08 Mar 2021 - 47min - 86 - Ryan Clark: Keep your hair, ruin your life -- how the hair growth medication Propecia broke his body: Post Finasteride Syndrome
Ryan Clark had it all. Successful career. Great relationships. Healthy body. When Ryan noticed a bit of hair loss, like many men, he took a common medication known as Propecia to promote hair growth. Unbeknownst to Ryan, Propecia can cause post-finasteride syndrome - causing sexual, neurological, physical and cognitive adverse reactions - it is a condition with no known cure and few, if any, effective treatments. In the ensuing years, Ryan’s body started to break down and unfamiliar and confusing symptoms manifested: anxiety, trouble sleeping, erectile dysfunction and memory problems. But his doctors were not making the connection between Ryan’s symptoms and the hair growth medication -- even after Ryan developed testicular cancer -- very few physicians are even aware of post finasteride syndrome. In our interview Ryan shares the heartbreaking losses he’s suffered to his health, his relationships and his career as a direct result of the medication -- and Ryan shares about how he’s finding meaning in helping and supporting other men who’ve had their lives ruined by a medication the health care system fails to recognize, let alone treat. Connect with Ryan Clark https://twitter.com/RyanCla64726007 https://www.facebook.com/ryan.clark.589583 https://www.propeciahelp.com/ Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the s
Mon, 22 Feb 2021 - 44min - 85 - Sally Maddocks: Removing implanted plastic mesh from organs is like removing gum from hair
If a surgeon told you that they were going to implant plastic mesh around an organ -- perhaps your bladder or bowel -- and screw the ends into your pelvis and spine -- would you have that surgery? What if the surgeon also told you the plastic mesh may disintegrate and release toxins into your body causing multi system dysfunction -- and that the plastic may twist and puncture your organs or press against nerves causing suicidal level pain when you move -- would you have that surgery? What if the surgeon also told you that if you experience these symptoms --- that no doctor will have been educated to look for the signs of plastic mesh injury --- that no doctor will believe you if you think the symptoms are caused by the plastic mesh --- that you will be gaslighted so often that the gaslighting becomes internalized -- would you have that surgery? What if the surgeon told you that the plastic mesh has an expiry date and that protects the manufacturer from medical negligence lawsuits --- and that the expiry date is not from the date of the implant, but from the date of manufacturing -- so the plastic mesh can sit on the shelf for many years before it gets implanted -- would you have that surgery? If a surgeon told you that plastic mesh may ruin your physical health, cause intractable pain, disable you from working or exercising or socializing so that you lose your career, your home and your future and quality of life may plummet -- would you have that surgery? Sally Maddocks was not informed of any of these possible outcomes when the doctor recommended surgery. And Sally is not alone in having her life irrevocably harmed by corporate profits over patient safety. But Sally is fighting back with a petition to raise awareness so others avoid potential harm, and to hold her government accountable for their actions. Connect with Sally Maddocks: https://twitter.com/maddocks_sally https://facebook.com/groups/2327576 https://facebook.com/groups/1567096 https://facebook.com/groups/117040 https://facebook.com/groups/2039629 https://facebook.com/groups/325473 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report v
Mon, 08 Feb 2021 - 56min - 84 - Dr Simon Breidert: How Post Finasteride Syndrome changed his view of his specialty: psychosomatic medicine
When Dr Simon Breidert tried to discontinue use of the hair growth medication Finasteride, he experienced a myriad of very disturbing and disabling symptoms in multiple body systems. But the medical system doesn’t recognize Post Finasteride Syndrome and has labeled any one who says they experience those symptoms as hysterical. Dr Breidert was now confronted by his own profession’s deeply embedded medical bias. Simon was experiencing horrible physical symptoms, but the health care system had already decided his diagnosis is psychosomatic. Talk about major cognitive dissonance. Simon had to reconcile years of medical education that psychologizes everything it does not yet understand, with his own body’s experience. Simon and I talk about how his body broke down, his hellish health care journey and the strategies he employs to manage Post Finasteride Syndrome. Simon also shares what he now thinks of the medical system, psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine, and how he’s leveraging the trauma of serious illness and medical marginalization and gaslighting, into growth by founding the charity PFS Research. Connect with Dr Simon Breidert https://twitter.com/simonbreidert https://www.pfsresearch.org/ Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 01 Feb 2021 - 53min - 83 - Shirley Barker, RN: Witnessing a police sheriff’s death by physician -- and telling the truth
It is an open secret that hospitals’ standard of practice is to deny, diminish or cover up their medical errors. When they occur, there is often immense pressure from hospital administrators on employees to conform to a narrative that protects the hospital. The employee may feel that their job and career are in jeopardy, and they may feel peer pressure to ‘not rock the boat’ and protect their health care colleagues. Nurse Shirley Barker found herself in exactly that pressure cooker when a police sheriff who was shot multiple times in a high profile shoot out ended up under Shirley’s care. Although seriously injured, the next day he was recovering and his family was in the waiting room while the doctor examined him. The physician asked Shirley to administer a medication, but she refused because of safety concerns. The physician himself then injected the medication -- and immediately the sheriff’s vital signs dropped and Shirley witnessed his death...by physician. In our interview Shirley shares the highly pressured experience of being a hospital’s employee and a key witness in a court case about a medical death in that hospital. Shirley also shares how her father’s death involved medical error and how these cumulative experiences have impacted her life’s path. Connect with Shirley Barker: Facebook.com/Wellness-Island Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one
Mon, 25 Jan 2021 - 40min - 82 - Dana Parish: Co-author of Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic
Medicine is so messed up. It has been fatally bitten by its own dogma. When singer-songwriter Dana Parish suddenly got very sick, she quickly had a correct diagnosis of Lyme disease and was given the standard antibiotic treatment. But Dana never fully recovered and eventually ended up in heart failure. Dana saw many top doctors in New York and they all missed the ongoing underlying infection that would lead to Dana’s heart failure. None of these physicians could wrap their heads around the idea that Dana had been under treated for Lyme disease and it was causing her impending death. Like other medically marginalized and discriminated diseases, chronic Lyme infection has been maligned and neglected by the very system that purports to provide medical care. This reflects the heart of the problem with our health care: entrenched discriminatory dogma in a closed system. Eventually Dana found Dr Steven Phillips, who was already an internationally renowned physician specializing in complex, chronic diseases when he became a patient himself. After nearly dying from his own mystery illness, he experienced firsthand the medical community’s ignorance about the pathogens that underlie a deep spectrum of serious conditions—from fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and myalgic encephalomyelitis (MEcfs) to depression, anxiety, OCD and neurodegenerative disorders. In their book Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic, Dana and Dr Phillips explore the science behind common infections that are difficult to diagnose and treat and debunk widely held false beliefs by doctors that keep patients chronically sick. With the Covid pandemic still going parabolic, and the number of Long Covid patients with chronic autoimmune symptoms also skyrocketing, their book could not be more timely. Connect with Dana Parish: Thechronicbook.com Facebook.com/thechronicbook Twitter @Lymebook IG: Instagram.com/thechronicbook Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-pr
Mon, 18 Jan 2021 - 1h 02min - 81 - Denise Crawley: To err is human: A nurse shares her medical errors and how the system responded
When nurse Denise Crawley connected with me about sharing her experiences with her own medical errors in the workplace, I thought it was a great opportunity to hear from a health care worker from their side and perspective of medical errors. As Denise states, there is a big problem with how the health care system responds to medical error, especially how systemic contributors to medical error are rarely addressed, and how the response tends to focus on individual blame. This in turn fosters a medical culture of cover up, denial and fear. With medical error being the 3rd leading cause of death for many decades, it is self evident that the current process of dealing with medical mistakes is fatally flawed. Denise refers to it as the Swiss Cheese model of how medical errors manifest in that within the various layers of healthcare, there are holes in each layer, and when these holes line up, medical harm and death can happen. While we often think of medical trauma exclusive to the patient, as Denise shares, health care workers can be traumatized by participating or witnessing or covering up medical errors. Denise has had to deal with the trauma, and as you’ll hear, is experiencing post traumatic growth. Connect with Denise Crawley Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denise.elaine0218 Twitter: https://twitter.com/denisecrawley Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again
Mon, 11 Jan 2021 - 34min - 80 - Maya Dusenbery: Author of "Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick"
When author Maya Dusenbery started to experience pain after a viral infection, she was introduced to a medical system that mostly marginalizes women and dismisses diseases that predominantly affect women. This of course will come as no surprise to any female that has a disease the medical system does not readily recognize. If that disease doesn’t have a biomarker yet, doctors will often attribute women’s physical symptoms as psychological in origin. This is known as medical gaslighting and its origins can be traced back to the cocaine fueled thinking of Sigmund Freud and beyond. In spite of medicine and research claiming to be self correcting institutions, Maya lays out the problems embedded in research, diagnosis and treatment and identifies 2 cracks - or what Maya calls ‘gaps’ - in the health care system: A knowledge gap and a trust gap, and the feedback loop that sustains them. In this interview, we unpack Maya’s experience with the health care system and why it prompted her to take a deep dive into exposing the systemic gaps in women’s access to appropriate research data and treatment protocols. Connect with Maya Dusenbery https://www.mayadusenbery.com/ https://twitter.com/mayadusenbery Buy Maya’s book on Amazon Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 04 Jan 2021 - 40min - 79 - Anton for Holger Klintenberg: #HelpHolgerNow: “We’re fighting for his life” against the medical system
“We’re living in a horror movie” says Anton, speaking for his brother Holger who is so severely sick that he cannot eat or drink and has to be tube fed. Yet the Swedish medical system thinks Holger has a psychiatric disorder and has threatened to have him forcibly committed to an institution against his wishes. If the medical system succeeds, it will probably kill Holger. Anton, and the rest of Holger’s family, are fighting a medical system that does not recognize or understand the disease myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME. Holger’s family have started a public campaign including social media to #HelpHolgerNow to save him from a torturous death at the hands of the medical system. I interviewed Anton about Holger on December 21st --- subsequently Anton emailed me this message about their medical system: “the police report was regarding them tricking Holger to the psychiatric ward in the beginning of December. IVO is the healthcare inspektion authority. We are working on a new report to them covering a bigger picture with all the things that happened this fall, the psychiatric ward in the beginning of December...and also their threat of forced institutionalization. Holger has been denied to seek a doctor of his own choice because he lives in the care home. But our lawyer says that that is not legal. So we are now trying to find a doctor we can trust and do not deny ME. We know who we want and hope she says yes. We have not accepted the healthcare director's reply and asked him to invite us to a meeting and also give us an informed answer because he obviously isn't aware of the details. He is now questioned already by IVO because of the region's handling of Covid-19 patients. They have failed.” To follow and support Holger and see if the Swedish medical system tortures and kills him, go to Help Holger Now on Facebook: #HelpHolgerNow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helpholgernow (MEpedia entry about Sophia Mirza who had ME and died after being forcibly moved to a psychiatric institution: https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Mirza ) Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees
Mon, 28 Dec 2020 - 42min - 78 - Sarah Colero: “Owe my life to medical cannabis” -- life with brain surgeries, migraines and opioids
Medical knowledge is embryonic. They are still discovering new body parts. Sometimes medicine doesn’t break new ground, but has to be dragged into the light. A case in point is cannabis. The therapeutic value of cannabis has been known for millennia, yet modern medicine vilified the medication, pathologized cannabis users, while the legal system criminalized cannabis patients. Now we see the global movement making great headway toward decriminalizing and medicalizing cannabis. And as it is with most changes to the medical system, it did not come from within, but from pressure from outsiders, namely patients. In this episode of Medical Error Interviews, I chat with Sarah Colero who’s debilitating migraines were made worse by opioids, but better by cannabis. We unpack Sarah’s experience with multiple brain surgeries and a medical system often intentionally ignorant about the medicinal benefits of cannabis, and her advocacy efforts to bring equity in access for patients that need medicinal cannabis to treat disease and symptoms. Connect with Sarah Colero: Twitter: @Sarah_Colero Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 21 Dec 2020 - 48min - 77 - Maija Haavisto: Medical Writer talks about Continuous Medical Trauma and MEcfs and Long Covid (aka post Covid syndrome)
Author and writer Maija Haavisto caught my attention with her article titled ‘Medical Trauma: Gaslighting and Continuous Stress Eating Away at Your Self Worth’. In her writing, Maija accurately captures the consequences of harmful medical experiences I witness in my counseling clients. As I’ve said elsewhere, medical error and trauma are the unacknowledged pandemics within our health care systems. Maija grew up in Finland, a healthy child until she got the flu as a teenager and never recovered. Kicked out of an abusive home at 16 as she struggled with sickness, Maija relied on her writing prowess and carved out a successful career as a journalist and medical writer who has authored 17 books in Finnish. Along the way, Maija’s health has fluctuated, she eventually got a diagnosis of MEcfs, moved to the Netherlands partly for healthcare reasons in 2010, but she has never been totally healthy again. Of course, having undiagnosed and unrecognized symptoms, and then getting a diagnosis of a medically marginalized disease, means Maija had to have numerous encounters with the health care system. Encounters that more often than not, would be stressful and trauma inducing. But Maija has taken her lived experience with the chronic disease MEcfs, and her more recent experience with Long Covid (aka post Covid syndrome), and her encounters with the health care system, and uses those elements to inform her writing. Maija makes the point that medical trauma is different from post traumatic stress. As Maija writes in her article, “Another aspect that makes medical trauma particularly pernicious is the way we may be forced to face our abuser and pretend nothing has happened. Even if we manage to cut them off, their pointed comments may stick in our medical files.” And that’s exactly what distinguishes PTSD from continuous medical trauma. If you have a complex chronic illness, especially one that is medically marginalized, you probably cannot divorce yourself completely from the health care system to try to protect yourself from further abuse and trauma. You are forced to continue to engage with your traumatizer, both the physician and the health care system -- and that makes medical trauma continuous, and some would say, chronic trauma. Connect with Maija Haavisto Twitter: @DiamonDie Maija’s Medium article: https://maija-haavisto.medium.com/medical-trauma-6fa90c6ecab0 Website http://www.fiikus.net Maya’s CFS/ME book http://www.brokenmarionettebook.com YouTube - hypnosis and meditation audios https://www.youtube.com/user/diamondie Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in
Mon, 14 Dec 2020 - 44min - 76 - Jessica Pin: My labia minora removed without my consent - the pathologization of female sexuality
One of the good things about interviewing people about their medical error experiences is the feel good stories about making the health system safer, and making meaning out of trauma, a phenomenon known as post traumatic growth. In this interview with Jessica Pin, she shares the insights she’s learned about the gross deficiencies in the medical system where it intentionally maintains blind spots about female anatomy and female sexuality. A medical system where surgeons are performing procedures on female genitalia with shocking little understanding of the female body. Jessica, the daughter of a surgeon, recounts her own experience receiving a surgical procedure that she did not consent, and to which the doctor had no understanding or training. This unwarranted surgery would impact Jessica’s intimate relationships, her relationship with her parents, and her relationship with herself. In her efforts to make meaning out of her medical injury, Jessica sought the support of psychiatrists and therapists -- but she again experienced dismissal, minimization and invalidation. Essentially further harming Jessica as invalidated trauma deepens trauma. Eventually, through her own efforts and self education about recovering from trauma, Jessica focused her efforts on changing the system to prevent more women from being physically harmed, sexually diminished, and psychologically traumatized. Connect with Jessica Pin Twitter @MediClit https://www.instagram.com/p/CD7VMj2pZ_q/?igshid=163uygx8r1ibq Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epi
Mon, 07 Dec 2020 - 1h 00min - 75 - Jeanne McArdle: My thyroid grew back - “impossible” says the doctor - and other tales of medical gaslighting
When you’ve been sick since a child - as Jeanne McArdle has been - you gain a preternatural insight into the world of medicine and medical care. And if you have a disease unknown or misunderstood by medicine, you get the advantage of being an ‘outsider’ while inside the system. Of course, this cuts both ways: having a medically marginalized disease essentially guarantees medical harm, neglect, gaslighting and distrust of doctors. In this interview with Jeanne McArdle, she recounts the myriad ways physicians have gaslighted her over the years -- at times, this ubiquitous gaslighting from authority figures undermined Jeanne’s own sense of her body and reality. Even when Jeanne used her Master’s research skills to track and plot the objective biological changes in her body, the evidence was dismissed by doctors. When Jeanne reported bodily pain, doctors would ignore or minimize it. It was not until Jeanne got in front of a doctor that specialized in her symptoms that the gaslighting stopped and the appropriate testing and treatment began. But as Jeanne points out, if the doctor can’t figure out the problem, the patient becomes the problem. Connect with Jeanne McArdle Twitter: @JeanneMcArdle Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 30 Nov 2020 - 1h 05min - 74 - Liz Perloff: Dislocated foot bone missed for years leads to medical gaslighting for years
When yoga teacher Liz fell down a flight of stairs while moving a mattress and injured her foot, she had no idea that multiple misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis would cause her years of medical gaslighting and chronic pain. Liz’s health care experience is littered with story after story of incredible incompetence, false accusations and patient blaming. With a few exceptions, most of us are raised to believe that our health care systems are looking out for our best interests, that they are self correcting institutions that prioritize patient safety. In reality, the health care system has morphed into a system that prioritizes and protects the status quo of physicians as god-like entities that can do no wrong. And unless you’ve experienced medical harm, neglect or gaslighting from the health care system it is hard to fathom that a strong element of the ‘helping’ profession is really about helping themselves. This is evidenced by the alliance of physicians with lawyers to protect doctors when they harm or kill patients. Those high priced lawyers will try to delay court cases to run up the lawyer fees, essentially bankrupting the injured patient. Or the lawyers use stall and delay tactics in hopes the patient dies before the case goes to trial. To complete the moat around their elite status, physicians worked the political system to have laws and policies implemented that further protect doctors from accountability. This further entrenches the medical system as unaccountable for their actions. Yet we only have to consider that medical error is the 3rd leading cause of death to recognize that the doctor / lawyer / politician triumvirate is effectively working to protect a high harm and death rate. Liz shares the failures of the medical system, and the gem of a physician she found that has helped improve her quality of life --- a quality needlessly diminished by repeated medical errors. Connect with Liz Perloff: Twitter @thepenof Website: FromThePenOf.com Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions.
Mon, 23 Nov 2020 - 38min - 73 - Daria Oller: Physical Therapist with Long Covid - what she was taught was wrong
When Daria Oller got sick with mild Covid symptoms in mid March, she assumed she’d be back to full health in a week or two. Now over 7 months later, Daria -- a physical therapist, athletic trainer, runner and dancer -- is still beset with physical symptoms, especially a delayed and dysfunctional response to exercise, known as post exertional malaise - the hallmark symptom of another post viral disease called myalgic encephalomyelitis, or MEcfs. Daria is also dealing with cognitive symptoms that makes reading and retaining material a challenge -- this is known as brain fog and also common in MEcfs patients, As you’ll hear Daria explain, the physical therapist professionals are mostly uninformed about post exertional malaise -- in reality, exercise is contraindicated for post exertional malaise and people living with MEcfs -- and now this seems to extend to at least some of the Long Covid patients emerging from this pandemic. This was not surprising - in fact it was predictable - as it is well known in the viral research community that a significant proportion of people just never recover from viral infections and they develop MEcfs. But the medical community, including other health providers like physical therapists, has been mostly ignorant about MEcfs and this has caused a lot of harm to patients on a global scale. If there is a silver lining in this pandemic, it is that people like Daria in the health professions who - unfortunately - develop Long Covid cum MEcfs will now have the lived experience of MEcfs symptoms and will be able to provide empathic and appropriate care. Not the gaslighting and harm MEcfs patients have endured for decades -- and many Long Covid patients are also experiencing. Connect with Daria Oller: Twitter @OnTapPhysio Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Netwo
Mon, 16 Nov 2020 - 36min - 72 - MaryAnne Martin-Smith: Given death rites 3 times - how simple surgery went so wrong
Unless you’ve experienced it yourself, it is hard to fathom the cruelty and abuse by some doctors and nurses on sick, vulnerable and dying people. It is hard to reconcile that the ultimate helping professions can have so many people who exhibit truly sadistic and sociopathic behaviour. To understand how ubiquitous medical abuse and neglect is in our health care systems we only have to look at the recent example in the news of the death of Joyce Echaquan who livestreamed abuse by nurses in the days before she died. Unfortunately MaryAnne Martin-Smith knows what it feels like to be dying while being medically abused -- perhaps ‘tortured’ is a more accurate description. MaryAnne went to the hospital for simple back surgery and expected to be out the same day, but without back pain. But what happened to MaryAnne is like something out of a Stephen King novel: a surgeon unwittingly slices open MaryAnne’s arteries causing blood to pour into her abdomen, squishing her organs and causing immense pain -- which nurses and doctors ignore in spite of MaryAnne’s pleading for help. When the medical staff finally acknowledge MaryAnne is dying, it is one shocking error after another -- the medical staff have to bring MaryAnne back to life 3 times -- not wanting to die alone, MaryAnne begs for the nurse to call her husband -- and the nurse tells MaryAnne to stop being so selfish. Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love
Mon, 09 Nov 2020 - 59min - 71 - Melinda Maxwell: Craniocervical instability -- decades of suffering before diagnosis
What is the connection between a ‘weak bladder’ in childhood and spine surgery in adulthood? For Melinda Maxwell, a diagnosis of craniocervical instability (or CCI) provided clarity of that connection after decades of doctors dismissing her symptoms or giving a misdiagnosis. Craniocervical instability, as its name implies, is essentially a mechanical failure where the head joins the spine causing it to be unstable -- and it can cause a wide range of mysterious and disabling symptoms that are hard for doctors - who mostly work in silos - to connect. For Melinda, the CCI diagnosis and subsequent surgery has given her a second chance at life. As a licensed Physical Therapist, Melinda has had to question everything she was taught in PT school as those practices can cause more harm than good in people with diseases that are medically marginalized and clinically misunderstood. Melinda shares her health care journey to finally getting a diagnosis and proper treatment, and what she’s doing now to prevent more harm to CCI and ME patients from her Physical Therapist colleagues in the future. Connect with Melinda Maxwell: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3049027761780369/?ref=share Post interview note from Melinda: “One thing I didn’t mention is that I haven’t had to have a tethered cord release yet. Dr. Patel is watching it. Some CCI patients have to have it released after fusion but so far my symptoms aren’t bad enough.” Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My go
Mon, 02 Nov 2020 - 59min - 70 - Jonah McGarva: Long Covid - Politically invisibilized and medically gaslighted
Jonah McGarva is one of what will be millions of people around the globe with Long Covid. And many pandemic survivors that develop Long Covid are frustrated by their government’s lack of appropriate response. Most government health leaders barely mention - or even warn the public - about Long Covid. This is known as political invisibilization. And it works by refusing to acknowledge an issue, or in this instance, a disease. It is reminiscent of the early years of the AIDS pandemic when politicians were silent about death by AIDS. This gave rise to the advocacy chant of “Silence = Death”. The government’s motivation to invisibilize a disease may be based on ignorance or prejudice or to protect and hide their own errors and failings from the public. Government’s may also be motivated to invisibilize Long Covid to deny disability payments, or to protect corporate insurers from Long Covid claims. Government’s are also notoriously burdened by entrenched bureaucrats with allegiance to their careers and the status quo, not public health. Compounding the political invisibilization of Long Covid patients are physicians who dismiss physical symptoms as psychological or the catch all diagnosis of anxiety. This is known as medical gaslighting. It is the unacknowledged pandemic within our health care systems. Mix those systemic factors with some narcissistic and sociopathic personalities in both the political and medical systems and the result is a group of very sick and disabled people being medically and economically marginalized. The good thing is that lots of physicians are experiencing Long Covid and that means they are also experiencing being gaslighted by their colleagues. This is known as ‘getting a taste of your own medicine’ and is the most valuable medical education any of these doctors will ever experience. And as Long Covid patient Jonah McGarva recounts, many doctors need to learn this lesson. Connect with Jonah McGarva Twitter: @jonah_mcgarva Jonah interviews:CITY TV NEWS - Oct. 17th VANCOUVER IS AWESOME - Web Article - Oct. 15thGOFUNDME - Set up on Oct. 12thUNIVERSITY OF CALGARY - Covid Corner - Oct. 7thW5 - Season Premiere - Sep. 26thCBC Web Article - Sep. 20thCTV National News - Aug. 12th Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryer
Mon, 26 Oct 2020 - 1h 00min - 69 - Tracy Fossum: Chronic pain, chronic gaslighting, chronic bias and a heart attack
When Tracy Fossum had all the symptoms of a heart attack, the emergency room doctors thought Tracy was drug seeking and sent her away. Then her pain specialist physician implored her to go to a different hospital’s emergency room because they were heart attack specialists and would have to run appropriate tests. But they thought Tracy was drug seeking too and made her wait 6 hours before being seen by a doctor --- and even then and in spite of being in immense pain for hours, the doctors and nurses were shaming and denigrating Tracy -- that is, until her heart stopped beating. At that point, the doctors and nurses suddenly became empathetic and supportive of Tracy -- not because they cared about her, but because they realized she was having a heart attack and her husband had witnessed the abuse and neglect and was about to witness her death by medical bias. This is just one of many harmful medical experiences Tracy has endured while being sick since childhood -- and they have formed her advocacy work around chronic pain -- and as more Long Covid patients report chronic pain, the number of patients needing Tracy and her team’s support is about to explode. Connect with Tracy Fossum: Email: Helpalbertaspain@gmail.com Website: Www.helpalbertaspain.com Facebook: Www.facebook.com/groups/helpab Twitter: @HELP_AB
Mon, 19 Oct 2020 - 1h 21min - 68 - Melissa Shiff: Her life intersects with wife murdering surgeon, medical error and human rights
When Melissa Shiff had surgery on a cyst in her back, the surgeon nicked her spinal fluid canal causing it to leak spinal fluid. This medical error would lead to more errors and medical harm for Melissa. As Melissa wrote to me after the interview: “I get internal tremors, non epileptic seizures, slurred speech, sometimes I lose the ability to move my limbs and need to be carried and of course can barely stand or walk.” The health system proved useless and essentially abandoned Melissa to suffer without medical care. As a result of her own research and determination, Melissa eventually got a correct diagnosis, one that could be treated with surgery -- but then she was faced with a health care system ignorant about the disease and the only qualified surgeon in prison for murdering his wife. But Melissa is not one to give up easily -- listen to find out how Melissa is working hard - and horizontally from her bed - to get the surgery she needs to have any hope of leading a normal vertical life. Swedish Study: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.00828/full Connect with Melissa Shiff: Twitter: @MelissaShiff Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.shiff.5 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 12 Oct 2020 - 1h 06min - 67 - Terri Lewis PhD: Medicine’s Problem: Drive-by Transactional Medicine
Dr Terri Lewis is a clinical educator with more than 30 years of experience in the development and administration of community rehabilitation and counseling programs. Terri’s insights into the machinations of the medical system come from both her professional career and her role as a mother. When Terri’s child experienced pain, it was by and large dismissed by doctors as if children were from a different planet where the species didn’t experience pain. By ignoring what Terri’s son was reporting, doctors contributed to a worse and more painful - and needless - outcome for him. In our interview, Terri shares both the formal and personal aspects of her experiences with the health care system --- a medical system that is not focused on the patient as they purport, but focused on cutting patient-doctor appointment time and decreasing other costs while maximizing profits. A system Terri aptly describes as ‘drive-by medicine’. Connect with Dr Terri Lewis: Tennessee Pain Care for All https://www.facebook.com/groups/219464761765372 Fungal Meningitis Survivors https://www.facebook.com/groups/meningitisoutbreaksurvivors Twitter https://twitter.com/tal7291 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system. My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.
Mon, 05 Oct 2020 - 1h 01min - 66 - Miranda Levy: Psychiatric Safari - A journalist’s experience with psychiatry and their medications
When journalist Miranda Levy couldn’t sleep due to a relationship upheaval, she sought support from her doctor and fell down a multi year rabbit hole into the wacky world of psychiatric medicine. Miranda lost herself in a health care system that has little understanding of the powerful psychiatric drugs they dispense like candy. The health care system also has little motivation to acknowledge the torturous effects that can come from withdrawal from these drugs. Miranda doesn’t mince her words about her experiences with the medical system and the physical addiction it created - where it failed and where it helped - and where it abandoned her when she was at her most sick and desperate and in need of help. Miranda tells how a treatment centre publicly humiliated her as part of their therapy. And how she felt compelled to lie at the treatment centre’s 12 step program and say “My name is Miranda, and I’m an alcoholic” - even though alcohol was not the issue, it was prescription medications that she was addicted to. Fortunately, Miranda took control of her health and destiny and started to slowly wean herself off the medications - an ongoing process that is taking years - but she’s got her sharp mind back, she’s back to work as a journalist, and she’s writing a book about her safari into insomnia, mental illness, and the psychiatric world’s version of ‘big game hunters’: Big Profit Pharma Connect with Miranda Levy Blog - Tales of an Insomniac.com https://t.co/wxRppQWFHJ?amp=1 MirandaLevy.co.uk Twitter @MirandaLevyCopy Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victim
Mon, 28 Sep 2020 - 38min - 65 - Beau Tiffany: The Medical Care Racket - 2 damaging surgeries for illnesses he didn’t have
If you had any doubt the medical system, in collusion with the legal, political and insurance systems, were corrupt, those doubts will be waylaid when you hear Beau Tiffany’s experiences with medical error. Beau has had to endure and battle biased systems since he slipped and fell hard down wet stair steps, causing him multiple injuries. But it was a wrong diagnosis that somehow got into Beau’s electronic health records that led to 2 surgeries for illnesses he did not have. These needless surgeries have permanently injured Beau’s body and greatly impacted his quality of life -- physically, emotionally and socially. But as you’ll hear, Beau is also making meaning out of his traumatic experiences with medical, political and legal systems that at times collude to deny appropriate health care and deny even a semblance of justice to medically harmed patients. Part of Beau’s meaning making is being the creator and host of the Digital Voices podcast, a space for people to share their experiences of - and responses to - medical error. In my interview with Beau, he shares how his experiences with our societal systems began when he was put into the foster child system as a toddler, a system that would abruptly abandon him and leave him homeless as a teenager. But Beau was a voracious reader and had goals of seeing the places and things he had read about, and that motivation took him from living under a bridge to college and world travel and entrepreneurship. Connect with Beau Tiffany: Digital Voices podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Digital-Voices-with-Beau-Tiffany-101452114876004
Mon, 21 Sep 2020 - 1h 08min - 64 - Jenna Payne: Stupid Stuff Doctors Say: "You’re depressed because your unmarried and childless"
Pretty much everyone who’s had a chronic or complex illness will have a story to tell about some of the most ignorant and arrogant - and dangerous - utterations made by physicians. I’ve spoken with a lot of health care workers and patients from a wide variety of health care systems, and regardless of their geographic location, the god complex physician culture is rampant in their institutions and is a significant cause of medical error, harm and death. When Jenna Payne’s health took a nose dive, she encountered countless doctors that dismissed or denigrated or shamed her physical symptoms. Turns out Jenna wasn’t faking her symptoms, and she didn’t need a husband and baby. What Jenna needed was a competent physician. In our interview, Jenna takes us on a journey from the United States to Russia, and from health care to health harm. Connect with Jenna Payne: www.jennapayne.com https://twitter.com/jenna_payne https://kypsel.com/comics/zompire-vixens-from-pluto-episode-one https://www.youtube.com/user/dirjennapayne www.disastercapitalproductions.com
Mon, 14 Sep 2020 - 1h 17min - 63 - Casey Steidle: How is this happening? MRI Gadolinium toxicity - life consuming, life ruining
Have you had an MRI? Was it an MRI ‘with contrast’? That’s when the MRI technician injects you with a chemical called gadolinium so they can read the MRI easier. They probably told you to drink a lot of water to flush it out of your system, and that it would be gone from your body in 24 hours. What they probably didn’t tell you is that some people’s bodies don’t flush out the gadolinium and it makes them chronically sick and disabled. And they probably didn’t tell you that the Food and Drug Administration requires that an MRI with gadolinium comes with a black box warning. Or that Europe and Japan have banned the use of gadolinium. And they probably didn’t tell you that even if you do report side effects, you’ll be gaslighted by doctors who will tell you it’s impossible to have gadolinium toxicity and that you’re imagining your symptoms. In this episode of Medical Error Interviews, I chat with Casey Steidle, a creative and athletic woman living in California. Casey tells us about her body’s immediate reaction to the gadolinium injection, the response of the health care workers and her doctor, and then the tragedy of her doctor sending Casey for another MRI with contrast and how that severely damaged her body. Casey also shares how she had to take control of her own health destiny when the medical system turned its back on her, and about the treatments she pursued that have helped her regain a lot, but not all, of her health and quality of life. Mri toxicity illnesses - FB -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/Gadolinium The Lighthouse Project: https://gadoliniumtoxicity.com/ Casey’s website www.caseysteidle.com Instagram @caseysteidle Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member
Mon, 07 Sep 2020 - 1h 04min - 62 - Donald Lepp: Heart Broken - A family’s journey through medical help, harm and mayhem
When Donald’s pregnant wife was diagnosed with a serious heart condition, and then a few months later their newborn son was also diagnosed with a similar, but different, life threatening heart condition, the Lepp family started 2 similar, but different, simultaneous journey’s in the health care system: one designed for children and the other for adults --- and along the way they encountered many forms of medical error. Ih his book ‘Heart Broken’, Donald recounts the emotional rollercoaster his family endured as their life and death care intersected with a bureaucratic medical system stuck in status quo. Too often we hear of families doubly devastated when the hospital denies and or delays a resolution and reconciliation. For the Lepp family, developing clear communication - and trust - with the health care team was crucial for positive outcomes. In our interview Donald shares his insight about their experiences afforded through hindsight. As Donald notes, medical errors are common place, a reality that cannot be denied --- and what is most salient is how the health care system responds to those errors. Depending on that response, a bad situation may become tragic -- or may become an opportunity of learning and meaning. We all know what injured patients prefer. Connect with Donald Lepp: Buy Heart Broken online Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donald.lepp Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-lepp-cphr-shrm-scp-0717589a/ Twitter: @DonaldLepp Personal blog: https://t.co/8j7uX0Dh8x?amp=1 Book blog: https://t.co/PjJFPpwvJD?amp=1
Mon, 31 Aug 2020 - 1h 08min - 61 - Dr Susan Cunliffe: Escaping Psychiatry and ECT - A Physician’s Experience
In spite of our great science and medical advances in the last 100 years, what we know about how the body works is still embryonic. Especially when it comes to our body’s most complex organ - the brain - as Dr Susan Cunliffe can attest. Dr Cunliffe received numerous rounds of ECT - aka shock therapy - each more powerful than the last, each designed to ensure Susan’s brain was assaulted so hard it had a seizure. The brain tries to protect itself from the convulsions and seizures caused by electricity - so it takes higher doses of electricity to induce the brain seizures. When Susan’s cognitive ability decreased after ECT, her symptoms were interpreted as worsening depression - not ECT induced brain damage - and she was given more ECT, causing more brain damage. Psychiatry calls this a treatment. Others call it barbaric. But these are the facts: Doctors don’t understand very much about the brain - for example, pharmaceutical manufacturers market antidepressant drugs on the idea that depression is a ‘chemical imbalance in your brain’ -- turns out, that’s not true, there is no evidence for a chemical imbalance as a cause of depression -- but that doesn’t stop 1,000s of unwitting doctors from prescribing them. Doctors definitely don’t understand how electricity impacts the brain. Physicians don’t know how to treat the brain on any level beyond throwing powerful psych meds at it -- and they haven’t studied traumatic brain injury so they don’t know what symptoms to look for or how to recognize signs of injury -- yet they are allowed to put electricity through people’s brains. Psychiatry, that embarrassing discipline of medicine that operates outside the usual rules of evidence based science or prioritizing patient safety, religiously defend their practice of jolting the brain with electricity so hard that it causes the brain to have a seizure. Like religion, it is based on faith, not facts. In this episode, physician Susan Cunliffe gives an insider’s view of the UK medical system where their own data shows 1 in 5 ECT patients experiences severe and permanent brain damage. But that doesn’t stop powerful psychiatrists from continuing to electrocute people’s brains and call it ‘medical care’. Listen to find out who Susan found to help her brain to heal, and what she’s doing to heal a broken medical system. Connect with Dr Susan Cunliffe: Twitter: @CunliffeSue Resources: Headway (UK) https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/ Head Injury - book - Trevor Powell https://www.amazon.co.uk/Head-Injury-Practical-Speechmark-Editions/dp/0863884512 Facebook: Drop the Disorder: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182483948461309 International support group ECT survivors: https://m.facebook.com/groups/414257808688052?view=info&refid=18 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard.
Mon, 24 Aug 2020 - 1h 28min - 60 - Mackenzie Doyle: 20 years to get correct diagnosis - mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)
Mack Doyle has been sickly since birth -- and along the way medicine gave her numerous diagnoses to explain her symptoms, none of which turned out to be correct. When Mack’s allergy skin tests showed her positive to over 140 foods, grasses, and pollen, the doctor didn’t believe it. “Impossible” he said. He told Mack she wasn’t allergic to anything, she just had irritable bowel syndrome. But Mack had ‘been there, done’ that with an IBS misdiagnosis before and was adamant she had allergies. Turns out the patient was right -- she just needed a doctor who could connect the dots of Mack’s various symptoms that pointed to mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), essentially an overactive immune response by our mast cells. Part of the problem of getting a diagnosis was that MCAS was not officially recognized until 2007, so even today very few physicians are aware of the disease. That means patients spend many years and a lot of money trying to get a diagnosis and treatment. It also means a lot of undiagnosed MCAS patients face repeated gaslighting by physicians in a health care system that quickly defaults to the harmful trope ‘in your head’ for illnesses they can’t immediately diagnose. Mack not only shares her health care journey experiences in finally getting a correct diagnosis, but also what she’s learned about the myriad ways MCAS can manifest. If -- like me -- you have weird symptoms that doctors couldn’t explain or dismissed as ‘in your head’ -- then you’ll want to hear what Mack has learned about our mast cells and how you can manage them better. Connect with Mack: Twitter: https://twitter.com/MackWithMast GoFundMe: https://gofundme.com/f/help-mackenzie-fight-mast-cell-disease… Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/MastCell Personal Facebook: https://facebook.com/mackenzie.doyle.12 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborat
Mon, 17 Aug 2020 - 47min - 59 - Charis Hill: Accused of fusing own back bones - Post Traumatic Growth - from Athlete to Advocate
If you’re living with a complex chronic illness, you’ve probably had many medical appointments -- and probably experienced many medical errors, from the benign errors that did not impact your life, to potentially serious errors that will forever lower your quality of life. When Charis Hill’s pain skyrocketed and health tanked and no doctor’s were providing a correct diagnosis, Charis reached out to their estranged father, expecting to get advice on living with a disability. What Charis didn’t expect was for their father to diagnose Charis with ankylosing spondylitis, or AS, an inflammatory disease that causes bones in the spine to fuse. This fusing makes the spine less flexible, can cause a lot of pain and greatly impact mobility. As Charis’s body failed, Charis’s identity as an athlete slipped away -- and so began a journey into the external financial world of health care and health insurance systems -- and a journey into the internal emotional world of trauma and meaning and growth. A journey that is taking - and making - Charis into an unintended chronic illness advocate, giving voice and political clout to the medically marginalized. In our interview - where we faced some minor periodic technical challenges, so please roll with the intermittent audio glitches - Charis tells how they reinvented themselves and learned to love the mobility devices like wheelchairs -- symbols that represent disability to the able in society. Charis shares how these ‘disability symbols’ are actually tools to participate in society, tools of freedom. Connect with Charis Hill: BeingCharis.com https://beingcharis.com Facebook: Charis Hill - Writer, Speaker, Advocate - Being Charis https://www.facebook.com/BeingCharis Global Healthy Living Campaign: https://www.ghlf.org/coronavirus-patient-support/ Spondylitis.org: https://spondylitis.org/resources-support/support-resources/ Becoming Incurable documentary: https://www.becomingincurable.com Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-f
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 - 47min - 58 - Candia McCullough: Sliced to bits: illegal mesh surgically implanted without consent
When Candia McCullough went in for routine hysterectomy surgery for her heavy periods, she was expecting the surgery to give her a better quality of life. What she was not expecting - and did not consent - was to have a medical device implanted into her abdomen and have it attached to her spine, bladder and colon. When Candia awoke from the surgery, the surgeon proudly told her he had implanted a plastic mesh in her abdomen to support her internal organs. While the surgeon boasted about his surgical expertise, Candia was emotionally shocked he had done a medical device implant surgery without her consent, and physically immersed in pain as the plastic mesh dug into and perforated her internal organs. As the plastic mesh gets warmed by the body, it degrades and releases toxic chemicals into Candia’s system. The plastic mesh also twists and pokes holes in Candia’s internal organs causing incredible constant pain - like 9 out of 10 on the pain scale - and often made worse by movement. But instead of getting medical care and support for the damage done by the illegal mesh implanted without her consent, Candia was gaslighted by the medical system as they denied the plastic mesh could be causing her myriad symptoms and told Candia her physical pain and symptoms were psychosomatic. In doing this, the health ‘care’ system essentially deepened Candia’s trauma. In this interview with Candia and her husband Ian, they recount the far reaching impact the plastic mesh implant has had on their lives, their marriage and their mental health. Connect with Candia: Website: www.meshuk.org E-mail: info@meshuk.org Twitter: @MeshUKCT @CandiaMcCullou2 Instagram: mesh_ukcharitabletrust Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/meshukcharitabletrust Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeshUKCT/ Link to our evidence we gave to our Government in respects to surgical mesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC2dGNt_5dY
Mon, 03 Aug 2020 - 42min - 57 - Rachel Winters (part 2): Accutane Injury -- Doubly Deceived by Medicine and Family
As we learned in part 1 of Rachel’s interview, she comes from a family of physicians, and when she was seriously injured by Accutane, a medication many teens and young adults take for acne, Rachel found herself at odds with her family’s complete buy-in to the corporate pharmaceutical narrative and their wholesale acceptance of Big Pharma’s so-called research. All the doctors denied Accutane injured Rachel and diagnosed her as psychosomatic. Rachel’s family also didn’t believe her, calling into question her mental stability. Not surprisingly Rachel felt doubly deceived by medicine and her family, and as pretty much any one who’s experienced a medical error can attest, when doctors and hospitals deny the error or the harm it caused, that invalidated trauma gets deepened. In part 2, Rachel tells about the pressure from her family to abandon natural approaches to health and embrace ‘better living through chemistry’, including taking Accutane for moderate acne. We then hear the hellish side effects Rachel has and continues to endure, what she learned when she took a deep dive into Accutane side effects and the pharmaceutical industry, and how she’s coping with through advocacy and education. Connect with Rachel and community: Accutane Long-Term Side Effects 3.3k members https://www.facebook.com/groups/214733665588935/ Accutane Survivors, Roaccutane, Isotretinoin Injuries & Side Effects 10.7k members https://www.facebook.com/groups/AccutaneSurvivors/ Life After Accutane - A Group For People Damaged By Isotretinoin - 300 members (for accutane survivors only) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifeafteraccutane/ RxPilld (our awareness platform for pharmaceutical injuries): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FCCzGU8gWCFrzS5CbjCoQ Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Mya
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 - 1h 07min - 56 - Rachel Winters (part 1): Medical Betrayal and a Family of Physicians -- Decision Based Evidence Making
Growing up in an affluent community, but as the only non-white kid in her school, Rachel Winters learned early how our social narratives, be they ethnic or medical, can have profound impacts on our life trajectory. Coming from a family of physicians with a ‘better living through chemistry’ approach to medicine and pharmaceuticals, Rachel’s trust in the medical system was deeply ingrained from an early age. Her father assured her that medications were safe, and encouraged Rachel to not feel ashamed about taking pharmaceuticals. When Rachel had trouble sleeping, her mother shared her own sleeping medications. When Rachel had a foot issue and wanted a simple out patient treatment, her father insisted on ‘proven’ invasive and disabling surgery. So when Rachel’s body became dependent on medication given for an erroneous diagnosis, and her foot surgery induced blood curdling screaming pain, Rachel began to see the cavernous cracks in the health care system. She realized she had been repeatedly betrayed by so-called evidence based medicine. In fact, health care is often decision based evidence making. When Rache’s family dismissed the medication side effects and her physical symptoms as psychological, the sense of medical and familial betrayal deepened. In part 1 of this interview Rachel shares how her family of physicians shaped her trust in the scientific process and medical establishment, but it was her real world experience of multiple medical errors that opened her eyes to the reality of health care, big pharma, and the role of physicians in perpetuating profits over people. Connect with Rachel and community: Accutane Long-Term Side Effects 3.3k members https://www.facebook.com/groups/214733665588935/ Accutane Survivors, Roaccutane, Isotretinoin Injuries & Side Effects 10.7k members https://www.facebook.com/groups/AccutaneSurvivors/ Life After Accutane - A Group For People Damaged By Isotretinoin - 300 members (for accutane survivors only) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifeafteraccutane/ RxPilld (our awareness platform for pharmaceutical injuries): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FCCzGU8gWCFrzS5CbjCoQ Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a
Mon, 20 Jul 2020 - 53min - 55 - Chandra Pasma: Long Haul COVID - Will this end for my family?
When I saw that Chandra Pasma was interviewed by media outlets, and that she lead the push for health officials to acknowledge and act upon patients still sick with COVID, I knew I needed to reach out to her and find out her experience with COVID and the health care system. While the medical system has long known, but rarely acknowledged, that some people don’t recover from viral infections, and instead continue to experience a wide range of neurological symptoms, the COVID pandemic - and patient advocates like Chandra - are forcing health care systems to address the research, treatment and care of long haul COVID patients, and by extension, the millions of others who previously got sick with ‘the flu’, but remained sick -- sometimes so ill, they are house and bed bound, requiring total personal support. You may be asking yourself: if medicine has known for a long time some people don’t recover from viral infections, why haven’t they been researching it? Mostly it is because there is a wide spread and embedded medical error in the medical system -- it is so embedded, most physicians are blind to it. Just like fish don’t see water. This institutional error is the physician’s ingrained habit of telling patients with physical symptoms with no obvious cause, that they are ‘all in your head’. This is known informally in patient circles as gaslighting. It is more formally called medical harm. And it is a pandemic unto itself. But with millions of people infected with COVID, and early reports that at least 1 in 10 are not recovering, it will be near impossible for physicians to dismiss long haul COVID patients’ symptoms as ‘all in your head’. The cruel irony is that for at least 3 decades, biological research on people with post viral illnesses, like MEcfs and SARS, had been mostly non-existent. And we can thank psychiatry, the least reputable division of medicine, for impeding biological research funding, and instead, embedding medical error in the form of gaslighting, in health care systems around the world. So this may be one of the ‘good’ things that come out of the COVID pandemic: stopping the medical harm from physicians and psychiatrists of patients who don’t recover from viral infections. Connect with Chandra Pasma on twitter: @ChandraPasma Long Covid Facebook: COVID Long Haulers Support Group Canada https://www.facebook.com/groups/920314451799658 COVID Long Haulers Canada: https://www.facebook.com/groups/950023472135178 Body Politic - COVID support group: https://www.wearebodypolitic.com/covid19 Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I
Mon, 13 Jul 2020 - 42min - 54 - Debbie Lambert: Black Box Warning: MRI with Contrast can cause Gadolinium Toxicity
When I first connected with Debbie Lambert about her experience with gadolinium toxicity, I had to google ‘gadolinium’. When I read that gadolinium is the substance they inject you when you get an ‘MRI with contrast’ and that it can cause toxicity, I immediately started to search my memory. I can recall at least one occasion of getting an MRI with contrast -- I remember the warm sensation it caused in my body, and the technicians telling me to drink lots of water to flush the chemical out of my body. After interviewing Debbie about her experiences living with the disabling chronic symptoms, and learning the facts about gadolinium toxicity, like the black box warning the FDA now requires, and the admission by the manufacturer that gadolinium accumulates in the body, I’m shocked that I’d never heard about this widespread problem. I guess that’s a testament to the medical industries ability to hide, ignore and deny medical errors. As Debbie recounts, she was experiencing severe pain and it was determined it was emanating from her pancreas. Debbit was sent for a routine MRI with contrast to be able to get a better image of her troubled pancreas. The MRI technician did not ask for Debbie’s consent to be injected with gadolinium or inform Debbie about any potential harms from the invasive procedure. Debbie was hooked up to an IV and the gadolinium started to flow into her veins. It was during Debbie’s 3rd MRI with contrast when things went horribly wrong and Debbie felt like she was being fried from the inside out. Debbie told the MRI technician immediately, but Debbie’s symptoms were dismissed and she was told to drink lots of water. But water wasn’t going to cure the damage done to Debbie’s organs. Water wasn’t going to stop the pain. Water wasn’t going to stop her from being disabled. Debbie does share what has helped - but not cured - her battle with gadolinium toxicity, and she shares about the community of survivors advocating and creating awareness about this problem so that others can make informed decisions about having the procedure. If you’ve had an MRI with contrast, or are concerned about the potential harm from gadolinium toxicity, you’ll want to hear what Debbie has learned about the medical system, the legal system, and your body’s systems when they are exposed to this rare earth metal. Connect with Debbie Lambert on twitter: @DebbieLambert On Facebook - Living With Gadolinium: https://m.facebook.com/livingwithgadadmin/… Info about MRIs and Gadolinium Toxicity: ttp://Mridye.com Amazon e-book by Dr. Catriona Walsh: Contrasts: More Than Meets The MRI Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and ac
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 - 1h 05min - 53 - Tammy Smick: Alex’s mother on how health ‘care’ killed him
When you have a family member or loved one that needs medical care, and you do the research to find one the best doctors and one of the best hospitals to provide safe care, you expect that person will receive proper medical support. What you don’t expect, is that they will kill your loved one. But that’s what happened when college student Alex Smick injured his back when he fell off his skateboard and then was prescribed a succession of opioid painkillers. As Alex’s mother, Tammy Smick shares, doctors were quick to hand out big pharma’s big profit opioid painkillers, causing Alex to have a dependence on them. As a grounded and responsible young man, Alex recognized what was happening and with his parent’s support, was proactive in seeking high quality, high priced, health care. But as Tammy recounts, within hours of checking into the hospital, Alex was killed by health care. The trauma from Alex’s unexpected death was deepened when Tammy found out the truth as to why her son died at the hands of doctors and nurses. The layers of trauma were further deepened when the doctor’s so-called punishment was secured through a closed door, backroom deal that left Alex’s family as powerless bystanders. Tammy tells us how she and her husband Tim have responded to the tragedy and injustice and are making meaning in Alex’s memory. Tammy shares about their relentless journey through the medico-political-legal system in their efforts for justice, for truth, and for systemic change so that other families don’t suffer the same needless institutional horrors. In the first part of the interview, you’ll hear Tammy’s neighbour in the background using a power tool to build an Ark or something, it’s kind of annoying, but it’s short lived, and fades away as Tammy recounts Alex’s last day. Connect with Tammy Smick on twitter: @TammySmick Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdiscipl
Mon, 22 Jun 2020 - 1h 13min - 52 - Amber Wysocki: Pain much worse than childbirth: Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction
As a child, Amber had a very rare illness that made the small blood vessels in her skin, joints, intestines, and kidneys inflamed and bleed. Amber was so ill her mother thought Amber was dying. But Amber survived, got married and had children and thrived...until 3 days after having her gallbladder removed, when she experienced horrendous pain, far worse than the pain of childbirth. Painkillers did little to stop the upper abdominal pain Amber was experiencing, and when her blood tests came back normal, doctors suggested Amber was faking it to get pain medication. But the doctors weren’t listening to Amber’s reports that pain medications didn’t help, and sometimes made the horrific pain even worse. In spite of writhing in pain on the emergency room floor, Amber’s pain was often minimized or outright dismissed and she was labeled a drug seeker. While Amber’s illness turned out to be a rare complication of gallbladder surgery, her experience of pain being dismissed, or being accused of lying, or of having psychological problems, is not rare. In fact, it is hard to find any one with a complex or rare disease that has not experienced a doctor or nurse accuse them of faking pain or psychologically manifesting illness. It is so common, that it is a reflection of the culture of arrogance among health care workers, especially physicians. It also explains why so many people with complex or rare diseases have medical PTSD. Few things are more traumatic than being incredibly sick, and by extension extremely vulnerable, and being accused of lying about it. This is why so many people distrust doctors. Connect with Amber: Amber's channel: Spincter of Oddi is Real Youtube Be a podcast patron Support Medical Error Interviews on Patreon by becoming a Patron for $2 / month for audio versions. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of podcasts for $5 / month. Be my Guest I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer. If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description: RemediesPodcast@gmail.com Need a Counsellor? Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error. If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments. **For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** Email me to learn more or book an appointment: RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com Scott Simpson: Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard. I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships. Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life. I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life. Counseling / Research I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions. Patient Advocacy I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network. I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Adviso
Mon, 15 Jun 2020 - 45min - 51 - Adin Burroughs: Missed diagnosis means cyclical vomiting and wishing for death
Growing up in the shadow of Cape Kennedy, Adin Burroughs had designs on becoming an astronaut. But When Adin’s body started rejecting any food he ate with cramps, fever, vomiting, diarrhea - he of course went to his doctor. In Adin’s family, a lot of people have problems with their gall bladder, and Adin told this to his doctor. The doctor ran some tests and declared Adin’s gall bladder as well functioning. But for the next few years Adin was not able to consume solid food and he lived on soup - all the while seeing numerous specialists in an effort to determine why his body was rejecting the foods he ate. During the worst periods, Adin would have 27 hours of cyclical vomiting in which he wished for the sweet release of death. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Adin also has the neurological disease of MEcfs and it keeps him bedridden half the time. In this interview, Adin and I also talk about the relationship between COVID and MEcfs, and how the pandemic may be the best thing to ever happen to MEcfs research funding, care and support. SHOW NOTES: 0:04:30 Adin was born in Orlando, Florida - his parents were rock music promoters - but his parents divorced a couple of years after Adin was born - his mother remarried, and his step father is a college professor of psychology 0:05:30 Adin was entralled with the nearby by rocket launches and had aims to be an astronaut - but his health came crasing down in 2003 - he had 3 jobs and was on Reserve Duty in New Mexico, and flying to the East Coast to write distributed simulations 0:06:30 Adin went to the UK to present to the United Nations and then flew home, staying awake for 72 hours - when he got home, his wife was volunteering and he went to help her all day, still no sleep - was awake for 96 hours - and picked up a flu bug with others in his social circle, and half got CFS 0:07:30 Adin never recovered, he had myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/cfs) - Adin was admitted to the hospital with 105 degree temperature - they gave him chilled IVs - Adin's job was like an air traffic controller 0:08:30 About half the people who got the flu with Adin, did not recover, a well defined cluster for studying - but Adin's doctor just shrugged when Adin didn't recover - after initially getting sick, Adin mostly recovered and went back to work - but his temperature flipping around - in the Air Force office they took a thermometer and could see his temperature cycle from 96 to 102 in about 10 minutes - they sent him home 0:09:30 Adin's wife had to come with him to meet the top brass and help explain what was going on as Adin had developed aphasia (inability to recall words / speak) 0:10:30 They discovered that Adin's body couldn't control its temperature over 75 degrees, so he had to stay in an air conditioned bubble - his wife quit her job at the University of New Mexico to shuttle Adin to doctors - they thought he had cancer, but couldn't find it - Adin suffered with tachycardia and low blood oxygen saturation, same problem Covid patients are having 0:11:30 Adin saw many specialists - Adin takes a medication to slow down his heart rate - he takes more than people with heart failure - it took about a hear to see the 6 or 7 specialists - Adin's mom was diagnsoed with MEcfs in 1992, so he knew what the symptoms looked like 0:12:30 When Adin's body temperature was so erratice, he thought he may have MEcfs, but hoped it wasn't - Dr Nancy Klimas helped Adin's mom, and then Adin 0:13:30 Adin's wife started to show ME symptoms in 2009, after the birth of their son - she had mild symptoms as first, but in the last year she's gotten sicker - Adin is bed bound about half the time, his wife is bed bound about a 1/4 of the time - she's still in the 'push - crash' phase of exerting too much and then getting sicker and unconscious for 8 - 10 hours 0:14:30 About 1.5 years ago, their 10 year old son started to show ME symptoms - its hard for a kid: he goes to the playground, but then
Mon, 08 Jun 2020 - 51min - 50 - Dr Jill Murphy: Physician Heal Thy Self
Evidently having a doctorate in physical therapy and working in the health care field does not protect you from medical incompetence, arrogance and errors. When Dr Jill Murphy went to the ER with potential stroke symptoms, the staff called the neurologist to examine Jill. But he refused, so the staff sent Jill away without a diagnosis, but with instructions to buy some baby aspirin. This was the first in countless medical encounters where Jill was disbelieved, dismissed or denigrated. Meanwhile, she continued to have countless mini strokes. Yet doctor after doctor failed Jill. They gave her a ‘conversion disorder’ diagnosis, saying her symptoms were all in her head, telling her husband that she must have been sexually abused as a child. But Jill is a smart and determined person, and her persistence paid off when she finally - years later - got a proper diagnosis that required a heart ablation and pacemaker and life-long medication. Now Jill is using that same determination - and lessons learned from being a disbelieved patient - to raise awareness and education among the public and health care workers and will soon be publishing her first book, Physician Heal Thy Self. Connect with Jill: https://facebook.com/DrJillMurphy/ Twitter: @MotionWorksPT SHOW NOTES: 0:04:00 Jill grew up on a dairy farm in north east Wisconsin, so a big Packer fan - youngest of 3, and we were expected to work - we're German, so lots of work and lots of cleaning - lots of work on the farm, no matter how old you were - looking back it was great, I learned how to work, but as a child I would have rather been at the pool with friends 0:05:00 Jill went to Concordia University, north of Milwaukee, for Athletic Training and Sports Medicine - and Jill also got her Masters in Physical Therapy there - her father was supportive of academic and athletic pursuits 0:06:00 Jill has an amazing career in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and completed her Doctorate in Physical Therapy (PT), it was a lot of work but Jill loved learning - Jill met and married her husband, bought a house, had a first child 0:07:00 Jill had no health issues until she had started her own PT clinic, and it creeped up on her during her 3rd pregnancy - in her 20th week she had heart arrythmia and ended up in the hospital - but the cardiologist said Jill's heart rate was not 100, said she was not a cardiac case and walked out - thankfully her OB (obstetrician doctor) put Jill on medication - a beta blocker - to control her rapid heart beat - but she never got a diagnosis 0:08:00 Jill was still able to work and was teaching a 'build a better body' class - as she got more pregnant, the more short of breath she got and couldn't speak to explain the drills while doing them, so she had to stop that class - the doctor increased the dose over the summer because of the warmer weather and the increase in tachycardia Jill experienced 0:09:00 Jill was an athlete, a marathoner, active her whole life, os her resting heart rate was about 60 - but now she was getting short of breath and rapid heart rate with little exertion 0:10:00 Jill was assured that whatever was going on with her heart rate was due to her pregnancy, and once she had the baby, Jill's heart problem would go away and slowly wean off the medicine - after a few months Jill tried to wean off the medicine, but it messed with her blood pressure - Jill saw a nurse practitioner who was helpful for managing medicine, but Jill still didn't have a diagnosis 0:11:00 That was winter 2014 - Jill thought she'd have to be on the medication for the rest of her life, she couldn't workout - and she kind of gave up when the doctors weren't concerned 0:12:00 So Jill went to the nearby Mayo Clinic to see a cardiologist, who ran a bunch of tests 0:13:00 During the echo cardiogram the staff kind of rushed in and asked if Jill was an athlete - she didn't know it at the time, but she had some enlarged areas of her heart - they didn't seem worried, but a couple of we
Mon, 01 Jun 2020 - 1h 05min - 49 - Troy McKnight: Laser eye surgery safety has a huge blind spot
When I first heard of laser eye surgery many moons ago, my first reaction was suspicion - on the face of it, it sounded very dangerous. But after years of exposure to laser eye surgery advertisements, it squirmed its way on my list for consideration so that I didn’t have the bother of contact lenses. After interviewing Troy (a pabout his experience having his vision permanently damaged, and hearing what he’s learned about laser eye research and the ophthalmologist industry, I will never ever get laser eye surgery. The risks are just too great -- especially the suicide inducing pain of corneal neuralgia, where it feels like pins are constantly being poked into your eye. If you’re thinking about getting laser eye surgery, listen to what happened to Troy, and then take that into account in your decision. Show Notes: W5 Documentary: https://www.ctvnews.ca/ctv-national-news/video?clipId=1654087 Dentist awarded damages for eye procedure: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/nationalpost.com/news/canada/dentist-awarded-5-6m-for-botched-eye-surgery-by-toronto-doctor-that-left-him-worse-than-before/amp FDA Official wants to ban Lasik: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.phillyvoice.com/former-fda-adviser-lasik-dangers-eye-surgery/amp/ Canadian class action lawsuit: https://lpclex.com/lasik/ Jessica Starr - meteorologist: https://people.com/tv/meteorologist-jessica-starr-suicide-family-speaks-out/ More info (Melanie B): https://lasikcomplications.com RETINAL LASER COMPLICATIONS Troy's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/640203739822311/?ref=share Patient website-retinal laser complications: https://patient.info/forums/discuss/white-flickering-light-after-laser-for-retinal-tear-516808 0:04:00 Troy (not his real name) grew up on a farm in Saskaetchewan in a normal family - great childhood, good parents who instilled good morals 0:05:00 Troy did have some flus as a child, but otherwise healthy until recently - he went to university and got a degree and become part of the rat race - he had a pretty good career with good friends and relationships 0:06:00 Troy wants to share his experience and what he's learned about laser eye surgery, including retinopathy, the procedure he had - Troy also wants to talk about the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), as its related to laser eye surgery 0:07:00 Troy has done a lot of research - Troy says lasers are dangerous weapons - the Geneva Convention has banned them in warfare - but lasers are approved by Health Canada and are used by lots of doctors 0:08:00 Troy's consent form for the procedure listed a lot of potential harms - a lot of information our brain processes, comes through our eyes - so if our eyes are injured by laser, it is an unnatural injury, unlike dirt, grim, etc 0:09:00 The retina does not heal, it has not evolved a regenerative capacity - there are a few different types of laser used in laser surgery - like in cataract surgery 0:10:00 The retina sits at the back of the eye - as we age, the retina can sometimes pull away from the back of an eye 0:11:00 This can cause 'flashers', a flash of light - it happens to a lot of people as they age 0:12:00 But Troy had 'floaters' in his vision and that's why he went to an opthamalogist in the first place, something he wishes he had never done - his floater was only in his right eye, and that was back in 2017 0:13:00 In retinalopathy, they will shoot the laser around the floater, the theory is that it will seal the tear (aka floater) so it does not grow larger and cause detachment - Troy had no problems with that procedure 0:14:00 In 2019, the opthamalogist tells Troy he has a small tear in his left eye 0:15:00 Troy thinks most people will have floaters, and will have some retinal tearing later in life - the procedure Troy had done was to stop the the tear from getting bigger, but another procedure tries to destroy the floater, but there is a risk to the optical nerve 0:16:00 During a
Mon, 25 May 2020 - 1h 03min - 48 - Jocelyn Pedersen: A Journey Through Medication and Madness Toward Meaning
Until I started doing this podcast, I was mostly ignorant to the extent of the harm sometimes caused by psychiatric and antibiotic medications. In spite of my own 2 week experience with disabling withdrawal symptoms from an antidepressant 20 years ago, and contemporary reports of withdrawal symptoms from friends and clients, I still had no idea how pervasive - and sometimes permanent - these brain injuries were. As frightening as that was to learn, the prescriptions for psychiatric medication for depression and anxiety have soared in during the COVID pandemic. And let’s face it folks, we are still in the early stages of the pandemic - if we get blue skies with double rainbows we may have a vaccine in 18 months, but that’s really wishful thinking - the global economy has taken an unprecedented hit, and that means many people’s jobs and financial security are going to be at further risk. This will only add to the feelings of anxiety -- but let’s be clear, it is normal to feel anxious about how the world is suddenly changing in so many ways. Learning coping skills, having strategies to feel more safe in an unknown future, and using supportive relationships are natural ways to feel better about feeling anxious. In this episode, we hear what happened to Jocelyn Pedersen after taking a benzodiazepine for less than a week. Jocelyn was so physically sick from the benzo brain injury, she had to spend much of the time horizontal on the floor with her baby while her neighbour’s helped with household chores. Jocelyn’s body was a complete mess: she couldn’t sleep, eat, watch tv, read, her bowels were dysfunctional and she was losing weight fast. That’s just the start of Jocelyn’s journey with benzodiazepine medications -- a medication journey, as Jocelyn describes, that goes through madness. Jocelyn’s health care experience is a textbook example of how the medical system pushes psychiatric medications without understanding how the meds can cause brain injury. This often leads to doctors denying side effects or withdrawal symptoms, effectively gaslighting the patient, psychologizing physical symptoms, and pathologizing human emotions. It was a long arduous road for Jocelyn to get back to her usual high functioning self, and along the way she started sharing her experiences and what she learned and now Jocelyn has a large following on social media. On her YouTube channel Benzo Brains, Jocelyn shares real world information about benzodiazepines and strategies on successfully managing the withdrawal symptoms. Jocelyn has just written a memoir about her experiences with benzos and the health care system called “Seeds of Hope: A Journey Through Medication and Madness Toward Meaning”. Available on Amazon: https://t.co/267G0VaBiz?amp=1 Connect with Jocelyn Pedersen: People can pre-order Seeds of Hope: A Journey Through Medication and Madness Toward Meaning through moongladepress.com and when it's released June 1st on Amazon.com: https://t.co/267G0VaBiz?amp=1My channel is YouTube.com/c/BenzoBrainsSome other helpful resources are benzoreform.orgbenzoinfo.combenzo.org.uk/manualcouncilforsustainablehealing.org SHOW NOTES: About Jocelyn Pedersen: After experiencing a severe injury to her brain and body from prescription medications, Jocelyn co-founded the non-profit, Benzodiazepine Information Coalition. She is a speaker at CME's and continuing education courses for doctors and healthcare providers on the dangers of benzodiazepines and how to help patients safely withdraw. Jocelyn is also subject in the upcoming As Prescribed documentary film and the author of Seeds of Hope: a Journey through medication and madness toward meaning. When she's not busy managing her Benzo Brains YouTube channel or serving as an advisor to The Alliance for Benzodiazepine Best Practices and The Council for Sustainable Healing, you can find her rocking out to big band music and forcing her kids to watch MGM musicals with her. 0:06:00 Jocelyn grew up in Pueblo,
Mon, 18 May 2020 - 53min - 47 - Jeffery Smith: COVID Gaslighting Warning: If you don’t recover, doctors may call it psychosomatic
Imagine back to when you had a bad flu. Remember the nausea, head spins, pain and soreness, vomiting and diarrhea, and crushing fatigue? Remember how the worst lasted for a few days? Now imagine having that flu for a few weeks. Or a few months. Or like Jeffery Smith, for a few decades. Now think of the millions of COVID patients. A good number of the survivors are not fully recovering from this ‘flu’ bug. They remain sick for weeks. Soon they will have been sick for months. And if they are unlucky like Jeffery, they may be permanently sick and disabled, and the health care system will effectively abandon them. Most doctors didn’t take Jeff’s ongoing flu symptoms seriously, dismissing them and subtextually blaming Jeff for being emotionally weak, or not trying hard enough, or not really wanting to be healthy. You know, gaslighting. So when Jeff started to have bowel symptoms, he didn’t tell his doctor. Who needs to be invalidated and gaslighted? But it turned out Jeff had a tumour and needed surgery and suddenly the health care he received was empathic, prompt and validating. A stark contrast to the years of dismissal and gaslighting of his flu symptoms. As Jeff explains, the tumour for which he received exemplary care only impacted his quality of life a fraction compared to how the never ending flu shattered his future. And as the COVID deaths and infections continue to rise, the people who do not recover may also experience disbelieving doctors, and a health care system that doesn’t care. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:00 Jeff grew up in a small hockey town in Campbellford in Canada - and Campbellford in the 70s was more like the 50s, it was an alternate universe 0:07:00 Jeff's childhood was traumatic - he was gay living in a small town wherebody played sports or worked on the farm, where Jeff liked to watch old movies, like with Lauren Bacall, and draw their dresses - so school wasn't a safe place, and home wasn't safe because his mother had emotional issues and had a traumatic childhood, so Jeff didn't feel safe at school or home 0:08:00 Jeff didn't feel safe until he moved to Toronto for college - he was not liked by other kids because he was 'other' - but when he came to college he was suddenly popular even though he was the same person, so that was confusing and fascinating - Jeff always thought he'd not live long 0:09:00 Jeff was very sick as a child - 9 convulsions before he was 5 - doctors found Jeff had really bad allergies - they put an air conditioner in his bedroom, and Jeff felt better in the room so spent much of his time there, especially in the summer - if he went outside the heat would cause convulsions - so as a boy, Jeff got in his head he wouldn't live long 0:10:00 In grade 9 Jeff missed 3 months of school due to the flu - he started allergy shots when he was 5 years old - those helped, and the convulsions stopped 0:11:00 But in grade 9, the non-stop flu for 3 months came with fever, swollen glands, etc - when Jeff got over that and everything was okay until he got mononucleosis at age 19, during the summer 0:12:00 For 2 months Jeff couldn't really lift his head off the pillow - he had to pee in a pail beside him - it lasted 2 years of fevers, night chills - it was 1985 and the AIDS pandemic was just emerging and Jeff thought he must have AIDS, even though he'd never had sex 0:13:00 So doctors could see by Jeff's symptoms including swollen glands, that he was sick, they just didn't know why - it was rought to transition during the mono to move from home to Toronto and go to college 0:14:00 Jeff would go to school and crawl into bed after - so it was challenging, but he loved the subjects and the positive attention and learned some of his own value - Jeff remembers wondering if he had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) because of the diarrhea, easily 10 times a day, every day for 2 years - so that meant leaving class, getting up in the middle of lunch, etc - yet trying to appear healthy and normal 0:15:00 But lif
Mon, 11 May 2020 - 1h 08min - 46 - Larry & Jane (part 2): Profit and Punishment: profiteering hospitals intersect with religious bigotry
A quick recap - in part 1 of the interview, Larry was having chest pain and his wife Jane drove him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a heart attack and sent by air ambulance to another hospital, a Catholic hospital, where they were met with hostility and a chaplain determined to keep Jane and her son from seeing Larry. At the end of part 1, Jane was blocking the Cathlolic hospital’s chaplain from coming into a meeting with the doctor about Larry’s medical care and condition, and things are about to get even stranger….and more frightening... SHOW NOTES: 0:04:00 They got to the doctor's office, and again Jane asks the chaplain to go away - she put her arm across the door and said I don't want you in here, you have to leave now - but he came in sat down - then a doctor came in and 1st thing he says is 'I don't want to be here, I am tired, I want to be at home, I don't want to be here' - the doctor says 'I'm supposed to show you this video, but I can't get it to work - I'm tired and want to go home - do you really need to see it - do you have any questions?' - Jane says 'no', and the doctor leaves 0:05:00 Jane sees 2 women wheeling Larry - but the women looked mean and disgusted, and Jane stepped back - the chaplain said he'd escort Jane and her son back to the waiting room 0:06:00 the chaplain said Larry would be free for visitors in about 15 minutes, and that the chaplain would be right back - 2 hours went by and no word from any one - Jane was shocked by the whole situation 0:07:00 Jane was told that she would have to go because visiting hours were over - she found out later their policy is one person can stay overnight 0:08:00 Larry was left naked from the waist down until the next nurse came on shift - Larry woke periodically to feel a touch on his genitals, or the sound of laughter 0:09:00 When the next nurse, a male nurse, came on shift, Larry was covered after that - according to records, about 6am with the female nurse reported that Larry woke up nauseasted and vomited on himself 0:10:00 the female nurse cleaned him up, but left him naked to go get supplies - the records show they knew the meds they gave him would make him vomit, so they prescribed an anti-nausea med, but the nurse never gave it to Larry - so he could've choked to death on his vomit 0:11:00 On Sunday Larry was still kind of out of it - the doctor had come in the morning to tell Larry about the procedure 0:12:00 Larry thought he must have been in bad shape if they had to do that procedure - when Larry and Jane talked, they realized neither of them gave permission for the procedure - Larry wanted to get out of the hospital as fast as possible 0:13:00 When Larry got home he had a shower, but he didn't want to talk to Jane about the experience - he was traumatized - he's had nightmares ever since - he can't believe what they did (cries) - it is beyond unprofessional, they intended to harm Larry 0:14:00 It wasn't until they got the hospital records that they started to piece together why Larry was treated the way he was - the first hospital did not record the pain killer they gave him, or the reactions Larry told them he had to pain meds - they also wrote down that Larry had a husband 0:15:00 So hospital #1 recorded Larry as a gay married man, and they sent him to a religious hospital that has anti-gay policy - the hospital is in a lawsuit because they refuse to perform certain services to LGBTQ people - Larry and Jane think hospital #1 was punishing Larry because he didn't want to go to their affiliate teaching hospital 0:16:00 Jane's confrontation with the nurse, was because the nurse was expecting a gay man - Larry and Jane also suspect the hospital thought their son was Larry's husband, always addressing their son, not Jane 0:17:00 At cardiac rehab, Larry told them about his abnormal responses to pain meds - cardiac rehab noted it, then crossed it out - CMS (Centre for Medical Services) told Jane doctors can do any procedure or give
Mon, 04 May 2020 - 54min - 45 - Larry & Jane (part 1): Profit and Punishment: profiteering hospitals intersect with religious bigotry
When Larry was doubled over with chest pain, his wife Jane drove him to the nearest ER where he was diagnosed with a heart attack. The health care Larry received over the next few hours was motivated by profit and punishment. At each turn, hospitals sought to maximize their profits, including fraud and falsified medical records, on the treatment Larry received. The hospital staff made choices, always the most expensive choice - like sending Larry to another hospital by air ambulance instead of road ambulance, or choosing high cost, highly invasive medical procedures over the least costly, least invasive medication Larry actually requested. In spite of Larry repeatedly stating he only wanted a minimum dose of pain killers, the hospital injected him with multiple pain killers, rendering him incapable of making informed consent. Larry was air transported to the local Cathlolic hospital. While much of this was going on, Jane and their son were intentionally and overtly being kept away from Larry by the hospital chaplain -- and while the chaplain was receiving updates on Larry’s condition, he wasn’t sharing the info with Jane and their son. Hours went by and during that time, Jane repeatedly asked the chaplain to leave so she and her son could have some privacy and speak freely. He refused each time. Jane couldn’t understand why the staff were being so openly hostile toward her and her son. The next day, Larry couldn’t understand why the staff had ignored his statement to be treated with medication, and instead implanted several costly devices in his body. Devices that cause side effects and will probably contribute to his death. But when Larry and Jane got a hold of Larry’s medical records, they began to understand that his hospital care and treatment was not based on his medical need, it was based on profit and religious punishment. But the punishment was actually started by the first hospital as Larry and Jane share in the medical experience with multiple layers: profiteering, medical errors, negligence, religious bigotry, fraud, homophobia, deceit and denial. If you thought hospitals were benevolent and their staff empathetic, you will think differently when you hear all that happened to Larry and Jane in part 1 of my interview…. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:00 Larry (a pseudonym, as is Jane's name) grew up in Indiana - his father was a contractor in the construction industry with one brother, and a half brother and sister - health child with normal measles, mumps, poison ivy 0:07:00 Jane grew up in central Indiana - her father worked for the a big pharmaceutical company - when her parents got divorced, life was hell because they fought constantly even though they were divorced - Jane met Larry through work, she worked for the State and Larry was doing a contract computer job 0:08:00 They've been married since 1987 - they have a son who is a teacher, and a daughter who is in business with Jane, doing specialty sewing -- On August 11, 2018, a Saturday night about 7pm 0:09:00 Jane found Larry on the floor with chest pains and difficulty breathing - pain level about 7 out of 10 -- Jeane said they had to go to the hospital, but Larry wasn't keen 0:10:00 Larry has always been healthy, so not in the habit of seeking medical attention - Larry thought maybe it was indigestion from dinner 0:11:00 Larry wasn't having pain down his arm or irregular heart beat, his blood pressure was fine 0:12:00 The pain was for about 8 - 10 minutes before Jane found him 0:13:00 They live in the country so drove the local hospital - when Larry got to the ER his pain was 6 / 10 0:14:00 They admitted him right away - first thing Larry did was tell them he was very sensitive to pain killers and didn't want any fentynal, versad or anything like that - the doctor if he would accept a small amount of morphine, so Larry agreed to that - but he told the doctor that in the past pain meds had messed with his blood pressure 0:15:00 Pain meds raise his blood press
Mon, 27 Apr 2020 - 53min - 44 - Howard Bloom (part 2): Einstein, Michael Jackson and ME/cfs -- How Howard beat chronic fatigue syndrome
At the end of part 1 of my interview with the iconic Howard Bloom, he’d just told us about getting the flu, but instead of getting better in a few days, he got much sicker. Nobody who gets the flu thinks that they will not recover -- we all assume we’ll feel crappy for a few days and then get back to work -- just like how we initially thought survivors of the COVID virus would get back to their pre-COVID health, but now we’re hearing reports of ongoing fatigue and neurological symptoms in a significant number of people who have had COVID. Research of the SARS pandemic and other viral infections, tells us that not everyone will recover -- some people will develop myalgic encephalomyelitis (aks chronic fatigue syndrome), or ME/cfs, like Howard did. As the COVID pandemic settles into our nations and neighbourhoods and we wait for treatments or a vaccine, we have to wonder how many people with COVID will remain very sick and disabled by ME/cfs? And will you be one of them? Now here’s part 2 of my interview with Howard Bloom, the author of the newly released ‘Einstein, Michael Jackson and me’, as Howard shares how he coped with being mostly bed bound for 15 years, and what protocol he uses to keep himself pursuing truth in science. SHOW NOTES: 0:05:00 Howard can't even remember being at work on Monday - about noon on Tuesday he told his colleagues they had to get him out of the office immediately because soon he'd be too weak to walk upstairs - his staff literally dragged him to the car to take him home - he doesn't know how he made it upstairs to his 4th floor apartment because he was so weak - Howard was too sick to leave his bedroom for 3 months - often too weak to think and too weak to speak 0:06:00 And the Howard got better, he thought it must have been a really bad flu - Howard did not see a doctor during this time, he was too weak, and doctors stopped making house calls - when Howard got better he went to see a fancy doctor who gave him a fancy diagnosis of Duchenne Syndrome (muscular dystrophy), but he was wrong - Howard got back to walking every day 0:07:00 One day Howard had John Mellencamp playing at Madison Square Gardens, The Scorpions playing at The Meadowlands and opening for Metallica, and Cyndi Lauper was graduating from high school, she had dropped out, but she was getting an Honorary Diploma - so Howard had a very busy day 0:08:00 "That day broke me" - he had strange, unbelievable symptoms - if it was 90 degrees out, he'd be freezing, shivering, teeth chattering - a breeze from an open window would hit Howard hard, so he had to forbid people from opening windows, even on 90 degree days - on 40 degree days, he'd be overheating and sweating - his thermoregulatory system was broken - he had no idea what the fuck was happening to him 0:09:00 At some point Howard went to his family doctor, who could not diagnose him - Howard told his staff he didn't know what was wrong with him, he could be dying, but he couldn't work any more and gave them the business - the next day he was offered $350,000 for the business, but he declined 0:10:00 Howard finished 2 weeks of work, went to his bedroom and didn't come out for 15 years for all intents and purposes - Howard did some research and told his doctor he thought he had chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - the doctor said there is no such thing as CFS - but 3 years later to doctor thanked Howard for educating him on CFS, because he'd been seeing it in a lot of his patients 0:11:00 Howard says that when you have an illness with no name, you are not on the map of humanity - so it is scary to have CFS and because it is scary to others, they don't even acknowledge it - if you lose the ability to walk, Howard lost the ability to speak for 5 years, not a single syllable - he also couldn't have another person in the room with him - when things like that happen, you lose connection to humanity 0:12:00 You are stripped of a sense of being human, and before that you were not ev
Mon, 20 Apr 2020 - 1h 04min - 43 - Howard Bloom: Einstein, Michael Jackson and ME/cfs - How Howard beat chronic fatigue syndrome
Who is Howard Bloom? And what does he have to do with the COVID pandemic? It’s hard to know where to start -- Howard is a world renowned scientist, a highly regarded intellectual, an author and lecturer on wide ranging subject matter, a frank philosopher….and swears like a broken down truck driver. Howard’s #1 principle of science - and seemingly his life - is “the truth at any price including the price of your life”. Howard has written or lectured on quantum physics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, economics, and aerospace among other scientific disciplines. Howard has been described as "next in a lineage of seminal thinkers that includes Newton, Darwin, Einstein”. Yet science-minded Howard made a huge cultural impact managing public relations for some of the world’s biggest rock stars like Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, Bette Midler, Billy Joel, and on and on the list goes. Howard’s success was unparalleled and his future was wide open to possibilities….until his body failed his mind. Like mortals, Howard got sick with the flu, but instead of getting better in a few days, and unlike most others, he got worse. Much worse. Howard would spend the next 15 years practically bed bound, and 5 of those years he was so weak he couldn’t speak, and so sick he couldn’t have people in the same room. Howard would eventually figure out he had ME/cfs, known scientifically as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME -- and informally known as ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’, or CFS. ME/cfs is a complex disease that causes chronic immune and neurological dysfunction. Like millions of other people who never recovered from the flu or a viral or bacterial infection, and developed ME/cfs, Howard’s life - and his hope and dreams - would never be the same. It is well known in the medical community that some people never recover from viral infections. Many of the 2003 SARS pandemic victims did not fully recover because they developed ME/cfs, and it is beginning to appear that many of the COVID pandemic victims will also develop chronic immune and neurological problems like ME/cfs patients. The world may be facing millions more people who never recover from COVID and develop ME/cfs like Howard. In this interview, Howard shares his remarkable life, with all its highest of highs, and lowest of lows -- and tales of some of the famous people who intersected his journey through the world of rock and roll, and notable thinkers also immersed in the messy business of scientific discovery. Perhaps as unusual as his life, Howard has made a very rare and full recovery from ME/cfs by maintaining a regimen of drugs to keep his body and mind working hard -- and to find the truth at any cost. Here is part 1 of my interview with the engrossing and sublime scientist Howard Bloom, author of the newly released book “Einstein, Michael Jackson and me”.... SHOW NOTES 0:07:00 Howard Bloom says childhood was a nightmare - he grew up in Buffalo, New York, and that's a nightmare - a very pretty city, wonderful Victorian architecture with big and front lawns - but his family didn't get to that status until he was 9 years old - Howard says that for someone born with a disability of being intellectual and probably bring on the autism spectrum 0:08:00 a term that didn't exist in those days, it was a very lonely place - Howard was born in 1943, the year of the Holocaust - his father has started a small liquor store in an attempt to make a living, he was 33 years old and was drafted and sent to California - so Howard grew up without a father - his mother had to immediately take over the liquor store and abandon her maternal role 0:09:00 Howard felt like he grew up without a mother as well - his mother was incredible competent, but not good at intimate relationships - so she hired a cleaning woman, not a baby sitter - to keep him out of the way, the cleaning women would lock him in a small corridor 0:10:00 That was how Howard spent the first 3 years of his life - onc
Mon, 13 Apr 2020 - 57min - 42 - Tracey Wilson: Surgeon leaves 42 inch wire curled up in her heart: When a ‘never event’ happens.
When I connected with Tracey Wilson about her experience with medical error and she told me that a surgeon had unknowingly left a piece of wire in her heart, I squirmed a wee bit at the thought of it, and imagined the wire was maybe an inch long. Then Tracey sent me a picture of her holding the wire, her arms were outstretched on either side of her, gripping a wire that measured 42 inches in length. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I knew I had to interview Tracey to find out how this happened and how she managed to survive what is called in the health care sector as a ‘never event’, as in ‘it never should have happened’. As it turns out, Tracey’s medical error experience of having a long piece of wire accidentally left curled up in her heart, was not a one-off event. As surgeons tried to remove a piece of the wire, they messed up some of her lymph nodes giving Tracey nasty side effects. Then they tried to correct that error, and triggered lymphedema and now Tracey’s legs have lymph fluid pooling in them, causing swelling, loss of mobility and pain. As Tracey says, ‘it has been a series of catastrophic events’. SHOW NOTES: ***Disclaimer: Settlement of a medical malpractice case in West Virginia is NOT an admission of guilt. West Virginia is a 'no fault settlement' state.*** 0:05:00 Tracey grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania - in a small town called Sellersville - everybody knew everybody and Tracey's family had been there for generations - Tracey says she had an average childhood, but spent some time in foster care, but for the most part of fairly happy kid - Tracey did not like school, she had buck teeth and kids were cruel - she was pretty much a loner, but loved art 0:06:00 Tracey went to college, it took her 7 years to graduate, but she was determined - her mother raised 3 kids on welfare and Tracey did not want to fall into that trap - she wanted to make something of her life - she went to college for biological sciences so she could pursue animal husbandry 0:07:00 In 2016 Tracey started to have fainting spells - one of the while she was driving - she was hospitalized for 5 days for testing - her primary care doctor said he was sending Tracey to a cardiologist to be assessed for vasovagal syncope and bradychardia 0:08:00 Bradycardia is an exceptionally slow heart beat and it will cause low blood pressure - vasovagal syncope is a malfunction of the vagus nerve - 2 symptoms are: fainting as the sight of blood, and narcolepsy - they are triggers that cause loss of consciousness - so figuring out the trigger is important 0:09:00 Tracey was sent to cardiologist Dr Demede - Tracey had been wearing a Holter monitor that constantly recorded her heart function and the doctor could download the activity - during this Tracey was on a medication called purolo, a medication to control heart beat, but it made Tracey heart stop for 2.3 seconds - Tracey was asleep and did not notice, but the next day she got a frantic phone call to come immediately to the hospital - Dr Demede was pushing hard to put a pacemaker in 0:10:00 But one of his colleagues thought the heart stopping maybe due to the medication - so they took Tracey off the medication and monitored her heart - it turns out it was probably the medication that made her heart stop - Tracey was against a pacemaker because it represented that her heart was not able to do its job - but it didn't explain her fainting spells 0:11:00 They did some other tests, but Dr Demede was very determined that a pacemaker was the solution - Tracey spent a year resisting a pacemaker - she was fitted with an internal heart monitor in her chest that monitored her at all times, it had a constant upload - it would perhaps show what Tracey's heart problem was about 0:12:00 About 1.5 weeks later Tracey started to feel very, very tired - she called the doctor's office and asked them to check her heart monitor results - they immediately called her back and told her to come into the off
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 - 48min - 41 - Susan Shepherd: Undiagnosed ADHD treated as mental illness with toxic psych meds
For 20 years, accountant Susan Shepherd was given multiple psychiatric medications -- but she didn’t get better, she got worse -- to the point of unrelenting suicidal thoughts. Doing her own research into psychiatric medications, and recognizing how her body was responding to them, Susan had to go around her GP and psychiatrist to get to a neurologist for a proper diagnosis: ADHD and dyspraxia. As Susan says, “I have gone through life with an unrecognized neuro diverse condition”. But Susan’s good news of finally getting a correct diagnosis was countered by the horror show of trying to withdraw from the psych drugs. Doctors rarely inform patients about the disturbing side effects a person can experience going through withdrawal and will often deny those symptoms as attributable to the psych meds, and dismiss them as part of the patient’s so-called mental illness. Unsurprisingly, Susan is angry at the medical system for pushing unproven and toxic psych meds on trusting and unsuspecting patients like herself. Now Susan is sharing her story of how she overcame severe withdrawal symptoms so others avoid the same fate of years of pysch meds causing physical and mental suffering, social and emotional shame, broken relationships and lost careers. In spite of the multiple losses caused by being poly drugged for years with mind-numbing and intellect-dumbing psych meds, Susan feels better and more alive in every way today. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:00 Susan was born in Scotland and her family immigrated to Canada when she was 6 -- her brother had asthma and the Scottish climate was not helping, so they moved to Canada where they had some relatives - and her brother's asthma was helped - her father got a sales job in Edmonton for a few years, then to Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Vancouver, Toronto - but she now lives in a small town 0:07:00 Susan went to university for a couple of years and got married at 20 years old - her health issues started about 2000 - but as a child she struggled with depression, not feeling she was good enough, perfectionism 0:08:00 Normal emotions we all experience and have to learn to deal with - but in 2000 things went wrong - Susan's mother died a few years earlier and it was traumatic for Susan, it was the lynch pin for her poor health - to deal with the grief after her Mom died, Susan went back to school with 2 small kids at home - one of the things she was worried about was being older and impovrished 0:09:00 She spent 10 years working full time, getting up at 4:30am, 2 kids and husband, to ensure she would retire well and toward her CMA (Certified Managment Accountant) 0:10:00 In rerospect Susan was experiencing deep grief for her Mom, who was her anchor - so Susan lost a big piece of herself and she didn't get any support 0:11:00 She's not blaming anyone, it was circumstances - she's not blaming her family and friends, its just the way it was 0:12:00 Her marriage was falling apart at the same time - Susan ended up at a psychiatrist's office - years earlier she had tried an antidepressant but didn't like the way it made her feel so she never continued to take them 0:13:00 But because Susan was feeling so bad and her family was worried, they pressured her to take the pills - the psychiatrist started her on an antidepressant and benzodiazipine (clonapin) - same on Jordan Peterson is trying to get off of in Russia - Susan was polydrugged right off the bat 0:14:00 In retrospect Susan can see what happened - some of the meds were tranquilizers that numbed down her emotions, so she couldn't 'feel' as much, so she felt better - but there were other side effects that were hard to notice at the time - some doctors are speaking out about these side effects 0:15:00 "Spell binding" is a term Peter Breggin uses, he's an expert witness - the brain can't tell you if there is something wrong or not working properly 0:16:00 Susan tried to come off them after a year or two, and felt horrible - her doctor said it was her ment
Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 1h 08min - 40 - Wade Walters interview: Disability insurance’s ‘exercise therapy’ makes him more sick and disabled
No one who is sick and disabled would expect their disability insurer to cause them more harm. But if you've got a disease where exercise makes you even more sick and disabled, the insurance company may require you to do 'exercise therapy' or loose your disability payments. It becomes a Hobson's choice: either do as the insurance company says and get even sicker -- or loose your income. Why did Wade Walters’ disability insurer subject him to contraindicated exercise therapy - not once but twice - that has caused Wade to be permanently sicker with an even lower quality of life? And what is to stop the insurer from forcing Wade to undergo more harmful treatment? When corporate insurers demand a so-called therapy that manifests as harm to already sick patients, when does the government step in to protect its vulnerable citizens? SHOW NOTES: 0:05:00 Wade was born in central Alberta, Canada, into a big family, and they were very normal compared to stories he's heard of other families - Wade is the youngest of six children 0:06:00 His mom stayed at home to look after the kids, and his father drove a big tanker truck in the oil and gas industry - after high school, Wade started working in the sports goods industry and moved to Vancouver 0:07:00 When Wade looks back on his health, in 2004 - 05 he started to say to his doctor that he was tired - he found Wade's testosterone was low, so Wade supplemented and that helped a bit, but he was still tired 0:08:00 Wade was then also diagnosed with low iron, and they fixed that, but the tiredness persisted - then Wade has oxygen testing done and that warrented a sleep study and that indicated moderate sleep apnea, so he got a CPAP machine - after a month he told his doctor he was expecting it to improve his fatigue, but it didn't 0:09:00 Wade told him that he had friends on the CPAP and for them it was night and day, changed their life completely, they had a lot more energy - but for Wade, it was a bit better but not much - but the doctor didn't report that in his notes, he reported the CPAP was working fine - Wade also had other tests done, pulmonary stress test - he had EKG done because of his severe pain in his lower back, it was so intense Wade thought he had cancer 0:10:00 Wade got progressively worse, and finally got a diagnosis in June 2018 of myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME (aka chronic fatigue syndrome) - but that was only left his original doctor 0:11:00 Wade realized that doctor was doing the same tests over and over, and expecting something different - Wade decided enough was enough when the doctor wanted to send Wade to a psychiatrist - Wade then went to a walk in medical clinic - he had asked his previous doc for a referral to an internist, but that never happened 0:12:00 But at the walk in clinic, Wade got a referral to an internist - and about a month later he got the ME diagnosis - he'd not heard of ME but then started to do research, but didn't really understand much of the technical info, so it took a while to understand 0:13:00 Then it took a long while for him to accept the diagnosis - 'why would affect me?' - everything else that has happened to Wade, he's recovered from, but this he couldn't do anything about - there was a hope that maybe it wasn't ME, but something else 0:14:00 Wade hoped he had something treatable so that he could get better - ME symptoms include so many more than just fatigue 0:15:00 Wade's new doctor at the walk in clinic had other patients with ME, so was quick to pick up on it - even though Wade rested as much as he could, there were not enough hours in the day to rest so he could be ready for work - in 1992 Wade started working in the financial industry, and licensed as Certified Financial Planner in 1994 0:16:00 Because Wade had gained a lot of experience by the time he got very sick, his role was fairly automatic so he was able to keep working - but when the organization started to change procedures, etc, Wade's cognitive impairment
Mon, 23 Mar 2020 - 1h 02min - 39 - Jim Gottstein: The Zyprexa Papers - How Big Pharma hid the harm its medication was causing people
Big pharmaceutical company Eli Lily was hiding the truth about the harms caused by their antipsychotic medication called Zyprexa -- until lawyer Jim Gottstein got a hold of the evidence and shared it with the New York Times. You will not be surprised to hear that Eli Lily’s lawyers went after Jim hard with criminal charges to destroy his career, his livelihood and his freedom. In my interview with Jim about his personal experience with the mental health system, and his legal career focused on mental health, I ask him why he’s exposing big pharma deceit now in his new book The Zyprexa Papers. Jim also tells about his personal experience with psychosis when he was over worked and under slept, and woke suddenly one night and thought he was being chased by the devil. Jim threw himself out a 2nd story window to escape. Fortunately, Jim is also skydiver, and knew how to roll his landing without injury. But it was Jim’s lived experience in the mental health system that prepared him for legal battles representing clients about mental health issues. Jim’s lived experience with the mental health system is priceless, adds value to a good legal defense, and cannot be taught in law school. Jim also tells the story of how he became the lawyer to expose Eli Lily’s lies about the safety of their Zyprexa medication and the impact that had on his life and career. Jim became a leader in the psychiatric survivor community, founding patient organizations including PsychRights.org - and providing his legal services pro bono to clients who didn’t want to be forced to take medications. In The Zyprexa Papers, Jim gives a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, including new details about how a small group of psychiatric survivors spread the Zyprexa Papers on the Internet untraceably. All of this within a gripping, plain-language explanation of complex legal maneuvering and his battles on behalf of Bill Bigley, the psychiatric patient whose ordeal made possible the exposure of the Zyprexa Papers. The Zyprexa Papers included hundreds of internal Eli Lilly documents and emails that showed company officials knew their best-selling drug was severely harming people while scarcely helping anyone. Release of the papers exposed the abuses of the drug industry besides the harm that Zyprexa was doing. The series of front page stories in "The New York Times" could have saved tens of thousands of lives according to Jim's estimate. The public benefits greatly from Jim’s efforts, not only because of the life-saving information he released, but also because he’s a courageous model for other people to follow in exposing the predatory practices in the pharmaceutical industry. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:00 Jim was born in Anchorage Alaska in 1953 - it was a nice place to grow up - he was a pretty normal boy, he got to play little league, walk around town, ride bikes - when Jim was born Anchorage only had about 25,000 people, but now it is close to 400,000 0:07:00 Jim went to the University of Oregon to study business and to get a degree in finance, but one of the required courses was business law, and he didn't miss a question the entire term - he thought it may be a bette fit for him, so he took advanced business law and then decided to go to law school 0:08:00 Jim didn't do well enought in high school to get into any 'good' schools, and wanted to keep his options open by doing well in college - his 1st term was okay with a lot of Bs - Jim decided he had too much free time so increased his number of courses - the next term he got all As with one B 0:09:00 By over loading his courses, he graduated in 3 years - in his last term he needed 10 hours of anything to graduate, so he took 10 hours of teaching sky diving 0:10:00 Jim got his pilot's license when he was 17 - and then went to Harvard for law school 0:11:00 Jim's mom got him a job for lawyer Bob Goldberg, son of Justice Arthur Goldberg who was on the US Supreme Court - Bob had to move to Alaska to
Mon, 16 Mar 2020 - 1h 01min - 38 - Lana Mills-Sowchuk: Paying for torture - how her father was the victim of secret CIA brainwashing experiments
Lana’s father went to the hospital for asthma - but he was referred to another hospital - renowned Canadian psychiatric hospital, the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal - where they proceeded to secretly conduct experiments on him and hundreds of others over many years. I had a vague recollection of hearing about the secret CIA brain-washing experiments of the 50s and 60s, but recently I was made aware of a class action lawsuit started by the surviving victims and their families. It turns out that in 1977 it emerged that the CIA had been funding experiments in mind-control brainwashing as part of a project known as MK Ultra. At the time, the CIA was scrambling to deepen its understanding of brainwashing, after a handful of Americans captured during the Korean war had publicly praised communism and denounced the US. This so-called ‘research’ was undertaken at more than 80 institutions, including colleges and universities, prisons, and hospitals. One of the doctors the CIA connected with, was Montreal psychiatrist Ewen Cameron, who was trying to discover whether doctors could erase a person’s mind and instill new patterns of behaviour. Some of the things he did to his patients, like Lana’s father, are so horrible and unbelievable that it sounds like the stuff of b movie nightmares. Patients were subjected to high-voltage electroshock therapy several times a day, forced into drug-induced sleeps that could last months and injected with megadoses of LSD. Other experiments included sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse and other forms of torture. After reducing them to a childlike state – at times stripping them of basic skills such as how to dress themselves or tie their shoes – Dr Cameron would attempt to reprogram them by bombarding them with recorded messages for up to 16 hours at a time. First came negative messages about their inadequacies, followed by positive ones, in some cases repeated up to half a million times. Dr Cameron couldn’t get his patients to listen to them enough so he put speakers in football helmets and locked them on their heads. Reportedly, patients were going crazy banging their heads into walls trying to escape the constant messages. So what does Dr Cameron do with these non-compliant medical experiments? He put them in a drug induced coma and so he could play the tapes as long as he wished. Lana tells how the man her father was - successful and upwardly mobile in his career - was destroyed by these secret experiments. The effects reverberate throughout his family to this day. Lana’s father could no longer work, and they lived in poverty as her mother struggled to put food on the table --- and then she was required to pay for her husband’s shock therapy - as Lana says, her mother was paying for father’s torture. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:30 Lana grew up in a small town called Chamby, south of Montreal -- Lana's father was known as the crazy guy who rode his bike around town - and this was embarassing for her, she couldn't explain his behaviour to her friends because she didn't understand it herself 0:07:30 Lana's childhood was chaotic and she spent a lot of time with her god mother, her mother's sister- Lana lived with her every summer and helped raise Lana because her mother was always at the Allan Memorial Hospital in Montreal - so it was Aunt Isabel who took care of Lana when her mother couldn't because she was working to try to put food on the table 0:08:30 Lana's father couldn't work any more because he was not able to - the Allan Memorial Hospital is connected to the Royal Victoria Hospital, and is situated on top of Mount Royal - when Lana was in her late teens, she learned of the MKUltra brain washing experiments at Allan Memorial, but it was always hush-hush in the family - she didn't understand at the time, but would find out later 0:09:30 in 1952 Lana's father was attending the Royal Victoria asthma clinic - he was told that if he went to the Allan Memorial Hospital the
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 - 55min - 37 - Teri McGrath interview: Nurse & Health Educator says: Make reporting of medical errors mandatory
Teri McGrath, nurse and health educator, is very familiar with the paternalistic and misogynistic medical culture - in fact, her own physical symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by doctors until they discovered Teri was hyperthyroid. Turns out Teri’s symptoms weren’t ‘all in her pretty little head’, but actually stemming from an overactive thyroid that would have eventually killed her. Today, Teri is taking on the behemoth medical system that routinely hides or denies medical harm and death, and the Goliath legal-medico system that effectively makes seeking compensation by medical error victims a traumatizing experience, financially draining, and an exercise in futility. Canadian doctors have finagled themselves a pretty sweet deal: they have manipulated the political, legal and insurance systems so that when medical malpractice occurs, tax payers pay for the doctors high price lawyers. That is millions and millions of dollars each year coming out of tax payers pockets. The medical error victims - many of them too injured to work - are left to their own devices with no financial support for legal costs. And what do these high price lawyers do? They fight the injured victims every step of the way, making it as hard - and expensive - and as long - as possible. The lawyers tactic is to bankrupt the injured victim before the case goes to court, or delay the court case in hopes the patient dies in the interim, thereby immediately ending the lawsuit. No wonder fewer and fewer people trust their doctor. Or their politicians. They have set up the system so that medically injured patients are also emotionally traumatized and financially bankrupt. It is not by accident -- it is intentional and tactical to inflict more harm. So Teri is on a mission to do 2 things: Make reporting of medical errors mandatory -- and increase access to compensation for medical error victims. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:00 Teri grew up in a small town called Espanola in Ontario, Canada -- Teri went to boarding school and then to studying nursing at college -- the boarding school was run by the nuns and Teri had an idealistic view of the world 0:07:00 When Teri was a child, her father would gut a turkey and tell her about the internal body parts and Teri set a goal of becoming an operating room nurse - but with the idealistic rhetoric in boarding school, her goal was to help people and she's still helping people to this day - Teri ended up teaching nursing in Saskathewan and then found out about 'outpost nursing' 0:08:00 Teri started outpost nursing on a small Aboriginal Reserve north of Saskatoon - then moved to a small town to work as a health educator - Teri saw how poor healthcare was for Aboriginal women and decided to do something about it - she went to a conference in Pheonix called 'Wellness and Women' and Teri wanted to do a similar conference in Canada and it took off - she credits that conference to a number of woman who are now Chiefs on their Reserves and educated about health 0:09:00 The conference covered a wide range of health issues, and Teri says it was the most profound experience she's had 0:10:00 In the 1980s, Teri was having a problem with depression and weakness but couldn't convince her doctor that something was wrong - she was referred to a psychiatrist, but it wasn't until her heart rate went up to 150 in a resting state that they took Teri seriously and finally got treatment - but she didn't file any complaint because in those days it wasn't done and people didn't know how to file a complaint - not like today with the internet and easy access to info 0:11:00 Misogyny played a big part in how Teri was treated at that time - it is the medical culture and Teri could feel the disregard the doctor had for her - Teri felt that disregard again recently when she asked for another doctor, and the current one asked if she wanted to quit treatment, which would have been the worse thing to do 0:12:00 The sexism against women is still in the me
Mon, 02 Mar 2020 - 53min - 36 - Joan McParland interview: “I have been conned” - When sick patients are sold psychological snake oil
When people are very sick and suffering, especially for months and years, they are desperate to try almost anything to have even a little improvement in their quality of life. This makes patients susceptible to shysters preying on desperation. Like the snake oil salesman of yesteryear, today we have their modern incantations and must contend with their psychological snake oil. For a short while, Joan McParland metaphorically drank the snake oil laced Kool-Aid. Joan had been very sick and bedbound for years with the neuroimmune illness myalgic encephalomyelitis - which literally means ‘inflammation of the brain and spinal cord’ - Joan was desperate to try anything so she could be well enough to the healthy Mom she used to be for her son, and return to the work she loved. Joan paid big money to participate in the ‘lightning process’, a program that professes to treat all sorts of chronic symptoms in just 3 days. Evidently this is not some benign distraction, it has been reported that a Norwegian teen tried to committ suicide after failling to improve from the lightning process. In the 3 day program, Joan and the other participants were told not to share anything about how the lightning process works with anyone else, or talk to each other about the lightning process, and to only talk about themselves in positive, healthy language and to tell people they were cured --- some people even had to sign contracts with those constraints. But Joan is not one to be complicit in promoting self-blaming brainwashing and is telling the truth about what secretly happens in the costly lightning process. It works basically like this: you stand on a piece of paper that has ‘stop - I have a choice’ written on it. Then you say that aloud. Two arrows point to your choices. One arrow points to a piece of paper that has ‘the pit’ written on it. This represents your symptoms and illness. The other arrow points to a piece of paper that has ‘the life I want to lead’ written on it. You choose which piece of paper you want to stand on and say that aloud. That’s it -- you do that repeatedly and it will cure you. Doing a little bit of googling and it turns out both the British Advertising Standards and the Nordic Consumer Ombudsman have ruled against the lighting process for making false claims on its website. It has been described as "quackery backed by pseudoscientific theory", and as a costly pyramid scheme since people who train in the process frequently go on to become paid practitioners themselves. What makes it really dangerous, is that dubious researchers have subjected children to the snake oil. It is unclear how the research ethics board allowed children to become guinea pigs, since the program was described as ‘"like CBT, but with bullying”. When Joan continued to be very sick, she realized she’d been conned. She told family and friends she was cured, but in reality she was just as sick and disabled as before. Joan felt used and abused -- and also ashamed and embarrassed for being so gullible to pay large sums for something so obviously rooted in magical thinking and profit making off the sick. But Joan’s shame quickly turned to anger when she thought about how many other sick and disabled people were being scammed out of their money, and made to feel it was their fault if they weren’t cured -- and so Joan has set out to tell the truth so other patients don’t fall for the same scam. SHOW NOTES: 0:08:00 Joan was an only child and born in Northern Ireland, near the border - a happy childhood with no trauma -- hated school initially but loved it by the time she finished - went to college, took a year off, and returned to college to study something she really wanted to: cookery and commercial course 0:09:00 The 2 courses compelemented one another and Joan got a job organizing school meals, so she had some hands on work creating meals, and admin work organizing supplies, making menus, working out nurtitional values, etc - so brain wor
Mon, 24 Feb 2020 - 1h 09min - 35 - Jordan's Story: "Mom, I just want to go home." Jordan's Mom: "You killed my daughter."
Sandy and Anthony Perez kept telling doctors their daughter Jordan was very sick. Their concerns were dismissed and Jordan’s pain minimized. They were ping-ponged between specialists, dealing with ongoing misdiagnosis, and doctors who refused to listen to Jordan and her parents and threatened to remove medical care. When Jordan died in the hospital, Sandy and Anthony thought it was due to a yet to be diagnosed illness. Only later would they find out Jordan had been poisoned to death by the hospital and they were covering it up. Wanting justice for Jordan, Sandy and Anthony sought legal support - over 100 lawyers told them the same thing: California has a law that effectively makes hiring a lawyer for medical malpractice suits a non-starter: the law puts a cap on how much lawyers can be paid and how much victims can be awarded. Suing is a money losing proposition. As Sandy and Anthony learned, the legal system is set up to deny justice to medical victims, and the medical system is set up to deny accountability of doctors. A de facto license to kill. Jordan shouldn’t have died. Sandy and Anthony shouldn’t have to fight to find out how the hospital killed their daughter. Jordan's drawing, titled: Will you remember me? SHOW NOTES: Interviewing Sandy and Anthony Perez about their daughter Jordan 0:05:30 Sandy was born outside of Chicago, but raised in California since she was 7 - had a normal childhood with 3 sisters - went to college - met Anthony in 1994 0:06:30 Anthony was born and raised in California - good childhood with great mom and dad - their daughter Jordan was born April 5th, 2000 - she was a cranky baby, didn't want to sleep unless being held, always wanted to sleep with them 0:07:30 She was a one-off child, liked to do things her way - she liked to dress herself, there was no arguing with her - she played soft ball since age 4 and made the city's all-star team for 2 years - and her Dad (Anthony) coached her - when they moved to the high desert, they put Jordan in 'travel ball' - a more intense game softball league 0:08:30 The league had better quality coaches and was geared to show to colleges - it is called 'travel ball' because they traveled to and played in different cities - Jordan was the kid who would befriend others - at Jordan's memorial service, several of her friends spoke of how they were alone but Jordan invited them to play 0:09:30 It was very important to Jordan that others felt included and were not left out - in May 2014 Jordan started to complain of headaches - Jordan had allergies, including grass, but benadryul helped - then her neck started to hurt - in December 2014 she went to the doctor with neck and head pain 0:10:30 Jordan was suspected to have mastoiditis (infection in the masto bone behind the ear) and sent her to the ER - they didn't find anything, didn't run any blood tests, suggested it was migraines and sent Jordan home - a couple of weeks later Jordan had symptoms of the flu, couldn't keep fluid or food down, so they took her to the ER - they told the ER doc about the previous mastioditis diagnosis, so they ran more tests and found blood clots in Jordan's brain 0:11:30 They sent them to another trauma centre and that is where Jordan was treated for the next 3.5 years - they were frightened and wondering how it could've been missed - blood clots don't usually show up on CAT scans, but they did in Jordan 0:12:30 They were told the blood clots were a rare complication from the infection in the masto bones - Sandy and Anthony asked how Jordan could've gotten mastoiditis, and were told via infection of the sinus or ear - but Jordan didn't have those infections, so how could that be? But nobody could answer that - the hospital put Jordan on a hepadrin drip for a day and then changed to lovonox injections - both are blood thinners to more blood clots, but wouldn't treat Jordan's current blood clots 0:13:30 They also put Jordan on antibiotics for 6 weeks to fight the infection -
Mon, 17 Feb 2020 - 1h 14min - 34 - Tina Gomes: Dentists on Probation: What You Don't Know Can Harm or Kill You.
Singer, songwriter and talent manager Tina Gomes of California needed a dentist for a straightforward procedure. She searched for Board Certified dentists and made an appointment. What she didn’t know -- because the Dental Board failed to inform the public -- was that the dentist had harmed previous patients and was on probation. Tina would only find all of this out after spending 10s of 1000s of dollars and enduring years of needless headaches, jaw pain, infections, ill health and inability to chew solid food. As you will hear, Tina was betrayed not only by the dentist, but the Dental Board and the Attorney General as they chose their own profits over her, and the public’s, safety. Tina learned the hard way that dentists can take sketchy continuing education courses - like a 6 hour course on a weekend on anaesthesia. Recently a patient died in the dental chair due to anaesthesia complications. These dentists start practicing these ‘procedures’ on unwitting patients -- essentially making them guinea pigs, these ‘procedures’ often require ongoing fixes and devices, turning dental clients into perpetual patients. Tina discovered that the dentistry industry is not about accountability, or oversight, or patient safety -- dentistry is about increasing profits for dentists, Dental Boards, and Attorney Generals on the backs of - and out of the pockets of - patients. SHOW NOTES 0:05:00 Tina grew up Vancouver, Canada - wonderful parents, they were immigrants from Portugal - provided comfortable childhood - there are a lot of people who did not have good parents like Tina so she's grateful 0:06:00 Tina has 2 siblings, both sisters, the 3 of them were born 1 year apart - but one sister died in a car accident the night of her high school graduation party - Tina's older sister lives in Alberta, Canada 0:07:00 Tina moved to California when she was offered a record deal by Richard Perry - people in the inustry know his reputation - Tina's father was a phenomenal opera singer 0:08:00 A lot of music in their house - in Vancouver, her boyfriend was in a rock band and when Tina sang he said she should be performing - Tina wanted to be a songwriter, not singer - song writing is a solitary endeavour 0:09:00 So Tina started singing and they covered other band's hits and played in a lot rock clubs and was noticed by Rae Dawn Chong, her father is Tommy Chong, and he's part of the iconic Cheech and Chong comedy duo - Rae Dawn 'discovered' Tina, and said they'd form a band with Rae Dawn's cousin Lavina Fox and go to Los Angeles and sign a record deal with Warner Bros 0:10:00 Tina started working with Richard Perry and staying at his home, formerly Elizabeth Taylor's home - but Rae Dawn left the group for a movie deal 0:11:00 But Tina had met other singer / songwriters who wanted to work with Tina - she also met the man who would later become her husband, and he introduced her to more producers - Tina also met Jesse Powell and his family and became close friends - Jesse produced a song with Damon Thomas who is Kim Kardashian's ex-husband 0:12:00 Tina knew she didn't want to be an on stage singer, she wanted to help Jesse because she thought he was the greatest talent - so Tina decided to manage Jesse and get him a record deal and that brought joy to Tina's life 0:13:00 Tina managed his career to be #1 on Billboard and she found more talent to manage - so fulfilling to be around such talent - Tina felt blessed to be doing the work with those talented people 0:14:00 That's what Tina did for years, while also struggling with dental issues that started in 1992 - one day Tina and her husband went to a Malibu restaurant and one of her front crowns broke off - they went home and searched for a board certified dentist 0:15:00 They contacted a dentist to see if he could see Tina immediately just fix her crown - Sarah has to compose herself and explains that PTSD is impacting her ability to tell what happened...things she's trying to forget 0:16:00 Ti
Mon, 10 Feb 2020 - 1h 08min - 33 - Sarah Price Hancock interview (part 3): Surviving Shock Treatment (ECT) and Psychiatric Medications
It is hard to know where to start in describing what Sarah shares in part 3 of our interview. Sarah imparts so much info about things that helped her regain health - and may help you, and things that hurt her health- and may hurt you. Sarah tells how a correct diagnosis and stopping inappropriate psych meds, resulted in losing 100+ pounds and get back to her high school weight. She tells about how when she started to treat her liver, even though her liver tests were ‘normal’, her health and quality of life improved. Perhaps most importantly, Sarah tells about finding a doctor who approaches psychiatric issues as an autoimmune and toxicity problem, and addresses it with appropriate nutrient support. This is what stopped the voices in her head that were telling her to kill herself 24/7. Sarah also tells how when she got a kidney infection and needed antibiotics, the psychosis and voices in her head returned. What did the psychiatrist want to do? Give her psych meds of course. Every symptom looks like a nail if your only approach is to use the hammer of psych meds. Sarah says we need to encourage psychiatry to get back to their roots of orthomolecular approach - trauma cannot be treated with ECT or psych meds - research shows trauma causes physiological changes to the gut biome - and there are more neurotransmitters in the gut then in the brain. And that is why Sarah has started an international petition to create standards for ECT to make patients safer….and not experience the devastating side effects Sarah endures. SHOW NOTES: 0:06:00 One of the pictures Sarah sent, she was much larger - her underlying illness of hepatic encephalopathy, and treatment caused metabolic syndrome from 5 classes of pyschiatric meds - at her her heaviest, Sarah weighed 250 pounds - once she got off those medications and starting eating micronutrition she lost some weight - when she was finally diagnosed with helpatic encephalopathy and the correctly addressed her fungal infection, she has steadily lost weight - she has dropped more than 100 pounds - she's now at 135 pounds, same she weighed in high school 0:07:00 They didn't realize she had fungal edema and what she was eating was also putting stress on her liver, even though liver tests showed normal, when she started treating her liver, her health vastly improved - but Sarah had been living with overgrowth of candidiasis from over prescribed antibiotics - so antifungal meds and herbal protocal helped 0:08:00 Her doctor's website is CandidaMD.com - he describes how over prescribed antibiotics can cause fatigue, auto immune, and other issues - and approaches psychiatric issues as an autoimmune problem, from an orthomolecular view, looking at toxicity issues and a variety of things 0:09:00 Sarah started see this doctor in January 2017 - and started his diet outlined in his book "An Extraordinary Power to Heal" by Bruce Semon - Sarah was on all 5 steps of the protocol at once - it is usually an elimination approach, but since Sarah was so sick, her doctor recommend she do all 5 steps at once - but Sarah had a kidney infection and was on 3 rounds of antibiotics and even though she'd been without psychosis for 5 years, by the 2nd dose of antibiotics she was in full blown psychosis - her psychiatrist wanted to put Sarah back on psych meds, but Sarah pointed out the psychosis manifested with the antibiotics 0:10:00 Sarah then met the candida doctor, Dr Semon, and he said it was candiadis and she laughed at the idea it was causing her problems - she didn't know there were 20 illnesses that could cause her symptoms - Sarah thought it was all a dopamine issue, so her eyes were really opened - Sarah has seen this doctor turn people's health around - Sarah was catatonic from the antibiotics for the kidney infection, and Dr Semon immediately recognized and gave Sarah to big pushes of IV glutathione 0:11:00 Sarah went from asking the nurse to give Sarah her brain back, she thought the nurse had pu
Mon, 03 Feb 2020 - 50min - 32 - Sarah Price Hancock (part 2): Surviving Shock Treatment (ECT) and Psychiatric Medications
At the end of part 1 of my interview with Sarah, she had become dizzy and managed to get to the floor safely. Once the gravitational pressure on her brainstem was relieved by being horizontal, the change in the clarity of her voice was astounding. I caught up with Sarah a few weeks later to pick up where we had left off, and in part 2 we talk about Sarah’s experiences living with ‘ECT brain’ -- like learning how to read and comprehend again. Sarah shares some of the treatments she’s tried to varying degrees of success; and how she managed to achieve her Master’s degree in rehab counselling in spite - and because of - her medical care experiences. Sarah also talks about her experiences of bilateral hemiplegia - a frightening condition where one side of the body becomes very weak or paralyzed - for Sarah it is always the right side, and she will have great difficulty walking, talking and breathing. Sarah tells about some of these weird stroke-like responses her body has to things in our environment like mold, barometric pressure changes, or foods with residual alcohol. Sarah also shares about some of the treatments that have had a positive effect on her symptoms, and by extension, her quality of life. She tells about MacGyvering a grounding bracelet that has helped dampen some symptoms, and about the time the cold laser therapy on her brainstem brought instant symptom relief. Sarah also tells about the ‘weird science’ interaction during acupuncture when all of her neurological symptoms disappeared -- until she put her cell phone up to her head. It is truly frightening that shock treatment, aka electro convulsive therapy, or ECT, is not standardized. It is like the wild west with different doctors using different protocols and - surprise, surprise - getting different results. Sometimes good, sometimes devastating like in Sarah’s case. That is why Sarah has started an international petition to make ECT safer. One final note, when I started recording the interview, Sarah had just gone from being sitting up and being vertical to laying down and being horizontal --- listen to how Sarah’s voice becomes more clear as we get further into our chat. SHOW NOTES 0:07:00 (At the end of part 1, Sarah had gotten dizzy and had to lay down on the floor. We connected again a few weeks later.) It takes a while for Sarah's body to normalize from dizziness, so the longer she stays horizontal, the more likely she'll be able to sit or stand later 0:08:00 Not sure what's going on with Sarah's body, but the research into electrical injury, the focal point of the electricity is on the brainstem - but the brainstem is not involved in emotional regulation that they are trying to effect in shock treatment (ECT) - the electrodes are placed on the temples 0:09:00 And the electrical currents pass through the brain to the anterior of the frontal lobes and brainstem area - they've discovered the most damage is along the current's course through the brain - it also causes diffuse electrical injury in the brain - so the more shock treatments, the more damage they are likely to have 0:10:00 Electrical injury in other parts of the body also impacts the brainstem - we have to remember our central nervous system was designed to conduct electricity, so whenever we're exposed to an electrical current, it is going to travel the path of our nervous system, it is not contained to a specific body part 0:11:00 Sarah is sensitive to electrical currents in the environment, from devices - she had a unique experience, she began working with a doctor who uses acupuncture - sometimes in acupuncture they will create a circuit within your body from one needle to another - when he did this to Sarah, her symptoms completely subsided 0:12:00 The constant static humming she's feels in her body, completely went away - the doctor said he'd never seen that before - Sarah's speech problems completely resolved - then her phone rang, as it got closer to her, Sarah's symptoms
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 - 1h 08min - 31 - Sarah Price Hancock (part 1): Surviving Shock Treatment (ECT) and Psychiatric Medications
I first became aware of Sarah when she shared a video clip on twitter of her waiting for an appointment sitting in her wheelchair. Her voice was strained and she was a bit difficult to understand, but as soon as Sarah was in a horizontal position her voice was clear as a bell. I immediately reached out to Sarah to learn more about her incredible health care journey. Doctors diagnosed Sarah with Schizoid Affective Disorder and gave her antipsychotic medications. When those didn’t work, they gave Sarah over 116 rounds of electric shock therapy - they put electrodes on Sarah’s temples and zapped her with electricity so her brain had a seizure. Doctors also had Sarah on 5 classes of psychiatric medications amounting to 37 different combinations. In spite of this, for 12 years Sarah lived with voices in her head 24/7 telling her how and why to kill herself - all while working toward her Masters Degree. As Sarah would eventually discover with a proper diagnosis, her psychiatric symptoms were not from schizo affective disorder, they were from hepatic encephalopathy and her brain was marinating in toxins. Once Sarah received proper treatment the voices disappeared. But that’s not the end of Sarah’s story - all those electric shock treatments have damaged Sarah’s brain affecting her speech, memory, and ability to walk. We had to end Sarah’s interview prematurely as you’ll hear, when she was overcome with dizziness, her speech quickly deteriorated, and she had to lie down on the floor to remove the pressure on her brainstem. Listen to how Sarah’s voice changes during this - Sarah’s final words are in the voice she had before electrical brain injury. SHOW NOTES First Psychosis 0:06:30 Sarah grew up in sunny San Diego, a 3rd generation San Diegan - wonderful parents, but struggles like all families - Sarah is the oldest child and only daughter - when frustrated her Dad would say 'Well Sarah, I've not had a daughter before' - she has 2 younger brothers - her parents did their best to provide a loving and supportive environment 0:08:30 Sarah's Mom is a wonderful lady, but they did butt heads - they have reconciled and Sarah considers her Mom to be one of her best friends now - after high school Sarah moved to Rexburg, Idaho where she learned about living in snow and -30 Fahrenheit 0:09:30 Sarah went to a college made famous by (the film) Napolean Dynamite, called Rex College, but now known as Brigham Young University Idaho - graduated and transferred to BYU (Brigham Young University) in Provo, Utah - after 1 semester studying English, Sarah served a mission for Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints and learned to speak Spanish and serve the people of Texas - after 18 months Sarah was invited to join the American Sign Language program and worked for 2 months with deaf people - and then returned home to BYU 0:10:30 Sarah had bad chronic and seasonal allergies causing asthma, sinus infections and bronchitis - growing up Sarah had been given a lot of antibiotics, like 4 - 8 times a year throughout childhood through her Mission - she got pneumonia when she got back and was put on another antibiotic and within a few doses had her first psychotic break 0:11:30 Sarah was on campus trying to find her way and she could see people dressed in pioneer era clothing - she was hauled off campus and put in the psych unit and put in a straight jacket for more then 36 hours 0:12:30 That was scary because she didn't know why they were putting her in a straight jacket - it was a very vulnerable place to be - that brought up childhood traumas she had with a babysitter - being in a straight jacket was very traumatic 0:13:30 Initially they told Sarah she was Bipolar with Psychosis - then was labeled with Schizoid Affective Disorder with Bipolar type, meaning she had symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar - then the medication they gave Sarah could not be metabolized by her body and she became catatonic - they didn't realize ammonia was mar
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 - 1h 22min - 30 - David Moore part 2: How to fight cancer, dental boards and Nazi-esque eugenics programs
In part 2 of my interview with David Moore, he tells us about being a caregiver to his friend and mentor college professor Patti as her health declines and the medical intervenes. When Patti goes in for what she thinks will be a routine 45 minute operation, David waits patiently. When the surgeon comes out after 3 hours and says there were complications, David begins to worry. When Patti survives and gets to the ICU, the surgeons want to do more surgeries to fix what they broke, but David is named in Patti’s medical directive, and he follows her wishes and tries to protect her from what he calls the profiteering of Nazi-esque eugenics programs. SHOW NOTES Aortic valve stenosis for Patti 0:05:15 David's touched on 3 medical errors: his experience with the dental industry; the food we grow and eat and its impact on our microbiome; and the over-treatment of the elderly for profit - David was also taking care of an elderly friend who recently died 0:06:15 David was caretaker for the last 15 years of a friend who was his Department Chair when David was an adjunct professor at UNLV (University Nevada Las Vegas) - about 3 years ago she was diagnosed with aortic stenosis, that means there is valve in the heart that has become over-calcified and is reducing blood flow - this is no big deal unless under high exertion, then it can cause a special kind of fainting spell 0:07:15 She / Patti was 78 years old, they did an echocardiogram and they recommend a surgery called a TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) - a medical device they stick up through the groin arteries and cut out the valve and this device is a cage that is supposed to expand and seal - if it doesn't seal, it is called a leaky valve or heart failure 0:08:15 Instead, Patti went on a marijuana regime, and in 3 years cleaned out her arteries so she didn't require a stent - she did diet changes - a new study just came out saying stents are less effective then diet changes - but during these 3 years she lost 30 pounds and in the pool more often - sure, she wasn't feeling as sprightly as when she was younger, but she was aging well 0:09:15 For those 3 years doctors told her she could drop dead at any moment - she would walk up at night with panic attacks and afraid she was going to die - David explained that it was her sleep apnea, where she stops breathing, and that was causing her panic - the doctors convinced her to get an angiogram - the echocardiogram showed her aortic valve opening at .36 cm - anything below .7 or .8 is consider critical 0:10:15 She lived a sedentary lifestyle, never left the house, David did all of her shopping, she was always on the computer teaching courses online - the angiogram, 9 months after the echocardiogram, showed she a .56 cm opening - according to modern science that is impossible - David attributes this to marijuana and her diet 0:11:15 Her surgeon doesn't have Patti's case history, he wouldn't speak to David in front of a nurse - the cardiologist said they found biomarkers for heart disease, but David pointed out how she had improved 0:12:15 The statistics show there is a 6% chance she'll die during, and a 25% chance she'll die within 12 months of surgery - Patti ends up going for the surgery, she's convinced it will be a 45 minute procedure and she'll be home the next day - TAVR surgery is highly risky, no efficacy, and unproven beyond 3 years 0:13:15 The actual surgery lasted 3 hours - the surgeon came out and told David to 'go home and get some rest and come back in a few hours and Patti will be in ICU, don't worry, the 1st one we put in didn't work, so we're trying a 2nd one' - we haven't put in a pacemaker yet Surgery gone awry 0:14:15 Patti / David did not know this risk factor: that since Patti's aorta was only .36 cm, very calcified, it was obvious a stent would not seal because calcium has jagged edges - it is impossible 0:15:15 The 1st didn't seal, and they played around with it, and then it slipped down and t
Mon, 13 Jan 2020 - 49min - 29 - David Moore pt 1: How to fight cancer, dental boards and Nazi-esque eugenics programs
David Moore does health differently. When David was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer and given 3 months to live, he didn’t follow the usual medical path of radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. When David’s mentor named him in her medical directive, he pushed back hard against the surgeons who wanted to give her more high cost, high risk surgeries to run up their profit. When David’s dentist performed procedures without David’s consent, he went public - and to the state governor - to expose dental board corruption. In part one of this 2 part interview, David Moore shares how an undiagnosed illness lead to stomach cancer, and how he cured that cancer without toxic medications. SHOW NOTES: Childhood trauma 0:05:15 David was born in 1970 and grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida - David thinks the 70s were a great decade - but his home life was more like bombing in Vietnam - David suffered serious child abuse, emotional trauma, emotional neglect, molested by a babysitter, and on and on 0:06:15 David has 3 older brothers, and they were all drug addicts and highly abusive - David's mother was raped by her father for 10 years - she suffered from narcissistic personality disorder and took it out on her kids - it was an emotional Vietnam - but, from the outside, no one knew what was going on and narcissists are very clever - David's father was aloof and an engineer with NASA and was never home - David loved and adored him 0:07:15 That left David struggling in adulthood - and that can be attributed to traumatic brain wiring, making people more susceptible to addiction - they never experienced unconditional love - childhood trauma is a scourge upon the world, they pass it onto their children - David thinks about 40% of Americans have childhood trauma - but David did have an idyllic childhood, he made sure he was rarely home 0:08:15 David's focus became to empathize with everyone in an effort to understand what was going on - by the time he was 15 he decided to dedicate his life to helping other - he realized all his friends parents were messed up and that messed up the kids - alcoholics, drug addicts - but they were all rich white people, nobody was poor 0:09:15 David couldn't understand until he was in his 40s and realized that his parents suffered childhood trauma too - his mother's abuse was extreme neglect, he was a 'mistake' and she didn't want to have him 0:10:15 David thinks the neural connections didn't connect because he wasn't nurtured, as a result David has a form of autism - but it enabled him to detach from his mother's abuse - and that helped him survive that - he then focused on his friends and getting them away from adults 0:11:15 David's father was David's stability - he adored David, but he didn't speak much 0:12:15 David suspects his father was on the spectrum - he was a loner, didn't socialize - David didn't know until after his father died, that he was in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II, and he was in the CIA his whole time - he was aloof, didn't share a lot - his cover was an electrical engineer working for different government contractors0:13:15The childhood neglect caused him to scream a lot - he would wake up screaming - all the screaming created a high arch narrow palate, and that created a cranio malformation - so David's bite is totally unique Stage 4 stomach cancer 0:14:15David's bite cannot be adjusted because of the malformation - the cranio malformation is called left side bending rotation made it so his left and right mandibular joints were out of place, but not causing pain, but dysfunctional in the sense they weren't normal 0:15:15 As a child David was a sugar addict, and in visiting dentists, he noticed that it was insanely painful - he had a lot of mercury fillings on his upper arch - but they would fall out, he would swallow them - Florida is a weird state 0:16:15 Dentists were drunk and haphazardly prescribing opiates like candy - at 16 he was given percocets - he devel
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 - 1h 06min - 28 - Daryl Brown: Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction
We have all probably heard or read about how antidepressants can cause sexual dysfunction such as decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, decreased response to sexual stimuli, and delayed or absent orgasm. Given how widespread the use of antidepressants are, you may have personal experience with an antidepressant affecting your sexual function. What you may not know is that research consistently finds that sexual dysfunction continues in the majority of people even after they stop taking the medication. This is known as Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, or PSSD. Less frequently, another form of sexual dysfunction may continue to manifest even after discontinuation of the medication: Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD). This is essentially the opposite of PSSD, with PGAD causing a relentless sense of arousal and discomfort in the genitals, but without any accompanying feeling of desire. So this is what can happen to adults. What happens when children are given antidepressants, right through their puberty? How does it affect their sexual function? In this episode I interview Daryl Brown about his experience with the mental health care system when he started to be medicated with antidepressants when he was 9 years old - even though he wasn’t depressed - and medicated with antipsychotics, even though he wasn’t having psychosis. Daryl shares how it has affected his sexual function, and by extension his sense of self and his intimate relationships. Daryl asks the tough questions of the medical system: How could he, a mere child, have been given multiple medications - for over a decade - that provided no benefit, only harm? And how is that doctors continue to deny antidepressants can cause sexual dysfunction after they have been discontinued, in spite of research and patient reports confirming the harm? SHOW NOTES OCD and Tourette's syndrome 0:07:15 Daryl grew up in a suburb of London (United Kingdom) with 2 good parents, they are not together, but lucky to have them - a mix of nature and the city - 2 older siblings, 1 younger sibling 0:08:15 But missed a lot of family time due to mental health issues and hospitals - and his behaviour changed on the psychiatric drugs - and he went to special needs school far away - Daryl had some movement disorder and phobias since he was a baby 0:09:15 His brother noticed Daryl had strange movements as a baby and told others that Daryl had Tourette's Syndrome before he was diagnosed - Daryl got much sicker when he was about 9 years old, his OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and Tourette's got disabling worse 0:10:15 Daryl OCD caused him to spin around, and do repetitive rituals in a particular way - if it didn't feel like it went right, he would have to start the ritual over again - when it got really bad it was life consuming - he lost a lot of sleep worrying - a common feature 0:11:15 OCD symptoms was frustrating for Daryl, when it got out of control - Tourette's manifested has a lot of arm movements, leg movements, constantly parts of his body moving, even if people couldn't see what was happening with his toes and fingers, known has motor tics - Daryl also had a vocal tic of clearing his throat and making a weird noise 0:13:15 When Daryl's OCD and Tourette's got really bad, it was hard to live with the symptoms, but when mild they felt like a normal part of Daryl's life - for Daryl, only when its a the extremes does is it bothersome, and that may sound strange to some people - it doesn't interfere too much 0:14:15 Daryl remembers that his school was pushed around his phobias - other kids were yelled at, Daryl was yelled at when he coloured outside the lines - he was constantly being punished and he got scared at the way the other children were shouted at as well - they pushed him really hard about his phobias, and he tried really hard to break through and he did, but it was very hard - it all became very stressful and made everything a lot worse - at one point he ran away fr
Fri, 27 Dec 2019 - 1h 05min - 27 - Robin McGee: The Cancer Olympics - How 4 doctors missed Robin's cancer and how you can avoid the same fate
Clinical psychologist Robin McGee, author of The Cancer Olympics, had a family history of colorectal cancer, so when Robin started to see blood in her stool, she reported it to her doctor. That doctor dismissed her symptoms as a probable infection and didn’t bother to investigate potential cancer. Robin’s bleeding got worse. A second doctor also thought it was from an infection. Robin also told this doctor about her family history of colorectal cancer. The doctor made a note in Robin’s health record, but did nothing about checking for cancer. Robin’s bleeding worsened and she took it upon herself to get a cancer test - the results were sent to doctor #3. The results indicated Robin had cancer. The doctor wrote in Robin’s health record that he sent her for further testing. But in fact the doctor did nothing. Robin’s bleeding worsened even more and now included dark red blood. A 4th doctor is not concerned and scheduled Robin for a colonoscopy many months later. It had been nearly 2 years since Robin first reported her symptoms to a doctor. The colonoscopy results indicate Robin had stage 4 colorectal cancer. Four doctors should have caught Robin’s cancer earlier than stage 4. All 4 doctor’s have fatally failed Robin. Unfortunately, as we’ll hear Robin report, this was not the end of serious medical errors she would encounter as she begins her fight with cancer - and her fight for justice. SHOW NOTES Family history of colorectal cancer 0:07:00 Robin grew up in Ottawa, Canada as the 6th of 7 children - and now lives in Nova Scotia (Canada) - went to university and got her PhD in Clinical Psychology and practicing clinical psychologist for 30 years 0:08:00 Robin's mother had colorectal cancer - in 2008 Robin had some rectal bleeding and went to see Doctor #1, who was a locum for Robin's family doctor, Doctor #2 - Doctor #1 dismissed Robin's bleeding as perhaps C Difficile, a pretty serious infection, and sent Robin away to get tested for it 0:09:00 But the C Difficile test was cancelled because Robin didn't have a liquid stool, a prerequisite for C Difficile testing - the test results came back to Doctor #1 who did nothing - Robin's bleeding continued and she went to Doctor #2 but was bleeding heavier with skin sluffing - but Doctor #2 also dismissed the bleeding - Robin reminded the doctor of Robin's family history of colorectal cancer and the doctor made a note - she sent Robin for C Difficile test (again) and it was cancelled (again) 0:10:00 Doctor #2 sent a referral to a general surgeon, Doctor #4 (yes, #4), but her note didn't mention severity of Robin's symptoms, duration or family history - Doctor #2 was also closing her practice and Robin found a new family doctor, Doctor #3 - both # 2 and 3 knew Robin professionally 0:11:00 Robin arranged herself for a cancer test and it can back positive: Robin had cancer - that positive result went to Doctor #3 who did nothing - Robin went into to see Doctor #3 and reported greater symptoms and he said Robin needed an colonoscopy and would follow up 0:12:00 Robin felt relieved that a doctor was going to take her symptoms / cancer seriously - but Doctor #3 did nothing at all - he knew Robin was positive for cancer, but did nothing - but Doctor #3 wrote in the electronic health record that he had followed up with referrals 0:13:00 Robin waits for referrals but her symptoms are getting even worse, so she calls Doctor #3 and the office says 'not our problem, call doc #4' - Robin immediately calls #4 / surgeon and they say 'not our problem - there are no resources and there is an 18 month queue - you have to wait' 0:14:00 Meanwhile Robin's symptoms get worse, including dark red blood - and she continues to try to get a correct diagnosis - she tried 18 times - finally Robin gets into Doctor #4 - dark red blood is a sign of cancer, but the doctor says Robin is fine - Robin pushes for a colonoscopy and the doctor schedules one for many months later - Robin gets the scope and fi
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 - 1h 14min - 26 - Michael Zuk, DDS: Confessions of a Former Cosmetic Dentist
Dentist Michael Zuk, author of “Confessions of a Former Cosmetic Dentist”, is a whistleblower about the dangers of some dental procedures being pushed by corporate entities that are prioritizing profits over patient safety. There are a lot of continuing education programs for dentists, but there is also a hidden element where corporate interests will train dentists to benefit the corporation, and that can cause serious harm to patients. Most dental seminars have an underlying corporate interest or group that is benefitting - and the dental associations have not weeded out the courses that offer voodoo science and procedures that are unnecessary - some of the procedures are so new they haven't been tested on people. Dentists can take a weekend course and start practicing that procedure on Monday morning - with patients as guinea pigs. Dental authorities have known for decades about these dangerous procedures but have been unable to make a dent in stopping them because the underlying problem of making money is influencing the treatment dentists recommend to patients. Michael’s "Confessions of a Former Cosmetic Former Dentist" book caused a big pushback from his dental authority. Michael’s book has been banned by the Alberta Dental Association and College and forced him to take it off the market because they felt (ironically) it was harming the integrity of the profession. The topic of the book was over treatment by cosmetic dentists and the reasons why, and it is still available on the after-market. Forcing Michael to pull his book from the market is a prime example of how the dental association is involved in a cover up of harmful dental practices and don't want the public to know about needless procedures that can cause permanent damage. SHOW NOTES Like father, like son 0:07:15 Michael grew up in Spirit River, Alberta - north of Grand Prairie - population 1,000 - Michael's father was minister, who also got into politics and became Mayor - and got into trouble mixing politics and religion, and Michael is following those footsteps and causing trouble himself - Michael's father was sued and forced off council for bringing attention to conflicts of interest 0:08:15 Some of those people were also in his congregation, so he was forced out as a preacher too - they tried to force him out of town, so he bounced around different jobs, like a cook - but others would get him fired - his congregation was told that they wouldn't get the sale price at the local grocery store 0:09:15 Michael did 1 year of college, 2 years of pre-dental study in Edmonton, then 4 years of dental school - graduated and opened his practice in Red Deer, Alberta in 1987 with a fellow student and they've been practicing dentistry ever since - Michael was good in science, on the quiet side, and enjoyed art, and these lead him to the dental profession 0:11:15 Molding and designing smiles requires artistic ability, blending with science - but this has also created problematic grey zones - initially in his practice, he was learning the hard way of what worked and didn't - later Michael learned there were a lot of continuing education programs, but also another side where corporate interests will train you to benefit the sponsor, and that can cause serious harm to patients 0:13:15 Most dental seminars have an underlying corporate interest or group that is benefitting - and the dental associations have not weeded out the courses that offer voodoo science and procedures that are unnecessary - some of the procedures are so new they haven't been tested on people 0:14:15 Patients become the guinea pigs - dentists can take a weekend course and start practicing that procedure on Monday morning - or dentists order 1,000s of dollars of products and equipment after being sold by amazing presentations 0:15:15 Some courses are just slight modifications to existing practice, but some seminars are organized similar to 'condo sales' where they tr
Fri, 13 Dec 2019 - 1h 17min - 25 - Erik Johnson: Mold Warrior - Escaping Toxic Mold and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Exposing the Greatest Medical Error in History.
In part 2 of my interview with mold warrior Erik Johnson, he tells about the lengths he’s had to go to get and keep himself healthy. Erik terms his approach ‘extreme mold avoidance’ - and that involves a modified and mold-free camper vehicle, and also mapping, and then avoiding, areas and buildings with high levels of toxic black mold Stachybotrys Chartarum. Erik has been relentless in his efforts to bring awareness to the public, patients and researchers that toxic mold is an element of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’. Yet there is resistance by the Centre for Disease Control, by researchers, and by the medical profession, to consider or acknowledge how unseen toxic mold in our workplace, public and home environments may be making many people very sick. As you will hear Erik explain, there has been incredible pressure to hide the impact of toxic mold on human health. Erik also shares how the derogatory label of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ re-classified an entire illness from an ‘infectious illness’ diagnosis, to the ‘all in your head’ insult. SHOW NOTES Erik's Mold Map 0:05:15 The whole point of redefining CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) was to put distance between CFS and the initial incident it was based on to keep it in maximum confusion - and loosened up on the psychiatric exclusion, whereas Holmes (definition) was clear that psychiatric must be excluded 0:06:00 When Erik saw strong connection between mold and CFS, he proposed to Dr Cheney that since he was focused on the viral factor, Erik would focus on the mold factor 0:07:00 The 1994 study by Chester Levine "Association of concurrence between sick building syndrome and CFS: Epidemic neurasthenia revisited" - was a study of clusters, including Truckee school - mentions other clusters including Elk Grove in California, where same exact malady emerged in teacher in a sick building 0:08:00 It took Erik several years to find out what specific mold was involved, but it was Stachybotrys Chartarum (SC), the dreaded black mold, same as the Lake Tahoe - Erik thought this should be included in the CFS criteria so that they become a putative mold reactivity patient 0:09:00 If CFS patients have mold reactivity, they can be instructed on how to avoid it and reduce symptoms - Erik tried to identify the worse place / buildings in Lake Tahoe and created a map to avoid them and started to recover 0:10:00 Erik thought he could maximize his recovery be spending more time in the nearby Nevada desert - he was eager to get back into aviation and hanging out a small airport - one day he sees a 'crazy man' out in the desert heat raking, by hand, a 700 foot landing strip 0:11:00 Nearby was a tractor with rake attached, set up to do the job - Erik asked him about it and got a strange look, as his mental wheels were turning - he said 'I've got this strange illness, I'm from Incline Village, Nevada, and doctors tell me I have CFS, and I come out to the desert because it is the only thing that helps' - he was coming to the desert for the exact same reason as Erik 0:12:00 They started telling other people - and taking them to the 'toxic' areas of town to see if they reacted and decide if they wanted to try to avoid mold - this is how the CFS Mold Tour began - he's taken many prominent people on this tour, author Julie Rehmeyer (Through the Shadow Lands) and she became a mold avoider Powerful Neurotoxin 0:13:00 Jennifer Brea, director of documentary Unrest also got Mold Tour and realized she needed to avoid mold too - what is curious to Erik, is that no researcher enquired about why Jen was avoiding mold in her documentary 0:14:00 Erik has asked researchers at screenings of Unrest why they think Jen is doing that - but he has not been able to drum up any interested researchers - because SC is one of the most powerful neurotoxins known to man, it is essentially like nerve gas, so neuroinflammatory - repeated exposures cause neurological symptoms similar
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 - 52min - 24 - Erik Johnson (part 1): Mold Warrior - Escaping and exposing the cover up of toxic mold in the creation of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Eight year old Erik Johnson figured out what was making him very ill: the building his family lived in. But instead of listening to Erik, doctors gave him a psychological diagnosis - ‘maybe autism’ they said. In part 1 of my interview with Erik, he shares how he got healthy through insight into his symptom pattern, and then developing and tweaking his own treatment protocol over the following years. Erik also exposes the federal and local cover up of infamous illness outbreaks in Nevada. Erik tells how the Centre for Disease Control CDC) essentially invented the diagnosis of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ to explain the flu-like outbreaks. Mix in big egos, financial interests, and sensationalist media, and that led to words and concepts being twisted so that a physical illness was downplayed, and mass hysteria up played.The CDC then became complicit in psychologizing the illness in an effort to throw more confusion around the cause of the outbreaks. Meanwhile, Erik was doing his own investigation of the outbreaks and realized that not only was there a viral aspect to ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’, but that exposure to toxic black mold - specifically Stachybotrys Chartarum - was a necessary element. Yet, in spite of Erik’s - and their own - evidence, government and medical institutions did not want to research the role of toxic mold on human health. It is far less costly - for government, for health care, for the insurance and building industries - to label sick and disabled people as fakers and fraudsters, then to face the role toxic mold has on human health, and its implication in the emergence of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’. SHOW NOTES Autistic? 0:06:40 Erik grew up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, about 100 miles south of Lake Tahoe on a stage coach road in an old hotel that was a historic monument, unfortunately Erik had a terrible experience with toxic mold that made Erik very sick and could not recover - pretty much everything he's done is to get better from this toxic mold 0:08:10 In 1964 his family took over management of the hotel and Erik started to get nose bleeds, fatigue, blinding headaches, rashes, neurological problems - often resembling autism - he was in and out of hospitals, saw many doctors and none could figure it out - but Erik knew by getting away from the hotel he would feel better - in the summer he'd live in the buggy barn so his room was available for guests, so every summer he was like a normal kid with lots of energy - when he moved back into the hotel in the fall, he'd get sick again 0:09:10 Erik's family and doctor attributed his symptoms to psychological problems, developmental problems, suspected autism - Erik has been on a quest to find out how many others have been affected - in 1964 he read some Mark Twain books (including Roughing It) in which he describes this illness as people from the East moving for the Western cure in California or Nevada from what was then called 'consumption' - referred to tuberculosis or any kind of wasting disease 0:10:40 Erik thinks many of the 'consumption' patients suffered from toxic mold - a Mark Twain character moved West to die, slept under the stars, started to feel better and climbed mountains - Twain quipped that 'he came West to die and made a poor job of it' 0:11:40 Erik realized when he was outside, his health improved so it was obvious to him that it was something in the hotel making him sick - when they expanded the hotel and cut through a wall that was insulated with newspapers that were covered in black mold - because the papers were so old, Erik tried to read them but completely collapsed 0:12:40 It was clear black mold was causing his symptoms - Erik was 8 years old when he figured it out - so he spent as much time outside the hotel as possible, but had to move back in for the winter months - it was devastating for him - his family moved to Lake Tahoe in the late 70s 0:13:40 But Erik experienced the same symptoms i
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 - 55min - 23 - Andrea Carlomusto: Dental Damage by Devious Doctors for Pain and Profit
Andrea Carlomusto is a fitness trainer in great physical shape, but it has been a tumultuous road to get her body in peak condition, with a detour through anorexia where she weighed as little as 55 pounds and doctors had given up and sent her home to die. Due to her own research efforts, Andrea survived anorexia, but is now dealing with years of pain, looming bankruptcy, and crushing stress due to repeated dental errors that caused a stroke and pain so intense people commit suicide to escape it. Andrea has tried every avenue to get her teeth fixed, but meets successive roadblocks and dead ends. It turns out dentists have little oversight and less accountability - some of them are going for a weekend course to learn dental procedures from dubious dental teaching organizations, and then start practicing on unsuspecting patients, charging tens of thousands of dollars and causing permanent damage. Andrea is one of an exploding number of people coming forward to share their dental nightmare experiences. Opera and Anorexia 0:05:30 Andrea grew up in Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit - family of 6, Dad an Italian immigrant - happy, artistic, encouraged to sign and dance, school a big focus, involved in sports - no coddling, and Andrea appreciates that - very straightforward family - after high school, Andrea moved to California with her band, but they decided to be actors instead - Andrea was homesick and returned to Michigan 0:07:30 Andrea considered the military - Andrea is also a singer and got a scholarship to college for opera singing and attended it in downtown Detroit, but lost the scholarship due to health issues - from age 8 Andrea had an eating eating disorder - in her early 20s she was as low as 55 pounds - it caused a lot of damage to the body - she couldn't walk, her family was waiting for her to die 0:08:30 Since she didn't have health insurance, she was put in the 'nutty bin', but they couldn't do much and sent Andrea home to die - but Andrea started researching to get herself better because she did not want to die - Andrea thinks it was a lack of control that caused her eating disorder, but it is complex 0:09:30 Focusing on the obsessive compulsive aspect rather than the 'I'm fat' aspect as Andrea never thought of herself as fat, she was playing mental games with herself that she took to far - she uses that insight to help her clients in her fitness biz - control issues, perfectionism, making every one happy, people pleasing are aspects 0:10:30 Poor diet, lack of calories plays with hormones and neurotransmitters contributes to mental health issues in eating disorders with a perfectionist attitude - Andrea has done a lot of research since because health care providers don't understand - they try to help, but there is not enough research - Andrea says there is a lot of lying and manipulating by patients, but people don't want to tackle that 0:11:30 Key to recovery is focusing on something healthy to obsess about - for Andrea it was research - and she loved fitness - and she loved life and wanted to experience as many things as she could, and that was the key to her recovery - eating healthy is easy now 0:12:30 Andrea doesn't have the same urges to diet, or the same thoughts when she looks in a mirror - since she's been at the edge of death, she never wants to go back there - the eating disorder for 20 years caused a lot of systemic effects in her body: hypertrophic heart, weak esophageal sphincter and scar tissue on her esophagus, anemia, endometriosis, can't have children - Andrea stopped going to doctors when she got herself better because they didn't understand eating disorders or the systemic effects Botched surgery 0:14:30 Andrea was doing well until her body stopped urinating and passing bowel movements, very painful, went to ER and they said she had IBS, Andrea said she knows she has that, and these symptoms were not IBS - then they said she was constipate
Fri, 22 Nov 2019 - 1h 12min - 22 - Steve Turner: Nurse and medical educator: "Arrogance is a medical error"
Nurse and medical educator Steve Turner talks about the medical errors he’s witnessed - and participated in - and how being a health care whistleblower is likely to get you fired from your job and blacklisted from future opportunities. Steve also talks about the tragic and needless death of Oliver McGowan who was killed by multiple health care workers who failed to listen to him. Steve also shares how the paternalistic physician culture has baked-in arrogance, and that in and of itself, is a medical error. Mental Health Nurse 0:05:00 Steve grew up in Stafford, England - a happy childhood, with one brother - moved to Rugby when he was 17 and he had been doing poorly at school but then started to think about his future - Steve did not know what he wanted to do, but because his friend's father was a psychiatrist, and Steve grandfather had mental health issues, he was drawn to that field - but worked in a restaurant in Coventry and met some Australians working there 0:07:00 Steve then moved to Shepparton, Australia on a work holiday - Steve had a wonderful experience, working in bars, fruit picking and other casual labour - Australia was booming while the UK experienced 'the winter of discontent' - that 10 years traveling and working in Australia provided more experience to draw on than any training course - have to rely on your wits, meet a variety of people - when he later became a mental health nurse, he'd already come across mental health issues from his experiences 0:09:00 Steve always thought he wanted to do nursing, had realized he couldn't be a casual, traveling worker forever - he was accepted by St Georges in London, UK - Steve did general nursing followed by specialty in mental health nursing - drawn to it in part because his grandfather spent his life in a mental hospital and died there 0:11:00 Steve was attracted to the physical and mental health of a person, to look after the whole person - when Steve first started, he worked in a large acute ward with 40 beds - it wasn't a kind environment, but the people he worked with were good - Steve was interested in community mental health, and there were a few teams at that time - when Steve returned to nursing in 2002, he recognized how much things had changed 0:13:00 After nursing for a few years, Steve started to work for US company SMS in the UK - they provided IT services to health care and Steve thought he'd work for them for 6 months but stayed to 10 years working on clinical systems and became a senior consultant - working on 'clinical systems' meant he spent a lot of time on wards and with doctors - Steve also specialized in clinical governance showing the clinical credibility of the system 0:14:45 Steve tweets and talks about medical errors a lot - the 1980s things were different, a lot of shocking things - Steve worked on a ward where one doctor would not tell cancer patients they had cancer, something that wouldn't happen now - Steve has seen medical errors happen and 1 doctor say another is responsible, but nothing came of it - there was no structure to deal with it - doctors and nurses were a law unto themselves Arrogance and Paternalism 0:15:30 A recent case in the UK where a doctor didn't tell a patient a cancer diagnosis and that has hit the headlines - Steve thinks it is arrogance - but often patients would ask nurses for the truth and would be told - the kindest way to describe doctors holding back a diagnosis is paternalism, "I'm the doctor, your the patient, I know what's best for you' - still common unfortunately 0:17:00 After 10 years in IT, Steve returned to nursing in 2002 - worked for local 'assertive outreach team' to work with people who have been labeled 'hard to engage' but Steve said its the services that are hard to engage - working with people that are marginalized, they had more freedom to try different approaches and had a lighter case load 0:18:30 Steve worked with people who took stree
Fri, 15 Nov 2019 - 1h 03min - 21 - Elsie Saba: Tell the World of Doctor's Death Traps, Deceit and a License to Kill
Author Elsie Saba tells about her experience of misdiagnosis of an ovarian tumour and subsequent surgery where the surgeon removed the tumour, her ovary and - to Elsie’s surprise - he also took out her uterus. But Elsie didn’t have an ovarian tumour. And the surgeon didn’t remove her ovary. What the surgeon did do was leave Elsie with immense pain, an inability to urinate, falsified her medical records, and then told her it was all in her head. As you will hear, Elsie is a fighter and wants to warn others about the dangers in the medical industry and has penned an account of her medical experiences in her book Tell the World of Doctor’s Death Traps, Deceit and a License to Kill. SHOW NOTES Fulbright Scholarship 0:05:30 Elsie Blanche Saba was born in 1930 - born in Nazareth, when it was in Palestine - when she was 2 months she went with her mother to see her father who was working on an archeaological dig in Egypt for Princeton University - then transferred to Antioch (Turkey) to excavate Roman artefacts - Elsie went to a private school 0:07:30 WW II started and Princeton closed the project - her family to moved to Haifa until Germans bombed and they moved to Nazareth - her parents enrolled Elsie in Smith's College in Jerusalem until 10th grade boarding school with German nuns - when war got worse and they closed the school - so her parents hired French nuns to teach Elsie - when she finished high school, Elsie told her parents she wanted to smuggle herself to the American University in Beirut, Lebanon 0:09:30 Her father said she would be killed crossing the mountains - Elsies parents hired a smuggler to get Elsie across the mountains to Lebanon - eventually she went back and forth 4 times 0:11:30 After she graduated from university she returned to Nazareth until 1955 and moved to the US to attend Kalamazoo University with Masters Degree - in 1962 Elsie won the National Travel Award and in 1964 she won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Paris 0:12:30 Elsie taught high school in San Diego - in 1972 while helping her students she fell on the floor and went to her internist and he took an x-ray of her back and her ankle - Elsie had severe pain but the internist said it would go away - then Elsie started hemorrhaging and went to a gynecologist and he said Elsie had an orange size ovarian cyst and he needed to operate - Elsie said 'no', she felt she the problem was in her right kidney - but he wouldn't listen and Elsie got another referral 0:14:30 Else went to Dr Vandenberg and he agreed she needed an IVP (x-ray of kidneys) and that she did not have an ovarian cyst - but her internist, Dr Pund, refused the IVP - Elsie begged him for IVP because she knew her right kidney was the problem - Dr Pund said he was not following Dr Vandenberg's orders and told Elsie to have the operation to remove the ovarian cyst - after the operation Elsie could not urinate and told her gynecologist and he said it was 'in her head' 0:16:30 The gynecologist said her removed the cyst and her right ovary and a hysterectomy - for 3 months she went to many doctors and the gynecologist said Elsie was healthy, but her internist refused to sign her disability form and told her to go back to work - Elsie told him she couldn't urinate, and he said he would tell the gynecologist to send Elsie for IVP (to x-ray her kidney) Ovarian cyst surgery 0:18:30 Elsie asked the internist to send her for IVP but he refused and 'didn't want to get involved' - Elsie went for kidney x-ray and then was sent to a urologist and he said he had to do exploratory operation to find the problem - but Elsie's parents said 'no' and told her to go Dr John Steel, urologist and he took x-ray and diagnosed Elsie with a utero pelvic obstruction and that she was born with it 0:20:30 The nerves of the right kidney are pressing against the ureter and causing the obstruction - he sent Elsie to the hospital for an operation - when she woke she
Fri, 08 Nov 2019 - 52min - 20 - Hillary Johnson: The Banality of Medical Evil (part 2)
In part 2 journalist Hillary Johnson shares more about her work and her life. If you’re not familiar with the story of how a biological disease that occurs in sporadic and epidemic forms was labeled as ‘all in your head’ by the Centre for Disease Control, than you’ll want to hear how it all went down from the one person who uncovered the corruption. Hillary talks about her healthiest 9 months in 35 years of being ill when she was taking Ampligen and why she’s not still taking it. Hillary shares about being banned from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) for seeking the truth and how that didn’t stop her from writing Osler’s Web. Hillary also tells how the CDC and a United Kingdom psychiatrist obliterated the lives of millions of patients worldwide by perpetuating a psychosomatic label that denied them biomedical care. SHOW NOTES Heart attack and cancer 0:06:00 The cardiologist found abnormal EKGs - myocardia eschemia, everything short of a heart attack and refused to approve Hillary for surgery until she found what was wrong with Hillary's heart - but Hillary had to fly for a funeral and had a heart attack on the plane Hillary returned to New York about 5 days later, and went to the cardiologist and the results showed Hillary had had a heart attack and the cardiologist again refused to approve Hillary for thyroid cancer surgery 0:07:00 Simultaneously, Hillary was working with a lawyer for 4 years fighting with disability insurer who said Hillary was making up her illness - the lawyer suggested to ask the cardiologist for a note for the insurance company - but the cardiologist refused - but the next day her staff notified Hillary that she'd been approved for surgery, so Hillary called the cardiologist and she said that it had just dawned on her that Hillary had cancer and needed surgery and "whatever happens, happens" 0:08:30 Several years later Hillary had heart attack symptoms again so made an appointment with the cardiologist - the cardiologist met Hillary in the waiting room and said she'd only agree to examine Hillary for a heart attack if she agreed to seek psychological counselling 0:10:00 About 6 years ago Hillary went to an ER with cardiac pain - they cared for her for 10 hours and recommend she see a cardiologist - this one said Hillary's symptoms were just stress - Hillary's EKGs are always wildly abnormal but she's given up trying to get help for it 0:11:00 Sometime, and usually now, Hillary does not disclose she has ME to a doctor - but even when she does disclose, it changes the relationship with the doctor, they pull back, not as friendly - there is no understanding or knowledge among doctors and we can thank CDC (Centre for Disease Control) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) - derogatory media worsens and they never stand up to contradict 0:13:00 They are glad, it allows them to continue to barely fund research - an anecdote about naming ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) as CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) and those CDC letters - one of the doctors made a joke that by calling it other than CFS would set up insurance companies for 'chronic' disbursements - in other words, protect the insurance companies 0:16:00 Simon Wessely in the United Kingdom has done a lot of damage saying ME is psychosomatic - after the CDC published its report and rolled out the name CFS - Wessely sent Holmes a letter, and you could almost see Wessely rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation - he congratulated on a wise choice in name and he had always thought ME was psychosomatic not organic and eager to collaborate for a long future 0:20:00 Hillary believes all the psychological proponents should be criminally charged - patients in the Netflix documentary Afflicted are suing the producers for defamation - Hillary hopes they bankrupt Netflix - but the original defamers, Gary Holmes, John Kaplan, Larry Schonberger really controlled this disease: no funding, no resources, no epid
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 - 1h 18min - 19 - Hillary Johnson: The Banality of Medical Evil (part 1) - Investigative journalist pulls no punches to the medical industry.
Osler’s Web author and whistleblower Hillary Johnson got up close and personal with the heroes and villains inside the medical industry. Motivated by her investigative journalistic sense of health care corruption, and by her own experience with chronic illness and medical errors, Hillary exposed the $150 million criminal diversion of researching funding that prompted two federal investigations. In part 1 of the interview, Hillary shares about her early life and passion for writing, working for major magazines like Rolling Stone, and how a mysterious illness derailed her sky-rocketing bi-coastal career. Always a Writer 0:05:30 Hillary born in Minneapolis, Minnesota - lots lakes, father had a huge sailboat and race it every summer - in winter Hillary skied and skated - wonderful childhood but marred by parents divorce when she was 12 - Hillary wanted to live at an elite girl's boarding school - an incredible advantage to attend - later attended UC Berkeley for undergrad degree in journalism, the only thing she ever wanted to do - moved to New York to attend Columbia University for a Master's in Journalism 0:09:30 Hillary has been obsessed with writing her whole childhood - had written 3 novels by the time she finished grade school - Hillary's mother was very literary person, read 2 or 3 books a week, and pass along to Hillary - and she become comfortable with language and was encouraged by her mother 0:11:20 First job was a newspaper reporter for Minneapolis Tribune - but a very sexist environment, only 2 women reporters on staff, Hillary was sexually harassed - hired to Congressional Quarterly in Washington DC, but again sexual discrimination in that workplace 0:13:15 Hillary then worked at Women's Wear Daily, a very trendy newspaper - also covered culture, Hillary assignment - could interview writers she admired, business people (Malcolm Forbes), Watergate prosecutor...fascinating people of the time - did for a couple of years then hired by Life Magazine, a news reporter for 4 years 0:15:05 At age 31, Hillary decided to leave Life to do freelance work - was a contributor to Rolling Stone magazine - wrote for all major New York publications - a wonderful life - traveling back and forth between her 2 apartments in New York and Los Angeles 0:16:30 When in LA in March 1986 to work on her first book - on March 8th woke up sick and that was the end of her journalism career as she had known it - but it took about a year for her editors to get the message because they kept calling asking her to work - Hillary didn't want to believe she was permanently sick 0:17:30 Hillary was soon diagnosed with encephalitis - it was hard to explain to people neurological deficits - on morning of March 8th, within 2 steps of walking she crashed into the wall - she was supposed to go with her fiancee to meet his father and they drove to another city but Hillary was too sick to raise her head to look at him 0:20:00 Hillary had very high fever, extremely sore throat - she couldn't understand the conversation at lunch - went to washroom and passed out and had to be carried out - Hillary lost consciousness multiple times that day, could barely walk - she knew she was incredibly ill but couldn't imagine what it could be Outbreak 0:21:30 Hillary's fiancee was alarmed - they knew each other about year - Hillary just got worse until she was bed ridden, unable to walk - he took her to see a doctor, but had to be carried - by chance, this doctor had been talking with his friend at the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) so was aware of Hillary's symptoms but didn't have a name for it, but had been seeing 20 to 30 patients a month with identical symptoms 0:23:30 Hillary was wheeled into the waiting room - after 2 years of Hillary being severely ill, her fiancee moved on and the relationship ended and she moved back to New York 0:25:15 Hillary has been sick for 35 years and has had many, many experienc
Fri, 25 Oct 2019 - 1h 12min - 18 - Jayne Barnard: "Falls" author medically dehydrated for 20+ years and doctors oblivious
Award winning detective mystery author Jayne Barnard has been permanently harmed by medical error: multiple doctors over multiple decades failed to investigate if chronic dehydration from medication was slowly killing Jayne. Through her own research and tenacity - and in spite of a neglectful and ignorant health care system - Jayne has come back from years of being bed bound and non-functional and unable to communicate, to pursue her creative passion for writing. Jayne is still quite disabled and needs oxygen and regular saline IVs in order to function for 15 minutes out of every hour. Recently she started a new medication and it is the 1st time in 27 years that her neck muscles were strong enough to hold up her head without pain and collapse. Jayne shares how she had to orchestrate her own diagnosis and treatment, how she managed to live for years being severely sick and disabled and cared for by her family, and how she created her own incredible stranger-than-fiction narrative by producing award winning writing and snagging a 3 book publishing deal for The Falls Mysteries trilogy from a mostly horizontal life. Sick Baby 0:05:40 Jayne's father was in the military, air force, so although born in Cold Lake, Alberta (Canada) and was an ill baby, spent a lot of first year in the hospital - her family was terrified she'd be dead before her first birthday - started as a kidney infection, very high fever 0:06:45 They moved 12 times in 14 years, in 5 provinces, 2 US states, and Germany on a NATO base - Jayne forced herself to overcome her shyness to make friends each time they moved - she learned she had to make her social life, nobody else could do it for her 0:07:45 Jayne went to college for social work, got married, got divorced, back to University for psychology and theatre, almost finished her degree and got a diagnosis of ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) in 1992 - onset seemed sudden at the time, but in retrospect the signs were there 0:08:30 Jayne was under a lot of stress being a single Mom with a controlling ex-spouse - there were not a lot of supports for chronically ill people - she was commuting about 70km / 50 miles, both ways and unbeknownst to Jayne, her car was spraying antifreeze and she was inhaling it - she got an opportunistic infection 0:10:20 Jayne had such severe cognitive impairment from being sick that she had a car accident - she went to her doctor and said something is seriously wrong - Jayne always had an abnormal response to exercise, but she was fit and a runner and hiker, biked, swam - but always 48 hours later severe muscle pain 0:11:30 Jayne learned about post exertional exacerbation of symptoms, now recognized as hallmark symptom of ME, was always an experience of Jayne in response to exercise - but when she got sick she could barely walk 2 blocks 0:12:30 Her GP wanted to send her to a psychiatrist - but Jayne kept insisting it was physical and he sent her to the town's only internal medicine doctor and he was dedicated to finding out what was wrong - Jayne got a diagnosis of 'chronic fatigue syndrome' from a specialist 0:14:50 But the specialist said there was nothing they could do for her - that was crushing for Jayne, she was at the start of her career, in peak physical shape, and this diagnosis hit like a ton of bricks - if she didn't have 2 small children she probably would have committed suicide 0:15:30 The internal medicine doc prescribed steroids, and they kept Jayne on her feet for 2 years - and this is the 1st of 2 medical errors impacting Jayne's life: he also prescribed aldosterone / spironolactone - it acted as a diuretic and it pushed Jayne into chronic dehydration causing long term tissue damage and was not corrected until 2014 Crippled and Home Bound 0:18:00 So it was 20 years of chronic cellular dehydration and none of the many specialists she saw ever looked into it - one of the global problems with an ME diagnosis is that
Fri, 18 Oct 2019 - 1h 28min - 17 - Nurse CC: Medical Errors and the Medical Mafia
CC* is a Registered Nurse and has a lifetime of expertise and wisdom from both sides of the health care dynamic - as a patient harmed by medical care, and as a nurse. (* “CC” is a pseudonym to protect her identity.) It is CC’s experience having a permanently damaged body from multiple medical errors that have motivated her to share her story of neglectful and abusive encounters with inept and egotistical physicians so that others are aware and can take steps to protect themselves. The medical error damage to CC was compounded by a health care system designed to respond to medical errors with mafioso tactics: deny and defend and denigrate. Nurse CC pulls no punches in telling the tragic truth of the power dynamics, push for profit, and the wholesale of humanity by the Medical Mafia. SHOW NOTES Childhood Spinal Infection NB - some of these show notes are based on CC's preparatory notes. Those portions are CC's voice and are italicized. 0:05:00 Born in 1957 just north of Philadelphia to a white, middle class family. Grew up suburban, one of 4 children with a very tough childhood due to family dysfunction. I was extremely ill at age 6 with a spinal infection that resulted in extended hospitalization, inability to attend first grade for 1/2 the school year and confinement in a body cast and body brace for years. Despite many obstacles I was smart, had tenacity and fight that would both make me the awesome person I am today despite much suffering and societal disapproval. 0:06:05 Fought my way to be the first on either side of my family to put myself through college. I entered a collegiate nursing program in a religious institution where I hardly fit in but I had the ability, even by that point, to become a chameleon instinctually knowing how to acclimate to any environment I found myself in throughout my life. Once there, a new world opened up to me and I was on fire. 0:07:00 Began working in a hospital technical job in high school paying well and allowing me to support myself and finance my tuition, books, transportation with a small student loan. Became a RN in 1979. It was hell but I had only known hell all my life so I loved it. It felt normal. Drama, life and death, front seat row to people’s most intimate moments. However, I had empathy even at that point for any human’s suffering and this became more and more of a curse as I aged. 0:08:00 Of course I married, I was pretty, had a supervisory role within 18 months of graduation and by society’s yardstick I was doing quite well. Eventually I reluctantly had children which was interesting because I didn’t ever like children but succumbed to my husband’s wishes and that in and of itself is a miracle that I could only attribute to God. Once my first baby was born, I truly knew love for the first time in life. I wanted to be a full time Mom but this was not even a remote possibility. 0:09:30 CC chose to become a school nurse to be closer to her kids, but away from the life and death drama of ICU - CC had a 2nd child with many birth defects and she had to advocate for him - he'd be dead if she wasn't a good advocate. Flouroquinlolones 0:11:30 When CC worked in ICU, flouroquinolones were not in common use - I have extremely hard scientific evidence that I was given Levaquin in 2002 during a surgery but that memory would never occur to me till my records had been destroyed due to laws allowing health care providers to destroy after 7 years. 0:12:30 CC was an emotional wreck after that surgery, crying all the time - when she returned to work she had a mean streak - she asked her surgeon friend for an antidepressant prescription, and that helped control her behavior. 0:13:30 In 2011, CC had bronchitis so just went to an urgent care clinic and was given Ciprofloxacin. 0:14:30 Prior to Cipro, I had been superwoman. I worked at times 3 jobs, obtained a Master’s degree and even a real estate license. So, because I was a school nurs
Fri, 11 Oct 2019 - 1h 41min - 16 - Deann Merchant: Dental Poisoning - "Learn from my mistake. Don't become one."
From early childhood, Deann Merchant longed to share her voice and music. But as you will hear Deann explain, it was a way to escape the neglect and abuse. Neglect that left her mostly toothless by age 16. As an adult, her musical passion would only be defeated by her lack of a toothy smile. She hid from the world. But Deann was determined to pursue her passion and she re-mortgaged her house to finance the implant of dentures that would physically allow her to sing, and emotionally free her to perform in public. Deann was fulfilling her life long dream and sharing her voice and music. She was the happiest she’d ever been. But then her dentures started to fail, and the nightmare of losing her ability to sing, and confidence to appear in public, vanished. That loss was compounded by 2 things: metal poisoning as the dental restoration leaked toxic elements into her body, and a dental industry without oversight or accountability. Deann shares how she’s evolved to be an advocate for people harmed by the dental industry. SHOW NOTES Born Musician 0:05:10 Deann grew up in Massachusetts but her childhood was not stellar, she is an abuse and neglect survivor, this is important to her story because the abuse and neglect caused her to lose her teeth at 16 - she had a challenging and dysfunctional family 0:06:10 At 3 years old, Deann is on a bar room floor eating coke and chips - at 6 years old she was viciously abused for an undiagnosed physical ailment - at 9 years she watched her mother throwing a knife across a room - at 11 years Deann got tuberculosis because her father was dying in the house - and at 16 years old she lost her teeth 0:06:55 But underneath all that, Deann knew she had a voice and something to offer - music and singing - and that allowed her to survive - her family did not seek medical treatment or dental treatment 0:07:40 At 15 Deann got an abscess and the school finally stepped in and said Deann needs major dental work and it has to be addressed - but it was too late and too expensive to save them, so that had to be removed, except for bottom six 0:08:10 But because it was done to Deann before she had finished growing, it caused her upper jaw to atrophy immediately - over the years Deann became 'indentalist' / toothless because of the atrophy 0:09:10 This caused Deann to feel insecure - Deann has no doubt that had she been born into a loving and accepting family, she would have been on stage singing - but Deann's mother didn't want boys, girls were nothing to her, Deann was insignificant and a burden - this is set Deann up for adulthood in a really bad way 0:10:10 It made Deann hide with embarrassment and pain that she would be judged and couldn't do her craft of singing - all singers need teeth, saliva and all functioning - as Deann looks back, it looks like her mother knew singing and music was Deann passion and made it her sole purpose that Deann would never achieve that 0:11:40 Deann ended up with an upper denture and her 6 lower teeth - over the years because Deann couldn't use her molars to chew, she had to use her front and that caused her upper jaw to wear down, so that an upper denture couldn't be affixed Going After Her Dreams 0:12:40 Because her upper denture was not properly modeled, it caused a lot of wear and tear on her gums over 27 years 0:13:40 Deann got married as a teenager, a mistake as she had no social and life skills to make a good decision - she grew up only hearing how stupid she was, how ugly, don't smile, don't talk, keep your head down, use your back because you don't have any brains - so when someone paid her positive attention, she was attracted to him 0:15:10 Her marriage lasted 10 years, but he was physically abusive, broke her dentures, black eyes, etc - but she had 3 boys and didn't want them to see or live in that same situation she grew up in - Deann had to escape the home to escape a death by her husband 0:17:10
Fri, 04 Oct 2019 - 1h 42min - 15 - Lily Kaiser: Patient Gaslighting in Germany - How psychiatry harms
Lily Kaiser is from Germany, and she started getting sick while completing her PhD in mathematics. Unfortunately, Lily experienced patient gaslighting by the medical system: they denied her physical symptoms were real. Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or persons seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim's belief. It is a common tactic used by sociopaths and narcissists. And many psychiatrists. As you will hear Lily report about her genetic testing, it turns out she has a rare pathogenic variant gene that may be responsible for her myriad symptoms. Note that "Lily" is using a pseudonym to protect her from more medical gaslighting. LILY KAISER SHOW NOTES Math Wiz 0:05:10 Lily grew up in the country side of Germany with her brothers and sisters - Lily did well in school, very good grades - she was a healthy child with the usual stomach bugs and occasional headache - she did have weak upper body strength so got a poor grade for fitness class - Lily tried to train her upper body, but it did not respond - ("Lily" is a pseudonym to protect her from more medical gaslighting) 0:08:10 Lily studied mathematics at university and she choose this major in part because of the film "A Beautiful Mind" - Lily always liked math and participated in math competitions - she found studying math at university to be very enjoyable - Lily is by nature curious and likes to explore - and math is about thinking, but she cannot do it any more due to illness 0:10:10 But Lily did not like school before university because she likes her freedom and to make decisions for herself - so she had disagreements and fights with her teachers who wanted her to obey - thinking was prohibited 0:11:25 Lily started to get sick during her PhD studies - she had a urinary infection that was treated with antibiotics and experienced gut pain, in retrospect she thinks it is neuropathic pain, especially when she is crashed with post exertional malaise (PEM) - but during that time she continued to have pain and stomach problems - about 4 or 5 years later she got ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), but initially ignored it as she could still do her work and socializing 0:12:50 But this changed with an infection, and ME started mildly - Lily started to experience the symptom PEM and was too sick to be social on the weekends as she had to rest and conserve energy to make it through the work week - no parties, no dancing 0:14:10 Lily has been diagnosed with Small Fibre Neuropathy (SFN) and it may be implicated in her gut pain - she had multiple infections before ME developed, she just thought she had the common flu but she had other weird symptoms like cognitive and balance problems and felt exhausted - she continued working out but this may have been a big mistake - she was doing high performance training about 14 hours a week before she got sick 0:16:10 Lily had a passion for lifting weights and doing aerobic training but with her symptoms she cut back to 7 hours a week - but it felt like the infection never went away and she was on sick leave for 5 weeks and took 1 week vacation but did not feel better - Lily did not want to miss work and forced herself to return - soon she realized she was not well enough for full time and reduced her hours Being Gaslighted 0:17:50 But while she cut her work hours, she resumed her 14 hours of physical training - at this point Lily is convinced her problem is not physical, her problem is that she is stressed and that if she did the things she loved, her symptoms would resolve - that did not happen - but Lily was totally convinced that doing what she loved would fix her physical symptoms - her doctors reinforced
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 - 59min - 14 - Lisa Jones: "I refuse to go to the ER to be humiliated." - Living with a complex illness.
Hello humanity - I have to apologize that this episode is no longer available. As others have learned, whistleblowers pay a price - professionally, socially, financially - and emotionally. Unfortunately, this episode guests’ trauma and PTSD from health care experiences continues to profoundly impact them. They had hoped that by sharing their story anonymously, others would not experience the same health care trauma. And many people on social media did commiserate with similar traumatic health care experiences, however, the knowledge that the guests’ story was public weighed heavily on them. No doubt concern for future access to safe health care was a consideration. And I understand - sick and disabled patients are vulnerable enough without having to worry if local health care workers are going to seek revenge for speaking publicly about harmful and dangerous health care experiences. Until the medical system values transparency, and devalues arrogant god complexes, whistleblowers - especially sick and disabled whistleblowers - will continue to be intimidated and punished for speaking out about harmful health care. This must change. If you have a compelling medical error experience you would like to share on the podcast, send me an email with a brief description of your experience to RemediesPodcast@gmail.com _______________________________________ Support Medical Error Interviews podcast Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean or other podcast platforms. Become a monthly Patron by going to Patreon.com/MedicalErrorInterviews. Premium Patrons get access to video versions of interviews. _______________________________________ Harmed by medical error? Living with a chronic illness? Do you need the support of an experienced counsellor? You can book an online video counseling appointment with me - find out more Remedies Counseling
Fri, 20 Sep 2019 - 04min - 13 - Mike Eisenberg: To Err Is Human: A documentary about medical error and patient safety
The Sheridan family knows first hand the devastation caused by medical error. Sue and Pat’s newborn son Cal, due to misdiagnosing his jaundice, was brain damaged. Cal now lives with significant cerebral palsy. Years later, Pat was correctly diagnosed with cancer, but for 6 months a pathology report failed to be communicated to the doctor or Pat. Pat died of cancer at age 45. In this episode of Medical Error Interviews, I chat with documentary filmmaker Mike Eisenberg about his film To Err Is Human and about the Sheridan family and the state of patient safety. Mike is the son of late patient safety pioneer Dr John M Eisenberg, and as you will hear Mike say, when he started looking into medical errors and patient safety, he felt compelled to carry on his father’s legacy. Mike Eisenberg Show Notes Following his Father's footsteps 0:07:00 Mike was born in Philadelphia - childhood mostly in Maryland - but as a child was not interested in health care, even though his father was a patient safety advocate - as documentary filmmaker he wanted to tell stories otherwise not seen - fiction is harder and more expensive to make into film - the documentary path led down the path to make "To Err is Human" 0:09:30 About 3.5 years ago it started with a short film on AHRQ: Agency for Health Research and Quality, the organization Mike's father started and was the Director until he passed away in 2002 - there was annual debates over AHRQ's budget and attempts to slash it - but AHRQ has far less money they should given their role 0:10:30 Started the documentary by driving to DC, pay out of pocket, and interview his father's old colleagues about AHRQ's role that the public knows nothing about - themes of medical error, patient safety and improving care emerged - it was evident to Mike that conversation was no longer being had - if felt to Mike it was his responsibility to carry on his father's work 0:11:30 We, including his production partners Matt Downe and Kailey Brackett try to stay positive in tone and show what happens when people take this seriously - focus on the process to make things better 0:12:45 Report in late '90s titled To Err is Human, Building a Safer System - a report that used research that determined how bad medical error was - the data was shocking - it said 44,000 to 98,000 died each year from medical error - that was brand new concept, made new headlines, President Clinton said it would be tackled 0:14:00 At the time, those numbers were questioned - but today one study, Marty Macquarrie out of John Hopkins that says 251,000 die each year - and John James's study that says between 240,000 and 440,000 die each year from medical error - hard to quantify because CDC (Centre for Disease Control) doesn't have a box to tick for 'death by medical error' - even conservative estimates have medical error as 3rd leading cause of death 0:16:00 We compare how many plane crashes, 7 or 8, would happen each day to equal medical error deaths each day - a staggering number, almost the same as the opioid epidemic - the important question is not accuracy of numbers, but how to get accurate numbers The Sheridan family and medical errors 0:18:00 There is not a consensus around medical error death numbers - sometimes people die at home from hospital errors - part of the reason we've not seen more solutions is that the public, especially Americans, have been trained to treat the medical system: that physicians don't make mistakes, they are right all the time 0:19:45 The real reason we've not seen change in patient safety is because physicians have not embraced the patient in this process - some health care systems have, they visited over 250 health care systems - many of them doing interesting things to help curb error, but only a few have really engaged the patient 0:21:00 If a Hospital engages patients in a patient safety process, then the Hospital is admitting it makes mistakes, and that a
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 - 1h 22min - 12 - Elizabeth Hopkins: "Please kill me. Please let me die." How patient shaming by doctors harms and kills.
Elizabeth went to the hospital emergency department with intense abdominal pain and was shamed by the doctor for wasting his time. A few days later, Elizabeth was in even more pain and started projectile vomiting - she returned to the hospital and they found what they missed the first time: Elizabeth’s bowel had ruptured and the infection had spilled out of her colon and she was in life-threatening sepsis. Then Elizabeth’s health care got much worse. The doctor gave Elizabeth 2 options: simple minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to drain the infection filled abscesses and let the bowel heal, or invasive surgery. Elizabeth asked for the simple procedure to drain the abscesses. When she woke from surgery the intense pain felt like she had been cut in half - she begged the hospital staff to kill her to escape the pain. Then she found out they had removed 10 inches of her bowel and left her with an ostomy bag. SHOW NOTES Growing up with a parent with PTSD 0:05:50 Elizabeth's father was in the military, so they moved every few years - normal for her, but didn't know same people all her life - father was Military Police and Korean War veteran with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) - he had rages, inability to handle stress - fairly high up in military and investigated military suicide - he was hospitalized for a couple of weeks during the Korean War for 'shell shock' - lived on the sharp edge of his emotions 0:08:00 Be wary, be quiet - very quiet family, kids well behaved - {sound of ambulance siren in background} - Elizabeth says she is triggered by the ambulance siren that goes by several times a day - she's had PTSD since she was 16 - PTSD had gotten some better, but worse in the last 5 years since the medical error 0:09:45 Family moved to Ottawa when Elizabeth was 15 for a year before her father retired and they moved to Nova Scotia - Elizabeth went to university in New Brunswick when she was 20 - her Mom got sick and during Elizabeth's 2nd year, her mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer - both her parents would die of bowel cancer - mother battled for 4 years and 4 surgeries 0:11:00 Elizabeth graduated university and came home to work and care for her mother - Elizabeth worked as a reporter for a small town newspaper for 3 years, then a photo tech but kept connected to the newspaper - went back to school a couple of times, in 2011 to community college to take Information Technology - had been working with intellectually challenges adults and had a bad back with no chance of advancement 0:13:00 2014 Elizabeth got sick - working as a caregiver for a man with MS (multiple sclerosis) - and working another job and not eating much for about 3 months - August 2014 Elizabeth's bowel stopped functioning - a few days later started to hurt badly - no past history of gastro intestinal problems - Elizabeth was just a few years older than when her Mom was diagnosed with bowel cancer 0:15:20 The pain so bad she went to an emergency room (ER) - Elizabeth does have high blood pressure and arthritis but had never been sick - told ER she had pain in lower left abdomen - doctor said she had good bowel sounds and told her to go home and eat something, that she was only constipated - Elizabeth was relieved hearing she was going to be okay Shamed by emergency room doctor 0:17:00 Elizabeth didn't really believe him because she'd never had pain like this before - doctor didn't do any blood tests or xrays, just sent her home at 11pm and and told her ER was for emergencies - Elizabeth felt shamed, like she was abusing the system 0:19:30 Elizabeth went to work for 8am - at about 3:30am Wed Sept 10th, Elizabeth woke up incredible pain and projectile vomiting - Elizabeth knew something was wrong, but also knew she had a 15 hour shift ahead - she went to work but spent much of the day laying on her client's bathroom floor vomiting - while also trying to take care of disabled client - Elizabeth in i
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 - 1h 24min - 11 - Andrea Vedeler: The Norwegian Dilemma: Let ‘rehab’ make her even sicker for disability support, or have no income?
The Norwegian health care system makes some patients sicker - sometimes permanently. Andrea is quite ill and very disabled - she is only well enough to leave her home about once a month. But Andrea has a Hobson’s Choice: Live at a work place rehab institution for a month or live without income. Medical error takes many forms. A misunderstanding of an illness has - and does - lead to medical harm and death. In Norway, bureaucrats have created a system that essentially requires sick and disabled patients, in order to be eligible for long term disability, live for 4 weeks at a rehab designed to return them to work. But for some sick and disabled patients - like Andrea - travel to the rehab and its environment and activities will make them even sicker. Sometimes permanently. This leaves Andrea with a dilemma: get sicker - perhaps permanently - to get disability support to live, or remain less sick but live without income? SHOW NOTES Idyllic Childhood, until... 04:50 Andrea grew up in a small town outside of Oslo (Norway) - small safe neighbourhood - born in 1987 - Andrea is a millenial and looking back it seemed almost absurdly idyllic - so a very nice childhood, not athletic but very active, hiking, swimming, biking, baseball - only child, parents are divorced, but very functional divorce and good environment 06:30 Andrea loved school, excellent student, loved reading, always 3 books at a time so there was no gap without a book - worse nightmare in childhood and adolescent, biggest horror she could imagine because she loooooved reading - great teachers, friends - read a lot at home 07:45 Mostly fiction, had read all of her mother's books in Norwegian by the time she was 10 or 11, so had to start reading Enlgish books - a lot of sci fi and fantasy, because they came in series with lots of pages - reading a big part of her life until she started getting ill 08:45 Didn't get diagnosed with ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) until 2016, but in 2006 at age 19 years, Andrea got a series of infections over 2 months - had never been ill before, never missed a single day of school - after being sick, Andrea tried going to a spin class but couldn't even finish the warm up because lung capacity only 50% 09:50 Lung capacity slowly improved over the next year, but a lot of stomach problems and pain emerged - but it took 3 years to discover she had lactose intolerance, a rarity in Scandinavia, probably a result of antibiotics - inflammed easophagus, ulcer , developed asthma - went to study at university in another city, but there was always some health issue popping up, a virus, an infection 11:15 More tired and exhausted each semester, but still managing to study full time, work part time, volunteer, working out most of the time - loved the university life - but still had bouts of illness 12:20 Was working out 8 times a week, running, strength training - so periods of total functioning - but periods of time of illness and severity increased - really struggling by end of 2010, by early 2011 barely managed school course work - then went to Brazil to study for a year Better in Brazil 13:20 With the warm climate, reduced work load, afternoons spent on the beach, and she felt really good - in 2012 returned to study in Trondheim - was in the best shape of her life in autumn 2012 - doing her graduate studies, a lot of volunteering, and working - but only lasted about 12 months, in 2013 started struggling 14:35 Andrea realized she was making herself sicker by pushing through to do more and saying yes to more things - realized she had to slow down - but actually doing it is a lot harder 15:50 By starting something new she would get a boost in motivation, so had a lot on her plate, but it was a lot of fun and enjoyed responsibility and high quality work - but spinning plates and impossible to keep up 17:10 Andrea would usually crash at the beginning of summer vacation, and spend all
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 - 1h 02min - 10 - Varda Burstyn: The Willful Denial of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Author and environmental advocate Varda Burstyn is living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) - an illness mostly ignored - or outright denied - in the health care system. Patients experiencing MCS symptoms are usually labeled psychosomatic or malingerers or worse. MCS is another example of a wide spread diagnostic mistake causing institutionalized medical harm by denying patients appropriate testing and access to treatment. Varda’s family has numerous - and catastrophic - examples of medical error - including her mother and brother, requiring Varda to take on caretaker roles. In spite of this - or maybe because of it - Varda has become a force of nature in the environmental movement. Over the years Varda’s extensive and award winning body of work has tackled hard issues in politics, popular culture, science, technology, health and the environment, in every medium, for popular audiences and in scholarly venues, and her fiction has been translated into French, German and Korean. As you will hear Varda attest, the medical system is a power system, and in some jurisdictions, it is a monopoly of power by the medical system colluding with Big Pharma over the communities’ health. Your health. In sharing her own health care experiences, Varda unpacks the layers of historical and current influences and dynamics that construct our health systems. She notes that was once medical error was just simple ignorance - but it is now willful ignorance - and it is repeated over and over again - and that is criminal. SHOW NOTES Multiple Medical Errors in Varda's Family 0:06:00 Varda, from her teens to her mid-40s, had heavy care duties for her ill mother who had septicemia (sepsis) complications and developed MCS - Varda got married, moved away, but in her early 50s crashed with severe MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) - 4 years ago Varda's youngest brother, 13 years younger than Varda, had a massive breakdown - Varda thinks he has a triple or quadruple diagnosis - he has brain injuries - Varda also has 2 brain injuries and 3 quite bad spinal injuries 0:07:30 A lot of correlation between MCS and these types of injuries - her brother has 4 bad brain injuries, had suffered with depression and anxiety for many years, possible caused by MCS, but when he took antidepressant / psychotropics but did not work and his health declined - psychiatrists then gave him a cocktail of 7 psychotropics drugs 0:08:00 Since doctors don't believe in MCS - her brother was fully functioning professor of Culture and Information Studies at Western University and within 2 weeks he had a complete emotional and cognitive breakdown - last 4 years a nightmare as he has no diagnosis and no treatment 0:09:30 Commonality between MCS, FM (fibromyalgia) and ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) is that psychiatrists only read symptoms through a psychiatric lens and will not treat any other way - he's gotten worse and worse - Varda does a lot of his care taking, and it has taken its toll - ongoing crisis, with flares when he's worse - psychiatrist has cycled him through many meds, making him worse 0:10:30 He took himself of all meds in last 12 months as they had made him intensely suicidal - but he's left with deep depression, anxiety and sleeplessness - Varda believes her brother is highly electromagnetic sensitive (ES) and quite multiple chemical sensitive (MCS) - he went to good clinic in US with integrative medicine and they did EEG, SPECT scans, and said his brain was damaged 0:11:30 The clinic asked about exposure to chemicals and pesticides - her brother had meningitis after his first brain injury - the clinic said he has an injured brain with chemical and electrical sensitivities - brought images and diagnosis back to Canada but no doctors to work with him because the medical system doesn't have MCS as a category and treat it as a mental illness "Family has been through medical hell" 0:12:45 Medical system also fails to recogniz
Fri, 23 Aug 2019 - 1h 10min - 9 - Paul Smith: How a somatization 'diagnosis' almost killed him
Paul Smith, an artist and self-described workaholic, for years experienced weird and increasingly debilitating symptoms, that would come for periods of time and mostly or completely dissipate. Flu like symptoms, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, confusion - problems with his vision speech and balance - breathing problems where felt like he was suffocating These symptoms were so intense that at times Paul felt like he was going to die, and so he wrote letters to his children. Doctors dismissed his symptoms. Doctors labeled Paul with a somatization diagnosis, basically saying he wasn’t physically sick, just mentally. For years, every doctor Paul went to about his debilitating physical symptoms would see the somatization diagnosis on the front page of his medical record, and dismiss Paul’s symptoms as being in his head. Then Paul developed a massive abscess next to his bowel and developed life threatening sepsis. The doctors couldn’t dismiss those facts. Paul received antibiotics for the sepsis and his other symptoms disappeared. Yet when that treatment ended and Paul fell sick again, the somatization diagnosis preceded him to every doctor and once they saw that label, any of Paul’s physical symptoms were dismissed. But Paul did not give up. Eventually he found a couple of doctors - his ‘heroes’ - and he was finally and correctly - after 20+ years since the symptoms started - diagnosed with D-Lactic Acidosis, which is an over growth of bacteria in the gut, flooding Paul’s body with its neurotoxin. Paul thinks many other people with other diagnosis like ME/CFS or somatization, may also have bacterial over growth in their guts. Paul had to fight for years to get the harmful somatization label taken out his medical file. That label prevented Paul from receiving appropriate medical testing and treatment for years and Paul contends that the somatization diagnosis is in effect, a human rights violation. SHOW NOTES Fit, healthy and productive until... 0:06:45 Paul - very health child in Cheltenham (UK) - not into sport during school, but got into weight lifting as an adult - went to a very good school, good teachers 0:08:15 Studied art, European history, and sociology, A Level - later in his 30s did his degree in Fine Art, sculpture - but got an electronics job out of school - Foundation course important 0:10:45 After college started to have problems for the first time - different ways Paul could have developed chronic fatigue or ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) leading to D-Lactic Acidosis because he re-built 3 houses and exposed to pesticides - when he got really ill in early 90s - sprayed his loft with pesticides and that's when he had problems from that point - started cleaing up the loft space - had been treated many time over the years 0:11:45 House built in 1840s so lots spraying - when Paul got a broom to sweep up dust and debris he immediately fell ill - also using NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) during this period - symptoms fatigue, muscle pain - abnormal fatigue after activity - NSAIDs affect mucosal lining of gut and healing of gut - inhibit different synthesis - taking NSAIDs during working, rebuilding house, and working out 0:13:55 Bit of workaholic - damaged both shoulders and collapse a disc - at this point encountered the pesticides - a number of things contributing to his illness - using NSAIDs to push through and mask the pain 0:15:15 Developed bowel perforation with sepsis with D-Lactic Acidosis symptoms: overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine - sounds benign but isn't - Paul thinks there are many different types of bacterial overgrowth - like IBS - gut bacteria produce metabolites like D Lactic Acid - produces a neurotoxin D-Lactin would explain neurological symptoms in a lot of people 0:17:15 Paul had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and ME, but he believes bacterial overgrowth may be affecting others with those diagnoses - Australian researche
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 - 1h 06min - 8 - Conrad: Neurotoxicity - brain injury caused by antidepressant
Antidepressants are dispensed by doctors like a cure-all candy. In the United States, about 11% of the population is taking an antidepressant. It is a booming business for big pharma. What the medical system rarely talks about is how some people become brain injured - sometimes permanently - from the toxic effects of the medication - this is called neurotoxicity, or Toxic Encephalopathy. In this episode of Medical Error Interviews, I chat with “Conrad” about how he went from a physically fit father with a very successful career, to a victim that has been disabled by medical error, ignorance and ego. Conrad’s doctor dismissed his reports of side effects from the medication, erroneously attributing them to anxiety, and instead doubled Conrad’s dose. This would prove to be catastrophic to Conrad’s long term health. “Conrad” is not his real name, he is using a pseudonym to protect himself from further harm by the medical industry. But his experience should be a warning for any one who has been prescribed an antidepressant. SHOW NOTES: Conrad: Neurotoxicity - brain injury caused by antidepressant Conrad - physically fit father with successful career 5:00 "Conrad" (a pseudonym to protect his identity from further medical harm) grew up in Chicago - fantastic childhood - a lot of friends, not the best student, but into sports, typical boy in 70s and 80s 6:00 Graduated high school 1985 - went to college, more playing less studying - very social guy, built friendships and relationships - decided didn't need to finish college and would go into sales 7:00 Started simple phone sales, but quickly into technology and telecommunications during the tech boom - worked for MCI - went into software industry in the 90s for several years - evolved into IT consulting up to 2015 - focusing on outsourcing, working for 3rd largest consulting company in the world until became disabled in 2015. 8:15 In 2006, traveling more due to job advancement - never a fan of turbulence, make him uneasy - at that time only psychiatrists could prescribe a SSRI medication antidepressant - Conrad took the medication, not sure the medication helped, but getting used to frequency of flying helped - continued to progress in sales career until 2015 as mid-level sales executive specializing in outsourcing 10:40 In 2015 started struggling with his health - in and out of emergency rooms - at one point ER docs thought he had a stroke - ran a bunch of tests and got a diagnosis of hyponatremia - also known as SIADH - occurs mid-life with brain injuries - as an adverse effect of an SSRI or antidepressant - it is salt balancing in the brain and can cause a lot of neurological problems 11:30 His doctor told Conrad to stop antidepressant as they concluded it was causing his symptoms - stopped in SSRI mid 2015, but symptoms did not go away, they were chronic - hyponatremia is well known side effect of SSRI 12:40 Conrad experienced headaches, balance issues, confusion, a general unwell feeling - not enough to disable, but indication of what the medication was doing to Conrad - started the med in 2006 - but the side effects had been building the last few years 13:45 Stopped the med and struggled for a few months with the hyponatremia symptoms - Conrad had been offered the perfect job for his skills, and was the cieling in his career, with good salary and bonus structure - went to his PCP (Primary Care Physician) to get better and fix what was going on with medical issues - PCP suggested going back on the SSRI Hyponatremia Symptoms 15:00 This is the point where story gets a lot worse - Conrad not sure why he's prescribed antidepressant for anxiety (flying, speaking in front of large audience) - but he trusts the doctor - also gave him benzos and Xanax for those extra bumpy flights which he never took 16:20 Re-started SSRI meds, but this time the previous hyponatremia symptoms much worse - severe headaches, agitation type anxiety
Fri, 09 Aug 2019 - 56min - 7 - Felicia Mahmoud - White Coat Terror Victim
In this episode, I interview Felicia Mahmoud, from Indiana in the US. Felicia’s story begins with a minor injury from her athletic lifestyle. Now imagine you’re Felicia - and you’re having very minor surgery on one of your ankles to remove a suspected cyst, a small pimple size cyst. Unusually, there is a medical device sales rep observing your non-medical device surgery. Imagine you wake to find the doctor has cut away a huge chunk of your calf muscle. On both legs. Imagine you find out the doctor has implanted mesh devices in both your legs. Devices that were not designed to be inside the human body. How would you feel? Betrayed? Angry? Frightened? Maybe all that and more. I recently chatted with Felicia about her experience and how she’s dealing with the aftermath. Watch the video version by being a Premium Patron: https://www.patreon.com/MedicalErrorInterviews A caution that some may find Felicia’s health care experiences distressing. Felicia's twitter images: SHOW NOTES Felicia: Personal Trainer with Athletic Injury 4:30 Felicia was very active - got her degree in Exercise Science, then Personal Training Certification with American College of Sports Medicine - working at a gym - 2 year old daughter - ended up getting an injury common to athletes called Compartment Syndrome (CS) - a condition common in endurance athletes, a vascular condition - like an over-blowen tire, usually bilaterally in both legs 6:30 Pressure in muscle compartment, causes swelling, can cause nerve damage if not treated - 2 versions of CS in athletes: acute and chronic - acute can be life and limb threatening, but athletes usually get the chronic version - usually reversible with simple procedure - Felicia symptoms were tightness, pain, pinched nerve - hard to stand for even 10 minutes, otherwise a lot of leg pain - believe damage was too tight roller blades 8:00 Can take 1 - 2 years to get diagnosis - pressure testing for diagnosis of CS - Felicia had very high pressure indicating CS 9:00 Treatment is like peeling an orange and the thin white skin is like the fascia covering the muscle - procedure is to make a small slit in the fascia to relieve the pressure - reversible condition, 90% success rate - Initially (before CS diagnosis), Felicia had small pimple size point of pain on her leg - thought it may be a small cyst - found a doctor that agreed 10:45 Doctor / podiatrist has Felicia in for surgery for cyst removal - but had not been diagnosed with CS yet, assuming this 'cyst' is causing all her leg pain, just above her ankle - Felicia found out later that he didn't even think she had a cyst - also found out later that a 'mesh wound care vendor' was at her surgery and wondered why a sales rep would attend her surgery? 12:15 Day of surgery, Felicia asked to sign 2 forms: one for cyst surgery, and one for sales rep to attend surgery - Felicia read the form and it didn't say any thing about changing or implanting any thing, just that he would be in the room - Felicia reinforced that she was just there for the small cyst removal - nurses put Xs under procedure line so that nothing could be added later - witnessed by hospital nurse 13:50 Felicia confirmed that they were not doing any thing beyond cyst removal and the doctor nodded his head, but glared at her - Felicia's husband noticed and said to her 'you're making him mad' - Felicia thought she could walk out, but already in gown, and lots of people, what could go wrong? Felicia's leg 2 days before surgery Minor Surgery. Major Assault 14:30 In the small print of the form it says that nothing could be done without her consent unless life threatening emergency - Felicia walks up from surgery and half of her calve is missing, a health muscle, on both legs - doctor said it was his opinion the muscles were too big, so he cut them down 15:30 There were 2 surgeries - and the mesh product has been implanted in both legs - gets more creepie
Fri, 02 Aug 2019 - 59min - 6 - Lisa Alioto: Misdiagnosis, Myths & Medical Errors
Lisa Alioto is a U.S. lawyer who trained hard and climbed to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. Unwittingly to Lisa, conquering that incredible physical challenge would mentally prepare her for even bigger physical - and medical error - challenges. Years later and well into her law career, Lisa started to experience extreme exhaustion and sleeping symptoms that progressed to black outs, memory loss and vision loss. In an effort to find what was causing her debilitating symptoms, Lisa encountered a slew of uneducated physicians and misinformed physicians and careless physicians. Lisa was exposed to multiple medical errors - including a twisted version of cognitive behavior therapy , and so-called exercise therapy and both of which exacerbated her illness causing her to be more ill and disabled - Eventually Lisa received a proper diagnosis of a neuro-immune illness. Not one to sit back and let injustice continue, Lisa has taken her experiences with medical error, and advocates for other patients so they don’t have to go through the same medical harm and delayed diagnosis she did. Lisa tells the struggle she encountered with a medical system that has embedded a medical error into its education of doctors and treatment of patients. SHOW NOTES: Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro (Lisa is 3rd from right) 0:05:00 Lisa was born in Milwaukee - one older brother - moved around a lot in mid-West - parents married 50+ years - college in Minnesota then twin cities (Minneapolis–Saint Paul) for law degree - undergrad in psychology, criminology minor - thought she would be a police officer 0:06:15 Gradual onset of illness - started 2014 at age 43 - noticed getting more tired and exhuasted, harder to get to work - by 2015 was impacting work, took much more effort because so exhausted - sleep quality poor and declining - sought medical help 0:07:15 A lot of different kind of doctor visits - really frustrating - also expensive - now knows she has compromised immune system so getting sick a lot from doctor waiting rooms - but no body knew what to do - throwing out guesses as to what causing her illness, but some of the guesses were quite harmful - different meds - one medication was so strong - was given 8X dose of large man, subsequent doctors have tested Lisa for organ damage - also told to spend 12 hours a day outside and will be fine 0:08:30 An impossibility living in Minneapolis, not enough sunshine - also sent for cognitive behavior therapy - a top hospital told Lisa to exercise more, but she was very active before getting sick, an excercise buff - initially thought it was great idea, but it turned out it was the worst advice she received 0:09:30 Lisa was a mountain climber - 2005 / 06 decided to get into shape - started intense workouts - wanted to push further and wanted to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and summit it - one of her biggest accomplishments in many ways 0:10:45 Climbing was a real challenge - altitude and effort hard on the body - a migraine the day before the summit - an experience of a lifetime - now draws on that accomplishment to help deal with chronic illness and other life challenges To Chew or Not to Chew 0:12:45 When initially ill, Lisa thought she had a sleeping disorder because it was so poor and she was exhausted - went to a sleep clinic - but in 2016 more symptoms - memory loss, vision loss, swollen lymph nodes - health went down hill 0:14:00 No doctors in Minnesota for ME patients - so not getting any care - waiting for her appointment at the Stanford clinic - but Lisa's GP said that Lisa's symptoms were beyond her skills - so went to a lot of different specialists: rheumatology, infectious diseases, internal medicine, neurologist - but not finding any thing to explain symptoms - finally went to clinic that diagnosed her with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) - aka 'chronic fatigue syndrome' 0:15:30 Felt relief getting a diagnosis - but relief short lived until she did her own rese
Fri, 26 Jul 2019 - 46min - 5 - Brian Hughes: Psychology in Crisis - an interview with the psychologist and author
Author and psychologist Brian Hughes talks about how bad science and scientists can lead to harming people. Brian connects the dots between bad psychological science and how that can lead to medical error and patient harm. We talk about an infamous research trial out of the UK and how its very poor methodology - coupled with what has been characterized as fraudulent behaviour by the researchers - has lead to millions of patients around the globe with the biological disease Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - or ME for short - to be subjected to medical harm, abuse and trauma. These ME patients are often prescribed ‘treatment’ that is actually contraindicated and makes them more ill, sometimes permanently disabling them. As one ME researcher noted - I’m paraphrasing her - “They came to the doctor with ME. They left with PTSD.” This bad science by psychology researchers who have built their reputations, their careers and their bank accounts on their fraudulent research and harmful treatment, have embedded medical error on a global scale by negatively influencing health care systems everywhere and misinforming physicians about the biological nature of ME. Brian’s book shows how bad psychological science leads to an institutionalized and embedded medical error that permeates our health care systems world wide. Brians' website Brian's blog Brian's book on Amazon Brian on twitter Brian Hughes Show Notes Psychology is science 0:06:45 Brian born and raised in rural Ireland, small town of less then 2,000 - in '70s Irish economy weak so education considered very important - Brian bookish and good at school and stuck with it - attended university for humanity and arts, psychology degree 0:08:15 Ireland was conservative and psychology a little 'new age' - but for Brian, psychology had philosophical and science bent and novelty - interested in human nature, culture and diversity in spite of small town upbringing - curious about presumptions and assumptions - liked that psych is science and evidence based - became passionate about psych 0:09:45 Brian views psych as science of behavior, broadly defined - being a good psych clinician doesn't automatically make one a good scientist - Brian's area of research focus influences clinical psych like emotional, cognitive, physical stress - especially on cardio vascular and immune health 0:11:45 Brian motivated by the evidenced side of psych research - interested in prolonged stress effect on cardio vascular system because sustained emotional stress will have quantifiable measures in body Calling out colleagues 0:13:00 About Brian's book - Psychology in Crisis - psychology is interesting because it is tempting for all humans to dabble in psych - like to discuss other's behaviour, social problems, decisions - attracts a lot of lay person effort - but some psychologists have succumbed to lay interpretation - psych is only valid with science and lay interpretation is undermining the psychological field 0:16:00 Working title was 'Psychology's Methodological Crisis' - but Brian acknowledges it is not snappy but is ambiguous - but "Psychology in Crisis" is a compelling title 0:17:00 A lot of clinicians frustrated by lack of prioritizing evidence based practice - likewise, a lot of academic psych researchers that are tolerant of looser approach - Psych is a discipline with a wide range of scientists - at one end are hard scientists, and the other end are the hard anti-science at the other - and lots of psychologists in between - lots in health psychology where evidence is not top of their agenda, helping people is - and that is the enemy of good science - the road to hell is paved with good intentions - and that interferes with good science 0:19:00 A lot of psychologists involved in physical and medical problems and they are committed to helping people - but the risk is that because rushing to help people undermines good science - area of hea
Thu, 18 Jul 2019 - 1h 10min - 4 - Kelly Anne Branco: The Gift of Cancer
"The Gift of Cancer" - these are the words of Kelly Anne Branco - and in this interview she shares how the medical error and cancer diagnosis have lead her on a journey to take those tragedies and make a greater meaning personally and through patient advocacy. The medical error impacts every aspect of Kelly Anne’s life, but she has adopted an attitude that forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. KELLY ANNE BRANCO - SHOW NOTES: A sickly child 0:04:50 Kelly Anne was born in Toronto, St Michael's hospital - grew up in Toroto - mother came from Azores - Dad came after his military service - a lot of family on her childhood street - working class neighbourhood - an awesome place to grow up - late 80s moved to Mississauga at age 10 0:06:30 Mississauga is a suburb just west of Toronto - nearly 1 million population now, but like small town back then - Mom did office work, Dad a construction foreman until his traumatic brain injury (TBI) - this made him more difficult to live with - and he couldn't work 0:08:30 Kelly Anne was a sickly child, always problems with her instestines - but her symptoms dismissed and minimized - but in her 20s, Kelly Anne started to have anxiety and panic attacks associated with stomack pain - terrified to leave the house for fear of being sick 0:09:50 Took a while to get her GP on board - who dismissed her symptoms as psychiatric - and sent Kelly Anne to a gastroenterologist - but had to fight to get referral - took 6 months to get appointment with gastro, but within 5 minutes had diagnosed Kelly Anne with celiac disease - probably since a child 0:11:15 Kelly Anne goes back to her GP and says I told you so - the GP apologizes - is willing to learn is what Kelly Anne likes about her - this is just a few years before her ovarian cancer symptoms emerged Medical errors start in early life 0:13:15 Kelly Anne describes celiac diagnosis and treatment - gastroscopy found very poor absorption of vitamins and minerals - within a year intestines started to heal 0:14:45 January 2012 Kelly Anne stopped getting her period, it was odd - thought maybe it just stress or her birth control pills, so didn't worry about it - but after months passed she started to worry so went to see her GP - sent for ultrasound and they found a mass on right ovary - referred to gynecologist in August 2012 0:17:10 Stressful waiting for appointments, not knowing what's going on with her body - unknown is the worse part - wondering about having kids 0:18:45 Gynecologist asks Kelly Anne about other symptoms, but she has none - doctor asks why she's worried and to stop complaining, lots of women would like not to have their period - doctor is ending meeting and Kelly Anne asks if the doctor is going to examine her - huffily the doctor acquiesces and Kelly Anne has a 'quite rough' examination - dismisses ovarian mass as probably just a cyst 0:20:15 Doctor did not so usual cancer checks (CA125 test, biopsy) - just sent Kelly Anne away with new birth control perscription - she felt foolish, an idiot, scared, questioning self - the new birth control pill re-started her period and that reinforced the self-doubt and everything is fine with her body - but later, found out her body was not fine 0:23:15 January 2013 her period stopped again - had surgery to have her gall bladder out, so blamed the stress of surgery - had put on a lot of weight, became pre-diabetic, had seen what diabetes had done to relatives, went on strict diet, causing gall stones - pain in hte middle of the night brought Kelly Anne to ER - gets ultrasound, we'll call you with results, but they didn't call her with the results - she has another gall bladder attack Gallstone surgery 0:25:30 Kelly Anne passes gall bladder stone - 'most horrendous' experience - finds out that she has lots of gall stones and needs surgery - took 2 months to get surgery - living off baby food oatmeal for 2 months 0:26:00 Wh
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 - 2h 21min - 3 - Donna Penner: Every surgery patients nightmare: Awake during surgery. "Scalpel please". And the anesthesiologist has left the OR.
Donna Penner was having routine surgery but something went horribly wrong and through the failure of her anesthesiologist - Donna was awake during her abdominal surgery, but also paralyzed so she couldn’t tell the surgical team. Donna could feel every excruciating scalpel cut, and the surgeon moving her internal organs around. In torturous pain, and suffocating through lack of oxygen, Donna resigns herself to death and mentally says good bye to her family. But the surgeon notices Donna’s heart rate is very rapid and she can hear him ask the anesthesioligist why Donna is in distress. Donna feels a sense of relief that the surgeon has noticed and that she is about to be saved from death. But then she hears the nurse reply that the anesthesiologist has left the operating room. The surgery continues, the excruciating pain continues, the suffocating continues - as death nears, Donna has an out of body experience and is immersed in warmth and safety and she welcomes its sweet embrace. But death does not come in that moment, and Donna finds herself in her body again - with the pain and suffering. But the medical errors do not end there - as the surgery ends Donna can’t believe she has survived, but her breathing tube is removed prematurely and Donna’s paralyzed body cannot breathe on its own and she starts to suffocate again - the nurse yells at Donna to breathe, but she can’t…. I wish I could say Donna’s trauma from the medical system ended after the botched surgery, but as you are about to hear, Donna’s experience with a system designed to protect physicians and undermine patient victims adds another layer of trauma onto her life. Follow Donna on twitter SHOW NOTES - TIME STAMPED 0:04:40 Donna grew up on a farm in Manitoba, Canada, middle child of 3, cows, dogs, cats, hogs - very happy childhood - raised to be responsible, honest, hard working, good values and qualities - parents did a good job 0:07:20 Donna's health care error started several years ago when she had abdominal pain and went to the local clinic - kept for 24 hours they didn't know what was going on - but transferred Donna to another hospital - had laproscopic surgery scheduled 0:08:10 Donna has had surgeries before, anasthetic before no problem - but feeling anxious this time and asked for sedative and was refused - the first thing that went wrong - taken to operating room (OR) and prepped for surgery - anesthesiologist said to Donna take a deep breath and Donna 'was out'. 0:09:15 The next thing she remembers is waking up and hearing sounds in the OR and thinking 'good it's over' and know I can feel relaxed and don't need to feel nervous any more' - and then the surgeon spoke and what he said haunts Donna to this day: "Scalpel please." - then Donna felt the first incision - excruciating pain, beyond description 0:10:25 Donna tries to alert surgeon and staff that she is awake and tried to scream - but couldn't open her mouth - couldn't sit up - realized she's paralyzed by the paralytic medication used for abdominal surgery - so the anasthesia did not take effect, but the paralytic did - Donna could not scream or move but could hear her heart rate on the monitor as it sky rocketed to 147 according to the surgeon (later) - Donna starts to panic - trapped in body and couldn't do anything. 0:12:00 As Donna heart rate quickens, she needs to breath faster to supply more oxygen but she couldn't take a breath because she was intubated (tube in her throat to ventilator that breathes for her) - but the ventilator set at 7 breathes per minute, but what Donna needed was much more - so she felt like she was suffocating 0:13:40 "She's in distress, she's in distress" surgeon says, asks anasthesiologist what's wrong - a nurse replies that the anasthesiologist is not in the OR anymore and doesn't know where he is - Donna panic increases - surgeon tells the nurse to find the anasthesiologist immediately - Donna's hears the nurse leave the OR - aft
Thu, 13 Jun 2019 - 1h 22min - 2 - Gregory Hartley Brewer - Whistleblower of a medical cover up - Lyme symptoms dismissed, treatment denied, years of illness, criminal behaviour
Gregory Hartley Brewer, from Bath in the United Kingdom shares his long battle to get a diagnosis for his Lyme-like symptoms, and then trying to access proper treatment once diagnosed with Lyme many years later. But he is now embroiled in a long battle with the health care system as they try to cover up their missed diagnosis mistake and protect the doctors that not only denied Gregory medical care, but may have behaved in a criminal manner in conspiring to cover up their medical error. But he has not given up: hear how Gregory is taking on the Goliath that is the United Kingdom health care system and exposing their attempts to hide a medical error that has morphed into much more serious and potentially criminal behaviour. SHOW NOTES - TIME STAMPED :04:00 Gregory, early 50s, born in Birmingham, UK - moved to States as a kid for a few years - back to London, then Bath - happy childhood, middle class upbringing - more sporty then academic - found drinking, girls and smoking so didn't go to university - bar, nightclub work - still looking for niche - loved helping people in community job :06:30 2005 Gregory get bitten by tic in backyard, but he's unaware of the existence of Lyme - rash and flu like aches - April 2005 collapsed with stabbing pain in chest chest, 'like being stabbed with a knife", thought he was dying - within a week went to the doctor and was diagnosed with hyperlipidemia, aka high cholesterol and triglycerides - couple of weeks later to another physician in same clinic and recounts rash and flu like symptoms - doctor says that sounds like Lyme, but it can't be Lyme because you're not seriously ill :07:45 A few weeks later he returns to doctor to say he thinks he has Lyme and she get angry and said he couldn't have Lyme because he's not seriously ill - Gregory believes her - in retrospect she was protecting her misdiagnosis that was only 4 weeks old - this is how uttterly their reputations come before patient treatment and safety - Gregory asks for Lyme testing, she refuses :08:55 Realizes some of his doctor appointment notes are missing out of his file, thought it was strange but had faith that the doctors knew what they were doing and there can't be a nefarious reason for that :09:20 He worsens with Lyme symptoms: Peripheral neuropathy, palpitations / pericarditis, chest pain, anxiety from encephalopathy, low grade meningitis, headaches, sore shoulders - by 2008 in bad shape, reticent to raise Lyme disease for fear of denigrating and angry reaction - symptoms cause big impact on his social life, went from very social to feeling too anxious and stopped going out, lost friends from isolation :11:40 Gregory feeling anxious but not depressed, but no external anxiety trigger - no rhyme or reason when anxiety came - now knows it was bacteria impacting his brain - describes peripheral neuropathy in his legs - pain, squeezing, crushed and wants to explode - due to nerves being attacked by bacteria - may last minutes or hours, no rhyme or reason, sometimes hurts to walk - puzzling as to what is happening in his body, vacillates seeing doctors because they looked at him like a bloody idiot - by 2008 the doctor must have known these were Lyme symptoms - only 3 GPs in this clinic :15:20 2009 bitten again by a tic in his field and sees rash on the inside of his arm - its a Sunday so Gregory went to health center, diagnosed Lyme immediately and given one week supply of doxycycline, but later finds out he should have been given 2 weeks according to the National Institute of Clincal Excellence (NICE) guidelines at the time - doctor sent note to his GP about Gregory's Lyme diagnosis - about 9 months later symptoms worsen again, returns to his GP and is again denigrated and dismissed :16:20 GP says just because you had Lyme disease and it wasn't properly treated, doesn't mean you have it now - Gregory asks why their multiple discussions about Lyme disease are not i
Fri, 31 May 2019 - 1h 15min - 1 - Jeff Wood: The new Patient Zero: Hear how Jeff overcame years severely ill, bed bound, & medically abused to find his own diagnosis.
Jeff Wood has one of the greatest Lazarus-like life stories you will ever hear. Jeff’s experience is made even more remarkable by a health care system that denied he was even ill. Jeff was so sick and disabled he spent years bed bound requiring care from his family, while physicians told him he was not really sick and that he had psychological problems. But Jeff was very, very sick, and through his own tenacity and own research from his hospital bed, was able to determine the cause of his inability to be vertical, set up a meeting with a world renowned neurosurgeon, get a diagnosis over his phone, and a referral from that neurosurgeon to transfer Jeff to his hospital for surgery. But the current hospital, deeply ego invested in their psychological diagnosis, refused to transfer Jeff for the surgery, while they continued to verbally and psychologically abuse and torment him. I am amazed by Jeff’s journey to hell and back, but especially by his rational and grounded account of medical errors that can be traced back to when he was a toddler, and his determination to help other patients not have to endure the medical error and abuses he survived. 4:45 Jeff talks about how his story will blow people's mind - his tethered cord, leg and foot pain as a child, Jen Brea 6:15 Tethered cord and its relationship to craniocervical instability (CCI) and the 3 parts to our spinal cord, but Jeff's cord was still attached, but he had no idea except for leg and foot pain until he was 4 years old - diagnosed with 'anxiety' 8:10 Dr Petra Klinge - top tethered cord surgeon in the world - a lot of her patients also have CCI - 2 conditions often occur together 9:05 After Jeff's CCI surgery, he started to experience the same foot pain he had as a small child - 2nd surgery to free his cord - more symptoms went away 9:40 Jeff thinks if he had of been diagnosed properly as a 4 year old and had the tethered cord surgery, he would not have developed CCI as an adult and lost 4-5 years to severe illness 10:25 Two conditions related to tethered cord: Spina bifida and Ehler Danlos Syndrome (EDS) 11:03 Jeff studied cognitive science - standard childhood - he is interested in the human mind - mutliple realities - how do we open our minds? 12:45 Working toward his Doctorate - but started to get sick with 'mild' ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) in Graduate School (end of 2011) - had bad flu but didn't get better - only half the energy he used to have - shocking, didn't know what to think - 'I'll just push through and it will go away' - it didn't, the more he pushed, the sicker he got 15:00 Can't socialize, can't go to the gym - had to go part time to school - then ended up bed ridden June 26 2014. 16:30 How being severely ill impacted his relationship - Jeff's parents came to help take care of him - put fridge in his room - couldn't prepare meals, needed help bathing 19:00 Many tests and specialists but none could figure out his problem - Jeff would try to generate hypothesis to explain his symptoms - but the doctors would say he was healthy, that maybe he had anxiety - imply he was depressed or malingering or take advantage of medicine or seeking attention 21:10 After bad crash in 2014 Jeff started looking into ME - started seeing Dr David Kaufman 22:20 Relieved to find illness, ME, that matches his symptoms - but no known cure, and is life long - a death sentence, overwhelmingly sad 23:15 Dr Kaufman history of HIV physician - works with discriminated populations - had moved onto the puzzle of ME - a very compassionate doctor who understands some patients are harmed by health care system - same office as Dr Bela Chheda 25:00 First visit with Dr Kaufman - he was very curious - wanted chronology of symptoms, Kaufman was very prepared, very good listener - Jeff had to lie down during appointment because he walked but too embarrassed to use his wheelchair - Kaufman did not blink - diagnosed with P
Wed, 29 May 2019 - 1h 48min
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