News from Austria and Switzerland

The Ströck family, founders of the We&Me Foundation, seems to keep the pressure up to initiate change in Austria.

AI Summary​

The director of Austria's Pension Insurance Institution (PVA), Winfried Pinggera, is facing accusations regarding his statements about ME/CFS patients. According to Gerhard Ströck, founder of the We&Me Foundation, Pinggera allegedly referred to ME/CFS patients and their doctors as “freeloaders” ("Trittbrettfahrer") and “charlatans” ("Scharlatane") during a meeting in August 2024.

Pinggera denies the accusations, stating the meeting was “constructive” and that the aim was to distinguish between patients who truly need help and those expected to recover.

The Greens (Austrian Green Party) sharply criticized these alleged remarks. Health spokesperson Ralph Schallmeiner stated that such words, if true, were “understandably hurtful and should at the very least be clarified or apologized for”. He also condemned the broader treatment of patients as “harassment, denial of illness, and constant mistrust”, saying this “must change immediately”.

Ströck, whose two sons are severely affected by ME/CFS, had already mentioned the incident in an earlier "krone.tv" interview, and later at a stakeholder conference in November 2024. He expressed disappointment in the PVA’s apparent lack of recognition for ME/CFS as a real illness.

A major investigative report by APA, ORF, and Dossier in May 2024 found that 79% of disability and care benefit applications related to ME/CFS or Long Covid were denied. In over 50% of these cases, ME/CFS or Post-Covid diagnoses were completely disregarded, and in about 40% were reclassified as psychological or psychosomatic disorders. Some patients were even accused of symptom exaggeration ("Aggravation"), dramatization, or simulation.

Despite this, the PVA insists its decisions are based on "objective, fact-based assessments", and that all evaluations are made according to legal standards.

In response to the controversy, the Health Secretary Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig (SPÖ) stated that ME/CFS is taken seriously, and that an action plan is being developed. It includes:
  • A central contact point for diagnosis and support,
  • A comprehensive overview of available resourcesby the end of the year.
The Green Party has filed two parliamentary questions:
  1. Whether the minister was aware of Pinggera’s alleged comments and whether she shares his views,
  2. What the costs of assessments and counter-assessments are in ME/CFS-related disability claims.
Lastly, ME/CFS has become more visible due to post-COVID syndromes (PAIS). The Medical University of Viennaestimates 70,000–80,000 people in Austria currently suffer from ME/CFS. Triggers include viral infections (e.g., influenza, Epstein-Barr), trauma, or toxins/medications.
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Edit: removed bold formatting.
 
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@Chandelier would you be able to remove the bold formatting by the AI? It’s very difficult to read.

The reclassification of ME/CFS patients as psychosomatic is very problematic. Especially because it means that the assessors are practicing medicine in a completely inappropriate way.
 
Chandelier said:
The Ströck family, founders of the We&Me Foundation, seems to keep the pressure up to initiate change in Austria.


Edit: removed bold formatting.
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Terrible handling from this physician, who it must be pointed out only said things that are widely accepted by the profession, hardly any MD would find them objectionable, even if they were significantly worse, and even if they were much worse in context. Almost no one ever defends up at the most basic level, it's all just punching down, piling on us and lying about us.

It's not about the words. The words don't matter. It's the beliefs behind the opinions. They can avoid using such disrespectful words and it wouldn't matter: they act on the sentiment. I'm sick of all this walking around pretending like those are not the default opinions in medicine, there are worse out there, and many of those worse opinions are also acted on.

Good on the family to keep pressing this. Nothing will change until people with power force things to change. Power is the only thing that matters, we are entirely deprived of it, and this imbalanced is massively exploited to maintain a disastrous status quo.
 
Yann04 said:
An ME/CFS fundraising “Gala” in vienna. Each ticket is 500 Euro!!

No idea what these elite things are like but seems interesting

(website in german)

Zeit zum Hinschauen – Eine Gala zugunsten der ME/CFS Stiftung

zeitzumhinschauen.at zeitzumhinschauen.at

We&ME apparently organising an art auction at this thing aswell!?

I guess one of the richest families in austria getting 2 sons with severe ME/CFS helps…
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They are very likely not even in the TOP 1000 of the richest families in Austria - which is a shame because if they were they could really pump in big sums. The Gala is not organized by WE&ME, but close friends of one of the sons. Statistically speaking there must be hundreds (or even low thousands) of families globally with someone affected with this kind of cash or more doing essentially little to nothing. Stigma, shame and lack of a diagnosis are the most likely culprit for the inaction.
 
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