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Who is Simon Wessely?

Discussion in 'Psychosomatic news - ME/CFS and Long Covid' started by Sly Saint, Nov 13, 2017.

  1. MEMarge

    MEMarge Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Alternative version of above:

    I am a performer, here is a wide-ranging list to show how important I am.
     
  2. Adam pwme

    Adam pwme Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    624
  3. Lou B Lou

    Lou B Lou Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    'King's Centre for Military Health Research 15 Year Report - summary of our scientific work'
    https://www.academia.edu/2386138/Ki..._Year_Report_-_summary_of_our_scientific_work

    September 2010
    Page 15:
    ' ..... We have suggested looking at Gulf War illness in a similar fashion to the way we think about illnesses such as CFS, irritable bowel syndrome and other unexplained syndromes, and to think more about why veterans are either staying ill or not getting better, putting to one side the vexed question of what started the problem in the first place”


    KCMHR is led by Professor Simon Wessely who is the Vice Dean, Academic Psychiatry, Teaching and Training at the IoPPN and also heads the Department of Psychological Medicine, and Professor Christopher Dandeker in the Department of War Studies is co-director.
     
  4. Lou B Lou

    Lou B Lou Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    • 10th July 2022

    ''COVER UP' Gulf war veterans set to take government to court in billion-pound legal battle over illnesses caused by their service'

    'GULF war veterans are set to take the government to court in a billion-pound legal battle over illnesses caused by their service.

    Ex-troops have launched the landmark group action after compiling evidence showing vaccines led to them suffering Gulf War illnesses.

    Gulf war veterans are set to take the government to court in a billion-pound legal battle over illnesses caused by their service

    Solicitor Hilary Meredith-Beckham – married to David Beckham’s Dad, Ted – is leading the High Court action on behalf of campaign group Justice for Veterans.

    It comes after new evidence - including military medical records showing vaccines caused so-called Gulf War Syndrome - came to light.

    Research shows troops from only five countries – the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Denmark - of the 36-nation coalition opposing Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait suffered significant levels of illness.

    Those countries all vaccinated their personnel when they arrived in the Gulf, meant to protect from chemical and biological weapons.

    And Justice for Veterans founder Gavin Roberts, 52 – a Lance Corporal who saw frontline action in the 1991 conflict – accused governments of “delay, deny until they die” tactics.

    Around 17,000 UK personnel – a third of the 51,000 who served - have suffered ailments including chronic fatigue, PTSD, joint pain, breathing problems, headaches, insomnia, mood swings and memory loss..... '

    continues...


    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19149230/gulf-war-veterans-government-court/
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2022
  5. Helene

    Helene Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I'm surprised to see that Simon Wessely did a Masters and Doctorate in epidemiology. Bit hard to reconcile this or am I missing something?

    'He did pre-clinical at Trinity Hall Cambridge, with a BA in History of Art, and then BM BCH at University College Oxford. His Masters and Doctorate are in epidemiology."

    https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/professor-sir-simon-wessely
     
  6. Amw66

    Amw66 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Many were vaccinated before they left for the gulf.
    Many had vaccines that were not licensed here, but used in other countries, probably due to numbers involved. At the time there were rumours re squalene - I don't know how founded these were.

    Some were vaccinated and never shipped out. One such person won a legal case years ago for pension rights as he had an illness which was attributed to vaccination - he never set foot in the gulf

    There is an atrocious suicide rate in ex service personnel for a variety of reasons. The gulf war has an unenviable reputation of having more service personnel die in the 10 years or so afterwards than in the war itself . I do wonder how having an illness that is constantly denied would play into those figures.
     
  7. Lou B Lou

    Lou B Lou Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    bobbler, livinglighter, Sean and 3 others like this.
  8. MEMarge

    MEMarge Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I cannot Like the above
     
    livinglighter, Lilas, EzzieD and 8 others like this.
  9. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    Have a look at the twitter thread. After a long list of congratulatory tweets, there are some critical ones.
     
    bobbler, livinglighter, Lilas and 7 others like this.
  10. rvallee

    rvallee Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I hope he gets named and blamed personally. He sure deserves the credit. Can't accept the flowers and refuse the pot.
     
  11. chrisb

    chrisb Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    It looks as though they elect 50 or 51 per year. Why has it taken so long?
     
    Lou B Lou, Amw66, alktipping and 2 others like this.
  12. Amw66

    Amw66 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Does this signal potential retirement?
    A bit like officers in military tend to be" promoted" around 2 years before they retire ?
     
    Peter Trewhitt and MEMarge like this.
  13. Peter Trewhitt

    Peter Trewhitt Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Unfortunately often these sort of roles people continue on in as long as they are well enough to do so.
     
    Lou B Lou, Amw66, Lilas and 1 other person like this.
  14. Trish

    Trish Moderator Staff Member

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    Binkie4, Solstice, alktipping and 9 others like this.
  15. V.R.T.

    V.R.T. Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    bobbler, Sean, Ariel and 2 others like this.
  16. CRG

    CRG Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I don't think anyone said it was symbolic - but it is pretty basic formal admin https://www.england.nhs.uk/publicat...rd-meeting-agenda-and-papers-2-february-2023/ I find Black's language unhelpfully hyperbolic. Wessely is the guy who, when everyone else hears there's a place on a Committee, stays in the room while everyone else goes down the pub.
     
    NelliePledge, Sean, V.R.T. and 5 others like this.
  17. Shadrach Loom

    Shadrach Loom Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    It’s telling and concerning that he is still viewed as a “safe pair of hands”. But he can do a great deal less harm on the NHS England governance board than in almost any position closer to the front line.
     
    Sean, Hutan, Ariel and 4 others like this.
  18. rvallee

    rvallee Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Seeing the general state of things, and the abysmal quality of most of the research so far, I don't think they have to spend that much effort to get their way. The entire system is primed to accept any stuff like this. It's a tradition that was already strong the day they were born.

    I thought the garbage-level pseudoscience these people put out was uniquely bad, but it's basically average. I don't doubt that there are many people in the system pushing it just as much as our BPS overlords. They may provide the right timely push here and there, but it likely barely changes the outcomes anymore.

    It actually kind of removes some responsibility from them. For sure, if it hadn't been them, it would have been other people doing the same. The entire system is dysfunctional and incentivizes quackery.

    When you look at the entire psychosomatic industry, it's just as awful all over the place. But even outside of it, most of the studies about LC have been complete garbage so far. The problem is everywhere.
     
    bobbler, Sean, alktipping and 5 others like this.
  19. Sean

    Sean Moderator Staff Member

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    I hope that is true.
     
  20. bobbler

    bobbler Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Me too. I also hope that they are looking carefully at conflict of interest protocols. And are exempting participation in decisions or discussions where this is relevant. ie which would mean anything that umbrellas to touch anything trying to encompass how those with ME/CFS will be 'treated' in broad sense of the word, such as MUS/FND and the lot type stuff.

    If these are in place, including defining who he could be seen as 'having a relationship with' based on: have they done research together, written articles in support of each other, were mentors to, have links to the organisation of and so on then maybe it mightn't be 'right' but would be less of a concern. The below policy also states 'adversary'

    And that says something doesn't it

    Perhaps working on this is a worthwhile route forward?

    and defining 'financial interest': which needs to include the overlap too where as a household there might be roles in certain companies etc.

    along the lines of the new PLOS one policies: https://www.s4me.info/threads/new-p...os-publication-ethics-team.31947/#post-460889

    the page which notes competing interests and has a list for financial and one for non-financial 'competing interests' here:
    https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/competing-interests
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2023
    alktipping, RedFox and Sean like this.

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