News | The ME Association- Part 185

From the Daily Mail, December 16 On first impression, former model Suzi Walker leads a charmed life. She lives in a luxury £2million home in Surrey with her daughter Sophie, aged ten; her boyfriend is Simon Jordan, 41-year-old millionaire chairman of Crystal Palace Football Club  –  and in January she gave birth to their daughter, […]

From BBC Online Proposals to change the rules on which GP practices in England can provide drugs directly to their patients have been rejected by ministers.

Treat ME properly Doctor’s treatment of ME as a mental illness not a physical one caused unnecessary suffering

The minutes of the All Party Parliamentary Group meeting held October 2008 are now available online. Please note that the minutes are intended to be a summary rather than a verbatim account of the meeting.

From Brighton Evening Argus, December • Story by Andy Chiles Health bosses are taking steps to improve care for ME patients in the wake of the tragic death of Lynn Gilderdale. The Primary Care Trusts responsible for East Sussex, where Miss Gilderdale lived and had spent 17 years bedridden as she struggled with the condition, […]

LYNN GILDERDALE, who died on Wednesday last week, and her family, struggled not only with the terrible effects of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), but also the stigma attached to its sufferers.

Back in September, Dr Betty Dowsett had to go into hospital and we passed on many good wishes at the time for a speedy recovery.

Details about the presentations to be made at the next conference of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME are now available at the association’s redesigned website.

From the 25% ME Group ME patient mourned: more needs to be understood about the sufferings of patients with ME

Vikki George, who has had ME since she was 11 years old, and Dr Charles Shepherd, medical adviser to The ME Association, appeared on one of Britain’s top daytime TV chat shows on 10 December 2008. To watch this item on You Tube, click on this link. 

By Caroline Gammell and Murray Wardrop Mother arrested over ‘mercy killing’ faced with long wait A mother arrested on suspicion of killing her daughter in a ‘mercy- killing’ may have to wait four months to find out if she is charged with murder.

Update – 6.30pm December 9 Sky News have been running items on this story all day, but no longer want to interview Dr Shepherd. Because of scheduling difficulties, Simon Lawrence, convenor of the 25% ME Group, will be interviewed by 5 Live – in place of Dr Shepherd. We understand that Vikki George, the ME […]

HIGH PRIORITY   Sir   RE: Mother arrested for murder after ‘yuppie-flu’ daughter is found dead after 16 years in bed.

Lynn Gilderdale – who had been bedridden since being diagnosed with ME 16 years ago – died at her home in Stonegate, East Sussex, last Wednesday. Her mother Kay has now been arrested on suspicion of her daughter’s murder and released on bail until March 6.

    The ME Association was one of two charities that benefited from an annual Carol Concert held in Dorking, Surrey, on Saturday, December 6.

Polly Toynbee writes in The Guardian, 2 December 2008 Getting people employed is vital, but in a recession current welfare-to-work targets are impossible – and compulsion is crazy.

A dinner was held this month to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of the ME/CFS clinic at Wareham Hospital in Dorset – the first of its kind in the UK. 

The Reading area group now urgently requires volunteers to fill key role posts of: Group Contact/Coordinator, Core Group members, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Librarian, Rep for East Berks PCT services & help with the following tasks: answering emails, co-ordinating social events (for Bracknell, Maidenhead &  Windsor area, and for overall coordination).

UK charity Invest in ME has announced the date of their fourth international research conference . It will be held in Westminster on Thursday 29 May 2009 with – says the organisation – the support of the European ME Alliance. Details will be announced later.

This appeared in The Guardian on Friday, November 28. Profile written by ALLEGRA STRATTON. There may be a reason why the chief secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper, is bullish about the government’s electoral prospects despite a downturn. Twelve years ago the then 27-year-old was a leader writer on the Independent but was clearly so […]