I thought that this blog was a bit loose in some points, as Crawley/Bristol can be quite evasive with their language. eg: Crawley actually said that ""I couldn't put a picture of a patient up today, because I was really worried about them being attacked, like I am attacked. It is the nature of doing research into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, it is the research environment." So she claims that she couldn't put the image up because of her being worried, not because they would be hounded and harassed. I know this sounds really nit-picky, but I just think it's worth trying to be precise with these sorts of things. Also, here's Bristol Uni's response to the discordance between their FOI response and their claims about Crawley: http://vadamagazine.com/news/esther-crawley-claims-harassment-university-no-record To me, that sounds like an evasive attempt to get themselves out of trouble, unless they explained in their FOI response that they do not make official records of harassment of staff, but it is what it is. Esther Crawley's behaviour is still outrageous though!
So now she is claiming patients are at threat of being attacked by her 'harassers'? And her evidence supporting that outrageous cowardly smear is...? *crickets*
I really don't get the distinction. If she had preceded her remark with "I know I'm being terribly silly and fussy, but ..." then maybe, but in the absence of that she's implying that she's justifiably worried because in her expert opinion it's likely that the militants will attack her children patients. This is a deliberate smear of PwME. The statement from Bristol Uni looks like it was dictated by EC, and in the absence of further explanation / evidence, should be treated with the same contempt as EC's claims. An FOI is an FOI, it is only vexatious in the opinion of EC by virtue of the fact that it was made at all. EC has provided no evidence of cyber stalking, the only malicious email she's ever shown was made up by a journalist and never actually existed, she can't / won't back up her accusations of defamation on social media and becomes thoroughly obnoxious and manipulative when challenged, complaints about her are only described as unsubstantiated by herself. Instead of investigating the matter, Bristol University have just allowed EC to list her delusional claims, adding "The University considers this behaviour to be unacceptable" at the end of it. More fool them. But now it's up to them to provide evidence of "this behaviour" or end up with egg on their faces.
It's the classic manipulative and plausible-deniability strategy of making an ambiguous but very leading statement, knowing most people will swallow the interpretation they want people to. It's in her DNA. Then saying "I didn't say that", which in the literal sense is true ... but they did strongly and purposefully imply, so is an implied lie. Plausible deniability becomes implausible once the pattern becomes evident.
I think @Barry responded better than I could. That lot often imply more than they say, and then offended when patients criticise things that they didn't exactly say. It's a cycle that we normally end up coming out worse from, so I think it's worth trying to be as precise as possible, making sure to get their words right, criticising them for what they imply, etc.
I also feel that emphasising EC's literal statement plays into her hands. Although I agree the article should have made what it said a little clearer, what it said was much closer to what EC clearly implied than the literal words she spoke. It's a tricky trap that EC lays, and not sure how best articles should deal with it - difficult for an article to publicly state that EC means other than what she says. The innocently uninformed will hear EC's implied messages loud and strong (with all the emotion-laden public speaking nuances and overtones that reinforce it), rather than her more diminutive literal words.
This meeting was open to the public, she couldn't put a picture of a patient because of Medical Confidentiality surely? She really is a piece of work!
Indeed. I imagine if one took a straw poll of the members of that audience the take away message of those words would be exactly as the Voices blog portrays it.
If they would respond then we could ask for clarification which is generally the best tactic when people are vague. But it always worries me when scientists are vague especially when their arguments seem well rehearsed. Science should require exact statements and they should know that and have the ability to be careful.
Although pictures of sick children do emerge, so there must be a way of getting consent. Although I'm not sure that Crawley's understanding of the issues around informed consent is the best.