BBC 'Humanitarian crisis' for ME sufferers in Wales 11 May 2019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48229907

 

Humanitarian crisis is the right term. Largely the product of choices made against evidence showing clearly those choices were misguided. As if HIV deniers had been put in charge of solving the AIDS crisis, all the while being told by AIDS activists that they were wrong and creating a disaster. And all on a decades-long public record.

Because so much of it was plain deliberate out of aggressively willful ignorance, it will likely rank as the biggest blunder in the history of medicine, of which there is a very long and shameful list. This disaster wasn't out of ignorance, it is out of prejudice.

 

Good article; good coverage.

It appears there is a multi-factorial purpose for this crisis including: saving governments and the disability insurance industry money. As well, adding money to the antidepressant makers coffers, and building careers.

Not to take away anything from this excellent article, but one could substitute location and people's names, and this story could be written about anywhere in the world: the US, Canada, anywhere in Europe etc.

 

Except in a classic robbing Paul to give money to John. No money is being saved, none at all. It's just moved around but it doesn't show because the accounts are separate. It's the main motivation and it's completely misguided.

Health services save a little, and not even that much since unrelated problems are more likely to get worse before we get them checked and emergency medicine is ridiculously more expensive than usual care, but tax income and economic activity lose 10x more. It's the ultimate penny-wise and pound-foolish idiocy.

Also, you know, millions of lives being wasted. That's supposed to be important, guess not.

 

Ah yes, you are right, @rvallee.

I have thought this through before, but forgot - the silo effect.

Group A and Group B save money, Group C and D make money, Groups E, F, G, H and so on lose lots of money.

It likely costs more, the way things are structured now, by abusing and ignoring the millions with ME.

In our society, industry and commerce come first, and the taxpayer can foot the bill for things like industry's failings in safety, health care, and human decency.

The phrase and attitude "It's just business", used to explain away gross cruelty, greed, and complete disregard for humanity and the rest of the world, is ruining our world.

 

And that's just ongoing costs of lost economic opportunity and direct taxes.

Costs vary between countries, but the total cost in public funding for raising a taxpaying adult is about $200K, between public education, health care and infrastructure. Since most of us become sick in early adulthood, before we start making significant income, or earlier, this then becomes a complete loss. Forget future taxes lost, we begin with an enormous deficit that is never recouped.

If we take very conservative estimates of $100K per person x 400K sufferers in Canada too sick to pay taxes on median income, this is a direct loss in direct public spending of no less than $40B, for which exactly $0 is allocated to fix. $40B completely down the drain, by choice. That money has already been spent in full, it's not hypothetical or future money.

The Mirabel airport, a pretty big scandal in Canada for having been mostly wasted, cost about $2.2B in 2014 dollars. Ignoring ME is easily 20 Mirabel airport scandals and nobody bats an eye because they have no idea. And nobody died for it, not one life was actually wasted.

Ridiculously stupid and short-sighted. An economic impact study is badly needed. It would show the huge loss and make it clear that even spending $100M per year on research alone would be a bargain.

 

@rvallee

Excellent examples! These numbers should be repeated to governments again, and again! Taxpayers' organizations need to know this stuff.