Posted by TENA/ DIAMOND on 1/2/2009, 4:17 pm
Letter to NY Times
Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:46 pm (PST)
Subject: Letter to NY Times
HERE ARE THE RESPONSES TO THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ON A REPORTER AND HIS OPINION ON FMS.
-------Original Message----- --
To: The New York Times From: The FMS Community.org 501 and members. The recent article by Alex Berenson has generated widespread interest among those living with chronic pain. The article did present some valid medical facts and we defend Mr. Berensons' right to free speech. However, we believe that free speech should be tempered with caution when you hold a position such as Mr. Berenson, who has the ear of many trusted readers. As a journalist Mr. Berenson has the responsibilty of presenting the facts in a non-biased manner. Instead this article leads the reader to a forgone conclusion decided by the author.
He is not a medical professional, nor is he a chronic pain patient. He spoke to very small amount of people with their own agenda to gather his facts and then presented them as if it was the view of the masses. Shame on the Times for running this piece without offering both sides of the issue. If taken to heart by medical professionals this piece could set health care for those with chronic pain back years. We have fought long and hard for acceptance by the medical profession and for valuable research funds. There will always be a small sector of any population who will abuse a diagnosis, not work towards their own recovery and use a condition as an excuse not to work. But the majority of people with Fibromyalgia are hard working people with many hobbies used to hard work and a social life. They would give anything to regain the ability to work a long week and then play hard on the weekend.
We are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents. We could be your sister or brother, perhaps a loved childhood friend. We are people who want the pain and fatigue to go away so we can work and pursue the things we love. While the FMS Community does not condone the idea of bestowing a life with Fibromyalgia on Mr. Berenson, we hope you understand why many of our readers wish he could walk a mile in our shoes. In protest we ran your article in our monthly newsletter, giving full credit to the NY Times and Mr. Berenson, here are the responses our readers wanted you to see
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