A Connecticut woman, Lyme Disease campaigner and whistleblower, faces a hearing today, Oct 4, 2005 that may cost her her freedom. Kathleen Dickson stands accused of breaking a condition of her probation. Her crime? Posting material to the internet "critical of Government".

Kathleen Dickson, Lyme Disease whistleblower, faces Jail for "Criticizing the government" Kathleen Dickson is a Connecticut mother with Lyme disease and high-functioning autism. She is also a scientist who has worked for years as an advocate for the Lyme patient community. Some years ago Kathleen became too disabled by Lyme disease to care for her children on her own. They too were (congenitally) infected with the Lyme bacteria, and she fought in vain to obtain the special 504 education plan her daughter needed. When she could no longer cope, she asked the state agencies for help. She received none. She came into conflict with the Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) for publicly criticizing them over this. This was not the only issue Kathleen was speaking out about publicly. A former Pfizer analytical chemist, Kathleen’s knowledge about Lyme Disease testing procedures, as well as her outrage at injustice, led her to become prominent in exposing the corruption at the heart of the controversy over treating this disease, now acknowledged to be overtaking AIDS as the fastest-growing infectious disease. Kathleen’s testimony and activism helped to force the removal of Glaxo’s dangerous LymeRix vaccine from the market, and forced Rhode Island legislators to take the issue of Lyme bio-markers seriously. She publicly named several doctors, scientists and government officials whom she believed were guilty of corrupting Lyme science for financial motives. She published evidence of links they had with the insurance industry and multinational biotech companies. For this she became the target of a campaign of intense harassment. Anonymous individuals, some pretending to be Lyme sufferers, lambasted and threatened her on the Internet. One man even called her regularly at her home, pretending to be seeking her advice. Kathleen was hounded with hundreds of defamatory and abusive messages on the internet, always by the same few anonymous individuals, always with the same aim – of discrediting her and the allegations she was making regarding scientific fraud. Undeterred by the harassment, Kathleen continued her advocacy for Lyme patients. Shortly afterwards she was accused by the local DCF of improper parenting of her children. Kathleen, who was felt by all who knew her to be an extremely devoted mother, and who had engaged in Lyme activism largely in order to help her children, was shocked. No evidence of any harm to the children was provided. Nevertheless the case against her escalated and she was threatened with removal of her children. This deeply traumatized the children, who began having nightmares that they would be taken away from their mother. In late autumn 2003 their nightmare came true. Kathleen had filed a complaint with the US Dept. of Justice, alleging that fraudulent scientific practice had led to thousands of patients being denied diagnosis and/or treatment for Lyme disease. One of the individuals named in that complaint, who had harassed Kathleen online for years, suddenly announced on the Internet that she was capable of drowning her children. A few days later, Kathleen was told at a DCF hearing that she had been heard to say that she would do this, which was not true. Her children were taken from school while she was in court and were put into foster care. Kathleen was stunned. By now, with her children gone, suffering the effects of worsening neurological Lyme as well as autism and with no help in sight, Kathleen became distraught. She mailed out hundreds of letters protesting at her fate and naming those officials she felt responsible. A short time later she was told by her lawyer that the authorities would be seeking her commitment to a psychiatric institution. While this did not happen, she was arrested a few weeks later, and charged with harassment of a senior official in the Connecticut Attorney General’s office. In April 2004 Kathleen Dickson was sent to the York women’s prison in Connecticut, where a huge bail was put on her which she could not raise. She was subsequently transferred to a prison psychiatric wing at Connecticut Valley Hospital. At five foot eight, her weight dropped to only 108 pounds due to the poor diet she received in York prison, and her hair began to fall out. Even while imprisoned the tirade of libel against Kathleen by the same few, anonymous individuals, continued unabated. One had tried to befriend her sister in order to harm her, and wrote publicly that he hoped she would be sexually abused in jail. Nevertheless, the psychiatrists in charge of her care denied that she had Lyme disease and refused her any treatment, despite the fact that she has positive test results and SPECT (type of brain scan) and has been treated for it for years by one of the country’s top specialists. They ignored letters from her doctor and other Lyme specialists who wrote in on her behalf. Instead she was labeled mentally ill. The prison psychiatrists told Kathleen that she was imagining the harassment from associates of the Steere camp of doctors and researchers, despite the hundreds of their internet messages which were out in the public domain for all to see. And despite the fact that those individuals associated with the Steere camp's activities had been publicly angry that Kathleen had complained of their corruption to the FDA. She was told she was paranoid to believe they wished her harm, and would therefore need psychiatric medication. Lyme is an extremely debilitating disease whose huge range of symptoms can often lead to misdiagnosis. The spectrum can sometimes include neuropsychiatric symptoms, just as in AIDS dementia, cerebral tumor, and many other physical brain diseases. Specialist Lyme psychiatrists have written extensively on this. However a Lyme disease patient suffering from such symptoms must be treated with appropriate antibiotic or other therapy under the guidance of a knowledgeable professional. They do not belong in a psychiatric unit anymore than a brain tumor patient does. It is clear that those Kathleen named for their role in scientific fraud would benefit greatly if her accusations against them were forgotten, and if she was dismissed as mentally ill. It is not only Kathleen Dickson who has suffered because of her stand against them. Virtually all those who have had the courage to speak out were rewarded with serious threats and repression. Doctors (such as Joseph Burrascano) , and lab scientists who acknowledge the problem of chronic Lyme disease or the need for long term antibiotic treatment have come under tremendous pressure to shut down operations. Some have buckled under this pressure; some have been forced to help patients in secret; some have had their licenses removed and two doctors have committed suicide. In those areas where Lyme is not officially acknowledged to be endemic (much of the US as well as western Europe) unreliable blood testing procedures maintain artificially low statistics. Despite a congressional ruling in 2001, doctors, encouraged by insurance companies and government officials responsible for financing health care, continue to inform their patients that Lyme cannot be diagnosed in the absence of a positive blood test. Patients who challenge this “norm” are accused of hypochondria, and parents who claim their children may have Lyme disease and need antibiotic treatment have had their children removed under allegations of Munchausen’s-by-proxy. Kathleen Dickson accused the then Governor of Connecticut, John Rowland, (who has since been removed in the wake of other huge scandals) and top officers of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health of complicity in the Lyme cover-up. According to Kathleen, corrupt scientists suppressed their own findings that could have provided more reliable diagnostic tests. Her accusations regarding their approach to Lyme disease were potentially politically damaging. On her release under the Accelerated Rehabilitation act, Kathleen was forced to sign an agreement that characterized her as a mental patient rather than a sufferer of Lyme disease, and – incredibly – required to pledge that she would not publish or distribute any material “critical of government” without first submitting it to the Probation officer for approval. There was no stipulation about material criticizing others – only the government. Such a condition is in direct contravention to the US Constitution, which provides for freedom of speech, and is reminiscent of the worst of dictatorships. In September 2005, Kathleen was granted a hearing to review the validity of the proceedings against her, as she requested. However, she subsequently learned from her attorney that the hearing, which will be held at New Britain Court , Connecticut, on Tuesday 4 October 2005, is likely to be used to launch a fresh accusation that she has broken her terms of release by criticizing the government in internet posts. If found guilty of “criticizing the government” without permission, she will be sent back to jail. Please protest this disgraceful attack on the freedom of expression of a scientist, mother and whistleblower, whose only crime was to advocate for her family and for other Lyme disease patients. Raise the issue with your congressman, in the media, in the health advocacy and civil liberties movement. For more information about how you can help Kathleen, please email the Kathleen Dickson Defense campaign at defend_kd@yahoo.com Where can I find more information about Lyme Disease? Sadly, the information available at "official" sites, such as those run by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in USA are carrying misinformation due to the influence of the doctors and researchers with conflicts of interest. For a more truthful view, based on the work of doctors from ILADS, a professional association of Lyme specialists without the enormous conflicts of interest charcterizing the CDC, NIH and other Steere camp Lyme spokesmen, try one of these sites: www.lyme.org www.lyme.info www.lyme.net www.lymetruth.org

e-mail:: defend_kd@yahoo.com homepage:: http://lyme-rage.info/kathoct05.html

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