There's No Business Like Show Business 02/29/2012
There’s No Business Like Show Business Some recurring positive attributes given to the Whittemores in recent news articles are along the lines of affable, friendly, likeable. And I will admit, in part, they are exactly that in my experience. Annette struck me as charming, sincere, and gracious. Harvey as in command, always smiling and a devoted family man. They invited me into their home. I took that as a great honor because of their high profile and need, I was sure, to be careful about letting their guard down, even with some lowly patient from the East coast. I had no other intention than to be helpful to the institute, to the family running it, and to the former NCI retrovirologist in charge. As my confidence grew in WPI’s goals, I made plans to create county wide fundraisers for WPI along with penny drives in our schools to help make people aware of neuroimmune diseases. I, along with many other patients, made myself sick voting and soliciting votes daily for Chase giveaway and Vivant. All that was with the intention of raising money for Judy’s research. Not WPI research with whomever Annette chose to plug into the grant, but Judy’s research. In my eyes, and I think in most patients’ eyes, Annette’s main priority was to support and fund Judy Mikovits’ research. As my concerns grew with WPI about a year ago, my priority became praying that the stress from the fight for HGRV validity did not rip the institute apart. I blamed it on the government pressures and scientific political pressures. I was not inclined to say, even to good friends, that I believed part of the stress was in mismanagement on Annette’s part, even though I knew better. I have several friends who would tell me what a fiasco the public relations was with WPI. All of them, highly intelligent, former business people. I made every excuse for WPI though, the primary one was what I was fed on a daily basis. They were straining financially and could not afford enough help. Robbing Peter to Pay Paul If the Seenos are correct in accusing the Whittemores of embezzling Wingfield funds to support their lavish lifestyle and run WPI, then the Whittemores have made an art out of robbing Peter to pay Paul. In fact, after reading several recent news articles, it seems ever since the real estate crash that is what the Whittemores have probably been doing. They rob one person blind in a law suit, or embezzle, in order to pay someone off who is breathing hot and heavy down their necks. You would have to fall on desperate time to embezzle from the Seenos. This is, of course, all pending trials. We're asked to reserve judgement on their guilt, although this is something we surely were not encouraged to do in regards to their allegations against Judy Mikovits. And suing Judy Mikovits is about self-preservation, not about patients. If WPI was truly concerned about patients, they would never have fired Judy Mikovits. They would have understood why patients were donating in the first place. They donated to Judy’s work. It borders on pure narcissism to be so out of touch with patient community feelings as to think firing Judy Mikovits would not directly result in withdraw of financial support. And the amount asked for in damages is the definition of extortion. “The Whittemore Peterson Institute is apparently attempting to sue Dr. Judy Mikovits for ‘all costs associated with her work’, according to today’s article at RGJ.com, including every dime of her salary since she started working there, all of her research costs while working for the Institute, and, crazily, for the $133,100 drop in donations after Mikovits left.” (CFS Untied – blog) So, they want her full salary back? A salary probably paid for by the Seenos in the first place through Wingfield? In order to hand it over to the Seenos who are suing them for the money back? Takes a lot of chutzpah and a lot of buddies in the legal system to believe you could make those claims against a wrongfully terminated employee and actually receive the requested damages. And then to claim that patients have been swayed by Judy Mikovits to stop donating is ludicrous and insulting. As though we are not intelligent enough to make up our own minds based on what we see publicly. Dr. Deckoff-Jones exposed personal communications and threats sent to her from WPI. One patient left a comment that sums up what many former supporters of the WPI are feeling. Polly – “The only reason that the whittemores are not recieving donations is the appalling way they have treated patients since all this blew up in sept . This has nothing to do with Judy that donations have stopped . Ask anyone in the ME community why they have stopped donating and I bet they al say the same .Many people have infact tried to get their donations back as they feel they were not used for the purpose intended . Very sick patients donated a lot of money much coming from the UK and Europe as all they wanted was to further the research and hopefully get some treatment out of it . Now patients are distraught , angry and feel like they have been sold up the river by the whittemores . I urge the whittemores to drop this case against Judy who has only ever tried to help patients . This case is causing huge distress and damage to the ME community who merely want the science to continue and a stab at normal life again before its too late . So my message to the Whittemores stop blaming Judy for the sudden stop in donations Judy has nothing to do with that . Patients can think for themselves , would you continue to donate money when it was highly unlikely you would ever see any benefit from it ? Only a fool would .” X-RX.net Jekyll and Hyde As most people, I have my list of faults. You will not find disloyalty to friends among them though. So, the last year has been a difficult one for me, the last few months even more so. I tried in every way to merge the people I knew in Reno with the people who could fire Judy, sue her, be accused of embezzlement from mafia moguls, be in business in the first place with mafia moguls, accused of funneling illegal campaign contributions (Las Vegas Review Journal), (more in one day for Harry Reid than ever recorded), and then threaten patients by lurking online or sending emails to intimidate them for speaking their minds. What CEO of any organization does that sort of thing with disgruntled customers? With friends like that, I don’t need enemies. These people are not our friends, unfortunately. They have families too, of course. There are innocents involved, of course. And they do normal daily activities that would also make you feel there is good there. That humanity is not totally lost in that family. But, it reminds me of the story of Jekyll and Hyde. The overarching theme in many ways is how you can lose your soul to the evil side of your nature, that without proper maintenance of your integrity, you will metamorphosize permanently into the worst of who you can be. Summary of the end of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The letter continues describing Jekyll’s cry for help. Far from his laboratory and hunted by the police as a murderer, Hyde needed Lanyon’s help to get his potions and become Jekyll again—but when he undertook the transformation in Lanyon’s presence, the shock of the sight instigated Lanyon’s deterioration and death. Meanwhile, Jekyll returned to his home, only to find himself ever more helpless and trapped as the transformations increased in frequency and necessitated even larger doses of potion in order to reverse themselves. It was the onset of one of these spontaneous metamorphoses that caused Jekyll to slam his laboratory window shut in the middle of his conversation with Enfield and Utterson. Eventually, the potion began to run out, and Jekyll was unable to find a key ingredient to make more. His ability to change back from Hyde into Jekyll slowly vanished. Jekyll writes that even as he composes his letter he knows that he will soon become Hyde permanently, and he wonders if Hyde will face execution for his crimes or choose to kill himself. Jekyll notes that, in any case, the end of his letter marks the end of the life of Dr. Jekyll. With these words, both the document and the novel come to a close. It was with great sadness at first that I distanced myself from WPI and everyone there. Then it became anger for the reverberations felt throughout the patient community after Judy Mikovits was wrongfully terminated. Past the anger though is just shock at times that this never ends. That patients continued to be harassed regarding lost donations. That they continue libeling Judy by saying she tainted the integrity of the WPI. What a load of crap that is. The place would have had no notoriety without her discovery. That there is no concern over a lost UK blood sample. That NIH and DOD grants were handed over to a researcher lacking expertise in this field and who has never won a grant on his own accord. That grants were handed over to an institute president under investigation. That the Seenos feel comfortable enough exposing Whittemore crimes to take them to court. That a grand jury may indict the Whittemores on felony charges for illegal campaign contributions today. What next? I think the metamorphosis is almost complete. Comments02/29/2012 11:50am
I was never as enthralled with the Whittemores as you apparently were, Heidi. I never met them and they never saw fit to communicate with me in a civil manner--even though I donated money and supported them in every way I could. I knew, absolutely, that WPI was going in the wrong direction when I saw Annette Whittemore asking M.E. patients to vote for the CFIDS ASS of America in the Vivint Facebook Contest in May 2011. This occurred only a few weeks after the verbal attack by Suzanne Vernon of the CAA on Dr. Mikovits at the NIH Workshop (transcript here). Mrs. Whittemore's lack of consideration for Dr. Mikovits was obvious. Unfortunately, I seem to have been alone in that realization. However, I was then unaware of the depth of their imperious selfishness. I am still shocked by their callous disregard for the welfare of the thousands of people who have spent their energy and their money to support WPI. The very least they could do is to explain what they did with the money--both the donation money and the US tax funds they received. If they did that, there might be a chance for them to redeem some part of their reputation. However, they do not seem to be the least bit inclined to do so. Apparently they consider themselves above explaining to mere donors and taxpayers. 02/29/2012 11:53am
Sorry, the link to the transcript of Vernon and Mikovits at the NIH workshop is: http://www.mecfsforums.com/wiki/Transcript_of_Mikovtis/Vernon_at_the_NIH_Workshop_%288_April_2011%29 Heidi 02/29/2012 12:17pm
I worked too closely, too quickly. My excitement was about the science. That excitement spread to the family who took the initiative to make that happen financially. It is in the past though. 02/29/2012 4:00pm
I understand, Heidi. These people are good at what they do, which in my opinion is deceiving people. They deceived a lot of people for a long time, but now their facade is wearing thin. Their true colors are showing through, and it isn't pretty. Their arrogance and selfishness are becoming all too obvious. Their ill-advised actions in persecuting Dr. Mikovits are destroying their Institute and certainly damaging their own reputations. If they were able to think clearly, they would see that the best course of action to deal with this hole they have dug for themselves is to stop digging; however, I am not sure any of them are now capable of clear thinking, if indeed they ever were. anon 02/29/2012 1:26pm
There is a cartoon being reposted all over facebook that shows children saying the pledge of allegiance, with the last words changed to "with liberty and justice for SALE." In a move that her attorneys had never seen before, Dr. Mikovits was jailed for five days simply because a powerful man had influence over a district attorney and judge. How could she be called a Fugitive of Justice? She simply went home, on a planned trip, after being fired the day before. What would anyone do under those circumstance? Isn't it also interesting that she was not jailed and there was no warrant out for her arrest when she went home that night, on September 30, and that she was taken from her home in another state over seven weeks later, on November 18? Her personal property was taken from her home not by local police, but by University of Nevada police. She is still to this day a clinical adjunct professor in three departments of the University of Nevada, and is therefore still an employee of the university. What has been done to right this terrible wrong? NOTHING. Karen 03/01/2012 12:32am
Patients stopped donating to WPI the day they found out Judy was fired. That is the reason no matter how much these insane people at the institute try to remove the blame from themselves. Patients were donating and voting in contests believing the money would be going to the research lab where Judy was in charge of the research. Once she was fired there was no longer a need, as the person that helped make the discovery was gone. WPI has never taken any consideration for the patients feelings or well being with the decisions they've made. Quite frankly they just don't give a damn.They only care about their family and friends and apparently money. Kay 03/01/2012 12:59am
Heidi, I think it's really best for you if you truly try to let this go and move on. And all of us as well. None of us knows how the trials will come out, none of us knows if there was any criminal activity on either side (including the question of whether Judy had her assistant steal the notebooks to cover up things she may not have wanted anyone to see), although it's public knowledge that the Whittemores, or at least Harvey, has been involved in controversial dealings. But this was public knowledge back in November 2009, and people chose to ignore it then. Heidi 03/01/2012 10:39am
Heidi said: Kay 03/01/2012 12:12pm
Wow. Was just trying to help. polly 03/02/2012 3:52am
Thanks for writing this Heidi this whole sorry saga gets worse by the day and is causing massive damage to the ME community . Kathryn 03/02/2012 4:57am
I said this on Khaly's recent Clown Posse blog, so I'll say it here also, with hopes one or both of you will accept and post it. 03/08/2012 9:32pm
Kathryn, this is confusing. There is nothing illegal or even unethical about a 501(c)(3) organization such as WPI having donations sent to an accountant for processing. My Paypal receipts are from the Whittemore Peterson Institute. The email address is dblades@wingfield. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. The email address on my paypal account can say "Verizon" or "AOL" or any other server; it does not mean that money sent to me goes to Verizon or AOL or anyone else except me. Andrea D. 03/02/2012 4:16pm
Oh, that's a good find Kathrin. I'm going to see if we can conntect the mafia people at wingfield an get our mony back! Kathryn Stephens 03/02/2012 4:58pm
...Sorry, meant to leave my name: Kathryn Stephens on FB. gerwyn 03/05/2012 3:36pm
hi Heidi Heidi 03/06/2012 8:39am
Gerwyn - I appreciate you saying so. I was under the impression this person was speaking for you in some way. I apologize. Cindee Rice 03/09/2012 3:25am
We received full'SPOSORSHIPS,we were called and given them by WPI we never received TREATMENT at all...the whole reason we were chosen and brought up to the WPI cliic we were CALLED and gave an appt time, travel arrangements, promised tests, test results and treatment. We were treated badly by the staff..told at arrival we 'HD no appointment...sent up to see Nnette. The were very very sweet andsaidwewould get the best treatment. We underwent some tests, some results still have not Ben explained we were told WE could have ALL of our medical files went to US. After all of this we were told to take B12 and other SUPPLEMENTS...just like any NP has told me. I received B12 injections 25 years ago...we did not take this grueling trip to nationally recognized Institute foe neuroimmune diseases just to be told to. Take supplements...again, we were promised REAL solutions in the SPONSORSHIP.and were told to send the bills to Annette at WPI for Payment. THOUSANDS of dollar bills are now going to collections, just when my credit was getting better and we are homeless, a good credit rating is important. We are MORE sick after going there and they are not honoring one promise in their Sponsorshio to us. It was and is all about the money. And we are homeless now, no income. They raised our hoioes for getting better, we thoughtFINALLY someone cares and will do te rigththing, if anything happens to my young son,there will be one very angry mother here and legal action must be taken. apologoes for glitchy typing..my brain swollen and lots of pressure ineyes and brain .is hot cotton and 03/09/2012 3:30am
03/14/2012 11:58pm
Petition to Investigate Possible WPI/UNR Misuse of Taxpayer Funds barbara 03/30/2012 4:32pm
The ME Assoc in Newry Ireland demanded and got their money back from donations made to WPI Comments are closed. | Heidi BauerI have battled ME/CFS for almost 17 years. I became an advocate in late 2008 hoping to learn how to prevent my children from becoming ill. Since then I have had a crash course in politics and science, and the politics of science. This truly is a journey to discovery. ArchivesCategories |
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