The
Battlebus Tour is a concept I created with Derek Morrison
in Australia whilst he was fighting his, unfortunately
lost, compensation case in Sydney last year. Being the
sort of fella he is, he was willing to finance it from
whatever he might win.
The idea
is quite simple and that is it's strength. If politicians
can thunder around the country on specially converted
coaches whipping up a storm of Public Interest as they
go, then so can anybody else - singularly us.
I
would like to get all the ARC organisations on board the
vehicle and, to save creating a separate charity to collect
funds as we go, the Arachnoiditis Trust and the Myodil
Action Group - will have that role specifically.
We
also need them so that we can (with their permission)
access their existing membership(s) and seek volunteers
to disseminate PR
prior to our arrival in the towns and cities we visit.
Naturally those destinations will be decided by a number
of factors. These
would include the amount of support on the ground and
the position of the local MP on this subject amongst others.
Once
we have an Itinerary we would then have to brief all of
our “Ground Troops” on their roles. The type of work we will need our supporters
to undertake will be:-
·
Scouting out and booking venues.
·
Inviting local dignitaries to attend.
This will include sitting MPs, Prospective Candidates
for the other parties, the local
mayor and councillors.
·
Contacting the local media in advance
of our arrival.
·
Getting posters up in public places.
·
The weekend before our arrival they might
also, with the permission of the management, leaflet local
shoppers in the local "mall" or shopping centre.
·
collecting signatures for the petition.
In
the meantime, the Coach Team would consist of:-
·
representatives of all the ARC organisations,
·
sufferers who have a presentation or
support function (think of all those who will need tea
or coffee to enable them to get going in the morning),
·
a camera crew to record everything, (fly
on the wall documentary afterwards to keep the kettle
boiling nicely),
·
able bodied carers to look after the
sufferers,
·
a suitably qualified doctor to watch
over them,
Our
vehicle will also have to be equipped as a communications
centre, we don't want to disappear between venues or lose
contact with our people on the ground.
The
Coach Team tasking will consist of:-
·
forming the Management Committee to oversee
the trip,
·
dealing with questions from the general
public, before, after and during presentations at each
venue,
·
giving us the last PR push at the destination,
by generating interest on the ground in a final "shopper
assault" (working inside of a shopping centre with
a display, flyers, T-shirts and other promotional material),
·
using their professional skills to help
with the smooth running of the venture,
·
becoming our spokespeople for local and
national media,
·
collecting signatures for the petition.
Derek
and I envisaged stops at between 10 - 15 venues with large
working populations, starting in the North and working
South then South West before turning back North East and
into London.
The
north has been targeted because of the, predominantly
heavy industrial base to the workforce and the probability
of finding more support from amongst such a population.
In my opinion, it most definitely would encourage non-diagnosed
back pain sufferers with the right medical history to
join us. In doing
so they demonstrate the nonsense that "ARC is rare".
I
know that this long trip will be too much for many of
us, but, sufferers would not have to be aboard, we could
swop and change them between venues, rotating out those
who are not able to continue, and rotating in a whole
new bunch of personnel. These new personnel will rejuvenate
our spirits bringing, as they will, fresh minds who are
ready for the fray.
One
thing that I feel we must all be wary of is concentrating
on the Myodil issue to the exclusion of all else. Whilst
it is, quite rightly, seen by many as the premier cause
of modern ARC (20th, 21st Century), it is not the only
iatrogenic cause of ARC.
Yes,
it will be our foundational villain of the peace because
it is the first example of medical abuse to the nervous
system directly and we will nail it with the evidence
already gathered, but we must also ensure that the other
pollutants are covered.
To
that end I would propose that one of our intentions would
be to discredit the practice of using the intrathecal
route for the administration of therapeutic or diagnostic
substances.
So
what exactly are the complete proposed aims of this project.
Here
are those that Derek and I have put together, obviously
though they must all be agreed before hand, by all participants
in a democratic manner:-
·
to discredit the use of the Intrathecal
Route for drug or chemical delivery.
·
to publicise the dangers of the intrathecal
Route using the Myodil model, but, also stressing the
others.
·
to force a moratorium on all spinal injections
(except those which are life saving) until it can be shown
that it is safe. "Never" sounds good to me.
·
to win recognition from the appropriate
body of government of Arachnoiditis as a terminal disease.
This would ensure that those sufferers with a significant
medical history which would indicate that their symptoms
are "more likely than not" the result of medical
interventions can get their Benefits "as of right",
with the minimal fuss and form filling exercises.
·
to force the Government, by the weight
of public opinion, to :-
·
act now by sequestering the £1750million that SmithKlineBeecham insisted
Glaxo put aside to settle compensation claims and
using it to set up a compensatory fund controlled by a
new government department (the Medical Compensation Board(MCB)), independent
of the NHS, the Judiciary, and the DHSS, which would deal
with medical compensation claims. This board to be staffed
by (? - that must be a joint decision).
·
enact legislation that authorises the
MCB to hear all medical compensation cases and disperse
sufficient funds to compensate victims without the ordeal
of going through the overloaded Court System at a huge
cost to the taxpayers and the victims themselves. The
amount of compensation which the MCB can order to be paid
by the company or organisation found to be at fault is
not to be of a level which threatens the existence of
that company, or the National Health Service.
·
enact legislation which ensures that
no compensation claims are to take more than 12 months
to settle. In the cases which involve companies that no
longer exist altogether, the MCB will pay the sum it deems
necessary from it's own funds.
·
enact legislation which would require
that all suppliers of drugs, diagnostic materials, medical
machinery and equipment pay an annual percentage of their
profits to the MCB in order to maintain it's level of
funding (on the ABTA model).
·
enact legislation which will prohibit
the practice of using drugs for any other purpose than
that for which they were intended without carrying out
a new set of trials demonstrating the efficacy of the
new usage.
·
pay Myodil victims an immediate six figure
sum (say £200,000) as an interim payment whilst they await
the decision of the MCB on their claims.
Providing their symptoms are "more likely
than not" the result of a Myodil myelogram.
·
pay a similar intermediary sum to other
ARC sufferers, where their symptoms are "more likely
than not" the result of medical interventions.
·
elicit a full apology from the Government
to all Myodil victims for their lack of attention to what
is a tragic miscarriage of justice.
N.B.
"more likely than not" in
all ARC cases is to consist of a supporting MRI Scan Report
showing ARC as a result of medical intervention and that
report should be backed by the claimant's General Practitioner
and, at least one, Neurological Consultant, with a medical
history which supports their diagnosis.
You
are now going aaaaargh, I haven't got a diagnosis and
nobody will give me one! But after the legislation is
in place and blame is not an issue you will get one without
any difficulty.
You
may also be thinking that this is a "tall order",
but, I personally believe that such a campaign, which
has aims that:-
·
don't include a large portion of blame
being thrown around, and
·
does not involve sums of money so large
that the NHS and pharmaceutical industry infrastructure
is put at risk,
has
a greater chance of success than waiting for somebody
to wake up and take notice of us. At the very least this document does propose
a way out of this thorny dilemma for both the Administration
and the medical profession which is tenable.
I
would appreciate positive feedback on this idea.
I
am also on the hunt for volunteers and sponsors.
·
If you feel you could contribute in any
way, or, that you have a contact that could help make
this reality, I would also appreciate hearing from you.
·
If you are a possible sponsor who wishes
to help, please contact us soonest.
·
On the other hand if you are reading
this and think you could make it happen yourself –
please go ahead. I might be a bit miffed should you leave me
out, but I can take great pleasure in watching it work
and knowing that I have contributed.
