Carla, a very severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) patient has lost her appeal against West Middlesex hospital. Doctors sectioned Carla Naoum under the Mental Health Act as they believed her extreme gastrointestinal pain was partly or fully psychosomatic. However, her father has hit back – claiming that staff are now treating her worse than before.
Carla very severe ME/CFS ‘psychiatric’
As the Canary previously reported, you can read part of Carla’s story here. She has now been in West Middlesex Hospital for over seven months. Late on Thursday 17 October, an external psychiatrist and a nurse assessed Carla and deemed she met the criteria to be sectioned; in effect weaponising the Mental Health Act.
Doctors have now convinced themselves that her severe gastrointestinal pain is partly or fully psychosomatic. The psychiatrist who did her Section 2 assessment told Carla’s father that:
the physical is always related to the mental
Or words to that effect. West Middlesex Hospital is now saying that her GI pain, along with her seizures, are psychosomatic. She is still unable to take adequate nutrition, therefore her ‘made up’ GI pain is posing a risk to herself – ergo she needs to be sectioned.
She is now under the ‘care’ of psychiatrist Dr Michael Yousif – an NHS liaison psychiatrist who worked with professor Michael Sharpe at Oxford. Sharpe was one of the authors of the PACE trial, and has maintained until this day that exercise and talking therapy can make ME patient’s better. This is based on partly the idea that the illness has an element of the psychomatic within it. This is despite Sharpe’s work being repeatedly proven to be false; ‘fraudulent‘, as some people have accused it of being.
As the Canary wrote at the time about Carla and very severe ME/CFS:
Saying her GI pain is partly or fully psychosomatic is demonstrable nonsense. Any gastrologist with half a brain cell or the ability to do a cursory Google search would realise this. Carla, like so many other women in this cases, clearly lives with gastroparesis and dysphagia as well. They are well documented – and go some way to explaining why severe ME/CFS patients end up being tube fed.
However, it is all too often missed – not only by medical professionals but by patients, too.
An appeal over West Middlesex Hospital’s decision
So, Carla and her family appealed the sectioning at a tribunal. Respected ME/CFS consultant Dr William Weir gave evidence. He noted that:
Symptoms of ME/CFS… are sometimes inappropriately attributed to psychological disorder as has been the case with Carla… a well recognised gastrointestinal complication of ME/CFS is gastroparesis, a problem which Carla has very severely, and which is why she is unable to eat a normal diet…
Carla’s current management… indicates a severe lack of understanding of the real pathology causing Carla’s symptoms. I also understand that she has been sectioned, and that she is due to be force-fed on the assumption that she is refusing to eat normally for psychological reasons. Given that Carla has severe gastroparesis, this will cause her extreme distress. Total parenteral nutrition will be an appropriate temporary solution for her current situation.
The Canary previously noted that gastroparesis was clearly a problem in Carla. Yet it is something West Middlesex Hospital has not even tested her for. Nor has it tested her for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). It has only given her basic anti-histamines for potential mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). Also, since doctors changed her to bolus feeding (as opposed to a nasogastric (NG) feed, she has been putting on weight.
However, the tribunal completely ignored this evidence and fell on the side of West Middlesex Hospital. The Canary has been told that even the solicitor representing Carla was baffled by this. It seems that a potentially inexperienced tribunal panel were dealing with matters of which they had no understanding.
Save Carla’s life
So, Carla remains sectioned for a psychiatric condition that she does not have. Already, her family are recording evidence of the forcefulness of staff at West Middlesex Hospital. These are scratches from one of the nurses:
This video shows hospital staff attempting to force Carla to have her feed – despite it being too early in terms of time between feeds, as well as medication; something West Middlesex Hospital know causes Carla huge pain. At the end, one nurse forcibly removes Carla’s eye mask – something which is essential for her ME; acknowledged by NICE guidelines. Please note this video starts with Carla screaming, and some readers may find it distressing:
Her father Pierre recorded the following video last week, not long after the tribunal made its decision:
Carla and her family will be appealing the tribunal’s decision. The Canary will continue to follow her situation.
Featured image supplied
