Dr. David Gorski Jumps the Shark over Desiree Jennings Case

Managing Editor's Note: My apologies to Jim Henson and The Fonz for the photo, artfully created by the fabulous Adriana Gamondes.(You do remember the Happy Days episode from whence the term, "Jump the shark*" came, don't you?)  KS

By J.B. Handley
 
Dr. David Gorski, the bitchy diva of Scienceblogs, who typically blogs as a guy named “Orac” but apparently sometimes blogs as a girl named “SoCalGal”, is a sputtering mess over the Desiree Jennings case.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with this odious “doctor”, note that he is exceptionally proud of himself for his blogging status:
 
“As far as I've yet been able to ascertain, I'm the only academic surgeon with R01 funding in the world with an active -- and, even more shockingly, even a somewhat popular -- blog.”
 
He’s also very proud that he got into medical school:
 
“I got into the University of Michigan Medical School, which got around 3,000 applications every year for around 180 positions.”
 
And, that he studied like a real demon:
 
“So insane was I that one year I took 17 credits in the fall semester, all but 3 of which were hard-core science classes, including graduate level biochemistry, and then did the same thing again the next semester.”
 
And, his hobbies are quite expansive:
 
“My recreation of choice most evenings these days is to blog. It truly is my hobby.”
 
But enough on his fascinating background.
 
I remain amazed by Dr. Gorski’s angry, disrespectful, biting, caustic, and immature approach that he uses in criticizing other physicians who he doesn’t agree with. You want to take a guy like me to task, no problem. But, physician to physician? It strikes me as being wildly unprofessional, particularly in an area like medicine, where so much remains that we truly do not understand.

Dr. Gorski, I know why other scientists and doctors don’t blog: they are interested in maintaining a decorum and professionalism in their chosen profession that you have long since abandoned. How does his blogging style translate to Dr. Gorski’s bedside manner with patients? Let’s just hope he has multiple personalities.
 
The Desiree Jennings case appears to be bringing out the absolute worst in many of the bloggers who oppose our community. As one example, I read a post by Dr. Steven Novella where he “reported” on a string of events involving Generation Rescue and the Desiree Jennings case that had no basis in reality and was simply false. We have neurologists breaking tabloid-level stories? Dr. Novella as investigative journalist? Too funny.
 
In no particular order, the Desiree Jennings case appears to be causing doctors to break all sorts of medical ethical boundaries including:
 
-     Challenging Ms. Jennings’ original diagnosis of dystonia. Since when do doctors make long-distance video-only diagnoses? Don’t these doctors realize, by offering up potentially false commentary on the nature of Ms. Jennings diagnosis in a story that has captivated the world, that they will one day be called to task for such a glaring breach of medical ethics?
 
-     Claiming Ms. Jennings condition is all in her head. For parents of children with autism, this one has a familiar ring. How on earth do Doctors like Gorski and Novella dare throw out a psychological diagnosis on a patient they have never examined? Thank God she found a doctor who knew it was all in her body.
 
-     Claiming the flu shot couldn’t possibly cause her condition. Once again, how on earth does a long-distance doctor determine this? Vaccines cause a wide variety of side-effects, but Ms. Jennings’ condition just couldn’t be vaccine-induced? To hell with what doctors who did examine her actually determined, we are the only arbiters of truth. It’s nuts.
 
-     Claiming she couldn’t possibly recover from a condition she didn’t even have. Forget the HBOT, chelation, B-12, vitamins, etc., Ms. Jennings couldn’t possibly recover, much like our kids never do, either.
 
It’s great to watch these “doctors” dig themselves into a bigger and bigger hole. I’m not sure doctors like David Gorski realizes how silly their comments look to the average American and how much they have exposed themselves as the true story of what Desiree went through emerges. Thank you, Orac, for showing the world your true colors, because the world is most certainly watching.
 
For a radio broadcast featuring the Jennings and their doctor listen HERE.

J.B. Handley is Co-Founder of Generation Rescue

*Jump the shark is most commonly thought of in television terms. Jump the shark is a term that can now be used for anything that has turned stale or mediocre. It has left the arena of pop culture and strayed into real life. Jump the shark can now be applied to the boss who pushes too far, or even the partner with the sell-by date that is beginning to peel off. www.Wisegeek.com.

Aw heck, enjoy the video clip. "Sunday, Monday Happy Days!"  Kim

Comments

[Maritza]

"Dr. Gorski, I know why other scientists and doctors don’t blog: they are interested in maintaining a decorum and professionalism in their chosen profession that you have long since abandoned. How does his blogging style translate to Dr. Gorski’s bedside manner with patients? Let’s just hope he has multiple personalities."

I was interested in reading about what was really wrong with Desiree Jennings. While reading a very well written, diplomatic, and kind blog that was most informative, I clicked on a link to this piece of garbage. I read as far as the quote that I included and then just had to tell you to get a life. You are catty, rude, ostentatious, and unimpressive.

[Dr. Jonathan Sardigne]

It's nice to have people exposing the truth for sometimes people hide behind degrees and titles.

[Autism Grandma]

Keep Kicking Their Ass J.B. I thoroughly enjoy reading your articles, however I must discontinue reading the comments by these idiots who actually believe that they are geniuses, due to a medical condition, namely my blood pressure is skyrocketing. [But hey don't they have a vaccine for that?]

[jen]

I went on to Orac's site and I have to say to this community that I feel I really let myself and anyone questioning vaccine safety down. I did make some good points, I think, on vaccine "safety" (lack of) and pharma not responding to their market- I mean if only 50 ish % of people are now getting H1N1 vaccine, that really says they have to work on some trust issues with the public( their market).
However, I got so infuriated that I ended up swearing my brains out and I feel I let myself get sucked into some hellish vortex. I won't be bothered with going there ever again.

[brian]

Desirees first symptomns have been descibed as 'flu-like'....

[michele i.]

okay-
I don't want to take away from how important and serious this issue is, but........
the FONZ video is so freakin funny!!!!

I had NO idea that is where the term 'jumped the shark' came from! I don't ever remember seeing that episode~

Love it Kim!
Thanks for the laugh!

[Craig Willoughby]

Another reason to think that it's possibly the vaccine? According to the VAERS report that may or may not be hers, she began experiencing symptoms within the first 3 days of her vaccination. Symptoms worsened over the next 10 days until she was admitted to the ER.

[Craig Willoughby]

"OK, I admit I was wrong about the seizures. I can admit when I'm wrong - a talent I rarely need to call upon, but it's useful in the rare cases when I do"

Joe/Gorski/TroofDodger,
And there's my beef with you. You come in with the impression that you THINK you're right. What you've told us is that you're a PhD. What you've shown us is that you're an immature troll who has no concept of how reality works. But, you're KICKING OUR ASS (said with as much scorn and mockery as a human being can possibly muster...keep that in mind).

Here's the recap; you are basing your assumptions off of a VAERS "report" (which was from someone's blog) that may or may not be her. There are numerous reports on the VAERS database, and it may not have even been her. There is no report from the attending neurologist saying that he even admitted that he reported her reaction to VAERS. Wisely, he also hasn't come forth and given his opinion, because even he wasn't sure. You are basing your assumptions on a VAERS report that may or may not even be about Ms. Jennings. Real science doesn't work that way, and a real scientist wouldn't make the conclusions you and Novella have made without seeing ALL of the evidence. But, YOU'RE KICKING OUR ASS!!

Secondly, you are basing your conclusions on watching a video, and so are the other people. Real science doesn't work that way. A real doctor or scientist would not so definitively say that her condition is psychogenic without seeing ALL of the evidence. But, YOU'RE KICKING OUR ASS!!

Thirdly, she was diagnosed by more than one doctor. I take her word for it, because frankly, I'll take her word over the word of some anonymous troll any day of the week and twice on Sundays. But, since you don't have her medical records from the other doctors who diagnosed her, you can't honestly say her condition is psychogenic with any amount of certainty. But, YOU'RE KICKING OUR ASS!!

Her condition wasn't cured after "15 minutes." That is an outright lie. According to Dr. Buttar, it took a minimum of 36 hours. That is yet another lie that we've caught you in. But, YOU'RE KICKING OUR ASS!!

Here's the deal, joe/Gorski/TroofPucker...a REAL doctor wouldn't make the outrageous claims that you and Novella have WITHOUT looking at ALL of the evidence. And making your dishonest claims and spreading your misinformation is a detriment to her and other vaccine injured people. I agree that it may not have been Dystonia. However, I do NOT claim it is psychogenic because I have not seen ALL of the evidence. Your blatant and outright cruel dismissal of her condition is a true credit to you profession (/sarcasm).

The question you need to truthfully ask yourself is this;

If her condition was the result of a reaction to anything else other than a vaccine, would you and Novella have treated her the same way?

My opinion? No, you would not have.

[brian]

'The admitting neurologist, who was not a generalist, because he was a neurologist, said it was psychogenic'

i believe the phrasing was ' felt to have a psychogenic component'.

So when is 'felt' a proof of certainty. DUSTONIA is just a label for aset of symptomns....Dont take it as the real illness, which the detox proved was due to vaccine poisoning.

[Truthpuncher]

OK, I admit I was wrong about the seizures. I can admit when I'm wrong - a talent I rarely need to call upon, but it's useful in the rare cases when I do.

I was right about everything else: 1) that the only MD who says her illness is not psychogenic, is Buttar 2) that psychogenic dystonia and indeed seizures, do exist and 3) that it is impossible that chelation could cure true dystonia caused by mercury damage within 15 minutes.

The last point is the real clincher. 15 minutes of chelation wouldn't even be enough to flush the mercury out of her bloodstream, *let alone begin to reverse any neurological damage*. Brain damage, if it is reversible at all, takes weeks to heal. For God's sake, if you have a headache it takes make more than 15 minutes for ASPRIN to work!

Could someone explain that, please?

As for joe, I'm not joe. Perhaps you think that there is only one person in the world who disagrees with you, i.e. that there is only one person in the world smarter than you. You're out by about 6.8 billion.