Tag Archives: CFSAC

Holding HHS Accountable for Unrelenting and Unrepentant Legal Violations

Many members of the community have called out HHS for legal violations over the years, such as Dr. Mary Ann Fletcher and Ms. Eileen Holderman confronting Dr. Nancy Lee, DFO of CFSAC, for her attempted intimidation of CFSAC members by … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Yes, CFSAC, there is a FACA violation

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”–From an 1897 editorial, “Is there a Santa Claus?” of The New York Sun I was contacted by a member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) regarding my blog post, “Oops, they did … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Another CFSAC FACA Fail: DFO Misconstrues Law

On Monday, I published a post about CFSAC violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act (“FACA”) by failing to make the the working group’s draft P2P comments available to the public prior to, or at the time of, the January 2015 CFSAC meeting. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Oops, they did it again! CFSAC violates FACA

This is a post about the violation of federal law by CFSAC yet again. This is also a post about how HHS has controlled CFSAC’s input on the P2P report. CFSAC violated FACA, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, again. Not … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

CFSAC Comments August 2015: Ampligen Price Increase on Shaky Ground

I looked into the Ampligen issue–the exorbitant 267% price increase by Hemispherx–some more. Here is one thing that patients who are currently enrolled in the trial can do. They can contact Schulman Associates, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for this … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

FACA Request: Did HHS Orchestrate CFSAC’s P2P Comments?

Today, I filed a request with Barbara James, DFO of CFSAC, under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) regarding the January 13, 2015 CFSAC meeting and CFSAC’s P2P comments. My letter, which in addition to requesting immediate access to various documents relating … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

January 2015 CFSAC Comments: More HHS Disregard for the Law?

Yesterday, I sent the following email to Ms. James, DFO of CFSAC: Dear Ms. James, I heard that the CFSAC P2P Working Group had prepared a document for official submission regarding P2P to be discussed at the upcoming CFSAC meeting … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

December 2014 CFSAC Comments: HHS’s Complete Disregard for Law and Health of Patients

In January, I sued HHS and NIH for violation of the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, in connection with my FOIA request for documents relating to the IOM study. I won the lawsuit by prevailing on my summary-judgment motion for … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

My June 2014 CFSAC Testimony: Tribute to Eileen Holderman

First, I ‘d like to congratulate the newly appointed committee members. The patient community is particularly excited about the addition of Dr. Jose Montoya, a true ME/CFS expert with crucial clinical and research experience in our disease, something HHS committees … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

CFSAC Meeting December 2013: Webinar from Hell

There is no way to sugar coat this. The December 2013 CFSAC webinar was a colossal middle-finger salute to the patient community. Despite the webinar format having been a complete disaster in December, we will be treated to another CFSAC … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Jeannette Burmeister’s IOM-Meeting Comments

IOM Meeting January 27, 2014 In-Person Comments by Jeannette Burmeister Hello.  I’m Jeannette Burmeister and I’m an attorney. I’ve heard some people at HHS are confused about patients’ deeply-felt opposition to your project.  Let me explain in simple terms why: … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

After OIG Dodges Charge of IOM’s Conflict of Interest, Meaningful Reply Demanded

[Updates: 2014/04/04: IOM-OCI-OIG … OMG! 2014/05/28: OIG Fails to Investigate IOM Conflict of Interest & Tells ME/CFS Patients to Buzz Off] I received a response from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to my request to investigate the IOM’s organizational conflict of interest (See … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

HHS and the IOM Saga: The Definition of Insanity and a Bad Case of Stockholm Syndrome

[I have borrowed somewhat from my prior blog posts and my legal complaints for this piece, but I’ve added on, so to speak, based on recent events and I thought it might be helpful to have all the arguments in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Today’s Tweets: #NotAPersonalAttack

@Sebelius Irony: Disrespect by #HHS unifies #MECFS community more than ever. Many call for Dr. Lee’s resignation. #NotAPersonalAttack @HHS_DrKoh Irony: Disrespect by #HHS unifies #MECFS community more than ever. Many call for Dr. Lee’s resignation. #NotAPersonalAttack I am very sick … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

My December 2013 Written Testimony

This includes parts I had to cut for the video testimony to stay within the 5 minutes. CFSAC Comments December 10-11, 2013 Jeannette Burmeister Attorney at Law My name is Jeannette Burmeister and I’d like to address the IOM contract. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Email to Dr. Lee: Request to Cancel Today’s CFSAC Meeting

Dear Dr. Lee, Thank you for sending the updated agenda for today’s CFSAC meeting 1.5 hours before the start of the meeting. I take that to mean that the meeting will take place although the email did not expressly say … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

CFSAC Meeting Needs to be Rescheduled as a Two Full Day In-Person Meeting

[Update: Please email Dr. Lee with copies to Sebelius, Koh and Jones requesting that the meeting be rescheduled as a two full-day, in-person meeting: Nancy.Lee@hhs.gov Kathleen.Sebelius@hhs.gov howard.koh@hhs.gov Wanda.Jones@hhs.gov] Even the weather gods don’t agree with HHS’s cowardly decision to hold … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Sebelius “Responds” to the Experts: “You Mean This Is Not What You Wanted?”

On November 12, 2013—as I found out just yesterday—more than seven weeks after the original open expert letter was sent to her, Secretary Sebelius finally provided a brief “response” mirroring the talking point provided in the FAQs of November 15, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Call for the HHS Competition Advocate to Investigate the IOM Contract

I have sent today to the so-called “Competition Advocate” for HHS a request to investigate what appears to be a dramatic failure of HHS to follow applicable federal law and regulations regarding full and open competition in its award of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The CFSAC Plot Thickens: A Tone-Deaf, Disrespectful State of Affairs

The next CFSAC meeting, which was supposed to be held earlier this month, but got postponed to December, brings with it so many changes that one has to wonder: Is this the beginning of the end for CFSAC, maybe not … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments