Appalling article - LA Times

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:42 am

I'm appalled at the article today in the LA Times. It talks about the new drug approval for EkD/RLS. But, it editorializes about whether it's really a condition or not.

I'm so annoyed I can't even write about it.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostersh ... 6266.story

Post by **Polar Bear** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:49 am

Aaaaaggghh....

twitchiness they call it i.e. 'for those who believe their twitchiness is an illness' ...trivialising the disease again..........and the article also says......

'if it is a syndrome'.....they obviously don't know it is now a 'disease'.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:41 am

I know - I literally couldn't even write a comment because I didn't know where to begin...to me if was some of the worst journalism I've ever read.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:03 pm

Disgusting...

Getting that urge to make a web site again....

sleepdancer · Post by **sleepdancer** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:13 am

After I composed a terse comment to the article and tried to sign in to their site, I got a server error! ARGH! Maybe it gave me a chance to rethink my comment.

Rubyslipper · Post by **Rubyslipper** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:19 pm

I am trying to decide whether or not it is important for me to respond to these type of articles. Sometimes it can cause the reporter/author to rethink their position and sometimes it just adds fuel to the fire. Sometimes I just get so mad that I probably couldn't write a coherent response anyway! What's the general consensus of others on this?

Post by **badnights** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:26 am

I think if you feel able and feel it's important, you should. I am overwhelmed and have to shut things like that out of my mind because I just can't deal with even one more little thing right now. But my old self (my pre-Ekbom self, to whom it wouldn't have mattered haha) would (if it had mattered to me then) have been all over it.

Arg.. I mean, if I was able to spend a bit of effort, I would write. I would address the points in the article one by one and provide references, and gently (I hope - but I usually end up being cutting) chide him for such shabby research. Hopefully he would respond and then I could make the point that portraying the disease wrongly can indirectly hurt us as inidivuals. Then he would write a retraction and somebody would figure out what's causing the disease and then they would fix it and we would all be happy.

uhng I need some sleep

Rubyslipper · Post by **Rubyslipper** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 12:41 pm

Please don't think I was asking anyone to respond unless they wanted to. I understand completly where you are right now. It just really ticks me off right now for some reason, more than normal. Bill Maher did a monologue recently that upset me some. I can't find a way to email him or the company but did find his facebook page and posted there. A man responded and said he has RLS but still found it funny. OK, to each his own. But then he proceeded to tell me that if anyone finds a person or situation to be funny or absurd, they have the RIGHT to make fun of it. That really got to me. How did we get to the point that people think they have the right to make fun of others?

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:18 pm

Ruby, I really think our brains are wired differently - many people find these kinds of things funny. I never have - even as a child. Anybody's misery is still misery!

Post by **badnights** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:06 am

I didn't get the feeling that you expected other people to respond to the letter so please don't worry that you came across that way; you certainly didn't. I feel guily about not getting involved, so I rambled on about that for a while, trying to ease my guilt.

I am like you guys as far as the funny goes ... it's just not funny to make fun of grief, unless you're a cruel person, or perhaps an unimaginative person. I'd bet Buddy-who-thinks-it's-funny has mild RLS - IF he has any at all.

Betty/WV · Post by **Betty/WV** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:02 am

People can be so cruel. Why would anyone make fun or joke about anyones pain or illness. Do they think they are going to escape ever having an illness, or some terrible disease or pain that makes their existence miserable. I don't think so.....I hate it when someone makes fun of another for any reason.

My favorite saying is "BE KINDER THAN NECESSARY, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING SOME KIND OF BATTLE". Or what the Bible says,"DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE TO YOU.'"

BETTY/WV

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Appalling article - LA Times

Appalling article - LA Times

LATimes Article