PACE Trial: The Movie

Hi,

Now this is going to a random blog post but it was inspired by watching The Rainmaker during a rest afternoon yesterday. Anyone who hasn't seen this 1997 film, sorry but I'm going to spoil the ending for you! It struck me that there are similarities between John Grisham's fictional tale and our real life nightmare with the PACE trial, DWP, and insurance companies.

The synopsis of the film is:

A family have paid health insurance premiums for years but are denied cover when their son becomes gravely ill with Leukaemia. The

family are told that a bone marrow transplant could save him but the insurance company deny their claim 8 times. The family call in a newly qualified attorney to help them to fight the corrupt insurance company. There is a tense courtroom battle with this closing argument scene. The family win the case and win $50m in punitive damages. The insurance company goes bankrupt due to the other cases that should have also been paid out.

Am I the only one who can see 'ish' similarities with this book/film and our PACE trial issue? If only Hollywood/authors would wake up and create a film to highlight how this scandalous treatment is actually happening in real life to thousands of people. 

Just imagine if someone took the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) (are we able to sue a government department?!) and health insurance companies to court. They knew that the PACE trial was deeply flawed and was severely detrimental to the lives of those M.E patients who participated in the research study, or had Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) prescribed as a result of published findings. Despite this, insurance companies refused to cover claimants unless they had participated in GET. Many of these claimants subsequently endured deteriorating health because of GET and became housebound/bedbound as a direct consequence of the insurance company instructions.

I reckon John Grisham could turn our plight into a bestseller. Our plight doesn't just affect one person, it affects thousands of desperately ill people around the globe.  The closing argument would have a montage of a selection of thousands of people detailing how their life was destroyed by GET. It would make for one hell of a courtroom drama. 

It's a mystery at the moment as to how the PACE fiasco will pan out, we have a very long road to travel to get answers, apologies, and recognition of both our illness and of the damage caused by PACE/GET. In the meantime, let's all dream that one day insurance companies, and DWP for that matter, get the comeuppance they deserve.

The PACE trial has already become a case study for legal professionals. - https://www.roydswithyking.com/pace-trial-scandal-me-cfs/

Love,

Sally xxx
and Foggy OBVIOUSLY)