Objectors to insertion of DSM-5’s Somatic symptom disorder into ICD-10-CM

Post #283 Shortlink: http://wp.me/pKrrB-3y8

Michael Munoz, Executive Director, Rocky Mountain CFS/ME & FM Association has organized a joint letter of objection signed by 13 U.S. patient organizations and advocates for submission to NCHS. It can be read here:

http://www.rmcfa.org/index.html > http://www.rm-cfs-fms.citymaker.com/f/NCHS.pdf

or download PDF here: Joint response to NCHS 11.15.13

This joint submission had been signed by the following organizations and advocates:

Michael Munoz, Executive Director, Rocky Mountain CFS/ME & FM Association

Lori Chapo-Kroger, RN, President & CEO, PANDORA Org
Charmian Proskauer, President, Massachusetts CFIDS/ME & FM Association
Tamara Staples, President & Co-Founder, Fibromyalgia – ME/CFS Support Center, Inc.
Donna Pearson, Vice President, Massachusetts CFIDS/ME & FM Association
Jean Harrison, President and Founder, MAME – Mothers Against Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Denise Lopez-Majano, Founder, Speak Up About ME
Rik Carlson, President, Immunedysfunction.org
Jennifer M. Spotila, JD., Occupy CFS blog, Patient Advocate
Billie Moore, Patient Advocate
Charlotte von Salis, JD, Patient Advocate
Mary Schweitzer, Ph.D., Patient Advocate
Mary Dimmock, Patient Advocate

I’d like to thank all those who have submitted objections to NCHS in opposition to the September 2013 C & M Committee meeting proposal to insert Somatic symptom disorder as an inclusion term in ICD-10-CM.

My submission can be read here PDF: Submission NCHS

Some additional organizations and individuals have advised me of their own submissions. If you have submitted a response on behalf of your organization or as a patient, advocate or professional and you would like your name or your organization’s name added to the list of responders below please shoot me an email or contact me via the Contact form with a link to your submission (if it has been placed in the public domain) and a couple of lines of credentials or stakeholder interest, if desired.

Bridget Mildon, Patient advocate and Founder of FND Hope, Inc. FND Hope is the only state registered non profit patient advocacy organization specifically for those assigned a diagnosed of Functional Neurological Disorder. Bridget was misdiagnosed with FND and continues to advocate for those with a FND diagnosis to receive appropriate patient care fndhope.org Submission

Mark Thompson, patient. Submission

Diane O’Leary, Ph.D. is a philosopher focused on the rights of medical patients denied medical care because of mistaken somatoform diagnoses. She is author of the book, Patient, Executive Director of the Sneddon’s Foundation, and author of numerous web and print entries on Sneddon’s Syndrome, a highly threatening cerebrovascular disease generally mistaken for somatoform disorders. Dr. O’Leary is author of “Peculiar Silence: The Problem of Error in Diagnosis of SSD” (a reply piece at BMJ). Dr O’Leary has coauthored several blogs, published and forthcoming, with Prof. Allen Frances at Huffington Post, Psychology Today and Psychiatric Times. New work is forthcoming for the National Organization for Rare Disorders and Ben’s Friends. An audio interview with Dr. O’Leary is available here. PDF Submission also Submission [On LinkedIn]

Suzy Chapman, DipAD, UK carer/advocate for young adult with long-term illness. Owner of website Dx Revision Watch, Monitoring the revision of DSM-5 and ICD-11. Co-author of journal papers and commentaries on the Somatic symptom disorder construct (with Professor Allen Frances). PDF Submission

Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D. is an 18-year patient advocate. He writes content and moderates for “Living With TN,” a social networking site that supports nearly 5,000 chronic face pain patients in 117 countries – many of whom have been substantively harmed by mis-application of psychosomatic diagnoses. Submission

Angela Kennedy, M.A. (also retired R.G.N.), social science lecturer and researcher. Author of the book Authors of our own misfortune?: The problems with psychogenic explanations for physical illnesses (2012) Village Digital Press. Carer and parent of disabled woman who became ill at 12 years of age.

Gail Kansky, President, National CFIDS Foundation, Inc. Needham, MA http://www.ncf-net.org Submission

Jack Carney, Ph.D., DSW, Brooklyn, NY, Committee to Boycott the DSM-5, contributor to Mad in America. A social worker, Dr Carney writes on the contradictions and hypocrisies of the public mental health system and promotes and applauds acts of resistance to it.

Jennifer Brauer, BA, Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts. Former certified paramedic, Emergency Medical Technician BLS, Bureau of The Emergency Medical Services, NY City Fire Dept. (1996-2005).

Samuel Wales, author, The Kafka Pandemic