‘Undercover in the Danish media’; a reaction to the Dutch Zembla broadcast
Written by Huib, published Wednesday October 25th, 2017
The current broadcast of the Danish TV2 documentary by the Dutch investigative journalistic program Zembla led to several disturbing effects in my country. Patients were either angry because they were – again – not being taken seriously, worried that they are being ripped off in private medical clinics or simply upset that this documentary did not focus on the elephant in the living room: that the mainstream medical system does not provide help for Lyme patients.
This current article is both a reaction to the Zembla broadcast as well as an introduction a shorter and simplified version of the report submitted to TV2, so everyone can understand its essence and can see why the documentary is indeed contributing to the violation of human rights of Lyme patients. The report demonstrates how obstructing access to diagnosis and all treatment options that meet internationally accepted standards are human rights abuses against Lyme patients.
Your health practitioners need to know this. Therefore these two articles are meant to empower patients and their advocates to have different conversations with their treating physicians, disability assessment professionals, judges and their social environment.
The documentary and some context
For people who did not see the broadcast, or for those who bought into its framing, the documentary’s main messages appear to be:
- do not trust private clinics in Germany that treat chronic and complicated forms of Lyme Borrelia (LB)
- people who have chronic and complicated forms of LB are to be pitied and protected due to low intelligence, poor judgment and ‘fake illness’
- the authorities know it all and can be relied on. This includes the CDC, whose recent ‘warning’ for treatment risks was included in the documentary
In contrast, many acute LB infections are still missed because of invalid tests used in the mainstream medical system, up to 83% – according to a recent US survey. Ill people are declared ‘cured’ after 1-28 days of treatment, regardless of treatment response. Then they are declared ‘fit to work’, while they can hardly function at all. Insurers don’t cover for longterm treatments, leading to hidden poverty and bankruptcies. And Child Protection Services in several countries even seem to accuse parents of children with Lyme of ‘child abuse’ by default.
These factors combined lead to the shocking fact that suicide seems to be a common cause of death for people with Lyme. Increasingly media such as Fox5 and the Dutch program EenVandaag seem to pick up this alarming side of the story. Other media still uphold the authorities’ version of events.
The effects of the Dutch broadcast
As I feared, the Dutch broadcast led to effects that were similar to what happened in Denmark last year: doctors ridiculed their patients, regarded this documentary as ‘proof’ that persistent Lyme infection does not exist and used it to blame their patients for the use of too many antibiotics – a problem caused by the bio-industry – accusing them of creating ‘super bugs’. Zembla allowed for a public stage for sceptical doctors to often call their colleagues ‘quacks’ and label foreign tests as ‘unscientific’.
Zembla is normally considered to be a high-quality program, covering sensitive topics in a nuanced and unbiased way. After the recent broadcast, their Facebook page was filled with angry and shocked reactions of Dutch patients, who now have to deal with the consequences – including the stigmatization by and disbelief of their social surroundings.
It also led to a stream of unscientific public statements. Within hours, an ambitious CPS doctor tweeted “Serology in late phase fully accurate. Negative = no Lyme“. Hashtag: #quackery.
Dutch CPS states in their training materials to school teachers, ER doctors, General Practitioners and even to dentists that they should always “first consider child abuse in case of a Lyme diagnosis in a child, which is not confirmed by the mainstream tests“, I found this to be an alarming yet predictable effect of the Zembla broadcast. It implies that any child with a seronegative infection will potentially be considered as a ‘victim of child abuse‘.
I sent a request to Zembla to reconsider their broadcast beforehand, which was denied.
Neutralising damage
The first step to neutralise the damage done by the Dutch broadcast was to write an article about the hidden connection between ALS and Lyme, which was published before the Dutch broadcast. Its purpose was to provide some counterweight, as a first step.
My reason to address this specific subject was that a Danish lady called Tabitha was portrayed by TV2 as ‘naively falling into the trap of foreign quacks, who were supposedly fooling her and trying to rip her off by giving her false hope for recovery’.
Below you can hear how she states how she was actually recovering from the German Lyme treatment and how this was cut out of the Danish documentary. If she really had ALS, improvement would not have been possible.
The original broadcast caused an abrupt stop to her social and financial support, forcing her to stop the treatment. This resulted in a rapid decline of her health. Now it seems too late for her to recover. However, the documentary not only impacts her, but all people in a similar situation.
As an example, in the video below you can see infectious disease specialist Dr. David Martz speak about how his misdiagnosed ‘Motor neuron disease’ was rather undiagnosed LB, which also responded to extended antimicrobial therapies. MND is the wider category, to which ALS belongs.
Like Tabitha, he was also told he would die from ALS. He received this award 9 years later and he is still alive and thriving. Dr. Martz’s case was actually published in the scientific journal Acta Neurologica Scandinavica in 2006.
If you want to know more about the connection between ALS and Lyme, you can find it in my last article. According to a 1990 study, it is possible that half of the ALS patients actually have undiagnosed and untreated LB.
Embedded in it you can also watch the impressive counter-documentary ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark‘, which was made by the Danish patients after the original TV2 broadcast.
To be continued
Soon more publications relating to the TV2 documentary will be made public on the website of the On Lyme Foundation. In the next article you will find the shortened and simplified version of the letter to TV2. This letter hardly focuses on the contents of the broadcast itself, but instead addresses breaches of media ethics, human rights abuses and the appearance of collusion and corruption by the Danish government. It should be noted that TV2 is a government-owned entity.
The full version of the letter can directly be found in this LinkedIn post by the author, Jenna Luché-Thayer.
Huib Kraaijeveld, MA
Author of ‘Shifting the Lyme Paradigm‘, chairman of the On Lyme Foundation and founding member of the Ad Hoc Committee for Health Equity in ICD11 Borelliose Codes
drs. Huib Kraaijeveld
In: Blog Lyme Media Human rights Social
"This book perfectly describes the plight of millions of patients, who suffer from chronic Lyme Disease in many countries all over the world."
Prof. Christian Perronne, France
"This book is a gift of truth and passion to humanity."
Mia Morales, Lyme patient, USA
"I received the book exactly on the day that I had decided to end my life. Huh?! Yep. I am 35 years old years and have been ill for 19 years. Now I know why: Lyme. Everyone should read this book!"
Miranda, the Netherlands
"This book offers a new practical, human centered way of dealing with health information. It is also ringing a bell for the new time how to work together towards health and thriving."
Kim Schimmler, MD, Germany
"This pioneer's work made it perfectly clear that, when "i" becomes "we", even illness becomes wellness."
Frans Vermeulen, journalist, the Netherlands
"In his crucial work on Lyme disease, dedicated social researcher Huib Kraaijeveld does not pretend to have all the answers, but guides us towards asking the upsetting and essential questions."
Prof. Cees Hamelink, professor Communication Sciences & Human Rights, the Netherlands
"This book reads like a thriller! It touched me deeply and I am sure it will change the course of history."
Linda Graanoogst, journalist, the Netherlands
"Well, I am wiping my eyes and blowing my nose, while tears stream down my face. I guess that is a good sign. You hit the nail on the head claiming that Lyme survivors need 'understanding'. I would like my own partner to read this book."
Anodea Judith, PhD & author, USA
"What an awakening perspective! Huib has successfully set a quantum leap for understanding and managing Lyme disease by common people."
John Wong, bestselling author, Singapore
"A true and unpretentious caretakers' guide to understand Lyme. This book will help you to completely understand what your friend is going through; regardless of the symptoms they have. I wish it had been written ten years ago, because it can actually save lives!"
Cheryl Versalle, Lyme patient, USA
"This book actually speaks to people beyond its target audience (caretakers of people with Lyme Disease): people like me who are not travel companions, but to whom it is not hard at all to have or develop understanding and compassion. This makes the reach of this book bigger, much bigger if you’d ask me. I am amazed a book can do all of this!"
Saskia Steur, business blogger, the Netherlands
"This book reads like an exciting novel, were it not that it concerns a deadly serious issue. It calls to contribute and take care of each other and our world. Read, weep, feel and act!"
Manfred van Doorn, leadership expert, the Netherlands
"A creative and very intelligent vision to dive even deeper into the world of Lyme, to look at yourself, other people, but also the entire world around you."
Friend of someone with Lyme
"The book indicates that Lyme disease can be a sexually transmitted disease. This will cause a tidal wave of awareness all over the world. Like the child in the old fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, who exclaimed: 'But the emperor is wearing no clothes!'"
Ola Aniel Petterson, STD campaign leader, Sweden
"What a brilliant sociological work! I am sure it will have much impact."
Professor Neuropathy, Germany
"This book is a big eye opener. Both for friends of people with Lyme disease as well as for people with Lyme. Or for any other health issues, for that matter."
Martin Möhrke, medical research leader, Europe
"I cannot read any other book for more than two minutes now, in this hell called Lyme. Yet yours I cannot stop reading! I should have put it away hours ago to clean the house. But I simply cannot stop."
Ineke, wife of a husband with Lyme, the Netherlands
"This book is a delight to read. It offers soft candlelight and warm campfire camaraderie on an often dark and lonely journey."
Laura Bruno, medical intuitive Lyme expert, USA
"A very honest and yet witty way of helping those with Lyme disease. This book is full of ideas on how to help your friend with Lyme, as a travel companion on this crazy journey called 'Lyme'."
Lisa Hilton, Lyme advocate, USA
"Both the personal experiences as well as the author’s sharp mind turn this into an incredibly inspiring book that raises the consciousness of its readers."
Kara, ex Crohn disease patient, the Netherlands
"Tempting, informative and eminently readable! Shifting the Lyme Paradigm is an absolute eye-opener for those who are not aware of what the journey of Lyme disease entails."
Terri Mackinnon-Cross, CEO WorldLymeDay.com, Canada
"This book gave us the recognition and acknowledgment, which were like a band-aid on an open wound."
Sara, Lyme patient, Belgium
"Very insistently written based on intensive, almost existential, personal experiences, this book also gives a clear overview of all relevant information for both patients and caretakers."
Jan Eendebak, former chairman Lyme Foundation STZ, the Netherlands
"A relief to read, written by an expert who shares his dedication to his own path with us, and brilliantly written."
Muna, mother of a daughter with chronic Lyme, the Netherlands
"Playful, frightening, informative and encouraging."
Merel, kinesiologist, the Netherlands
"This book made me realize that there is too little known behind the phenomenon Lyme. In a challenging manner the author provides understanding of Lyme disease and suggestions for tackling this disease. I have 'prescribed' this book to many of my patients and mostly astonishment was soon followed by recognition. An absolute must for anyone with (still) unexplained symptoms or the people close around them."
Duco Kanij, osteopath, the Netherlands
"This book guides you through the labyrinth of Lyme swiftly, while it took us YEARS to even get this far."
Eugenie van der Linden, ex-Lyme patient and therapist, the Netherlands
"This book is an absolute 'must read' for everyone! For patients, for family and friends, and for doctors who can finally learn that Lyme is more than what is written in their textbooks and that they should not be able to dismiss "unexplained" complaints as psychological too quickly!"
Anne Fierlafijn, MD, Belgium
"Shifting the Paradigm of Lyme is not like any other book on Lyme that I have read. It appeals to a higher consciousness, and is analytical in an introspective way that is pleasant to read. This book is a friendly and warm reminder that no Lyme patient is ever alone."
Thomas Grier, biologist, USA
"This book show how caring friends can intervene to provide succor and alliance ‘against the odds’ of a potentially serious and very complex illness that is still poorly understood by mankind."
Kenneth Liegner, MD, USA
