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Vicky Phelan

24 Feb, 13 tweets, 4 min read

@IrishTimes

A thread for those working in CervicalCheck

The @IrishTimes printed an article today quoting the Head of CervicalCheck @russellnoirin and the CEO of the National Screening Service @fiona_murphy1 Both women bemoan a lack of trust in screening programmes and claim that this…

Lack of trust is “causing women with cervical cancer to put their lives and health at risk !

They claim that “some women are turning to weird & wacky therapies due to an overwhelming lack of trust in screening programmes.” They mention Vitamin C infusions & unproven treatments…

@littlemiss2018

These women, women like me and Lynsey Bennett @littlemiss2018 are “turning down proven, evidence-based medicine and therapies that would lead to cure” and instead choosing unproven therapies and we are shocking and upsetting oncologists because we apparently don’t trust them!

What a load of shite!

For a start, there is NO medical proven treatment available that would cure advanced cervical cancer.

If a woman is diagnosed early with cervical cancer, then there is a good chance that she will be cured with conventional, medical treatment.

I have already received ALL the conventional, evidence-based medical treatment that is available for cervical cancer. I did the 5 rounds of chemo, the maximum rounds of radiation therapy and the 3 sessions of brachytherapy when I was first diagnosed.

I refused the standard medical treatment when my cancer came back because treatment was palliative, meaning that the treatment that I was offered in January 2018 was ONLY going to buy me months, 12 at most. I refused this & researched other options. I got myself on Pembrolizumab

Pembro has bought me almost 3 years of a really good quality of life!!!

If I had accepted the palliative regime that I was offered in Jan 2018, I would have been dead by the end of 2018.

Do I not have a right to fight for better treatment and more time with my young children?

Am I, and other women, supposed to just accept our fate and choose standard of care treatments because that is all that there is in Ireland???

I say F*** that!

It is MY body, MY choice

I get to choose what treatment I go on

I get to have a say in my care

When Pembro stopped working, I found a clinical trial over here in the States which I felt was a good option for me because the main drug on this trial is an immunotherapy drug, very similar to Pembro

Again, I was only offered palliative chemotherapy in Ireland.

I refused.

@IrishTimes

I did so, NOT out of a lack of trust for screening programmes or my oncologist, but from a lack of options in Ireland.

I do not agree with Drs. Russell & Murphy who were interviewed for the article in the @IrishTimes that I am putting my life or my health at risk.

On the contrary, I am taking control of my life.

Am I not allowed to do this? Surely the days of “Doctor knows best” are well and truly behind us?

It would behove those in charge of CervicalCheck to be more concerned with WHY women are not putting their trust in screening…

...than having a pop at patients who are terminally ill who choose a different path for their treatment.

It is time that those in charge of CervicalCheck admit that mistakes were made in the past in order to move on and rebuild trust in screening again.

@IrishTimes

Here is a link to the article that appeared in today’s @IrishTimes

irishtimes.com/news/health/la…

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More from @PhelanVicky

Vicky Phelan

@PhelanVicky

4 Feb

@HSELive

Here we go again….An angry thread

It is only a few short months since Patricia Carrick, another terminally-ill woman who sued the @HSELive & a lab, MedLab, settled her case for the negligent misreading of her slides. Patricia died weeks later. To add insult to injury, Patricia

…died without the comfort of knowing that the €2.75 million in damages that she was awarded had been paid out to provide for her family. Her solicitor, Cian O’Carroll had to go back to court to fight for Patricia’s settlement to be paid DESPITE the fact that Patricia Carrick

…brought her case solely against the HSE following the Supreme Court ruling in the late Ruth Morrisey’s case which directed that future CervicalCheck cases should be brought SOLELY against the HSE.

What was the HSE’s argument for the delay in paying Patricia’s settlement?

Read 20 tweets

Vicky Phelan

@PhelanVicky

14 Jan

#motherandbabyhomesreport A V LONG thread
I have not commented on the publication of the Commission of Investigation’s Final Report into Mother and Baby Homes (M&BH) until now because I wanted to read through as much of the 3,000 page report as I possibly could before commenting

@MichealMartinTD

Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD apologised on behalf of the State to former residents of M&BH earlier today. In his apology, he said that “the report gives survivors what they have been denied for so long: their voice, their individuality, their right to be acknowledged”

I disagree…

Scant regard was given to survivors when details of the report were leaked earlier this week.

We have form with leaks in this country!

While I understand that leaks are important in journalism, I do NOT agree with this when it comes to victims of state abuse or state failures

Read 11 tweets

Vicky Phelan

@PhelanVicky

27 Oct 20

@DonnellyStephen

Betrayed...A thread

The CervicalCheck Tribunal was established by statutory order (see below) at 00.01 this morning
DESPITE
an announcement yesterday evening by Minister @DonnellyStephen, following a meeting with @221plus reps, that its establishment would be paused

1/n

@221plus

The Department of Health even issued a statement, which they shared with @221plus, to say that:

"At the request of the 221+ Group, the establishment of the Tribunal has been paused for a number of days to allow it to engage with its members"

2/n

Yet, at 6pm this evening
18 HOURS
after the Tribunal was established, we get a phone call from a DoH official to inform us that the Tribunal that we do NOT support has been established, and to tell us that the Minister and officials were unable to delay it.

3/n

Read 8 tweets

Vicky Phelan

@PhelanVicky

21 Oct 20

@DonnellyStephen

CervicalCheck Tribunal - A v angry Thread

I am late to the table responding to the announcement in Cabinet yesterday morning by Minister @DonnellyStephen that he proposes to appoint next Tuesday, October 27 as the establishment day of the CervicalCheck Tribunal.

1/n

@221plus

This announcement was made AT THE SAME TIME that the @221plus received a letter from the Minister's Office informing us that the Minister would be formally establishing the Tribunal NEXT WEEK just as the country is entering its highest level of restrictions due to Covid-19!

2/n

@221plus

The @221plus women & families who this Tribunal is aimed at, were not afforded an opportunity to respond to the Minister's decision to formally establish the Tribunal BEFORE it was announced.

As we have become used to, those most affected are often the last to know

3/n

Read 14 tweets

Vicky Phelan

@PhelanVicky

24 Jul 20

@LeoVaradkar

In defence of Ruth Morrissey
Having listened to the Tánaiste's @LeoVaradkar attempt (below) at excusing the way that Ruth Morrissey was treated on the @TodayRadioRTE with the brilliant @SarahAMcInerney, I have the following to say:

ttps://twitter.com/i/status/1286600482685964288

@HSELive

Paul Morrissey, Ruth's widow, issued a damning statement following her death on Sunday stating that neither the State nor the @HSELive apologised to Ruth. This is correct. The State Apology that was delivered in October 2019 could NOT have included Ruth Morrissey...

Ruth never accepted the State apology. At the time of the apology, Ruth's legal team were in court dealing with issues concerning the Supreme Court appeal. It was insensitive of the Tánaiste to issue a statement sending his condolences but also refuting the family's statement

Read 11 tweets

Vicky Phelan

@PhelanVicky

20 May 20

@ronan_glynn

Cancer screening and Covid19 – At what cost?

The Deputy CMO @ronan_glynn announced on @morningireland that he doesn’t see the resumption of cancer screening services in the ‘foreseeable future’ and advised anyone experiencing symptoms to consult their GP with any concerns.

@HSELive

There are a number of issues with this statement:

ONE
As far as I was aware the NPHET was established to oversee the health sector response to the #COVID19 emergency. As such, its remit is to provide direction, support and advice to Government and to the @HSELive.

I was not aware that the NPHET was responsible for making important decisions regarding the operation of our health service. I assumed that this was the remit of the HSE?

TWO
The mortality rate of Covid19 is less than 2%.
Cancer is THE biggest killer in Ireland.

Read 14 tweets

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