[Dr Sarah Myhill MB BS]

OPEN LETTER RE MY GMC HEARING IN SEPTEMBER 2007

Dr Sarah Myhill MB BS, Upper Weston, Llangunllo, Knighton, Powys, UK LD7 1SL Tel: 01547550331 Fax: 01547550339 E-mail: office@doctormyhill.co.uk  Website: www.drmyhill.co.uk  _  _______________________________________________________________________ April 2007

Dear All,

Re: My ten day General Medical Council (GMC) Hearing scheduled for Sept 2007

As some of you may be aware, in November 2002 I faced a five day GMC Hearing. All five complaints then came from doctors, none from patients. No patient had been harmed, nor put at risk, nor was there any question of malpractice. It was simply that the doctors involved objected to my style of practice and the allergy, environmental, nutritional approach to medicine. In October 2002 this Hearing was postponed to February 2003 and extended to an eight day Hearing for eight complaints. One month before this was cancelled but no proper explanation for the cancellation was given.

I am now facing a second batch of complaints from doctors and I am writing to ask if you can help me with my defence. As a result of the above fiasco I have been unable to get insurance cover for GMC Hearings and so I am conducting my own defence. This is because the estimated barrister's fee is £150-200,000!

The complaints against me are all from doctors who do not like my style of practice. No patient has been harmed or even put at risk. The three patients involved have all refused to have their medical records used against me, but their "anonymised" records have been taken anyway by the GMC against their desires and without their permission. The issues that I am being charged with fall into several categories as follows:

Prescribing thyroid hormones
I am charged with prescribing thyroid hormones to patients with "normal" thyroid blood tests. My policy on prescribing thyroid hormones is that it is both a clinical as well as a biochemical decision. This is in line with the BMA guidelines on treating thyroid disorders. Some people feel much better running high normal rather than low normal levels of thyroid hormones. The GP is kept informed by letter. If you are such a person who has been helped by thyroid prescription, please write to the GMC and tell them so!

Giving Telephone Advice
I am charged with diagnosing and giving advice over the telephone. Of course, the reason I do this is because many people are too ill to come and see me. I only do this having received a written history for the patient, with copies of any available tests which have been done, together with a patient questionnaire. I then allow at least one hour for an initial consultation. In all cases I invariably write to the GP and tell them exactly what I am doing. Again if you have found telephone advice helpful, please write to the GMC.

My Website
The story here is interesting! Initially I was reported to the GMC by a doctor complaining that "chronic fatigue was not a symptom of mitochondrial failure. Since I was only a general practitioner clearly I was acting outside my area of expertise" and therefore I was reported to the GMC. This doctor subsequently retracted this accusation but then made further complaints about my website. The specific allegations are:

• That "the Richardson theory of cot death is unfounded". Therefore my advice to parents to not put their babies on mattresses containing fire retardants (these are chemicals such as poly brominated biphenyls (PBBs), arsenic compounds, phosphorous compounds and antimony) is flawed. The Richardson logic is that babies can be safely laid on their sides when they are sleeping on organic, chemical free mattresses or the mattresses are properly wrapped. I am considered to be "putting babies at risk" by giving this advice.
• "The use of a screening test namely prostate specific antigen to detect prostate cancer is flawed". What the GMC fail to appreciate is that any such test is carried out with a full history from the patient, the GP is informed and the patient counselled with the interpretation of the result. Furthermore the private screening tests are done by the top private laboratory in London (The Doctors' Laboratory) and by measuring a free PSA compared to a total PSA the result is more accurate and reliable than standard NHS tests.
• "The use of magnesium sulphate by injection in acute myocardial infarction is undesirable". There is a huge body of literature about magnesium in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Indeed many hospitals continue to use magnesium sulphate infusions in acute MI. If the correct dose is given mortality from acute MI is substantially reduced by the use of i.v. magnesim sulphate. Indeed, one could argue that is it medical negligence not to use i.v magnesium sulphate in acute myocardial infarction!
• "The use of Biolab's vascular screening test using Doppler ultrasound and pulse oximetry as a screening test for arterial disease is unsound".
• They dislike my treatment of depression, namely to start off with good sleep, bright light and exercise, move on to nutritional supplements such as high dose B vitamins, B12, St John's Wort, 5HTP and exercise caution over the use of SSRIs.

Again if you feel you have benefitted from any of the advice on my website, please tell the GMC.

Other Issues
Constraints placed on GPs
Increasingly I find I have to take on the role of the patients' GP. Many GPs are so constrained by either clinical governance, or costs, or both that they refuse to help patients with tests or prescriptions or both. What this means in practice is that ordinary people are being denied access to investigations or treatments which are helpful. Indeed, this was a large part of the reason why I set up my website - in order that anyone could directly access information about the allergy, environmental, nutritional approach to medicine; find a doctor who could help; and have made available tests which could be interpreted by an experienced doctor with the GP informed. Again, if you feel that as a result of me or my website you have been able to access tests and treatments which have been denied to you by the NHS, please write and tell the GMC!

Who to contact at the GMC?
You can either write to the GMC solicitor or the Case officer.

The solicitor handling my case is Rosemarie Paul, Field Fisher Waterhouse, 35 Vine Street, London, EC3N 2AA. Email: rosemarie.paul@ffw.com.

My case officer is Patricia Collins, GMC, Regent's Place, 350 Euston Road, London NW1 3JN. Email: pcollins@gmc-uk.org

My case reference numbers are: PC/2005/2755/01 and 2005/2757/01. Please, quote both in your letter.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Myhill