Dr Gordon Skinner called before GMC for IOP

[Guest guest]

TO ALL TPA MEMBERS

Dr Gordon Skinner has been summoned once again to appear before an Interim Orders Panel (IOP) at the GMC at 9.30am on Wednesday 22nd February (a day after his 70th birthday!). This will take place at the GMC Offices at St 's Buildings, 79 Oxford Street,, Manchester, M1 6FQ.

It will be extremely helpful if you could get this message out to as many people as possible and try to galvanize patients to write in (yet again) and/or come along to the hearing. If you are a member of other thyroid support groups, please will you post a copy of this message on to there too so all their members can see it.

It is VITAL that as many people as possible attend this meeting to let the GMC know the strength of feeling there is out here for our wonderful doctors, who are putting their necks on the line in doing everything they can to help their patients regain their optimal health where the NHS is failing them abysmally.

I know this is a great imposition and I am so sorry that we have to keep doing this but I do believe the GMC , or a specific groups of doctors, are going for as big a push as possible to get rid of Dr Skinner once and for all.

As far as I can gather, there is a group of 5 GP's who have written to the GMC complaining that that certain of their patients have been prescribed thyroid hormone when their thyroid function test results were within the reference range (doesn't matter whether they were at the bottom, the middle or the top of the range or whether or not they were suffering symptoms and signs), and that one patient had a myocardial infarction when she was taking thyroid hormone replacement prescribed by Dr Skinner. Not one of these patients have complained. All apparently are fit and well and would not have a word said against Dr Skinner and are delighted with their treatment. The patient who had the myocardial infarction has told the GMC that she also had a myocardial infarction 4 years ago, when she was on no thyroid hormone replacement, before she was even diagnosed and she is stomping mad that her GP has sent her name to them without even asking her permission. The other 4 patients are also extremely angry that they had not given permission to have their names passed on to the GMC as making a complaint against him.

I have already spoken with Jerome Burne, (freelance Scientific Journalist) who will be talking to me on Monday morning as he was just about to go out on an assignment.

Afshan has said that she will keep us updated as they are trying to get the date moved to later on as they have only got 3 working days. including today. to get their defense together.

If anyone would like to send support letters (and we need as many as possible) for Dr Skinner's IOP on Wednesday, please send by email as below:

The case is case number C1-462487326 and all letters should go to email: IOPTeam@... and please send a copy to afshan@...

Luv - Sheila