Mounting actions against environmental medicine practitioners

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nmental-medicine-practitioners/_

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ental-medicine-practitioners/)

_Mounting actions against environmental medicine practitioners_

(http://www.csn-deutschland.de/blog/2008/08/04/mounting-actions-against-environm\

ental-medic

ine-practitioners/)

4. August 2008

(http://www.csn-deutschland.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dr-binz-x.jpg)

Lately the prominent _case of Prof. Rea in Dallas_

(http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/fall07DrRea.html) , who has been

investigated by the Texas medical

board, has drawn significant national and international public attention Dr.

Rea has been the first physician worldwide to have been awarded the title of

a professor of environmental medicine, by the University of Surrey, England.

According to him in the USA “there is currently an organized nation-wide

effort to _destroy the specialty of Environmental Medicine and to eliminate _

(http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/special/fall07ReaOpenLetter.html) from

practice physicians who diagnose and treat patients suffering from chemical

sensitivitiesâ€.

Unfortunately, similar activities are observed in Germany

Dr. Binz, a internationally renowned neurologist practicing in the

German City of Trier, is paying dearly for diagnosing his patients with toxic

injury for many years:

It happened more than two years ago on June 4, 2006: Agents of the Public

Prosecutor’s Office of Trier searched the home and the practice of Dr.

Binz without advance notice or leaving him a chance to object or discuss the

reason for this raid. Dr. Binz had been accused of fraudulent billing by the

local Doctors Association (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung = KV). The agents of

the Public Prosecutor’s Office seized all of his patients’ files beginning

with the year 2000. The archives in the basement had been sealed. The Doctors

Association, which is specifically responsible for collecting the money owed

to physicians from the German National Healthcare System on behalf of the

doctors, suspended all payments to Dr. Binz until November 8, 2006. His home,

in

which he is living with his family, had been seized to cover an alleged

claim of 183,966.19 Euros.

A Doctor for the workers

According to statements from Dr. Binz’s tax-adviser, Gerhard Eppler, the

revenue of his practice is lower and his expenses are higher than those of the

average comparable practices. His income is about 50,000 Euros lower than the

average. He prescribes 1/3 less drugs than the average neurologist. And his

revenue per patient is lower than average. He didn’t charge for medical

certificates. Because his wife was working as a teacher, she has helped to

provide

the funds necessary to support his family -including 5 Children (of which 4

are adopted).

On January 9, 2007, his appeal was rejected. It followed the interrogation

of all his medical assistants, a psychologist he had hired for his practice,

etc. Dr. Binz himself was not heard at all.

600 severely sick patients are scheduled for questioning

Recently, in June 2008, the police started to interrogate his patients all

over Germany. According to reports, 600 severely sick patients are scheduled

for questioning. They are sometimes asked to remember and to provide detailed

testimony about visits to his practice they made 5 years ago.

It has become known from interrogated patients that the police usually

declared that their investigation is about charges of fraud. In Trier a patient

was specifically asked to talk to a tape recorder. He did then ask for a

written protocol to be signed by him, which he was denied by the interrogator.

Subsequently the interviewee refused to provide testimony.

Comments from the police were:

A day has only 24 hours, so Dr. Binz cannot work more than 24 hours per day.

Their alleged claim obviously is intended to be construed from the files

with additional support from patient interviews. As it seems the files aren’t

sufficiently supportive. The police in Boppard stated that Dr. Binz must have

worked 26 hours a day, while the Police in Bonn mentioned 24 hours.

According to Mrs. Binz there are only very few mandatory time data in the

items which neurologists are permitted to charge for. Of relevance for Dr.

Binz’

practice is only No. 823 (30min interview with the patient).

In the town of Merzig a police inspector visited a patient to arrange a date

for a summoning. She was appalled about what she was told about Dr. Binz and

declared she could only report positive experiences with him. Whereupon she

was told that in this case, she doesn’t have to come to the summoning.

In Dresden the police surprised a severely sick patient with information

that made her doctor look like a felon. Up until July 25, 2008, 75 patients,

who

had been asked for an interrogation, notified Dr. Binz.

Dr. Binz has been lobbied against and bullied for a long time

At first it was enterprises, then Public Health Insurance, because he

insisted on diagnostic evidence for the toxic injury of workers, which is more

expensive in the short term than drugging them. Later the Doctors Association

(DA) joined in. In 1996 there had been a first meeting of a complaints board of

the DA with the threat that he (Dr. Binz) has to pay for non-IgE mediator

release tests himself. Further, the validity of psychometric tests of patients

with toxic injury had been questioned and payments for PET-scans of the brain

rejected.

Toxic injuries and consequences

He diagnosed toxic injuries in workers of Romika and other shoe

manufacturers, Kalle, Michelin, Agrob, V+B, Pegulan, Kuag, Fanck,

Mosel-Stahl-Werke

(=Steel Works) , carpenter’s shops, car repair shops, metal workshops, gas

stations, swimming pools, hospitals, butcher’s shops, dry cleaners, market

gardens, vineyards and many other workplaces.

In 1989 Dr. Binz won a lawsuit against the shoe manufacturer Romika in the

first instance in Trier and in the second instance in Koblenz, which had

poisoned some of their workers.

In 1993 a disciplinary action had been agreed upon because he felt called

upon to “pursue comprehensive investigations about the causes of certain

disease syndromesâ€. The disciplinary action had been cancelled but a reason

for

this was never stated. Mr. Spaetgens, a lawyer, just declared “it could have

beenâ€.

1996 Dr. Binz had been subjected to accusations from the part of the German

Berufsgenossenschaften (= BG, compulsory insurance for work related damages

to workers paid for by employers).

In 1997 an action had been brought before the Court of the Medical

Profession (a special court of the Doctors’ Association concerned with

professional

conduct) at the Administration Court in Mainz by the state section of the

Doctors Association.

In 1997 he was prohibited to counsel his patients in matters of German

social law.

1998 there had been a new action before the Court of the Medical Profession,

filed by the Doctors Association.

In 1999 the Doctors Association repeated its action to have Dr. Binz’s

license suspended. This was tried on accusations of false treatment and neglect

of duty.

In 2000 the Court for the Medical Professions decided to discontinue the

lawsuit.

Dr. Binz continued to help those who had been made sick at work by chemicals

In spite of all these indignities and an abundance of written vilifications

by the Doctors Association, Dr. Binz stayed with his convictions. He

continued to help those who had been made sick at work by chemicals. Since the

suspension of his license didn’t work, the DA resorted to more radical means.

The

package of the charges mentioned at the beginning contained a lot of documents

from the aforementioned actions. His license for the German public

insurance system was always important to Dr. Binz, because most of his patients

became sick on the job and cannot afford to pay for his services by other

means.

The lists of the dead would be shorter, if anyone would have taken action on

behalf of them

Though Dr. Binz treats a lot of patients who had been damaged at work he

doesn’t view himself as working against industry as such, just against

enterprises without adequate job safety - measures. Workers have lost their

health and

quality of life and many are dying. Dr. Binz had to notify health insurers,

disability insurers (BG), the ministry of health and the Public Prosecutor’s

Office of these cases because he was legally obliged to do so as a physician.

The lists of the dead would be shorter, if anyone would have taken action on

behalf of them. Dr. Binz has five folders with copies of those

case-histories of sick workers, which he had reported to the Public

Prosecutor’s Office.

Only once he did he obtained a receipt from their office, which is obligatory

according to German Federal Law.

Cases of death continue to accrue

On the occasion of the raid in June 2006, the State Attorney in charge

rejected to seize at least two of these folders. In the meantime the cases of

severely injured people and cases of death continue to accrue. The last two

years Dr. Binz has been systematically deprived of his quality of life. It has

been tried to intimidate him, but he carries on. There continue to be reports

about toxic injury going to the Public Attorney’s Office because that’s the

law.

In November 2007 Dr. Binz received the Civil Courage Award of the Solbach-

Freise Stiftung (Foundation) in Bodenwerder near Hameln.

Support is needed

Dr. Binz has the support of his patients. He was co-initiator of many

support groups. He has received a lot of backup from support groups,

non-governmental organizations, prominent scientists, and environmental

physicians from

Germany and abroad. More is needed given the continuing actions and would be

welcome.

If you would like to add your solidarity and support you may send an email

to “CSN-Chemical Sensitivity Network†_csn.deutschland@..._

(mailto:csn.deutschland@...) ) or use the blog function to write a

comment. (If you need assistance to sign in just let us know)

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