Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Using suicide to promote CALMARE: SHAME ON YOU!

© 2013 L. Ryan

The utter irresponsibility of this type of marketing leaves me almost speechless.  In a pitch by Michael Breen M.D that references a woman named "Gracie," a "Gracie" that has been recycled, at last count, six times, pushing CALMARE treatment for CRPS / RSD (parent company CTTC -- Competitive Technologies, Inc., a penny stock today hanging at 16 cents on the market) dares to begin by stating:

Gracie Bagosy’s condition is so painful, the highest 

cause of death is suicide.






Of course, I cannot let the subject of CRPS and suicide be brought up blithely, by Breen or by this blog author, so I want to refer readers to the significant time and study invested in the topic by the respected RSDSA, most notably by Linda Lang:


There is a very big difference between living with a chronic disease such as CRPS/RSD and actively dying with a disease such as cancer. Although a literature search reveals claims that CRPS/RSD patients have an extraordinarily high incidence of suicide, and a CRPS/RSD patient actually read testimony into a Subcommittee on Health in June of 2001, saying that CRPS/RSD leads to death and the leading cause of that death is suicide, there is absolutely no evidence to support these statements, in fact there are no statistics at all on CRPS/RSD and suicide. When asked about it in 2001, Dr. Robert Schwartzman said, "…there is no data on RSD and suicide. It clearly happens and is almost always attributed to other causes." He adds that out of 73,500 patients, he has had only three that he is sure did commit suicide. 
Click HERE for a link to RSDSA's extensive look at the statistics and the realities for CRPS and suicidial ideation and action.   I know I think of it every day -- but to use that as a marketing "hook" literally nauseates me, and should you.

FOR PREVIOUS POSTS ON CALMARE/CTTC, CLICK HERE.

11 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Have any evidence beyond a personal testimonial? Do you have pictures that pre-date your treatment to compare with a videotaped account of former suffering?

    I'm thoroughly familiar with CALMARE and the claims made, and can assure you that you either did not have CRPS and were misdiagnosed, or that you had such a mild case that attaching you to several TENS units on burst mode would have been equally curative.

    There are, of course, other possibilities, but I hesitate to mention them.

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  3. i will show you mine, if you will show me yours:

    http://youtu.be/i2qrry7ltT0

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  4. Where can the public access them to verify your claims?

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  6. That's kind of you to offer. I'm in my eleventh year of living with CRPS. I was under the impression that you were helping to promote CALMARE, and that you'd, therefore, have material ready for people who need to learn what CRPS looks and feels like. May I feature your "before treatment" documentation here on the blog, and compare it with "after treatment" documentation? That would be helpful for people who need to learn about the syndrome. I have, as you did, a highly specialized team of doctors in a major metro area, so I'm well plugged in. But appreciate the offer. Now let's show/prove what CALMARE did for you!

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  8. Gracie Bagosy left a new comment on your post "Using suicide to promote CALMARE: SHAME ON YOU!":

    "My story and pictures can be found on the CALMARE sites. I won't post them on these sites that only spew hate. In these pictures, you will see my face, my family, my friends...as well as my RSD limb."

    I don't spew hate. I make available real information, and fight against the emotional and financial manipulation of unethical medical professionals.

    Please provide for us a link to a video that will show your pre and post CRPS limb. I would love to see the improvement.

    We're trying to wean people away from using the term RSD, as it has been proven incorrect and misleading. The sympathetic nervous system may play a role in the initial stage of the illness, but the focus now is on non-SMP and the central nervous system. The most promising research seems to be in the area of neuropathic inflammation.

    I look forward to comparing the pre and post CALMARE treatment visual documentation. Did you have any diagnostic testing such a triphasic bone scan, nerve conduction studies?

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  9. I'm wondering why all of Gracie's comments have been removed from this conversation.

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  10. as you can see, shane, they were removed by their "author," not by me! it was a choice made by "gracie."

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