On his show on Monday, March
5, 2007 Dr. Phil gave false statements regarding Lupus. His
statements were as follows:
"Lupus is an autoimmune
deficiency. But it is not a life-threatening disease. It's something
that is rather akin to arthritis and it can cause very debilitating
problems of the joints, heart, lungs and skin. All types of things,
but it can be controlled very effectively with medication in most
cases."
Lupus is an over active
immune system, not an immune deficiency.
Lupus can be very much life
threatening and is almost always life altering. Thousands of
Americans die from Lupus and it's complications every year.
The medications that Dr. Phil
stated controlled Lupus "very effectively" can be almost as
debilitating as the disease. Side effects of medications such
as Prednisone, Plaquenil, CellCept, and Cytoxan can include
headaches, weight gain, osteoporosis, insomnia, depression,
infertility, and nausea just to name a few.
Lupus is a disease that is so
under-publicized and misunderstood, it is just a shame that such a
public "medical" figure would make false and misleading statements.
These statements minimize the disease and add to the perception that
it is a disease that is "no big deal".
We encourage everyone to
write Dr. Phil letting him know your Lupus story, your
disappointment in his statements, and encouraging him to do a show
about this disease and it's true effects.
Follow this link to email the
show:
http://drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=9164
