My poor health over 40 years - not my fault. [go to HAIG REPORT home]

The seven year period [of that 40 years] from late 1967 to late 1974 is covered in greater detail in the Inaugural HaigReport Journal published 26 March, 2007 and archived online and available [for free]from http://AustLawPublish.com/haigreportpublicationsHaigReport.html /.

I am now improving my health as best I can, despite the effect of the permanent damage I have suffered, DUE TO THE MEDICAL INCOMPETENCE OF OTHERS. I have made big strides.   I have answered two major questions. Answering those has lifted TWO MONKEYS OFF MY BACK.

They are:
1)   Discovering that I have obstructive sleep apnoea [OSA] and that that was the reason I did not recover from the concussion I suffered in November, 1967. What caused all my problems in the four years after I had that concussion was MEDICAL INCOMPETENCE. Not only was the OSA not diagnosed then, but my non-recovery was MIS-DIAGNOSED and I was given more than three year of treatment PERMANENTLY DAMAGING to me, my brain and my health and ability. Since confirmation of my OSA, I have now lost substantial weight to manage the OSA condition, so I believe I have reduced the remaining present adverse effect of the OSA. I am sleeping much better and I am noticing continual improvement in many small but positive steps. One of the GREATEST imports, and hence removing one monkey off my back, has been answering the uncertainty of the cause way back then: what all those doctors, most supposedly "specialists" could not. Discovering this has only been due to my efforts and my efforts only.

2)   The second MONKEY has been seeing that MRI for the first time, and then viewing photos of myself, cognizant of that MRI. It is not that I am "happy" about it, I am not at all, but then I can do nothing about it. The real benefit to it is KNOWING. It occurred to me to obtain the MRI only after I had gained substantial benefit from 1) above.   I now realise how other people have seen me all my life.   When I was clean shaven and as a kid, it was so very obvious. I think to many people, it was and is just an unconscious reaction; the Yuk value.   I used to wonder the reason I would receive mainly negative reactions from other people. Often people would not even hear what I said.

Prior to the concussion in 1967, I could use my intelligence to mitigate the adverse effects of all the bullying, cheating and put downs that I had to weather.   However, post concussion, my half witted behaviour was consistent with my appearance, and so I suffered so much more bullying, cheating, insult, humiliation and ridicule [still happening at the hands of Hughie my lowlife brother in law], [and at the hands of the BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL (BCC)], [and the SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND (SCQ].

I studied for and obtained my LLB. My motivation was largely, all the bullying and illegal treatment I have suffered, over so much of my life.

I have lost so much over those 40 odd years, and so have my parents, despite their and my best offorts. I had never given up. That is still my nature.   I plodded on the best I could, with all the support of my parents.   It has been a most unpleasant experience for me over these years.    The only way I could do my LLB study for five years was to rise at 3am to study through to about 7am, seven days per week, even on the coldest winter mornings. I had to discipline myself to go to bed at 8pm. If I had known to manage the OSA, things might have been easier. I was poor so to budget, I would not put on the electric bar heater ever.

I now find myself with four undergraduate university degrees; BCom BSc LLB and BA. [ I was fortunately very intelligent, still now with an IQ, well above, the threshold IQ for genius.   I know I have lost some substantial intellectual abilities from the medical mistreatment, but I guess I can do nothing about that. As with the MRI, I guess that it is a matter of the value of KNOWING.] I have mathematics majors in my BSc and BA, so I refer to myself as a "mathematiciam with a law degree". I am now well into my PhD achieving some good progress results.

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea [OSA] mis-diagnosed as schizophrenia.

I explain this here for the purpose of putting into perspective, the bullying and mistreatment I have suffered over the years.

In 2003, I had diagnosed myself as suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnoea [OSA]. This was confirmed with a medically monitored sleep study. I had suspected that I had been suffering OSA then and that I had been suffering OSA since I was about 15 years old. Five days after I completed my Senior Public Exam at age 17, in 1967, I suffered a concussion. I cannot remember 10 days after that. I was in hospital for 14 days. In that time I was overfed in a Queensland Government hospital and put on 13 kg to about 93kg. This exacerbated my undiagnosed OSA. [Being ill and not exercising, my weight went to 103kg.] It was commented on at the time how the volume of my snoring had increased so much.    With OSA, during sleep, one's blood oxygen concentration drops alarmingly and so one wakes.   I did not appear to recover from my concussion, due to both of the damaging effects of reduced oxygen damaging my brain and preventing healing of my brain from the concussion, as well as from reduced and poorer sleep. Still my OSA went undiagnosed. In April, 1968 I saw a neurophysican in Brisbane. He said I would be recovered by the following year. I knew something was wrong and that they, all the doctors, did not know. I started to research texts to learn about the brain. [That was interpreted as a bad symptom.] I was referred to a psychiatrist, a Dr W. Richards, in 1968. A second psychiatrist in about July, 1971 advised that the first psychiatrist's diagnosis of Schizophrenia was wrong. That, and the fact that ECT was never indicated, was confirmed by another two psychiatrists in the following three months. Of course, I did not hear voices and I did not have multiple personalities. Over three years, Dr Richards made a lot of money from my parents who were in MBF at the time [I saw the second psychiatrist, Dr Atkinson, in July 1971, without the knowledge of Dr Richards. It cost me nothing to see Dr Atkinson as he was a Dr at the hospital. I saw him as a result of the research and effort I took to try to discover what was wrong with me. In my research, I discovered that there was another psychiatrist in Townsville.] The OSA was still not diagnosed. [OSA was not considered much in those days I am told.] In the interim, the first psychiatrist Dr W Richards, had really stuffed me around so much more. Not only was this very upsetting for me, but even more so, it really upset my parents, especially my father.   I am extremely upset at the distress this caused my father.

Not only was there a medical non-diagnosis of the OSA, but I suffered from a medical mis-diagnosis of schizopohrenia. [As I said, I did not hear voices and I did not have multiple personalities.] [I think people should be quite suspicious of psychiatry as schizophrenia is not an underlying condition, but mearly a handle to ascribe to a group of symptoms when only two of five possible are present.] So, what treatment did Richards give me? He prescribed tranquillizers. Every month when I returned, and the tranquillizers had not worked [surprised?], he would prescribe different tranquillizers. My non-existent Schizophrenia was very "resistant" to Richards' "treatment". So, he prescribed many treatments of ECT [electro convulsive therapy - SHOCK TREATMENT]. Guess whether it worked? Of course, my symptoms of OSA and residual concussion did not abate. I was referred to a Dr Steinberg in Brisbane in about March, 1970. [He is still in practice in Brisbane, I believe.] I was put into the Marooma Private Hospital, [I remember it was in Federation Street, Windsor], in which, I think, he had a share, for three months and given more ECT. That cost my parents and MBF big dollars too. I cannot remember much of that time. I believe that that was where the majority of the brain damage that I have suffered occurred. Nursing sisters recognised that I was not sleeping well, [due to OSA], so gave me sleeping drafts so I would not wake up at night. That would have resulted in the concencentration of oxygen falling so low as to cause brain damage.   I think many other people in my situation may have DIED, from incompetent nurses giving unprescribed "sleeping drafts".   Then of course there would have been 'cover ups'. How many people lost loved ones in hospitals for unexplained reasons?   If they were also snorers, I reckon there would be a high likelihood that they were killed by incompetent nurses.

My OSA was very 'resistant' to ECT. [ECT is not a known treatment for OSA]. When I returned to Townsville in about June 1970, Richards kept prescribing tranquillizers.   I started as a clerk in the Queensland Railway in Townsville in July 1970. I was still very much "spaced out". I could not stay awake. I used to go to the water cooler and wash my eyes with cold water to try to keep my eyes open.   I just would not give up. It was a terrible experience.

It was only after Dr Atkinson took me off all drugs in about July, 1971, that I began to recover, but, of course, the recovery was not complete as I still had the OSA.   My main feeling was joy and gratitude that there seemed to be some progress. I did not feel recovered but just better. [ I still believed there was some underlying problem. I had determined that my brain was not receiving the oxygen it needed, by considering my symptons. Of course, the doctors reckoned they knew what was wrong with me so would not waste their time discussing my ideas] I was not then angry that I had been so stuffed around, because I still did not understand everything that has happened. I DO KNOW NOW AND NOW I AM FURIOUS AT ALL THE WAYS I HAVE BEEN STUFFED ABOUT, INJURED AND DAMAGED AND MISTREATED BY SO MANY PEOPLE, AND WHERE IT IS STILL CONTINUING.   I HAVE LOST SO MUCH OF MORE THAN HALF MY LIFE, AND SUFFERED PERMANENT DAMAGE WITH WHICH I MUST NOW LIVE, BY THE INCOMPETENCE AND MALEOVALENCE OF OTHERS.   I intend to work on the more recent incidents and work back from there.

I think there must be many cases where people with OSA, who have been hospitalised have been KILLED in hospital. I'll explain. Nursing sisters would see that when I was in hospital I was waking often at night. I remember that so often I was given these foul tasting sleeping drafts, "so you will sleep better". I did not ask for it and I did not want it, but it was forced on me. The doctors had not prescribed them. These nursing sisters had intended that I should not wake during the night. Unfortunately for me, THAT, WAKING, WAS THE WAY I STAYED ALIVE, and the way anyone with OSA stays alive. In my case I was fortunate in that I had extremely good aerobic fitness with a resting pulse of 33, due to the running I had done over a number of years and then bike racing training on a heavy fat tyred bicycle up to the time I was about 15 or 16.   I think that for other people who did not have my aerobic strength and fitness, they may have died from their "sleeping draft" as their oxygen concentration in their blood dropped too low.   I think in my case that has been responsible for much of the brain damage and brain atrophy that I have suffered. CT scans of my brain have shown for some time now that I have what is termed "clinically significant atrophy". Anyone who can read MRIs could possibly see that in my MRI logo.

People who have sleep Apnoea are more likely to have a whole host of accidents and end up in hospital.   I reckon there must be many people in our community who have had a loved one die in hospital after an accident when they seemed to be recovering well.   If that person also snored quite loudly, I reckon that there is a high probability that the loved one had OSA and was "poisoned" with a sleeping draft by the hospital. This would be less likely in recent years when there has been a greater awareness of OSA.

Additionally, I suspect that just as my OSA was "diagnosed" as schizophrenia, there must be many other people with OSA who have been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and put on tranquilizer drugs. If those people did not persist to find the cause of their predicament, like I have done, then they are likely now to be down and out, if not dead.

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