Friday, November 18, 2011 -

    Dr Robert Lefever, The General Medical Council, The Daily Mail And The Press Complaints Commission

    Dr Robert Lefever

    Dr Robert Lefever is a Daily Mail columnist.   In October he wrote an absurd and spectacularly ignorant article about cannabis titled “Even the Dutch think skunk drives you mad”.  I submitted a PCC complaint which you can see here.    Essentially, Dr Lefever claimed that cannabis available today has been “genetically modified” and that it contains “25 times as much THC as there used to be”. This from a man who trades on his status as a doctor and presents his opinions as those of an expert.  He writes regularly for the Daily Mail on health, medicine and NHS matters.  He says he knows “how to build long-term relationships and help people to heal their depression and stop their addictive or other destructive behaviour.”

    I have yet to hear back from the PCC but I expect it to fail to uphold the Editors’ Code yet again.  It is proving itself to be much, much worse than the toothless poodle it has long been regarded as.  It is, in fact, corrupt and dishonest.  I use those words deliberately after careful consideration and based on clear cut documentary evidence.  Some of its recent decisions have been beyond belief, beyond even a parody of a bunch of sleazy hacks covering up for each other.   I intend to explain the truth about the PCC  when I am called to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

    In addition to my PCC complaint, I also complained to the General Medical Council (GMC).  I said that Dr Lefever had published false science and deception.  “In my view, it amounts to gross professional misconduct and anyone who is prepared to indulge in such dishonesty is not a fit and proper person to practice medicine.”

    This week I received a reply from the GMC.  It seems that Dr Lefever does not even have a certificate to practise medicine.  No action can therefore be taken against him but my complaint will lie on his file and be considered should he ever apply to practise again.

    Meanwhile, Dr Lefever continues to trade on his status as a doctor in the Daily Mail.  Today, astonishingly, he writes about the extremely harmful and addictive drug tobacco “I support the right of people to smoke cigarettes, or do other stupid and dangerous things, provided that they pay for the consequences – to themselves and to others – that come from their choice of personal behaviour.”

    Contrast that with his attitude towards cannabis

    The hypocrisy of this man is breathtaking.  His behaviour is a perversion of the Hippocratic oath.  He is a scoundrel, a charlatan and a quack.  Such are the ProHos that we are up against.

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    Related news:

    1. PCC Complaint. The Daily Mail, 11th October 2011
    2. The Metaphor For Poison That Is The Press Complaints Commission
    3. The Press Complaints Commission Campaign
    4. PCC Complaint. The Daily Mail, 5th February 2011 – NOT UPHELD
    5. The Daily Mail – Addicted To Lies And Misinformation About Cannabis
    • Cshaws

      Hey Peter, I know you’re not as old as me but you must remember this. I always think of it when reading the sort of crap these people write:

      Like a Night Club in the morning, you’re the bitter end.
      Like a recently disinfected shit-house, you’re clean round the bend.
      You give me the horrors
      too bad to be true
      All of my tomorrow’s
      are lousy coz of you.
      You put the Shat in Shatter
      Put the Pain in Spain
      Your germs are splattered about
      Your face is just a stain
      You’re certainly no raver, commonly known as a drag.
      Do us all a favour, here… wear this polythene bag.
      You’re like a dose of scabies,
      I’ve got you under my skin.
      You make life a fairy tale… Grimm!
      People mention murder, the moment you arrive.
      I’d consider killing you if I thought you were alive.
      You’ve got this slippery quality,
      it makes me think of phlegm,
      and a dual personality
      I hate both of them.
      Your bad breath, vamps disease, destruction, and decay.
      Please, please, please, please, take yourself away.
      Like a death a birthday party,
      you ruin all the fun.
      Like a sucked and spat our smartie,
      you’re no use to anyone.
      Like the shadow of the guillotine
      on a dead consumptive’s face.
      Speaking as an outsider,
      what do you think of the human race
      You went to a progressive psychiatrist.
      He recommended suicide…
      before scratching your bad name off his list,
      and pointing the way outside.
      You hear laughter breaking through, it makes you want to fart.
      You’re heading for a breakdown,
      better pull yourself apart.
      Your dirty name gets passed about when something goes amiss.
      Your attitudes are platitudes,
      just make me wanna piss.
      What kind of creature bore you
      Was is some kind of bat
      They can’t find a good word for you,
      but I can…
      TWAT.John Cooper Clarke

    • Cshaws
    • Anonymous

      ‘The hypocrisy of this man is breathtaking.  His behaviour is a perversion of the Hippocratic oath.  He is a scoundrel, a charlatan and a quack.  Such are the ProHos that we are up against.’
      Come on Peter, don’t be so coy.Tell us what you really think of Dr Lefever!

      It’s breathtaking how someone without a certificate to practice can actually have a newspaper blog about medical affair.I don’t doubt that it is all legal and above board for this newspaper to allow him such a courtesy.
      Of course I use the word newspaper in the looses possible terms!

    • Anonymous

      I tried to comment on one of his blogs about a month ago and, unsurprisingly, it didn’t get through. It was related to Amy Winehouse’s death and the fact that it was Alcohol that caused her death http://lefeverblog.dailymail.co.uk/2011/10/winehouse-blues.html.

      The reason I felt compelled to write a scathing (but polite) rebuke was this line “ let’s put to one side the cause of her death and any tendency to lecture and pontificate”.. now just imagine if it had been ANY drug other than Alcohol.. would he have been as quick to dismiss.. I think not. I think the whole tone of the blog would have significantly changed to more than lecturing and pontifications..

      The man is a ‘moralistic’ charlatan. His ideology never lets the facts get in the way of his opinion. It is a crying shame he has as big a platform as he does.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Morton/100002114691648 Tim Morton

      In a gold rush, the man selling shovels is the one who makes the most money. Due to the high rates of relapse, re-hab is the lucrative equivalent of shovels in the “War” on drugs. This twat sells re-hab!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Derek-Williams/1072934911 Derek Williams

      It has to be remembered that the title “doctor” is not a medical title, but one which indicates a level of education, ie a PhD degree.

      The best example of this is someone we haven’t heard from for a while but who used to be very prominent in the anti-cannabis law reform camp, the disgraced exx-policeman Dr Ian Oliver. Dr Oliver is indeed a doctor because he has a PhD in “Public Administration”.

      Dr Robert Lefever does at least seem to have a medical qualification.

    • Anonymous

      Why are you giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, Peter? Did you get your phone hacked?

    • http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

      The Inquiry is much broader than that.  It is my experience with the PCC that is of interest.

    • Anonymous

      Excellent – put the boot in!

    • Anonymous

      Ha! Ha! Ha!
      I bought the single when it came out (still have it). There is a censored version, where the ‘offensive’ words are overdubbed with sound effects, such as a toilet flushing, and a machine gun.
      The two grooves run adjacent to each other, so when you start the record playing, you don’t know which version you’re going to get.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000141987360 Tom Foolery

      research suggests that ‘Dr’ Robert Lefever is a pilock

    • Axehandle

      Doctor Robert Lefever is a con man , of the first degree

    • vivek sinha

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