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McSweegan's Version- January 2008
Edward McSweegan
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Edward McSweegan, in a 2003 interview with the CBS Evening NewsEdward McSweegan is a former microbiologist in the U.S. He has degrees from Boston College, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Rhode Island. He did postdoctoral research on Campylobacter jejuni, which was funded by the National Research Council. In 1986, he was selected as a Diplomacy Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and subsequently worked on international science and technology agreements in the U.S. State Department.
In 1988, he joined the Office of Tropical Medicine and International Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. There he helped manage international health projects in Egypt, Israel and India, which were funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. He also served as a guest scientist studying Helicobacter pylori at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
In 1993, he temporarily took over the research grant portfolios on Lyme disease and vectorborne diseases after his supervisor was killed in a car crash. As with AIDS and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lyme disease was as much a political and emotional issue as it was a public health issue. Lyme disease activists had already accused the federal government and government-funded scientists of being involved in a Lyme conspiracy[1] and other activists were threatening [2] and harassing [3] people who did not agree with their tactics or theories.
On activist group, the Lyme Disease Foundation (LDF) used its political influence to have McSweegan removed [4] as the Lyme disease program officer, and later demanded a public service award from the NIH. One NIH official, John LaMontagne, defended the award saying, “It’s just a stupid Lucite plaque” [5]. In 1997, the same Lyme group filed a $2 million slap suit against McSweegan. The American Civil Liberties Union took the case as a First Amendment issue and contracted with the national law firm of Morrison & Foerster to provide a pro bono defense. The LDF suit was thrown out of Maryland district court on April 28, 1999 [6].
Intermittent harassment from both Lyme activists and NIH managers continued for several more years, and eventually ended with the intervention of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Since then McSweegan has continued to work on international programs at NIH. Many of these programs have involved scientific workshops and training exchanges with Russia, India, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the Baltic states.
In the intervals between international assignments and other projects, McSweegan wrote freelance science articles and started the NIH SIG (Special Interest Group) for science writers. His writing evolved into a monthly column on infectious diseases for “The Capital” newspapers in Annapolis, Maryland and membership with the National Science Writers Association. Some short-story fiction brought recognition from “Science” magazine’s “Visions of the Future” [7] Essay Contest, and First Place in Writer’s Digest 2001 Genre Fiction Contest [8]. The following year, two unpublished novels received First Prize awards and the Grand Prize from the Maryland Writers’ Association [9], which then arranged to have both manuscripts published by AuthorHouse. McSweegan also wrote book reviews for Salon.com, “Microbe” magazine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the New York Times Book Review, and infectious disease entries for the online Encyclopædia Britannica. The popular Quackwatch Internet page on Lyme disease is also maintained by him.
McSweegan continues to travel, write and serve on the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats [10] in Washington, D.C.
COMMENTS ON OTHER ENTRIES
comment 2
This entry was not authorized or authored by Edward McSweegan. The writer of this error-filled page is identified as freyfaxi@...deleted..., a self-described Lyme disease Activist obsessed with the notion that Lyme disease—caused by the tick-borne bacterium, ‘’Borrelia burgdorferi’’—is actually some kind of engineered bioweapon. Lyme activists have a long history of propagating fantastic fantasies and conspiracy theories through the Internet, and harassing scientists and physicians who disagree with their opinions and delusions (NYT Magazine, June 17, 2001). Some of these activists have been jailed; others apparently have been placed in psychiatric hospitals for a time, though obviously not long enough.
In any case, the information below is inaccurate. This should not come as a surprise when an online encyclopedia allows vandals, children, conspiracy nuts and the mentally ill to write and edit entries. Until this entry can be removed completely, I have made some corrections to illustrate just how farcical are this page and its author. Emcsweegan 17:41, 1 July 2007 (UTC)emcsweegan
[edit] comment 3
What the hell is wrong with you people? Bored? Unemployed? Can't afford enough medication? Emcsweegan 23:28, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
Why? It's true. None of this online crap was approved or authored by me (EMS). Why do I have to be listed on this site? I did, however, send copies of these latest Wiki entries to various friendly reporters trying to get them interested in doing another story on Wiki as a source of mis- and disinformation and all around junk data. I also included Wikipedia in a note to the Institute of Medicine suggesting the IOM Forum explore the topic of online disinformation related to infectious disease. Emcsweegan 13:25, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] coment 5
Hey! Who keeps editing this crap! What's wrong with you??? Do you really care so much about me? Who are you? You keep writing false information about me and its got to stop. You don't know a goddamn thing about me, about NIH policies, about Lyme disease or anything else. If I want a Wiki entry I'll write one. Not some anonymous asshole.