Advocate:
Dr. Ken Friedman
One of the people at the 2007 IACFS
conference I was hoping to meet was Ken Friedman. A member of the federal
advisory board for CFS (CFSAC: 2003-2006) he was plainly not satisfied at the
state of affairs at the Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS). While he was
polite at times there seemed to be an edge to his questions. At some points I
thought I could feel his personal frustration. As I learned more I discovered it
was personal with him; he has a daughter who’s had CFS/FM for almost fifteen
years.
Ken's been a very active advocate. He co-authored the New Jersey Consensus Manual For the Management and
Treatment of CFS, he’s a certified trainer of the CDC’s CFS physician education
program, and he played a vital role in the Vermont CFIDS Associations recent
legislative efforts. He is an Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology
at the New Jersey Medical School.
Over the past few years Ken has produced
several papers aimed at engaging CFS patients in the issues they face at the
federal and state levels. Through these papers he gives us an inside look at
what we have accomplished, the many things what we still need to do and the
means to do them.
Ken Friedman Interview (2007- 8)