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Last month IMediaEthics published a solid report by ace reporter Sydney Smith about how in January a couple of leading UK newspapers published -- but then promptly "disappeared" -- a bogus choking rescue story and how my efforts resulted in both papers cleaning up the mess.

One of papers (the MailOnline) held out for eight months(!) and only agreed to address the problem after I filed a complaint with UK's Independent Press Standards Organisation.

Via IPSO's website:

We hold newspapers and magazines to account for their actions, protect individual rights, uphold high standards of journalism and help to maintain freedom of expression for the press.

In what may be a journalism first, today I filed another IPSO complaint against another UK newspaper which "disappeared" another article about another questionable choking rescue.

This one involves a controversial anti-choking plunger called the Dechoker. As it happens, the company's UK distributor claims that since the beginning of the year, this unapproved experimental  gadget has saved the lives of six -- I repeat, six -- elderly choking victims in nursing homes around the country.


Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
Gate House
1 Farringdon Street
London
EC4M 7LG

To whom it may concern:

This is to request that your agency investigate IPSO member organization the Northampton Chronicle & Echo for publishing and subsequently scrubbing an online news report after being informed that the story was problematic and possibly a hoax. Almost four months since publication and three months after the paper's editor claimed he had initiated an investigation, the article is still missing from the paper's website.

On 15 June 2018, Northampton care home staff save residents' [sic] life after he started choking by staff reporter Carly Roberts was published on the paper's website. Here's the complete text:

An Airway Clearance Device (ACD) made by a Northampton-based business has helped to save a second care home resident from choking to death.

Resident at Timken Grange care home in Duston, Bryan Kett, 87, was enjoying lunch when he began to choke on a piece of food, which had become stuck in his airway.

Care staff immediately stepped in to assist, and when the obstruction proved firmly stuck, they reached for their Dechoker. Within moments the piece of food had been removed and the resident recovered almost immediately.

“Choking is responsible for around six care home deaths every month,” said Matt Oakley, director at Dechoker UK. “We are both pleased and proud that once again Dechoker has been shown to be effective in a choking emergency.”

The home has Dechoker devices on every floor with their care teams comprehensively trained both how and when to use them.

The product resembles a large syringe attached to a gas mask. It is placed over their mouth and the operator then pulls the suction pump, creating a vacuum and extracting the item from their throat in a short time.

Staff at Dechoker say the effects of a choking death are far-reaching. Initially, there will be an emotional impact on the other residents and staff having to have dealt with and witnessed a very traumatic incident.

Choking is regarded as an unexpected death and as such there will be a Coroner’s investigation, which often takes many months. Not forgetting, throughout this entire process the family and friends of the resident are having to come to terms with both the cause of death and the ongoing implications as a result.

Timken Grange Home manager Rachel Cadd said: "We are delighted that our carers have been trained and are comfortable with using the Dechoker.

"We are confident that we would not hesitate in using the device again should the occasion arise.”

Based on my research/reporting and a string of investigative reports by U.S. journalists* about the Dechoker device -- which were published online before Ms. Roberts' story and which she could have easily located -- I had serious questions about the accuracy and competency of her reporting, so on 22 June I e-mailed her an inquiry and copied editor David Summers. I didn't receive a reply so on 25 June I re-sent my inquiry.

I didn't receive a reply to that either, so I sent a 19 July inquiry to Mr. Summers detailing some of my concerns:

Among other information missing from Ms. Roberts' poorly-reported article: the date of the alleged incident and what type of food the victim allegedly choked on; the names of the alleged rescuers and any eyewitnesses; quotes from the alleged rescuers, from Bryan Kett or from any members of his family or his legal guardian; whether or not Mr. Kett received subsequent medical care and the name of his attending physician; and no information about the case of the first care home patient allegedly saved from choking to death by the device.

I've made best efforts to verify the above information, including: multiple inquiries to Ms. Roberts (on which you were copied, see below my signature); inquiries to executives at Timken Grange and to Matt Oakley.

No replies were received from Ms. Roberts or from the Timken Grange executives. Mr. Oakley refused to provide any information about the reported incident and would not even provide me with the name(s) of the Timken Grange employee(s) who informed him about the alleged incident. Further, it's unclear if Mr. Oakley ever attempted to verify any of the facts or interviewed anyone associated with the case.

Further, multiple attempts to contact Bryan Kett, members of his family, and his legal representative were unsuccessful. Further, employees at Timken Grange would not even confirm that they have a resident named Bryan Kett.

Long story short, I haven't been able to obtain any substantiating evidence that the incident your paper reported took place. And based on Ms. Roberts' incompetent reporting, how can your readers be certain that she didn't get punk'd?

I didn't receive a reply so I sent him a 23 July follow up to which I received a polite same-day reply.

As I was preparing to respond to that, I discovered that sometime between 19 July and 23 July, Ms. Roberts' article had been scrubbed from the paper's website and the URL at which it was posted now redirected to the paper's home page https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/northampton-care-home-staff-save-residents-life-after-he-started-choking-1-8536207 I included that information in my 23 July reply to Mr. Summers.

In his next-day reply, without explanation Mr. Summers claimed he was "not in a position" to do any fact-checking of the story and that, "In relation to the article no longer appearing online, it is standard practice to remove articles, as a neutral act, while investigations are carried out." Copies of our e-mails are posted here http://tinyurl.com/ycppohjy

Since then I've provided Mr. Summers with considerable related information, including this 23 September 2018 investigation request I filed with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) http://tinyurl.com/y7o3cx4p According to all published information about the alleged choking rescue at Timken Grange, staff violated this 30 August 2017 MHRA directive re: the acceptable use of the device http://tinyurl.com/y7d9yn3r

In my opinion, the information I provided to Mr. Summers -- which included the investigative reports copied below my signature -- would persuade any responsible journalist to take a closer look at the case. At minimum, why wouldn't he at least attempt to verify whether or not Timken Grange actually has a resident named Bryan Kett?

Instead -- and this appears to be the extent of Mr. Summers' "investigation" -- he sent me a Timken Grange press release which was the basis of Ms. Roberts's 15 June 2018 report.

But even that's problematic. The press release -- issued by Sian Ellis, marketing Director at Oakdale Care Group, Timken Grange's parent corporation -- is dated 6 July 2018, three weeks after Ms. Roberts' article was published.

I received no indication that Mr. Summers or any other Chronicle & Echo staffer asked Ms. Ellis for any further information. On the contrary, the paper seemed determined to avoid obtaining additional information -- a peculiar approach to journalism, to be sure.

I, on the other hand, sent multiple e-mail inquiries to Ms. Ellis last month in an attempt to verify the information she provided to the Chronicle & Echo. (I copied Mr. Summers.) Despite receiving multiple confirmations of receipt, I didn't receive any responses http://tinyurl.com/y98meses

In any event, Ms. Roberts' article is still M.I.A., but I've attached a pdf copy. Here's a link to direct download a copy http://tinyurl.com/y9zp4zhg

It's unclear what's going on at Timken Grange and the Chronicle & Echo -- Ms. Roberts and Mr. Summers certainly don't seem inclined to find out -- but perhaps filing this complaint with your agency will produce more information.

Thanks for your time/consideration and I look forward to your reply. If you require any additional information and/or records I might be able to provide, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
REDACTED
Peachtree Corners, GA 30096 USA
ph: (208)474-7283
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
e-mail: peter.heimlich@gmail.com
Twitter: @medfraud_pmh
bio: http://tinyurl.com/ych7o7dr

* 12 March 2018: Anti-choking device business raided, accused of investment scheme by Matthew Grant, 12 March 2018, FOX46 Charlotte North Carolina http://tinyurl.com/yd6tydmn

26 March 2018: "Growing pains" for company selling anti-choking device? NC state "investment scheme" investigation & three debt collection lawsuits, one filed by former top executive, The Sidebar (my blog), http://www.the-sidebar.com/2018/03/growing-pains-for-company-selling-anti.html

21 May 2018: 'Dechoker' anti-choking device claims to save lives but has never been tested on humans by Jackie Callaway, ABC Tampa Florida http://tinyurl.com/y9g5x8vu

31 May 2018: Heimlich alternative? KWWL investigates new medical device offered to Iowa school by Amanda Gilbert, 31 May 2018, NBC Waterloo Iowa: http://tinyurl.com/ydbz2xkr Complete interview with Iowa State EMS Director David Stilley MD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eczgssoPF9g

My original story is below the red hash marks.

1/4/17 UPDATE


John Reynolds at the UK Press Gazette -- which, according to its website, "has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965" -- picked up the story and credited me. The article includes this new reporting:

Owen Conlon, assistant news editor of the Irish Sun, said on Twitter: “While both papers should have checked with Byrne, this was a deliberate attempt to get false information in. Irish Sun spoke to same woman. When told Byrne denied it, she replied: ‘He’s probably being modest.'”

1/10/17 UPDATE

Sydney Smith at US press watchdog iMedia Ethics picked up the story and credited me. Her article includes:

iMediaEthics has contacted both the Standard and Mail to ask how they learned about the story, how they attempted to fact check and if they are or have published corrections.

Click here for inquiries I sent to both papers on January 5.

As It Happens, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio news magazine, saw Sydney's story and aired an interview I did with co-host Carol Off. Click here for the audio and the transcript which includes:

Ed Byrne is a well-known Irish comedian. And He's pretty funny. In fact, he’s so funny you could die laughing, unless he saves you. And if you’re a reader of the London Evening Standard and the Daily Mail, you could almost believe Mr. Byrne had done just that, by saving an audience member from choking at one of his shows. But when one investigative blogger heard the choking story, something about it stuck in his craw. So he decided to get to the bottom of it. 

...PETER: (Ed Byrne) and I have exchanged a couple of tweets. Earlier today, I tweeted that I was confident that he should be able to get five minutes of stand-up out of this.

2/19/18 UPDATE:

Two days after I asked London Evening Standard editor George Osborne to address the matter, the paper published a thorough re-write at the original URL by reporter Martin Coulter, who admitted he got punk'd by a source ("Morgan Wilson").

Screenshot from London Evening Standard story by Martin Coulter

Two leading UK newspapers have disappeared a bogus story without informing readers that their reporters got hosed by a source.

Via Google News, here are screen shots of articles by reporters Alexander Matthews of the Mail Online* and Martin Coulter of the London Evening Standard:

Last night I tweeted this inquiry to Mr. Matthews and to Mr. Byrne:

source

Published four hours ago by the Bradford Telegraph & Argus:

source

The Mail Online and Evening Standard articles are now MIA with no indication to readers why the articles were disappeared:

source

source

I'll follow up with both papers and report the results.

Click here for a re-publication of Mr. Matthews' Mail Online story.

Click here for a cached version of Mr. Coulter's Evening Standard story.

As it happens, this isn't Byrne's first "Heimlich headline."

From a couple years ago:

source

* In my original post, I mistakenly called the publication the Daily Mail rather than the Mail Online. Regret the error!

I co-authored this item with Belfast, Northern Ireland writer Dean Sterling Jones who's cross-posting it at his lively Shooting The Messenger blog. 

I first contacted Dean a couple months ago after I was flattered to learn he'd picked up my September 30 item about Dr. David Katz posting a shill five-star review on Amazon for his novel reVision. Since then, Dean's been keeping his readers informed about further developments in Dr. Katz's literary career.

Dean turned up the Goodreads review; I sent the inquiry. We'll update if/when the company responds. (For clarity, my inquiry is slightly edited.)

Subject: blogger inquiry
To: Goodreads <support@goodreads.com>, <press@goodreads.com>
From: Peter Heimlich <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>
Cc: Dean Sterling Jones
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2015 16:36:25 -0500

Hi Goodreads Team,

1) Here's a screenshot I just took from a Goodreads review page:



2) Per this screenshot I just took from his Facebook home page, you can see that the above David Katz is David L. Katz MD of Yale's Griffin Hospital and that he's hyping the book reVision:



3) Recent articles in the Yale Daily News, Retraction Watch, and IMediaEthics (please click the names to read those stories) reported that the Huffington Post deleted two columns by Dr. Katz in which he lavished praise upon reVision without informing readers that he wrote the novel and that Amazon.com deleted a five-star review for reVision which Dr. Katz posted on his Amazon user account without identifying himself as the author.

Here's my question.

Is Dr. Katz's Goodreads review of reVision in compliance with your review guidelines?


UPDATE, 12/16/15, 10:18pm ET: Just hours after Dean Jones Sterling and I blogged our items, Goodreads.com scrubbed Dr. Katz's self-review.

Here's a screenshot I took of the web page a few minutes ago: