Stephen Barrett, et al, filed some paperwork Monday, January 3rd, 2011 in the Doctor’s Data v Stephen Barrett Federal Court case, in essence, demanding that the Court Dismiss the case in its entirety, financially sanction the attorneys for Doctor’s Data, and Formally Declare Stephen Barrett as the “Czar/God of US Health Care…”
I kid you not…
Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
The papers filed in the case are so ABSURD, even I, in my true skeptic world, am sitting here with my mouth hanging open in sheer disbelief – and I read the whole thing several times before I went to bed Monday night..
Michael K. Botts has stepped up to bat… (maybe, sort of, etc.).
I told you this would happen. Now will come the quackbuster’s last-ditch effort to destroy Doctor’s Data – as fast as possible. We’ll call the attempt “Barrett’s ‘Battle of the Bulge‘…” Why? Because I see the similarity, here, with the attempt NAZI Germany made on December 16th, 1944 to reverse their fortunes of war, stopping the Allied Invasion of Europe.
Will this tactic work for Barrett? (Start smiling right about here). Absolutely not – for Barrett, and his band of numby-dumbies are walking right into the situation (trap) we want them in – they have put what Barrett actually is, right on the line. In the documents presented to the Court are the arguments, I am not joking, that claim that Barrett is some kind of ultimate Demi-God, fully qualified (snort here) to decide US health care. Perfect.
In the original 1944 ‘Battle of the Bulge‘ the NAZI’s were defeated, and routed, in only nine days, and that battle was their last effort to regain a power position. However, in “Barrett’s ‘Battle of the Bulge‘…” the Court has awarded Doctor’s Data thirty (30) full days to eviscerate Barrett’s half-vast claims. I am sure they will use their time well.
Read this to see the similarities:
“Germany’s goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp, Belgium, and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers‘ favor.[17] Once accomplished, Hitler could return his attention and the bulk of his forces to the Soviet armies in the east.
Fierce resistance, particularly around the key town of Bastogne, and terrain favoring the defenders threw the German timetable behind schedule. Allied reinforcements, including General George Patton‘s Third Army, and improving weather conditions, which permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, sealed the failure of the offensive.”
The German offensive was stopped, cold, nine days later on December 25th, 1944. And, we all know what happened after that.
Barrett’s goal, with this legal maneuver, is to get himself declared Supreme by the US Court System. How do you spell “megalomaniac?” The whole basis for the Motion to Dismiss anti-SLAPP claim, is that Stephen Barrett is officially “advising the government…” so, in the quackpot way of thinking, is immune to Complaint.
(Go ahead and shake your head in wonderment here).
Before I tell you specifics about the Fed Court paperwork, and let you laugh, let me back up a little and bring this all into perspective.
Perspective….
(1) This case was filed on June 18th, 2010. That was 203 days ago. It took Goofy Barrett, and Absent Botts, 199 days to get a Motion to Dismiss together. Ummmm?…
(2) Motions to Dismiss in Federal Court are limited to fifteen (15) pages. Barrett/Bott’s Motions (there are several – all related) and documents, total two-hundred-seventy-one (271) pages. Even more Ummmm…
(3) Michael K. Botts, Barrett’s supposed “lead attorney,” you will remember, is a quackbuster. Here is what I wrote about him once before in an article titled “Has Stephen Barrett’s “Puppet Master” Appeared?“
“Why would someone pick Botts when he is not a litigator? Because Botts is, himself, aquackbuster. He is close to being an insider, and he is, clearly, a zealot. You will find his name interspersed through quackbuster documents going back as far as 1986. For instance, below is a reference to the so-called
The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
and Aberrant Medical Practices
Publisher: Paul Kurtz
Editor in Chief: Wallace I. Sampson, MD, FACP, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Stanford University
Managing Editor: Meghann French
Science Editor: Saul Green, PhD
Associate Editors: Barry Beyerstein, PhD, Timothy Gorski, MD, Steven Novella, MD
Senior Editor: Michael K. Botts, Esq. “
(4) Stephen Barrett took a correspondence course from a mail order Law School that, for years, advertised on matchbook covers. Frankly, I think, he has burned himself repeatedly with the law information he thinks he got in the mail.
(5) Stephen Barrett, and his legal team have been LATE for every required filing in this case. Its like they forgot where they left their crayons. Attention Deficit issues?
(6) Stephen Barrett, the guy who would be the Czar/God of US health care, has been formally declared, in a Published Appeals Court decision (NCAHF v King Bio) to be generally “biased, and unworthy of credibility.” Hmmmm?
(7) After the suit was filed, instead of answering the complaint, Barrett, and his minions, launched an all-out attack using the internet search engines attempting to destroy Doctor’s Data quickly so they could not financially pursue the case. That has not worked. More, I suspect that those that participated in that action rightfully fear being added on to the lawsuit in a Third, or a Fourth, Amended Complaint. And, they should be.
About The Filings…
I read all the latest filing paperwork – then I set it aside to think about it, so I could get a picture of what is happening behind the scenes over there in quackpotville. What I see, over there, is massive turmoil, anger, accusations, finger-pointing and bomb-shelter building. I’ll explain as I go along – but, in short, Doctor’s Data properly attacked, with their well written, well targeted, lawsuit, the intimidating facade structure Barrett, and his handlers, want the public to see. Consequently, the quackpot structure is very, very alarmed – as well they should be.
By attacking this facade, and I am using the word “facade” correctly, Doctor’s Data has put themselves in the position of being able to examine, by order of the Federal Court, ALL of that facade, and all of the people in it, using a process built into the Court System called “Discovery.”
At this point Barrett, and his minions and handlers, are in a full-on panic – and EVERY attempt, short of admitting wrongdoing and removing the offending material, to stop the use of “Discovery,” is going to be tried. That’s what this DESPERATE Motion move is really all about.
Why doesn’t Barrett just man-up, admit his wrongdoing, and remove the material? Because Barrett is, in my opinion, a true megalomaniac, and he simply cannot, because of that personality deficit, admit he did something wrong. This nutbag really does think he is a God. His minions think he is too.
And that puts this case into true perspective – It’s Push Comes to Shove Time… We are down to the nitty-gritty, right where we, in the Health Freedom Movement, want Barrett, and his minions and masters to be. They have staked their entire Defense on Barrett’s credibility. Perfect.
Get out your baseball bats, folks, Barrett is going to “run the gauntlet.”
The Actual Filings…
There were four filings:
(1) MOTION by Defendants The National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc., Quackwatch, Inc., Stephen J. Barrett to dismiss Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint (Wasserman, Matthew) (Entered: 01/03/2011). Two pages.
In essence, this Motion requests the Court to Dismiss the entire case based on two legal claims: (a) Pursuant to the Citizen’s Participation Act, 735 ILCS 110/1, or (b) Pursuant to the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)
Both of these are nonsense claims. It is here, however, that Barrett’s Defense team claims that he, Barrett, is to do-all, be-all, Demi-God of US health care, and then make demand to have him declared the Czar/God of US health care. More, the Citizen’s Participation Act, 735 ILCS 110/1 has never been tested in the Courts, and the rambling writings about this by Botts, are, to me, a far cry from a REAL anti-SLAPP Motion.
One of their main claims is that the one year Statute of Limitations has run out on the Libel Claim, nullifying, they say, the entire basis of the case. What they want everyone, including the Court, to ignore is the “republishing of the statements” every time Barrett sent out a new newsletter, filed a new anonymous, or other, complaint, etc with a medical Board, insurance company, Federal Agency, newspaper, etc… Then too, Barrett’s minions republished the articles taking over the first three pages of the search engines right after the case was filed. (chuckle here).
More, Barrett’s minions are maintaining an SEO googlebomb system which requires DAILY maintenance – republishing, in effect, each day.
(2) MOTION by Defendants Stephen J. Barrett, Quackwatch, Inc., The National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc. for sanctions (Wasserman, Matthew) (Entered: 01/03/2011). Three pages.
I had to read this Motion and its back up documentation several times, before I got the picture. In essence, Barrett and Botts are in a snit, and want Doctor’s Data’s attorneys “sanctioned” because:
(a) Doctor’s Data sued not only Barrett, but Quackwatch Inc, and the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) incurring, as they say, additional legal expenses. (start smiling – this is a good one), but
(b) they, TOLD Doctor’s Data to drop those Defendants, or else, and Doctor’s Data did NOT follow their orders. (smile a little more, here).
The basis for their claim is that Barrett “claims” that the NCAHF has not been active since 2004, and Quackwatch Inc was dissolved this last year – and he, through his attorney Botts, TOLD this to Doctor’s Data and they continued to sue them anyway.
Well, (get your laugh ready) this is typical Barrett writing “law” to suit his megalomaniacal outlook. What nonsense:
(a) Barrett never hesitated to use the NCAHF name, as though it was VERY active. In fact he used it every week, claiming the Consumer Digest newsletter was co-sponsored by the NCAHF and himself.
(b) I wrote an article about the NCAHF Board members, called “Doctor’s Data V Barrett, et al – The NCAHF Board Members are Screwed – REALLY Screwed…” In that article I wrote specific information about each Board member – and ALL of that information came from a quackpot website, or from the individual Member’s website where they bragged about their NCAHF Board Membership.
(c) The NCAHF corporate status shows it to be active, with address in California.
(d) Quackwatch, Inc, it looks to me. was VERY active when Barrett first wrote those articles about Doctor’s Data under their banner.
So, why is Barrett making these totally foolish Motions? (grin here).
(a) Because, I think, megalomaniacal Barrett, probably pretty much told the NCAHF Board members that he, Barrett, was the Czar/God here, and they would not be required to do anything except sit there and look pretty. Now, of course, since the NCAHF most likely did NOT follow corporate rules for much of anything, those same board members, I’d guess have individually, or in groups, lawyered up, and may well be threatening Barrett with separate lawsuits, since they are VERY much individually liable for NCAHF actions. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
(b) When Barrett wrote those article under the Quackwatch, Inc banner, as I recall, there were only two Quackwatch, Inc Board Members – Stephen Barrett and his wife Judith. Doctor’s Data is already going after those individual board members in their pleadings. It appears that things are not going well in the Barrett households. It appears that Stephen lives in North Carolina and Judith in Pennsylvania. In short, Judith’s assets, which I’m sure she kept separate, are now on the table.
(3) MOTION by Defendants Stephen J. Barrett, Quackwatch, Inc., The National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc. for leave to file Briefs in Excess of 15 pages (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Ex. 1, Part 1, # 2 Exhibit Ex. 1, Part 2, # 3 Exhibit Ex. 1, Part 3, # 4 Exhibit Ex. 1, Part 4, # 5 Exhibit Ex. 2, Part 1, # 6 Exhibit Ex. 2, Part 2) (Wasserman, Matthew) (Entered: 01/03/2011). Two hundred sixty five pages.
I laughed all the way through this reading of documents. It is typical Barrett – a bury the Court with meaningless, repetitive, bullshit technique, hoping nobody actually reads it, but the thickness of the submitted paperwork appears to have importance. In short, Barrett is challenging the entire US court system over their fifteen (15) page rule. To me, all there is is repetitive whining and screeching..
(4) NOTICE of Motion by Matthew Charles Wasserman for presentment of motion for leave to file, 40 before Honorable William J. Hibbler on 1/13/2011 at 09:30 AM. (Wasserman, Matthew) (Entered: 01/03/2011) One page.
Self-explanatory. There will be a hearing over these points.
Summary…
The concise, legally focused, documents in these pleadings were written, and submitted to the Court, by Mathew Wasserman of the Chicago law firm. Except for Barrett’s personal claims to Olympus, the whining and screeching was submitted by Michael K.. Botts. Note that I did not say Botts wrote this stuff – for it smells very much like something Barrett would write.
This is all just a delay tactic – to keep away from Discovery.
So, stay tuned. There is more coming. Much more.
Tim Bolen – Consumer Advocate