Dear Mr. Hanson:
I am legal counsel for ASCRS. I have reviewed the
email correspondence and the Refractive Surgery News article on
the LASIK Report that was published yesterday (http://www.lasikfraud.com/news/archives/000164.html
).
The first statement in that article reads, in
pertinent part:
"On August 28, John Ciccone, Communications Director of
ASCRS (American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery)
submitted a falsified version of THE
LASIK REPORT: A Call for the Discontinuation of a Harmful
Procedure to a government agency
, at the request of Glenn
Hagele . . . ."
Now that you have ASCRS's clarification (see below), you can
readily see that this statement is false and defamatory. Mr.
Ciccone merely passed a document he received along to a government
agency and asked the agency to confirm whether the report was
an agency document or reflected agency policy. He did
not falsify the document or knowingly accept and submit a
falsified document as your statement suggests. Nor did he
contact the agency at Glenn Hagele's request. In these
circumstances, ASCRS demands that you immediately delete the
quoted language from the above-referenced article and
refrain from making any further statements on this subject that
you know or have reason to know are false and
defamatory. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Rob Portman
Jenner & Block
Robert M. Portman
Jenner & Block LLP
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W.
Suite 1200 South
Washington DC 20005-3823
Tel (202) 639-6880
Fax (202) 661-4936
RPortman@jenner.com
www.jenner.com
=======================================================
From: Pattye Whitmer
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 3:34 PM
To: 'brent@brenthanson.com'
Cc: David Karcher
Subject: E-mail from David Karcher re August 2006 LASIK
Report
Dear Mr. Hanson:
Concerning the August 2006 LASIK Report ( http://thelasikreport.com/TheLasikReport_Aug2006.pdf
) and discussions on your Web site.
Late last week, a copy of the “LASIK Report” was
forwarded by Mr. Glenn Hagele to a member of the American Society
of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Executive Committee.
The Report, in the form of an Adobe PDF file, included text
indicating that it had been distributed by Laurenelle (sic) Burch, PhD.,
an employee of the National Institute of Environmental and Health
Sciences (NIEHS).
The document was forwarded to ASCRS staff, who contacted
NIEHS to determine if the Report was an agency document or if it
reflected agency policy. The response of the NIEHS director of
communications was that the Report is not an agency document and
was a private matter of Dr. Burch.
ASCRS wishes to make it very clear that it does not have,
and has never had, any business relationship, formal or informal,
with Mr. Hagele or any of his activities.
Sincerely,
David Karcher
ASCRS Executive Director
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.lasik-eyes/msg/1003eba49db96bca
LOL. We don't have business relationships with any of the major
ophthalmic organizations. We have no need and neither do they.
As for "The Lasik Report", I gave ASCRS nothing and said nothing to
them about it. I don't know where they got "The Lasik Report", but
Burch et al have been spamming this newsgroup with links so it does not
take a genetics researcher to figure out where it came from.
It looks like Burch is trying to blame me for ASCRS complaining about a
document for which I have absolutely no responsibility.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
USAEyes.org
Patient Advocacy Surgeon Certification
=======================================================
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.lasik-eyes/msg/ac6efbf0ce8b6657
For the record, I've not altered "The Lasik Report" and I'm not
involved with or responsible for whatever ASCRS may have or may not
have done.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
USAEyes.org
Patient Advocacy Surgeon Certification
I am legal counsel for ASCRS. I have reviewed the email correspondence and the Refractive Surgery News article on the LASIK Report that was published yesterday (http://www.lasikfraud.com/news/archives/000164.html ).
The first statement in that article reads, in pertinent part:
"On August 28, John Ciccone, Communications Director of ASCRS (American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery) submitted a falsified version of THE LASIK REPORT: A Call for the Discontinuation of a Harmful Procedure to a government agency , at the request of Glenn Hagele . . . ."
Now that you have ASCRS's clarification (see below), you can readily see that this statement is false and defamatory. Mr. Ciccone merely passed a document he received along to a government agency and asked the agency to confirm whether the report was an agency document or reflected agency policy. He did not falsify the document or knowingly accept and submit a falsified document as your statement suggests. Nor did he contact the agency at Glenn Hagele's request. In these circumstances, ASCRS demands that you immediately delete the quoted language from the above-referenced article and refrain from making any further statements on this subject that you know or have reason to know are false and defamatory. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Rob Portman
Jenner & Block
Robert M. Portman
Jenner & Block LLP
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W.
Suite 1200 South
Washington DC 20005-3823
Tel (202) 639-6880
Fax (202) 661-4936
RPortman@jenner.com www.jenner.com
=======================================================
From: Pattye Whitmer
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 3:34 PM
To: 'brent@brenthanson.com'
Cc: David Karcher
Subject: E-mail from David Karcher re August 2006 LASIK Report
Dear Mr. Hanson:
Concerning the August 2006 LASIK Report ( http://thelasikreport.com/TheLasikReport_Aug2006.pdf ) and discussions on your Web site.
Late last week, a copy of the “LASIK Report” was forwarded by Mr. Glenn Hagele to a member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Executive Committee. The Report, in the form of an Adobe PDF file, included text indicating that it had been distributed by Laurenelle (sic) Burch, PhD., an employee of the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences (NIEHS).
The document was forwarded to ASCRS staff, who contacted NIEHS to determine if the Report was an agency document or if it reflected agency policy. The response of the NIEHS director of communications was that the Report is not an agency document and was a private matter of Dr. Burch.
ASCRS wishes to make it very clear that it does not have, and has never had, any business relationship, formal or informal, with Mr. Hagele or any of his activities.
Sincerely,
David Karcher
Posted by Admin at September 6, 2006 11:20 AMASCRS Executive Director