DR. JONES' MOTION FILED
January 2008
from Lorraine Johnson

Today (January 2), Dr. Jones filed with the Connecticut Medical Examining Board a Motion for Reconsideration and to Vacate the decision of December 18, which had imposed civil penalties and placed Dr. Jones on probation for two years.

The basis for the motion is bias on the part of one of the panel members, Dr. Senechal, who had told the parents of a child diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease during the Jones hearings that there was no such thing as chronic Lyme disease, that the treatment of chronic Lyme disease was a "big racket" and referred to physicians who treat chronic Lyme disease as "quacks" who were "in cahoots" with lab companies. The motion argues that this profound bias prevented Dr. Senechal from having the necessary impartiality to provide Dr. Jones a fair trial in a fair tribunal--a fundamental underpinning of due process under the constitution.

Due process requires an absence of actual bias in the trial of cases. Two parents who attended the December 18th hearing stepped forward at its conclusion to express their concerns that a physician with such strong bias had been included on the panel. The parents had learned of Dr. Senechal's bias through personal encounters with him as a physician of their child, who had been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. The information came to light at the end of the December 18th hearing, when the two parents, first approached counsel for Dr. Jones. The parents had not met Dr. Jones nor his counsel prior to the conclusion of the December 18th hearing.

Lorraine