About the Medical Defense Fund:
Staff & History

Two fine attorneys came forward to represent him pro bono (without charge). While the lead attorney was handicapped because her legal career did not include courtroom experience, our efforts to raise funds was severely limited without media coverage and -- after the first few weeks -- no Internet presence as well. We nevertheless raised enough to cover the ongoing day-to-day expenses of the weeks of the Hearing, transportation and lodging for witnesses, and partial payment on the outstanding bill from the initial attorney. We were astonished at the costs of legal proceedings and all the out-of-pocket expenses incurred during this prolonged Hearing.

Each contribution told its own story: Two $1 bills with a "God Bless You" note in a shaky, elderly handwriting; a $5 check from a lady who had lost her own job but felt that Dr. Sinaiko's type of medical treatments needed her support; the $10 donation with a poem of encouragement; a $100 bill wrapped in plain paper with no return address, and no name, but we knew from the color of the pledge card enclosed that it was from a physician who obviously felt it was safer to be anonymous .... we cherish these contributions every bit as much as the bigger ones from those who have been very generous -- not only because many small contributions add up to create the strength and backbone of any charitable fund, but also because they speak from the heart of the nation.

Most of the Defense expert witnesses were unpaid volunteers. Other donations came in the form of frequent flyer miles to bring witnesses to the courtroom, books and documents sent by publishers and authors at reduced prices - in some cases for free - often mailed overnight - for the Defense exhibit information.

After the Hearings, while waiting for the Ruling, we still observed Internet and media silence, since this was still felt to be strategically necessary. The result is that the Fund became dormant -- until September.

Well, we lost the first round of this fight, but we have not lost the war. We hope you will consider this your war as well. This case is not just about some unfortunate physician who got caught in the spokes of the Board machinery ... but rather that in this case we are all in there slogging around in the mud with him, in an effort to build a safer foundation on which physicians do not have to be afraid to use the newest research information when dealing with ill patients who don't fit into any established medical model.

Why are we willing to do this? It's a big job that has taken over much of our lives, with zero salary. Are we crazy?

Judy Schneider has two masters degrees in education, and runs a children's theater business from which she donates substantial amounts for the benefit of children. A diet management program saved her child from a life of autism-like symptoms and motor seizures. This child has just graduated from college and is making movies.

Colleen Smethers is a retired nurse practitioner who had worked with Dr. Ben Feingold in the late 1970's, when his theory of food-related behavior problems in children was just becoming known. Applying this information made such a difference in her own child that 25 years later she is still working to keep that information available for those who need it.

I also have been a long-time "Feingold Mom" with a son who had been through all the "mainstream" ADHD medications over a period of years, ending up with hallucinations and Tourette Syndrome, before discovering that petroleum based food additives were his problem. This son is expected to graduate from Emory University, Atlanta this year -- an expectation I never dared have back in the dark days when mainstream doctors and medications could not help him.

Our connection with Dr. Sinaiko is that we all knew him from the national annual Feingold conferences where he has been a frequent speaker. Like all our speakers, he never received a fee. Unlike many conference presenters, he did not "speak and run," but stayed and listened to all the other speakers, and listened to the parents, sharing his knowledge and himself, offering advice, and generally being a nice guy. More personally, he encouraged me to go back to school, so that at the age of 53 I have finally graduated from being a secretary/mom to being a researcher in the area of ADHD.

Judy, Colleen and I have committed for the long haul: I do the website and mailings; Colleen collects and tracks the money coming in and going out; Judy will be in charge of publicity and press releases. We take no salary and keep administrative costs to a bare minimum.

While this Fund may have been inspired and born as the result of Dr. Sinaiko's legal situation, it will not end here because the issue of doctors being restricted from practicing the "Art of Medicine" did not start with Dr. Sinaiko. As we have learned more about the medical community and the legal system, we have realized that long after Dr. Sinaiko has won his war with the California Medical Board, there will be others who need similar help. The Medical Defense Fund has always been independent in its concept and we are working towards a non-profit status. We hope to end our involvement with a Fund well endowed from punitive charges against the Board, that can be passed on to the next set of volunteers supporting a physician in similar straights. We hope, of course, for more than a legacy of money. We want to help Dr. Sinaiko leave a legacy of patient choice of medical care, and freedom for physicians to explore the frontiers of medical science on behalf of those patients who need care currently considered outside the standard ladder of treatment.

Best wishes, and you may begin to browze this website by returning to the home page here.

Shula Edelkind, webmaster
The Medical Defense Fund
PO Box 1565
Fontana, CA 92334