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JDRF lodging a complaint with the BBC.

  • Thread starter Thread starter catherinecherub
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catherinecherub

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I don't know if any of you have been watching The Syndicate on BBC1. The last episode on Tuesday night showed a Type1 being injected with insulin on more than one occasion when she was hypoing.
JDRF wrote to the BBC to complain.

https://www.jdrf.org.uk/news/latest...-treatment-for-character-with-type-1-diabetes

Why is it that the media have a very poor grasp of diabetes regardless of type? Are they too lazy to do research into it or do they have someone assisting them who actually knows nothing about it?
 
I didn't realise the man was trying to treat her, I thought he was trying to keep her hypo so she wouldn't be able to think straight or get away? I agree it was ridiculous and dangerous to show it though because he would have killed her. I wouldn't like people to think they could do this to someone in real life.
 
I agree wholeheartedly, it could be a potential death sentence. Well done JDRF for voicing their concerns. A note to the BBC, 'Why not spend some of our precious TV licensing money and get the appropriate medical researchers in. I have never watched The Syndicate, but the comments I have read are indeed correct. Time and time again this type of thing happens, BBC ............................pull your socks up
 
Just scanned the scene on iplayer.. Some "doctor Hillary Jones type" rescues a young T1 girl from a caravan. She hypos in his car stating "i need a fizzy drink & a wee."
Taking a wazz in a back street on at what looks like a marina, she collapses.
he gets her to his boat, lays her out & using his smart phone Googles Diabetes. Scrolling the search engine Diabetes UK rolls by in the close up shot of the phone.
For some reason he then takes a "selfie" of the Hypoglycaemic girl rambling about "I need my insulin" by this time...
The next scene shows the guy in a chemist blagging insulin supplies. Claiming his relative had her bag "stolen in a pub containing her Insulin & prescription."??

"Miss Scarborough" wakes up the following morning like sleeping beauty stating she "feels like s&&t" as he takes the credit for giving her the "life saving" insulin shot...

My tuppence?
All the acting in this drama was pretty criminal. Let alone the negligent script writing..!!
 
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@Jaylee thanks for filling in the gaps. I'm glad I didn't actually watch the whole episode now.
 
It was all wrong. The young girl was in a near coma, alcohol, little food , running in the woods and no insulin She hadn't got her insulin pen. It was somehow 'cured' when the 'villain' obtained an emergency insulin pen from a chemist. He then 'controlled' her by keeping guard of the pen and injecting goodness knows what dose She had hypo symptoms and searched for sugar because they said she hadn't got her insulin.
It was complete b**s*** .
 
mrspuddleduck said:
@Jaylee I'm with Mr Mulligan from Roehampton!! Sue xxx
Click to expand...

Google didn't seem to help the "bad guy" in the plot either. I'm wondering if Google have litigation lined up for the program producers too..
I'm also thinking wheather I should get official hypo treatment instructions tattooed on my person now. Just in case I get to "third base" in a caravan with a biker then the night ends like this....?

 
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Then the BBC can do a documentary on the secret lives of insulin users......
 
Yes, it was all totally ridiculous and may have catastrophic results if people believe that the way to treat a hypo is with insulin!! Also Amy didn't once test her blood sugars, it was very shoddy.
 
jgordon5 said:
Also Amy didn't once test her blood sugars, it was very shoddy.
Click to expand...

On this count. The writers may have got this part right.? Lol. Cast your mind back to your youth.. That would have been her "motivation." Or not as was with the lack of testing in the charator development.!? Especially the preoccupation with booze & "Lady Chatterly's biker." (Call it Diabetes burnout.?)
Though strangely. She was sensible enough to keep "birth control" in mind......
 
I watched this episode yesterday in utter disbelief. The character, Amy, was never seen carrying out a BG test and did not carry any fast acting glucose with her. Her attitude and the BBC's depiction of Type 1 was, in my opinion, misleading and irresponsible. She seemed to treat a hypo and hyper condition with an insulin injection! I e-mailed a complaint to the BBC and received a reply (below), which made me think they had received many similar complaints. Although it's pretty much a standard reply, I think it's good to bring such things to the attention of the program makers. I also thought it was rather a cheap plot mechanism to use a serious condition in this way. When there seems to be such general confusion about the differences between type 1 and type 2, this program will have added to the confusion.

'Thanks for contacting us regarding 'The Syndicate' broadcast on the 7 July.
We were contacted by a number of viewers who were concerned about the way in which the character of Amy was seen to receive insulin. To allow us to reply promptly, and use the licence fee efficiently, we’ve brought these concerns to the attention of senior BBC management, as well as The Syndicate production team, and we’re sending this response to everyone. We’re sorry we can’t reply individually, but we hope this will address most of the points raised.
Amy, as viewers will have realised as the programme progressed, is quite manipulative and uses various means to get what she wants out of life. For example, when telling her mum and the police about the time she was missing, we have no idea if Amy is lying or telling the truth - what actually happened in that time with Spencer is unclear.
Similarly, in the scene when Spencer visits the chemist to try and get Amy some insulin, we don’t know for sure what actually happened. The chemist’s reply to Spencer is not shown and we don’t know what his motivations are.
We acknowledge that if someone is suffering from hypoglycemia/low blood glucose (blood sugar) that an insulin injection shouldn’t be given. At no point in the programme was it stated that this is what was happening to Amy when she received the injections; much of this aspect of the story is told through recollections, and possible fabrications, by Amy. So we are left unsure if she did suffer from low blood glucose at any time - or if any of her story was true at all. This is, after all, a fictionalised drama and the intention was never to advise viewers how to treat someone who is suffering from hypoglycemia. That said, we regret if we have given the impression to some viewers that low blood sugar should be treated with insulin.
We appreciate that type 1 diabetes is a very serious illness and we understand why some viewers raised concerns. We would always advise that anyone affected should seek medical advice on how best to treat and manage symptoms.
We hope that this has helped to answer your concerns, and thanks again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind regards
Alastair O'Donnell
BBC Complaints'
 
I hate to say it but having watched the entire series the reply from the BBC above does make a lot of sense. Amy's character, in the end, is revealed to be, well, a scheming little cow with no regards to anyone's feeling but her own. The way she is happy to make her heavily pregnant mother suffer is testament to that!
So no, there is no testing kit but this is not a TV show about T1 diabetes so there's no real need to expect a scene or two where she's testing her blood. The whole pharmacy issue was almost certainly a lie on Spender's behalf as the police would have known about it - it's not Police Scotland so you can be sure of that!

In all, I think, as diabetics, it's too easy to see the discrepancies and worry about the portrayal but taken into context with the character and with the plot, then I think the BBC's reply is fair.
 
Yes you're probably right. But even so it does give a misleading impression. I don't know why I watched the whole thing anyway. Thought it was dire!
 
It was Lenny Henry that kept me tuning in, I thought he was brilliant. The rest was mundane.
 
Emmerdale had done it better with Kerry when she drank too much and went into a Coma.

However, its always shows her eating cakes without injecting ... I'd like to see just a little bit of a story about a responsible type 1 to promote awareness
 
Did anyone see how the character Amy injected her insulin in the restaurant scene in the final episode, she just stabbed the pen into her inner thigh and pulled it straight back out again, wrong on both counts.
 
Emmotha said:
Emmerdale had done it better with Kerry when she drank too much and went into a Coma.

However, its always shows her eating cakes without injecting ... I'd like to see just a little bit of a story about a responsible type 1 to promote awareness
Click to expand...
Given the national statistics relating to Hba1C levels, I wouldn't be surprised if this was remarkably reflective of the broader Type 1 population
 
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