“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” 

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” 

— Winston Churchill

Iaedp’s Symposium 2024 has begun. As per its custom, this year it is being held in Orlando, Florida. To say the Symposium is completely engulfed by controversy and discord is an understatement.

Some BIPOC iaedp members chose to boycott the Symposium because of the Florida Board of Education changing the state’s standards on African American history in July 2023.

The iaedp petition calling for Ms. Harken’s resignation and revising the certification process, which was started by concerned iaedp members in December 2023, has reached 277 signatures. Until very recently, a reasonable inquiry would have been whether Symposium attendees would exceed the number of signatures on the petition. Purportedly, the numbers are close.

The on-going lawsuit. Complaints filed with state and federal administrative agencies and taxing authorities.

Iaedp corporate chapters demanding dissolution. Ms. Harken demanding that those chapters pay over to iaedp national, any monies those chapters may have in their meager bank accounts. Demands for the resignation of Bonnie Harken.

Iaedp’s Board of Directors have no members with any business or legal experience and did not even place Ms. Harken on Administrative Leave while they conducted an investigation. For that matter, did the Board conduct ANY independent investigation?

There is no doubt that iaedp is under increasing pressure from many different sources. It finds itself in a fiery crucible where irrelevancies and subterfuge are burned away thereby exposing questionable conduct and the flaws of human nature.

And above all, we as a community, cannot and should not be looking upon the inevitable dismantling of this organization and Ms. Harken with any satisfaction or pleasure. Schadenfreude should be so remote from our conscious thoughts or feelings as to be non-existent. 

Whether you agree or disagree with the lawsuit. Whether you have positive or negative thoughts or feelings directed toward me for pursuing this matter. Whether you believe or not believe that iaedp and the certification process needs substantial revamping … the sparsely attended 2024 Symposium should serve as a stark example of what could happen when we, as a community drift away from the sacred trust placed with our medical and mental health providers who treat eating disorders.

When NEDA was sued in December 2020, I pushed for an early mediation. My sincere hope was that improvements and positive changes could be made and that NEDA, yes would go through some difficult times, but would emerge more vibrant and stronger than before. In addition to the attorneys appointed by the Directors & Officers insurance company, NEDA also had an experienced, wise attorney who had been involved with NEDA for a number of years. That attorney understood the importance of an early resolution. And in less than six (6) months after filing, the NEDA case was settled. NEDA served and serves a purpose.

In past writings, I mentioned the great Chinese General, Sun Tzu. He believed that when you have your foe surrounded and their defeat is inevitable, you should offer that foe an honorable exit. And so it was.

With iaedp, an early resolution will not happen. Settlement offers have been made, the latest as recently as last week. Each offer has been met with silence. Iaedp also does not have an experienced attorney independent from the insurance providers to lend wisdom and knowledge of eating disorders. NEDA had and still has experienced business people on its board. Iaedp does not. NEDA had a semblance of oversight over its officers by its board, oversight which resulted in its former CEO and the person who mainly caused the damage to be let go. Iaedp does not.

Brantley is Whitfield. Whitfield is Brantley. Iaedp is Ms. Harken. Ms. Harken is iaedp.

I do not believe iaedp can, nor will, survive the investigations which may be conducted by state and federal authorities.

In this matter, a road to redemption was offered. And was not accepted.

The consequences for that lack of vision will inevitably lead to the conclusion from which Ms. Harken and iaedp are desperately running.

In litigation as in war, you achieve victory by engaging in a relentless, aggressive, well-orchestrated and carefully designed plan to obtain victory and deprive your opponent of the initiative. You make your opponent pay a price higher than it expected for choosing the path of war. In litigation, an attorney has the power of the legal system at his/her beck and call. Issuing subpoenas for relevant documents not just from the named parties but also from third parties and witnesses. Deposing people who may have information of relevant facts. Uncovering lies. Exposing fear, arrogance, greed and collusion. Discovering facts which support long held suppositions. Where necessary, including third parties as possible liable parties. Hundreds of hours spent on the process. The uncertainty.  The unexpected. For example, did United Behavioral Healthcare dare to consider that in the Wit case, it would lose its ability to control its own claims process and possibly must pay attorneys’ fees exceeding $3o million dollars?

The greatest truth to embrace, the truth that keeps one focused through this mighty process is the reality that people who suffer from eating disorders will undoubtedly benefit from this challenge. Families who suffer from this disease may find comfort and greater opportunities to heal. Fraud, and those who perpetrate it will at long last be exposed.

We must continually be looking forward, always forward. We must place our families who suffer from eating disorders first and foremost. As a community, our nondelegable duty must be to help those who are suffering. Somewhere on the path, iaedp lost that vision. It lost its way. And those who are supposed to be overseeing iaedp have lost iaedp’s mission… if not its very soul.

THAT is what the iaedp lawsuit is about. Trying to salvage a broken system so that more lives can be helped. To burn away the falsehoods and nonsense in the crucible.

That is the absolute reality which keeps one focused, which guides one through the turbulent days, weeks, months and years which lie ahead. Saving lives.

And so, as I previously plagiarized from Willie Bob Shakespeare, “Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more …”