2006: Operation Cock Block
PRETEND
02/19/25
•49m
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A group of women, all with eerily similar stories, say they were deceived—emotionally and financially—by the same man: William Sullivan. But instead of staying silent, they took matters into their own hands. They formed Operation Cock Block, a coordinated effort to expose what they claim were Sullivan’s deceptive tactics and warn others before they fell victim.
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Previous Episode
2005: The Telepathy Tapes B-side part 3
February 11, 2025
•37m
Facilitated Communication is marketed as a miraculous tool for non-speaking autistic children. But what happens when this controversial method leads to devastating consequences? In this episode, we hear from Kevin Plantin, a father who was falsely accused of assault based solely on messages typed with the help of a facilitator.
Despite the evidence, some courts and institutions still give FC credibility—with tragic consequences.
In this episode, Kevin Plantan recounts how a letter typed via FC led to his wrongful imprisonment for 10 months on charges of sexual assault. We also revisit the story of Janyce Boynton, a former FC facilitator who now warns against the practice after witnessing its harmful effects firsthand.
Featured guests in this episode:
Kevin Plantin: Sharing his personal story of wrongful imprisonment.
Janyce Boynton: Former FC facilitator and advocate against the practice.
Additional Resources:
- Learn more about Facilitated Communication: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/
- Read about Syracuse University's involvement with FC: https://dailyorange.com/2024/02/mixed-messages-how-facilitated-communication-persists-at-su/
- Prisoners of Silence documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMn_sDCFAuI
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Next Episode
2007: Licensed to Kill part 1
February 25, 2025
•41m
What if your doctor wasn’t trying to save you, but trying to cash in on you?
In this episode of Pretend, we uncover the shocking case of Dr. Thomas Weiner, an oncologist accused of prescribing years of brutal chemotherapy treatments to patients who may not have even had cancer.
We follow the story of Scott Warwick, a man who was told he had stage 4 lung cancer and endured 11 years of toxic treatments—only to later learn there was no biopsy confirming his diagnosis. When Dr. Randy Sasich, a pulmonary critical care specialist, began questioning Weiner’s practices, he faced pushback, intimidation, and threats.
But Weiner’s case isn’t unique. Across the country, doctors like Farid Fata, Jorge Zamora-Quezada, and Michael Swango have been caught exploiting patients for profit, exposing just how broken the U.S. healthcare system truly is.
In this episode, we dive into:
✔️ How financial incentives reward doctors for prescribing unnecessary treatments
✔️ The loopholes in insurance billing that allow fraud to go undetected for years
✔️ The whistleblower who risked everything to expose the truth
✔️ The cult-like following that still defends Dr. Weiner
🔍 Sources & Additional Reading:
- ProPublica’s Investigative Report: "Eat What You Kill" :
https://www.propublica.org/article/thomas-weiner-montana-st-peters-hospital-oncology
🎧 Next Time on Pretend:
Meet a patient who underwent three years of cancer treatments—for cancer she never had.
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