Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Andrea Whittemore-Goad


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. Jayjg (talk) 02:00, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Andrea Whittemore-Goad

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Subject is not notable apart from her illness and her parents, the article is actually more about her parents, suggest a merge or a redirect to either the parents or the illness or the medical center her parents have opened. Off2riorob (talk) 23:09, 18 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Keep. Subject has for all practical purposes become the "face" of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), at least in North America, as the only patient I'm aware of to be interviewed and her photograph depicted in major media, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. This coverage alone places her in a category with other famous illness representatives such as Gaetan Dugas and Ryan White. In addition, the subject is not merely a "girl with an illness", as stated elsewhere by the listing editor, Off2riorob: she is a 31-year-old woman who has been (and is) an active participant in CFS research and treatment advocacy. She would also appear to be the most prominent individual to have taken the experimental (and now rejected) proposed CFS drug Ampligen and to discuss her experiences with the drug publicly. No article on the subject could avoid mentioning her wealthy and influential parents, as they have founded a notable and controversial research institute because of the subject's experience, an endeavour in which the subject has also participated. Keepcalmandcarryon (talk) 14:45, 19 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Delete. As far as I can see, this article is just another vehicle to add WP:COATRACK criticism of Dr Peterson and her father (which is on this page) as there is no controversy around Andrea herself. Yes, she's been interviewed a few times because of her association with her parents, but does this make her notable enough for multiple editors to want to spend a lot of time validating the content of other contributions?  Without the scrutiny of multiple editors, a single active editor is largely free from the proper Wikipedia checks and balances on an article like this. -- TerryE (talk) 17:52, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
 * "Andrea Whittemore-Goad" currently has 7,120 google hits; "Andrea Whittemore-Goad" -daughter has 70. -- TerryE (talk) 18:02, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree with Terry here, this seems to be the unneeded expansion of a group of articles, the subject individually doesn't appear to be notable enough to meet WP:BIO to warrant her own biography. She is mentioned in the citations as a side issue to the main story which is the illness or the medical center or the parents. Off2riorob (talk) 20:00, 19 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Puzzled I'm missing something here. The article does make reference to her parents, but this section does seem to demonstrate notability in a way that goes beyond her merely being ill, but being a notable spokesperson about her illness. What am I missing? --Dweller (talk) 15:36, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete, so let me see if I have this correct, woman gets yuppie flu, her parents have an involvement in ME charities, this makes the woman notable? Has she found a cure for yuppie flu? No. Having read the sources I find that the NYT article has a passing mention of Andrea and none of the others are relevant to her, but are relevant to ME. If you want I can gut this article to show you want can be proven. Redirect to the syndrome, and merge the information to that article about the drug trial and possible viral connections if you want but this person does not deserve to be on Wikipedia. FWIW the first source requires a log in so I don't know if she is a "prominent" sufferer, and that is the first of many things that should be removed from this article. Darrenhusted (talk) 17:53, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete This person does not meet WP:BIO several passing mentions in references do not add up to notability. --Leivick (talk) 18:19, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Merge to the article on the institute. Unlike Ryan White, she isn't a national poster child; unlike Gaetan Dugas, she isn't a major part of a book, or accused of being the main original vector of her disease. She is notable because a notable institute was founded due to her, but I don't see anyone covering her life from cradle to grave because of it, again, unlike both Ryan White and Gaetan Dugas. All that said, this isn't a delete opinion, she should be mentioned in the encyclopedia, she just doesn't seem to have gotten enough individual attention focused on her. --GRuban (talk) 18:59, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete - per nom. --Tom (talk) 19:14, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete, while this young woman may have a WP article in her future, right now I don't believe there is enough to set her apart from many other patients, aside from the institute that her parents and others helped establish. From researching the lead, the ref stating "prominent" appears to be a reprint from a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) self published newsletter. Not a good RS for this. The next part of the lead states AW-G's experiences with CFS motivated her parents and her doctor to found the insitution. Her doctors motivation is not well described in the article sources, but other sources indicate he was motivated to find a better approach to the disease for his many patients. In large part the motivation for her mother was to help others according to AW-G. AW-G has been interviewed in the media, but no more than other patients such as Gino Oliveri mentioned in CFS books articles, and whose picture was on the cover of Newsweek in 1990,, Nancy Kaiser is well known for being the first CFS patient to try Ampligen and is documented in Osler's Web, Newsweek, and Reader's Digest, and in numerous other venues, and Gerald Crum who AW-G mentioned as a family friend and advocated for patients with cfs, cancer, and for the WPI  (to name a few). As for advocacy, three letters written by AW-G from primary sources is not really that notable. Ward20 (talk) 20:45, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete Not notable enough for a biography. -- JN 466  22:59, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete The nominator nails this one accurately Vartanza (talk) 10:26, 22 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.