I denounced my employers to their faces. It seems to have made some impression... http://nineveh-uk.livejournal.com/56346.html?view=829210#t829210

Not good news to come back to re. your friend - I hope things go well for them (and they can - a family friend of ours who had treatment for intestinal cancer in the course of 2007-08 has come away from it with an "as good as you can possibly get" result - it does happen for some).