Year: 2019

Last week I posted three comments sent to Dr Fiona Godlee, editorial director of BMJ, in support of retraction of the biased and discredited Lightning Process. All three–Professor Ola Saugstad of University of Oslo, Professor Vincent Racaniello of Columbia University, and Professor Elisa Oltra of University Catolica de Valencia San Vicente Martir–were among the 55…

As Virology Blog has reported, the lead author of the revised version of Cochrane’s Risk of Bias tool, published last week in BMJ, is a long-time Bristol University colleague of Professor Esther Crawley. In that capacity, he is a co-author of two high-profile studies that violated key principles of scientific investigation—the Lightning Process study, published…

Last week, when I sent Dr Fiona Godlee an open letter about the untenable decision by Archives of Disease in Childhood to republish the originally reported findings from the Lighnting Process trial, I cc’d many of the 55 signatories. Now three of them–Professor Ola Saugstad from the University of Oslo, Professor Racaniello from Columbia University…

Jonathan Sterne, a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Bristol University, is the corresponding author of Cochrane’s revised “risk of bias” tool, which BMJ published online on August 28th. Whatever the merits or defects of this revision, Professor Sterne’s involvement as the first of more than two dozen authors has to be considered unfortunate.…

I have sent the following letter to Dr Fiona Godlee, editorial director of BMJ, about Archives of Disease in Childhood’s egregious decision to re-publish Bristol University’s Lightning Process trial with the original findings intact. Given the Bristol team’s flagrant methodological violations, the journal should have retracted the paper. Failing that, Archives should have required the…

Aura-reader and Tarot expert Phil Parker, also known as the founder of the Lightning Process, has posted a video on YouTube of an “ME/CFS success story.” Without knowing anything about Amy’s situation or medical history beyond what she shares, I have no reason to disbelieve her testimony of recovery from illness. But I also have…

When I visited Melbourne in March of last year, I heard a lot about Dr Don Lewis, a local physician beloved by those with ME—or “chronic fatigue,” as Australian patients, scientists and clinicians routinely called the illness, to my dismay. At the time, Dr Lewis was transitioning out of his medical practice because of serious…

People who know little or nothing about the illness or cluster of illnesses variously called myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS/ME, and ME/CFS can’t seem to stop writing stupid and ill-informed stories about it. And Professor Michael Sharpe seems to blame “Americans”–rather than his own disastrous research–for his current problems and the reputational damage he…

Some Australian members of the GET/CBT ideological brigades have published yet more nonsense and drivel about “graded exercise therapy” as a treatment for ME/CFS, or what they are still calling “chronic fatigue syndrome.” The article, simply called “Chronic fatigue syndrome: graded exercise therapy,” is in a peer-reviewed journal from a reputable publisher yet is full…

In the last few years, the Journal of Health Psychology has provided a valuable platform for researchers, academics, and other experts who have challenged the claims made in the discredited PACE trial and other research from the CBT/GET ideological brigades. Last month, the journal published a revealing and useful paper from four authors–three smart members…

Same-Day Update: I forwarded our response to Dr Brown’s letter (see below) to Dr Fiona Godlee, BMJ’s editorial director. I also cc-d others on my e-mail to Dr Godlee. Here’s what I wrote: Dear Fiona– Dr Brown, the editor-in-chief of Archives of Disease in Childhood, sent a message to Professor Racaniello and me last Thursday…

I have lately been focusing more time and posts on developments in the UK than in the US. I guess that’s not too surprising. After all, this whole project began as an investigation of the PACE trial, conducted by British experts in British health care centers and published in British journals. And there’s so much…