Trial By Error

Author: David Tuller

  • New Paper Seeks to Reframe Poor Findings in CODES Trial of CBT for Non-Epileptic Seizures

    The CODES trial investigated cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) as a treatment for dissociative seizures (DS), a sub-category of what is now called functional neurological disorder (FND). The intervention was a course of CBT specifically designed to address the variety of factors presumed to be triggering the seizures. (I have previously critiqued CODES here, here, and…

  • Professor Edwards’ Take on Nutrition and Severe ME Cases

    Jonathan Edwards, a professor emeritus of medicine at University College London, has released a document involving the provision of care for people with severe ME, an issue at the core of some recent high-profile cases in England. The document, which Professor Edwards posted on a pre-print server, is called “Management of Nutritional Failure in People…

  • The Conversation Recycles Biopsychosocial Nonsense

    A new piece in The Conversation shows just how problematic it is when poorly done biopsychosocial studies claim to have documented that cognitive and/or behavioral therapies are effective—and when these questionable findings are published in high-impact journals. The headline of the article: “Success in treating persistent pain now offers hope for those with Long COVID.”…

  • Some Things I Read This Week–Scathing “Effort Preference” Analysis; Kids with Long Covid; National Academies’ Long Covid Definition

    An in-depth pushback on “effort preference” When the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s long-delayed “deep phenotyping” study of a handful of ME/CFS patients was released earlier this year, the focus on a weird construct called “effort preference” sucked up all the attention–in part because the paper placed it front and center, in part because no…

  • Athlete Oonagh Cousins on the Lightning Process

    Oonagh Cousins, a world-class rower who once dreamed of representing Great Britain in the Olympics, got sick early in the pandemic and has been suffering from Long Covid ever since. Her story was first covered by the BBC in November, 2020. A BBC article last year covered how her condition had “crushed her Olympic dream.”…

  • Betsy Ladyzhets on Problems with NIH’s RECOVER Initiative

    Science journalist Betsy Ladyzhets, co-founder and co-editor of The Sick Times, has been covering the problemls with RECOVER, the $1.15 billion Long Covid initiative from the US National Institutes of Health. Ladyzhets recently wrote a new article about RECOVER, published in The Sick Times as well as STAT, based on documents she received from NIH…

  • Professor Esther Crawley, Bristol University’s Methodologically and Ethically Challenged Pediatrician, Has Retired From Medicine

    Professor Esther Crawley, Bristol University’s methodologically and ethically challenged pediatrician and long-time grant magnet, gave up her right to practice medicine last September, according to her current entry at the UK’s General Medical Council, which oversees the registration of physicians. The entry does not offer an explanation for why Professor Crawley decided to relinquish her…

  • The Michael Sharpe Crowdfunding Effect

    In the past, Professor Michael Sharpe, one of the lead PACE investigators, has intervened in my Berkeley crowdfunding and given my efforts a significant–although presumably unintended–boost. In the spring of 2018, I spent six weeks traveling around Australia, a trip that overlapped with that April’s crowdfunding campaign. During the campaign, Jennie Spotila endorsed it with…

  • BBC Takes on Lightning Process and Highlights Perspectives of the So-Called “Anti-Recovery Activists”

    For years, I have criticized the research purporting to prove that the Lightning Process, a three-day mind-body workshop that has claimed to be effective in curing ME/CFS and a host of other chronic illnesses. The largest study of the LP, conducted by the methodologically and ethical challenged Esther Crawley, a professor and pediatrician at the…

  • Anil van der Zee’s New Video on Living with Severe ME

    Anil van der Zee and I first connected in 2016, when he invited me to Amsterdam to give a talk at a screening of Ryan Prior’s documentary about his own illness, Forgotten Plague. Anil was already home-bound from ME; he organized that event from his bed. We didn’t meet during that visit–he wasn’t able to…

  • Time’s Health100 List Includes Leaders in Long Covid and ME/CFS

    Last week, Time magazine unveiled a list called the TIME100 Health—a selection of “leaders from across industries—scientists, doctors, advocates, educators, and policy-makers, among others—dedicated to creating tangible, credible change for a healthier population.” Time also wrote this: “Together, they are a reminder that many things are going right, and their work is enough to inspire…

  • A Conversation with the Co-Founders of The Sick Times

    Journalists Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis are the co-founders of The Sick Times, a non-profit that covers Long Covid and other chronic infection-related illnesses. They launched the site last November and have built up a solid following for their reporting, updates, and weekly newsletter. They recently received a $250,000 grant that will allow them to…