Category: Uncategorized
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Deja Vu All Over Again with Proposed Lightning Process Study in Norway
It’s déjà vu all over again in Norway with the Lightning Process (LP). Earlier this month, a national research ethics authority, NEM, postponed a decision on a proposed LP trial until at least June. The trial has already been approved by a regional committee. The NEM had been expected to decide at its May meeting…
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More on the REGAIN Trial for Long Covid Patients
*April is crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you like my work, consider making a tax-deductible donation to Berkeley’s School of Public Health to support the Trial By Error project: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/31347 I wrote recently about the problematic REGAIN study from the University of Warwick, which is testing an exercise-and-psychological-rehab program as a treatment for long…
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An Interview with Adam Lowe, a Member of the NICE Guideline Committee for ME/CFS
Adam Lowe, a patient, was one of five lay people on the committee pulled together by Britain’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to work on the new ME/CFS guideline. He and I spoke recently on Zoom about his role in the […]
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Losers in NICE Guideline Fight Remain Defiant Despite Public Repudiation of Their Claims
*For more about the significance of the new NICE guideline for ME/CFS, the blog ME/CFS Skeptic has this excellent summary. Also, psychologist Brian Hughes covers the deep concerns of leading medical groups that the guideline recommends against the Lightning Process. It is not surprising that esteemed experts whose research has been publicly exposed as a…
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NICE Liberates New ME/CFS Guideline After Two-Month Hijacking Nightmare
After much drama, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has finally liberated its hijacked ME/CFS clinical guideline. As many know, in August the agency abruptly called off the planned publication of this new document, which was developed over four years. This decision occurred in the wake of fierce objections from members and…
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BMJ Responds to Appeals About Norway’s CBT-Music Therapy Study
Earlier this week, I sent a nudge to Professor Imti Choonara, editor-in-chief of BMJ Paediatrics Open, and Fiona Godlee, editorial director of BMJ, about a problematic “feasibility study” published a few months ago. That followed a letter two weeks ago, to which I had not received a response. Previous posts on this issue are here…
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Trio of Trials Shows Limits of CBT for Medically Unexplained Symptoms
Lancet Psychiatry recently published the results of a high-profile trial of cognitive behavior therapy as a treatment for so-called dissociative seizures, also known as psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. The trial, nicknamed CODES, found that CBT had no impact on seizure frequency–the primary outcome. The average number of seizures per month dropped in both the treatment and…
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A King’s College London Press Release Hides the Bad News
In teaching courses on covering public health and medical issues, I have often highlighted how university press releases about studies can read like efforts at obfuscating problematic findings rather than providing an accurate account of research. A recent press release from King’s College London, about a high-profile study published by Lancet Psychiatry, is an excellent…
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My Letter to Peer Reviewer of BMJ’s CBT-Music Therapy Paper
I have recently written a few posts–here, here and here–about a study in BMJ Paediatrics Open that appears to be marred by multiple methodological and ethical problems. This is certainly not a one-time occurrence when it comes to BMJ journals. Last week, I sent a letter to the study’s senior author inviting him to send me his response…
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Berkeley Crowdfunding Month, Coronavirus Edition
Well, it’s that time of year again, and it can’t be avoided–even in a pandemic. As many of you know, my ongoing investigation of bad research into ME, CFS, so-called “medically unexplained symptoms,” etc., conducted under the “Trial By Error” name on Virology Blog, is my project as a UC Berkeley public health academic researcher…
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Professor Michael Sharpe’s Gaffe on Australian Radio
*A clarification has been added to this post–see below It’s Thursday morning in Australia, and I’ve just arrived in Brisbane after a red-eye from Perth, with a week left to go on my tour Down Under. Of course I’m backed up on things I need to write about, and hope to have some down time…
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My Australian Tour, Continued
Last week, I spent three days in Hobart, on the island of Tasmania. Besides strolling around looking for cafes where I could drink decent coffee and write, my main work-related activity was giving a talk at Menzies Institute for Medical Research, part of the University of Tasmania. About 40 people attended, a quarter or so…