Trial By Error, by David Tuller
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My Exchange with Minnesota Medical Center Holding ME/CFS Patient
On Monday afternoon, I had an e-mail exchange with Christine Hill, a spokeswoman for the Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota. Thane Fredrickson, an ME/CFS patient, is currently under threat of involuntary psychiatric commitment. Because of patient privacy concerns, it was clear the medical center would not be able to provide any specific information. But reporters are…
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Game-Changing Articles in The Guardian and The New York Times
The relationship between what is being called long-Covid and ME/CFS (and its variants) is complex. The conditions overlap in ways that are poorly understood, and the mechanisms through which they produce such significant disabilities remain elusive. As the coronavirus pandemic enters its second year, many tens or hundreds of thousands of people around the world…
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New Study Reports First-Hand Accounts of 1955 Hospital Outbreak
The name myalgic encephalomyelitis is inextricably linked with an outbreak of what appeared by all accounts to be a viral illness at London’s Royal Free Hospital in the second half of 1955. More than 200 people, most of them female staff and students, fell ill. Some reported long-term complications. Although no pathogen was ever identified,…
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Tack’s Take on 2020 Studies; Professor Edwards’ Statement to NICE
I have been laying low during the recent holiday and coup season. Today I’m watching the impeachment hearings. And I might find it challenging to get back up to full speed until after New Year’s–which for me will be January 20th, or whichever day the White House is finally de-Trumped. For now, here are a…
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Psych Issues Do Not Predict ME/CFS, New Chicago Study Shows
For decades, investigators have argued over the causes of the illness or cluster of illnesses variously called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), ME/CFS, CFS/ME and other names. In the absence of an adequate explanation for the debilitating symptoms, a flawed approach to intervention based on the perceived need for psychological and behavioral rehabilitation…
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Swedish ME Patient Fears Forced Psychiatric Treatment
Holger Klintenberg, a 35-year-old from the southern Swedish city of Jonkoping, has severe ME. His illness began after a bout of mononucleosis (or glandular fever) when he was 19. He has recently experienced difficult interactions with the health care system. His family fears he could be forced into psychiatric care against his and their wishes.…
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A Letter to BMJ From Prof Hughes, Prof Racaniello and Me
I have sent the following letter to Fiona Godlee, editorial director of BMJ and editor-in-chief of The BMJ, on behalf of Professors Brian Hughes and Vincent Racaniello as well as me. We were responding to the recent editorial regarding the new draft of ME/CFS clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence–as…
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BMJ Pushes Back Against New NICE Draft
The BMJ has published an online “editorial” slamming the new draft of clinical guidelines for ME/CFS from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The position expressed is an interesting one: Non-pharmacological treatments for “complex conditions” cannot be adequately measured by randomized trials, according to the two authors. It is, of course, noteworthy that…
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Professors Chalder and Crawley Join Forces to Push CBT for Kids
On November 10th, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence published a draft of new clinical guidelines for ME/CFS. The draft represented a blunt rejection of the argument that the combination of “unhelpful cognitions” and deconditioning drives the illness. Under this once-hegemonic framework, indicated therapies include cognitive behavior therapy to overcome the unhelpful cognitions…
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Letter to Author of Removed GET/CBT Training Program for GPs
Earlier today, I posted a blog about the decision by the Royal College of General Practice to remove from its site a training program called METRIC, which promoted the GET/CBT approach. I then sent the following letter to Carolyn Chew-Graham, a professor of general practice research at Keele University in Staffordshire and the main author…
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GP Group Removes Online GET/CBT Medical Training Program
In early 2019, I wrote about an awful online training course for general practitioners on recognizing and caring for patients diagnosed with what was referred to as CFS/ME. The module, called METRIC, promised to provide “GPs and other primary care practitioners with an overview of the presentation, diagnosis, assessment and ongoing management” of the illness.…
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My Zoom-Talk on the NICE Draft for Sheffield ME Group
On Monday, I gave a Zoom-talk hosted by the Sheffield ME & Fibromyalgia Group on the new draft of ME/CFS clinical guidelines from UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. The draft rejected the GET/CBT treatment paradigm. I haven’t watched the video, but most likely one of my eyebrows is hopping up and down…