Trial By Error, by David Tuller
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An Update about the Pediatric MUS Systematic Review
This week I raised concerns about a second systematic review that cited the dung heap known as the Lightning Process study, published by Archives of Disease in Childhood two years ago. This new review did not mention the paper’s egregious deficiencies. After the appearance in April of an earlier systematic review that highlighted the study,…
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Another Review Mentions LP Study and Prompts More Letters
In recent weeks, I have tried to bring attention to the troubling fact that a major systematic review of pediatric CFS/ME (as the authors called the illness) cited Bristol University’s Lightning Process study as evidence that the intervention was “effective.” Now another systematic review—this one of mental health outcomes of treatments for kids diagnosed with…
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Jennie Spotila’s Latest NIH Funding Fact-Check
Note: On her blog, Occupy M.E., Jennie Spotila recently posted another one of her indispensable close readings of NIH spending figures. I am reposting this here with Jennie’s permission. Another NIH Funding Fact-Check In April, NIH finally published their funding numbers for ME/CFS research in 2018. That means it is time for another fact-check and…
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A Letter to Bristol about my Recent FOI Request; Update Added
UPDATE: Within an hour or two of writing to Bristol, I received a response from the university’s director of legal services. Here’s what she wrote: Dear Dr Tuller Thank you for your email. The Information Rights team is making good progress on clearing the back log, your FOI request is currently being processed and I…
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BJGP Correction Coming, BMJ Still Stonewalls
Today I received an e-mail from Professor Roger Jones, editor of British Journal of General Practice. I’ve been nudging him to correct a false statement in a 2017 editorial about the cost of so-called “medically unexplained symptoms” to the UK National Health Service. The false statement involved a misquotation of a key statistic from a…
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Hey BJGP, Where’s That Correction about the Cost of MUS?
Earlier today (Sunday, June 9th, in San Francisco), I sent the following e-mail to Professor Roger Jones, the editor of the British Journal of General Practice. I first wrote to Professor Jones in early May, seeking a correction to a 2017 editorial about the cost of so-called “medically unexplained symptoms” to the National Health Service.…
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A Second Letter to LP Study’s Senior Author
Alan Montgomery is a professor of medical statistics and clinical trials at the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine. He is also the senior author of the Lightning Process study, which was published in 2017 in Archives of Disease in Childhood, a BMJ journal. I wrote him a letter in January of this year, alerting…
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My Follow-Up Follow-Up with Dr Segal about LP Study Citation
Fans of Bristol University’s team of pediatric ME/CFS researchers could be forgiven if they hoped a recent citation of one of the group’s most high-profile studies would help bolster its wobbling reputation. Yet the suggestion that the Lightning Process is an “effective” treatment for kids–highlighted in the abstract of a pediatric review of “CFS/ME”–has focused…
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Re-Visiting My Questions for the Science Media Centre about Bristol’s LP Study
The recent publication of a review of pediatric “CFS/ME” that promoted the Lightning Process as “effective” has triggered renewed concern–well, ok, I’ve triggered much of that renewed concern–about the 2017 study on which this specious claim is based. That study, from an experienced team from Bristol University, was published by Archives of Disease in Childhood,…
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Time to Retract the LP Study; Letter to Archives of Disease in Childhood
Let me say this directly: It is way past time for Archives of Disease in Childhood to consign the pediatric Lightning Process study to the trash bin. As I have pointed out repeatedly, the Bristol University investigators recruited more than half their participants before trial registration, swapped outcome measures based on the early results, and…
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A Freedom of Information Request to Bristol About LP Study
On Friday, I sent the following request to the University of Bristol. I cc-d Sue Paterson, the director of legal services. I received an automatic reply alerting me that Bristol was behind in responding to FOI requests, meaning that a response is unlikely within the mandated period of twenty working days. One point of this…
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Professor Edwards’ Letter to BMJ’s Dr Godlee About the LP Study
On May 15th, I sent a letter to Dr Fiona Godlee, BMJ’s editorial director, alerting her that a new review in Current Opinion in Pediatrics had highlighted the Lightning Process as an “effective” treatment, based on a flawed study in one of her journals–Archives of Disease in Childhood. The subject line: “a plea about addressing…