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By David Tuller, DrPH 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 …

Trial By Error: Psych Issues Do Not Predict ME/CFS, New Chicago Study Shows Read More »

By David Tuller, DrPH 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 …

Trial By Error: A Letter to BMJ From Prof Hughes, Prof Racaniello and Me Read More »

By David Tuller, DrPH 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, …

Trial By Error: BMJ Pushes Back Against New NICE Draft Read More »

by Helen Stillwell The results from a phase I clinical trial to test the safety and immunogenicity of a universal flu vaccine candidate reported encouraging results €“ strong titers of broad and functional antibodies persisted for over a year in healthy adults following vaccination.  Influenza viruses contain segmented RNA genomes. The viral envelope contains two types glycoproteins …

Encouraging clinical data for universal flu vaccine candidate Read More »

By David Tuller, DrPH 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 …

Trial By Error: Professors Chalder and Crawley Join Forces to Push CBT for Kids Read More »

By David Tuller, DrPH 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 …

Trial By Error: Letter to Author of Removed GET/CBT Training Program for GPs Read More »