Trial By Error, Continued: My “ Tear It Up ” Talk at Invest in ME

By David Tuller, DrPH First, since I’m in London at the moment, I need to say that it feels weird and even wrong to be posting about PACE-related issues right after Saturday night’s terrible events. But in our f**ked-up world, life goes on for everyone else, including ME/CFS patients, and my job is to report this stuff, and so that’s what I’m going to do. On Thursday, wearing a beautiful and beautifully ironed shirt, I gave a talk at the dinner before this year’s annual Invest in ME conference, at a hotel right next to the Tower of London. About 100 or so scientists, advocates, patients, caregivers, and others attended the event and had little choice but to listen to my presentation: “The PACE Trial: ‘Thing of Beauty’ or Pile of Trash?” It was Sir Simon Wessely who coined the “thing of beauty” line. I guess he thinks PACE is the Mona Lisa of clinical trials. Of course, “pile of trash” was my own counter-formulation. I assume no one wonders what side of that equation I’m on. In addition to outlining the unacceptable flaws of the trial, I discussed whether the ethical and methodological lapses could be defined as “research misconduct.” And then, as foretold in the title slapped onto my presentation by Invest in ME (“Tear It Up!”), I engaged in a bit of performance art. I tore up not just one but three papers. First was the 2011 Lancet paper. Next, the 2013 Psychological Medicine “recovery” paper.  Finally, by special request from int...
Source: virology blog - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Commentary Source Type: blogs