Trial by Error: My E-Mail Exchange With NICE Chief Executive

By David Tuller, DrPH On Friday, I had an e-mail exchange with Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of the NICE Guidance Executive. The other seven Guidance Executive members are various directors within the NICE hierarchy, including the communications director. This group will make the final decision about whether to accept the provisional decision of a NICE surveillance review team to leave as is CG53, the guidance for CFS/ME released in 2007. (I have written about the NICE review process on CG53 here, here and here.) That ten-year-old CFS/ME guidance recommends treatment with graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. NICE reaffirmed the guidance after the 2011 publication of the first PACE results, which were taken as evidence that these treatments were effective. As part of the current review process, NICE provided stakeholders with a two-week window last month to submit comments about the provisional decision not to change CG53. Not surprisingly, this recommendation has alarmed many patients and advocates. I didn’t expect to get answers to my questions from the Guidance Executive, but I felt an obligation to pose them anyway, given the importance of the issues. In fact, Sir Andrew responded to my e-mail within an hour. He explained that no comments would be forthcoming while the Guidance Executive was reviewing the situation. I have posted his response below my initial e-mail. ********** Sir Andrew Dillon Chief Executive National Institute for Health and C...
Source: virology blog - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs