Peter White gets set to speak at Swiss Re Insurance Medicine Summit 2017

[Mithriel]

Whilst PDW's insurance work (and that of others) is clearly a very significant conflict of interest which has been repeatedly understated or omitted, I think we should be cautious not to infer or imply causation.

Whilst it is possible that certain doctors may be willing to deliberately harm patients, lie and deceive for financial and professional gain, it seems less probable than alternative explanations. My strong impression is that most if not all, are acting out of a genuine conviction that they are right and that they are doing the right thing. Indeed, it is the degree of their conviction which appears to be a significant part of the problem as it seems to blind them to the validity of any arguments or facts which do not support their beliefs.

Assuming Swiss Re wanted to reduce payouts, it would have been logical for them to approach someone who held deeply entrenched views which supported the company's objectives. In that sense, it would have been PDW's views on ME/CFS which caused him to become CMO, not the other way around.

However, his employment by Swiss Re would almost certainly have made it more difficult for him to change his views on ME/CFS, and may reasonably be assumed to have affected his involvement in ME/CFS treatments and research thereafter. His role as CMO may therefore be seen a perpetuating factor of his false beliefs and unhelpful behaviours, but it should not necessarily been seen as the cause.

Moreover, to imply that it is/was the cause may be counterproductive, as that argument can be effectively countered, thus undermining the credibility of more substantial criticisms (a familiar tactic for PACE Club).

Please note, I am not accusing anyone of falsely attributing causation. I am just making a general point.

I think it is in one of the papers in the JHP though I could have read it somewhere else, but unconscious bias is accepted as a problem with interpreting results, especially when those results are subjective. That is why objective results are always better and "dropping actimeter readings because there were too many outcomes and they were a burden on patients" was duplicitous and unscientific. If there were too many outcomes it should have been the subjective ones that went.

Since, as you say, pragmatically experts in a field are the ones most likely to have COIs the accepted solution is to have all conflicts of interest out in the open. So if you read a paper that says chocolate cures diabetes you are told the lead author is a consultant to Cadbury's and you are also told that Cadbury's funded it. Then you way up the results and may well decide that they are accurate.

So it is not the conflict per se that is the problem it is not being upfront about it.

Mithriel

 

[Luther Blissett]

Great article find @Chrisb !

He denied all allegations. Well that's all OK then

 

[Sbag]

found another doc on UNUM's history with this including the Woodstock academics

 

[Esther12]

Looks like Swiss Re has now removed mention of Peter White from those pages. Saved copies of those pages should now be attached here.

 

[Snow Leopard]

Very strange. Seems either he turned them down, or they turned him down due to all the attention and talk of COIs.

 

[Esther12]

Very strange. Seems either he turned them down, or they turned him down due to all the attention and talk of COIs.

Or they both decided that the attention was best avoided?

 

[Dolphin]

I thought it was interesting that at least one person holds this position:

Senior Medical Officer, Swiss Re

so that Peter White could hold a lower position but doesn't.

 

[Jo Best]

Looks like Swiss Re has now removed mention of Peter White from those pages. Saved copies of those pages should now be attached here.

How interesting, thanks. I see the title of Debbie Smith's talk has changed too.
ETA (thanks @GreyOwl ) and her title!

Before..

11.40

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): A claims epidemic waiting to happen?
Debbie Smith, Chief Medical Officer, Swiss Re

Now..

11.40

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): New insights
Debbie Smith, Senior Medical Consultant, UK

 

[GreyOwl]

And her title...

 

[user9876]

How interesting, thanks. I see the title of Debbie Smith's talk has changed too.

Before..

11.40

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): A claims epidemic waiting to happen?
Debbie Smith, Chief Medical Officer, Swiss Re

Now..

11.40

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): New insights
Debbie Smith, Senior Medical Consultant, UK

It surprises me that they would give an adviser a cxo title as these tend to have a meaning in a company.