TRIAL BY ERROR: The Troubling Case of the PACE Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Study

[soti]

Oh, I think a lot of jobs are won in part because someone knows someone (who knows someone, etc.). That feels pretty normal to me. It's just the groupthink that's creepy.

 

[sarah darwins]

Oh, I think a lot of jobs are won in part because someone knows someone (who knows someone, etc.). That feels pretty normal to me. It's just the groupthink that's creepy.

You're right, soti. And we should remember that we're talking about an appointment at the Lancet, which has a lot more than me/cfs to think about. It's not all about us.

But you're right as well about the group think. It seems to be especially bad in the UK where the world of public science is dominated by quite a small number of people whose views are excessively represented. The SMC is a big part of the problem. The very idea of setting up a quasi-governmental 'go to' resource for journalists to get briefings on the scientific issues of the day is a terrible one. It guarantees that the same views from the same people will get pushed to the exclusion of others. And we see it all the time: the same people being quoted in article after article on a range of science and healthcare issues. It's not healthy.

George Monbiot has written quite a bit about this — he seems to be one of the few journalists who can see it (or cares).

 

[jimells]

And we should remember that we're talking about an appointment at the Lancet, which has a lot more than me/cfs to think about. It's not all about us.

Yes, there are lots of other chronic illnesses that insurers need to keep classified as psychological.