Maybe you all know this already, but I found it interesting, as I had not heard of George Davey-Smith before this story emerged. George Davey-Smith was, reportedly, a signatory of a letter in support of Sir Simon Wessely in 2012.
The text of the letter is quoted here
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?entries/simon-wessely-and-letters-condemning-me-cfs-patients-to-continued-illness-and-stigma.1324/&page=1#blogcomment-5657
and can be read on the Independent website also:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-online-postings-2-december-2012-8373777.html
The letter read as follows:
"Chronic fatigue syndrome/ME is a debilitating condition affecting some 1 per cent of the UK population ("ME: bitterest row yet in a long saga", 25 November). This serious illness needs improved treatments and care, and research is central to making this happen. So it is with sadness that we read in The Independent on Sundayreports of allegations made against Simon Wessely, one of the few UK clinicians with a specialist interest in treating CFS/ME and someone who has done pioneering research in the field. Such harassment risks undermining research, preventing the development of new treatments and discouraging specialist clinicians from entering the field. We fear that this may have resulted in patients not receiving the best treatments or care – staying ill for longer and not being able to live life to the full.
Dr Esther Crawley
University of Bristol
Professor Michael Sharpe, University of Oxford
Professor Peter White, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Esther Crawley, Reader in Child Health, University of Bristol
Professor Stephen Holgate CBE, MRC Clinical Professor of Immunopharmacology, University of Southampton
Professor Rona Moss-Morris, Head of Health Psychology, King's College London
Dr Charlotte Feinmann, Reader, UCL
Professor Hugo Critchley, Chair in Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Dr Brian Angus, Reader in Infectious Diseases, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford
Dr Steven Reid, Clinical Director for Psychological Medicine, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Patrick Doherty, Professor of Rehabilitation, York St John University
Professor Paul Little, Professor of Primary Care Research, University of Southampton
Dr Maurice Murphy, HIV Consultant, Barts Health NHS Trust
Professor Tim Peto, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford
Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, Chair, Public Health Wales, Cardiff University
Dr Alastair Miller, Consultant Physician, Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Professor Diane Cox, Professor of Occupational Therapy, University of Cumbria
Professor Jonathan Sterne, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Bristol
Dr Margaret May, Reader in Medical Statistics, University of Bristol
Professor George Davey-Smith, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Bristol
Dr Jade Thai, Senior Research Fellow, University of Bristol
Dr Gabrielle Murphy, Clinical Lead Physician, Fatigue Service, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Hazel O'Dowd, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and CFS/ME Team Leader, Frenchay Hospital Bristol
Dr Brian Marien, Director, Positive Health
Professor Willie Hamilton, Professor of Primary Care Diagnostics, University of Exeter
Dr Selwyn Richards, Consultant Rheumatologist, Poole Hospital NHS Trust
Professor Alison Wearden, Professor of Health Psychology, University of Manchester
Professor Trudie Chalder, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London."
Many of the above are also authors of the PACE trial and/or the "Response to the editorial by Dr Geraghty" in the Journal of Health Psychology (the latter had 19 authors).
They were responding to this article which appeared in the Independent on Sunday a few days previously, where a number of people objected to Sir Wessely having been awarded the John Maddox prize for Standing up for Science:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/me-bitterest-row-yet-in-a-long-saga-8348389.html
EDIT: I edited this post to add the link to the letter on the Independent website (scroll down):
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-online-postings-2-december-2012-8373777.html
and to the article they were responding to
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/me-bitterest-row-yet-in-a-long-saga-8348389.html
