Center for M.E. Law and Policy
Justin Reilly, esq.
Executive Director
956 13th Street
Boulder, CO, USA 80302
[redacted]
Hon. Vice-Chancellor Leszek Borysiewicz
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, England, UK
v-c.office.online@admin.cam.ac.uk
BY EMAIL
Re:
Request to Cease Publication of "Medically Unexplained Symptoms" ISBN-10: 0521762235
Dear Vice-Chancellor Borysiewicz,
I write to request that Cambridge University Press immediately cease publication of the following book which is grossly, and apparently intentionally, inaccurate on the science of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (hereinafter "M.E.):
Medically Unexplained Symptoms, Somatisation and Bodily Distress: Developing Better Clinical Services (hereinafter "MUS"),
ISBN-10:0521762235
ISBN-13:978-0521762236
Over the past several decades, a small cadre of insurance lobbyists, trained as psychiatrists and posing as scientists have waged a relentless war on M.E. science and patients. The ultimate aim, it seems, is to save insurers many billions of dollars by creating the misapprehension that M.E. is not a severe organic disease. They accomplish this by retarding and muddying the science of M.E. The aforementioned book, "MUS", in the latest weapon produced and used by these charlatans to attack an extremely disabled and vulnerable population.
The core idea of this book is that there exists a group of so-called "medically-unexplained illnesses" aka functional somatic syndromes, which are no more than somatisation, ie psychogenic illness. This disingenuous hypothesis has been disproven again and again in the scientific literature. According to the distinguished Harvard Medical School Professor of Infectious Disease, Anthony Komaroff, there are over 5,000 publications in the peer-reviewed medical literature proving that M.E. is a frank organic disease.
The following is a representative excerpt of false statements on M.E.:
"ICD-10 includes neurasthenia (chronic fatigue), as one of the somatoform disorders. This is considered here as chronic fatigue syndrome under the heading of functional somatic syndromes." p.6
"Follow-up studies of the functional somatic symptoms have shown that very few people with these diagnoses are found later to have organic disease that caused their symptoms... follow-up studies of CFS found that only three out of more than 2000 patients died, but up to 10% developed physical illness that could have been responsible for the original disease." p.14.
The continued publication of MUS is directly contra to the stated mission, infra, of Cambridge University Press of "advancing learning, knowledge and research." The dissemination of this fake science directly and insidiously retards learning, knowledge and research of this common and debilitating neuro-immune disease. For an excellent treatment of this subject, please see the publications of Prof. Malcolm Hooper, e.g. "Defiance of Science".
http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/
Chancellor Borysiewicz, I am personally pleading with you to halt publication of this incredibly harmful propaganda. Lives are at stake. I look very forward to hearing from you.
Yours,
/S/
Justin Reilly, esq. for
the Center for M.E. Law and Policy
