Demand CDC XMRV Article be Retracted

[justinreilly]

Hi everyone,

I posted on the comments on the CDC Retrovirology journal article demanding it be retracted. They posted my other comment which wasn't very complimentary, so they may post this one too.

Please make a short post there with a title to the effect that the article must be retracted for the sake of science. Not holding my breath, but the time for silence is over and every little bit we do gets us closer to being treated like human beings. Thanks!

http://www.retrovirology.com/content/7/1/57/comments

Editors,
namely Kuan-Teh Jeang (USA), Monsef Benkirane (France), Ben Berkhout (the Netherlands), Masahiro Fujii (Japan), Ariberto Fassati (UK), Michael Lairmore (USA), Andrew Lever (UK), and Mark Wainberg (Canada)

and Editorial Board of Retrovirology


Ladies and Gentlemen:

This article has been clearly shown to be facially invalid by commentors here including Tom Kindlon. I must demand that you retract this article as it is beyond cavil that, among other fatal flaws, the study cohort is of tired and low-functioning people, NOT people with the devastating neuro-immune mitochondrial disease ME/CFIDS.

Would a diligent journal such as Retrovirology publish a study of a cohort of merely tired and low-functioning people which claimed to be a cohort of people with MS or Leukemia? Sure, fatigue is perhaps the most prominent symptom of these diseases, just as it is of ME/CFIDS, but that is hardly a justification.

I really do not like to take an adversarial tone with people who are committed to advancing science and usually do excellent work; so it is with regret that I must remind you that in the coming years there will obviously be a torrent of litigation and substantial civil and federal criminal liability will attach to those who have obstructed the science into ME and those that negligently allowed it to occur.

Please; I am asking you simply as a fellow human being to examine the article in light of the criticisms in the comments and elsewhere. I am sure that you will come to no other conclusion that this study is absolutely flawed beyond repair and, in the interest of science, must be retracted.

You have my email. Please keep me apprised as to your progress toward retraction. I look forward to hearing from you.


Sincerely,
Justin Reilly, esq.

 

[Wayne]

Thanks for your diligence in this matter Justin. I don't have the scientific background to write as definitively as you, so I feel grateful you are taking the initiative in this matter.

As far as what the future holds, you mention how much litigation we'll likely see. I would agree with you. I also feel this whole ME/CFS debacle that has been unfolding for the past 30 years or so has the potential to eventually upend many cherished ways of thinking within our medical establishments worldwide. I certainly hope so.

 

[Sean]

I would prefer it was not retracted. Let the world see how incompetent the authors* are. It will all come out in the wash.

*And the CDC's broader history of handling of CFS.

 

[Cort]

I don't think you have a snowballs chance in you know what but I think you brought up some very good points Justin. I think Sean is really onto something....

Just think of this - for the first time the CDC's weird cohort is being exposed to the research world (outside of CFS). We know its crazy, the CFS research community thinks its crazy - now hopefully the rest of the world thinks its crazy as well. The CDC's CFS research team has been living in its own bubble for years. Welcome to the big time.

I think its great to post comments that indicate how wacky a cohort that was.

 

[Sean]

Just think of this - for the first time the CDC's weird cohort is being exposed to the research world (outside of CFS). We know its crazy, the CFS research community thinks its crazy - now hopefully the rest of the world thinks its crazy as well. The CDC's CFS research team has been living in its own bubble for years. Welcome to the big time.

Agree completely with that. In the end, the truth will out. And that time is just about upon us.