I loved this paper. So many brilliant parts. Some of my favourite quotes:
This is brilliant. As well as the quotes others have mentioned I really liked this:
"The defence that the trial was peer reviewed by the Medical Research Council is no argument; it appears just to indicate that ignorance of methodological principles is widespread in the British medical establishment (not to mention the editor of a high-profile journal)"
"The central problem is that it is very difficult to find therapists who have no prior commitment to the validity of certain techniques. White et al. argue that it would be inappropriate for trials to be performed by disinterested parties. Geraghty’s suggestion may be impractical, but I do not see it as misguided. White et al. argue that ‘The clinicians amongst us have dedicated their careers to care for thousands of patients with CFS/ME and we always want the best for them’. It is precisely this sort of emotionally laden justification of ‘those of us who know best’ that needs to be removed from trial design. The way that human nature creeps into the research environment is something all too well known to physicians and pharmacologists. It seems strange that it should be unfamiliar in psychological medicine."
And even though it has been quoted already, this was great:
"I think the claim that the effects of CBT and GET were maintained at two and a half years (
Sharpe et al., 2015) is worth challenging again because it is not what any reasonably intelligent person would conclude."
