“The results of the PACE trial, which examined pacing therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, graded exercise and specialist medical care for chronic fatigue syndrome, were published four years after the NICE guidance. The trial ran from 2005 to 2011 and, contrary to what the hon. Lady said, was primarily funded by the Medical Research Council, not the DWP. Total funding was £5 million and the MRC contributed almost £3 million.”
Maybe so, but how come the MRC agreed to allow a study they presumably deemed to be fundable on scientific merit, to be partly funded by a party with a clear conflict of interest? It is a bit like the MRC doing a cancer drug trial and allowing one particular pharma company to half fund the trial, which conveniently was unblinded so everyone would know which patients were on the company drug.
The MRC must have aware that the DWP had never before funded a trial of a therapy, for obvious reasons. It was not their responsibility so would obviously have been profligate unless of course it helped reduce the budget in the long term. But then funding a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis would do that just the same?
The only conceivable reason I can think of is that those in charge at the MRC genuinely believed that ME patients were malingerers and therefore it was reasonable for the DWP to fund a trial that supported that conclusion.
In response, Prof Chalder stated that “disclosure to the Cochrane review does not count as disclosure to independent scientists as all three of the PACE principal investigators sat on the review panel.” [24b]
I really love this. Dr Chalder seems to be good at putting her foot in it when it comes to trying to justify the shenanigans. So Cochrane is a stitch up according to her - right from the horses mouth. I have personally heard nothing back from Cochrane about my recent comments on Larun, White, Sharpe, Brurberg, Glasziou et al. Iain Chalmers said it was nothing to do with him that he works for the same outfit as Glasziou and co-authors erudite reviews on how not to make mistakes on trials!
Someone really needs to write a book on this. Maybe we should get that Mueller chap to look into it once he has done with the other stuff.
