Dear Trial By Error Supporter-- Usually the spring crowdfunding is in April; this year it's happening next month. Before it starts, I thought I'd share a few hightlights of my work during the last six months. (You can see all of my Virology Blog posts here.) Last week I posted an interview with Guardian columnist and political activist George Monbiot--well-known in the UK but not in the US. George recently wrote a scathing account of the decades-long mistreatment of ME/CFS patients in which he blasts the same folks I've been criticizing for years. The post has so far had 5000+ views on youtube. I also recently posted about guidelines published by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners promoting graded exercise therapy--rechristened as "incremental physical activity"--and actually reference as evidence the fraudulent PACE trial. Earlier this year, I conducted an interview with journalist Ed Yong, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the pandemic in The Atlantic and brought widespread attention to the issue of Long Covid. My other interviews included a conversation with Dutch investigator Rob Wust about his study of muscle abnormalities in Long Covid and one with the authors of the European ME Alliance's survey of treatment of patients in mutliple countries. After an extended back-and-forth, the prominent journal NeuroImage: Clinical finally published the letter I spearheaded explaining how neurologists and others promoting the diagnosis of "functional neurological disorder" (FND) have routinely inflated prevalence rates while mis-citing a seminal study in their field of expertise. Nine colleagues--equally troubled by what seems to be a flagrant case of research misconduct--co-signed the letter. I will have more to say about FND in upcoming months. I have sent letters to The BMJ seeking a correction in a widely publicized paper about a rehab program for Long Covid--the first was co-signed by 11 colleagues, the second by 23. The paper declared the intervention to be clinically effective even thought the results did not meet the designated threshold for clinical significance. I'm looking forward to continuing the project for another year. After that, we'll see-it might be time to call it a day. But these issues are not going away, so there is still much work to be done. Thanks again for the past support, I will alert you when the May crowdfunding starts. Please do not click on the link below--there is no active crowdfunding site at the moment. Edit: Donations are open: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302
Trial By Error: Berkeley’s May Crowdfunding Campaign Begins… 2 Comments / By David Tuller / 1 May 2024 By David Tuller, DrPH https://virology.ws/2024/05/01/trial-by-error-berkeleys-may-crowdfunding-campaign-begins/
Link to current campaign, https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302 $3,747 donated, 5% of total, 29 days remaining.
I was wrong to say it had exceeded the target - I got to the wrong page for some reason. Have now deleted incorrect statement. $9,756 raised so far, 15% of target. https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302
Trial by Error Project Update: Berkeley's May crowdfunder reaches 25% of the goal... "This week, Pete Judo, a behavioral scientist and popular podcaster, demolished the PACE trial, with my help. The video has had almost 20,000 views since Pete posted it yesterday. "I also spoke with one of the organizers of next week's online UniteToFight conference about Long Covid and ME/CFS." Here is the link to donate to this month's campaign: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302
To facilitate sharing on Mastodon -- @Tom Kindlon shared this: https://disabled.social/@david@trialbyerror.org/112410350748904615 Edited for clarity.
