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The incomparable science journalist David Tuller (https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302) shares how he dissects and reports on medical research. He made a name for himself contesting the methods used in the PACE trial, a study that claimed to support the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exercise as a treatment for ME/CFS, but has now been debunked. He sees similarities between the approach to ME and now Long Covid. I ask David about the legacy of the PACE trial today, and how we can we trust what we read in scientific journals.David is an independent science journalist and holds a fellowship at UC Berkeley Center for Global Public Health. His position is entirely funded by donations from the public. Consider supporting his work here: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302Follow me on X @doctor_zeest
David Tuller returns to TWiV to provide an update on ME/CFS, the PACE trial, developments related to the NICE guidelines, and how similar practices and ideologies are being applied to long COVID. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server David Tuller at virology blog CFS, a long tangled tale (virology blog) Request for Correction of Prevalence Rates Cited in FND Paper (virology blog) Estimates of long COVID prevalence (virology blog) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller obtained his Doctorate in public health from UC Berkeley. He is a senior fellow in public health and journalism at UC Berkeley's Center for Global Public Health. He was a reporter and editor for ten years at The San Francisco Chronicle, and served as health editor at Salon. He has also written articles about public health and medical issues for The New York Times and the policy journal Health Affairs. Since 2015, he has been investigating scientific, methodological, and ethical problems with research on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. His ongoing series on this issue, Trial By Error, can be found on Virology Blog, the science site hosted by Vincent Racaniello, a microbiology professor at Columbia University. This episode concludes season one of Chronically Complex. We'll be off in the month of February while we make some improvements to the show. If you have any suggestions you'd like us to consider, send us an email at podcast@meaction.net. We look forward to continuing the conversation in March!
David Tuller returns to TWiV to revisit his work to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE trial, and the post-acute sequelae to SARS-CoV-2 infection, also known as long COVID. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Call me David Tuller (TWiV Special) David writes at virology blog Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller returns to TWiV to revisit his work to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE trial, and the post-acute sequelae to SARS-CoV-2 infection, also known as long COVID. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Call me David Tuller (TWiV Special) David writes at virology blog Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller returns to talk about his efforts of the past year to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE and Lightning trials for therapy of ME/CFS. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller returns to talk about his efforts of the past year to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE and Lightning trials for therapy of ME/CFS. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller returns to provide an update of his investigative work to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE trial for ME/CFS. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Articleby Lubet and Tuller (STAT) David's Australian trip (virology blog) Sir Simon scores own goal (virology blog) Lightning process (virology blog) Letter to Parliament (virology blog) Crowdfunding is not conflict of interest (virology blog) Open letter to Lancet 3.0 (virology blog) Mayo still champions GET (virology blog) Image Credit Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller returns to discuss his efforts to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE trial for ME/CFS. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode All of David's ME/CFS articles at virology blog David Tuller on Twitter Through the Shadowlands by Julie Rehmeyer Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
David Tuller returns to discuss the continuing saga of the UK's PACE trial for chronic fatigue syndrome, including the accusation that he is engaging in libelous blogging. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode TWiV 397: Trial by Error All articles by David Tuller at virology blog Getting it wrong on chronic fatigue syndrome (NY Times) Esther Crawley slide (Twitter) David's fundraising page Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
When researchers publish a new study on chronic fatigue syndrome, a group of patients cry foul—and decide to investigate for themselves. A landmark study on chronic fatigue syndrome sets off a multi-year battle between patients and scientists. On one side, we have a team of psychiatrists who have researched the condition for decades, and have peer-reviewed studies to back up their conclusions. On the other, a group of patients who know this condition more intimately than anyone and set out to expose what they think is bad science. (Original art by Claire Merchlinsky) A note to our listeners: This episode references studies that are both controversial and complex. Our interest is always to provide accurate and complete information to our listeners, and to provide context in which the science we cover can be understood. To that end, we’d like to share additional information on the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy as treatments for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Two systematic reviews (studies of studies) by The Cochrane Collaboration examine cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise as treatments for ME/CFS. These may help contextualize the findings of the PACE trial and aid our listeners in drawing their own conclusions. GUESTS Julie Rehmeyer, author of "Through the Shadowlands" Michael Sharpe professor of psychological medicine at Oxford University David Tuller, journalist and visiting lecturer at UC Berkeley Ivan Oransky, journalist and co-founder of Retraction Watch FOOTNOTES The PACE trial home page, includes trial materials, FAQ, and links to the papers that came out of the trial. The PACE trial data and readme file. Virology Blog including David Tuller’s original three part series criticizing PACE (“Trial by Error”), as well as responses from the authors, and more. Patients’ first reanalysis (published on the Virology Blog) of the PACE recovery paper. They later published the re-analysis in the journal Fatigue and the PACE researchers responded to the patients’ re-analysis. PLOS ONE expression of concern, including a response from the authors. Retraction Watch’s recap of the legal proceedings regarding Alem Matthees’ request for anonymized trial data. CREDITS This episode of Undiscovered was reported and produced by Elah Feder and Annie Minoff. Editing by Christopher Intagliata. Thanks to Science Friday’s Danielle Dana, Christian Skotte, Brandon Echter, and Rachel Bouton. Fact-checking help by Michelle Harris. Original music by Daniel Peterschmidt. Our theme music is by I am Robot and Proud. Art for this episode by Claire Merchlinsky.
When researchers publish a new study on chronic fatigue syndrome, a group of patients cry foul—and decide to investigate for themselves. A landmark study on chronic fatigue syndrome sets off a multi-year battle between patients and scientists. On one side, we have a team of psychiatrists who have researched the condition for decades, and have peer-reviewed studies to back up their conclusions. On the other, a group of patients who know this condition more intimately than anyone and set out to expose what they think is bad science. (Original art by Claire Merchlinsky) A note to our listeners: This episode references studies that are both controversial and complex. Our interest is always to provide accurate and complete information to our listeners, and to provide context in which the science we cover can be understood. To that end, we’d like to share additional information on the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy as treatments for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Two systematic reviews (studies of studies) by The Cochrane Collaboration examine cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise as treatments for ME/CFS. These may help contextualize the findings of the PACE trial and aid our listeners in drawing their own conclusions. GUESTS Julie Rehmeyer, author of "Through the Shadowlands" Michael Sharpe professor of psychological medicine at Oxford University David Tuller, journalist and visiting lecturer at UC Berkeley Ivan Oransky, journalist and co-founder of Retraction Watch FOOTNOTES The PACE trial home page, includes trial materials, FAQ, and links to the papers that came out of the trial. The PACE trial data and readme file. Virology Blog including David Tuller’s original three part series criticizing PACE (“Trial by Error”), as well as responses from the authors, and more. Patients’ first reanalysis (published on the Virology Blog) of the PACE recovery paper. They later published the re-analysis in the journal Fatigue and the PACE researchers responded to the patients’ re-analysis. PLOS ONE expression of concern, including a response from the authors. Retraction Watch’s recap of the legal proceedings regarding Alem Matthees’ request for anonymized trial data. CREDITS This episode of Undiscovered was reported and produced by Elah Feder and Annie Minoff. Editing by Christopher Intagliata. Thanks to Science Friday’s Danielle Dana, Christian Skotte, Brandon Echter, and Rachel Bouton. Fact-checking help by Michelle Harris. Original music by Daniel Peterschmidt. Our theme music is by I am Robot and Proud. Art for this episode by Claire Merchlinsky.
Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: David Tuller Vincent speaks with David Tuller about flaws in the U.K's $8 million PACE trial for chronic fatigue syndrome, and efforts to have the trial data released. Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Science and journalism (TWiV 111) Chronic fatigue syndrome and the CDC (virology blog) PACE trial (Lancet) Trial by error part one, two, three (virology blog) PACE economics analysis (PLoS One) All articles by David Tuller at virology blog Valerie Eliot Smith's blog Karina Hansen, prisioner of Denmark This episode is sponsored by CuriosityStream. Get two months free when you sign up at curiositystream.com/microbe and use the promo code MICROBE. Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
Vincent and journalist David Tuller converse about the state of science reporting by the press.