Tag Archives: DHHS

Meeting with the Assistant Secretary

As I mentioned in this week’s RFA Ticker, I participated in a meeting with the Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Karen DeSalvo. You can read the meeting summary on MEAction, and I’ve reprinted the full text below. From a personal … Continue reading

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Responding to the NIH RFI

For the first time, NIH has requested public input into the future direction of ME/CFS research. This is a chance for researchers, organizations, advocates, and others to provide input directly to the Trans-NIH ME/CFS Working Group on the following questions: … Continue reading

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Brilliant Scientist Among the #MillionsMissing

My friend Barb opened a window into the extraordinary loss she has endured because of ME/CFS. Please read her powerful statement, and count her among the #MillionsMissing. If you want a tiny peek into what I live with every day, … Continue reading

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I Am Among the #MillionsMissing

I miss hiking. Getting into the woods, to the enveloping strength of nature, was my favorite thing to do. I wanted to through-hike the Appalachian Trail. I miss more weddings, graduations, and funerals than I can count. I miss having … Continue reading

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CFS Advisory Committee Meeting Outcomes

The CFS Advisory Committee is charged with advising the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to ME/CFS. HHS has a very patchy record in its responses to CFSAC recommendations, but the committee’s public meetings remain highly significant. … Continue reading

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#MillionsMissing

For as long as I have been an ME/CFS advocate, I have heard people say we should protest/take to the streets/be more like ACT UP. But for the most part, demonstrations have been small (even one woman) shows. That is … Continue reading

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Staying the Course to Where?

Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, made a request of the ME/CFS community. During the March 8, 2016 NIH telebriefing, Dr. Collins said: So please take our commitment with great seriousness. Please also stay the course … Continue reading

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Epic Eye Roll

I had a shocking experience at a doctor’s office yesterday. It was my first visit to his office for an issue unrelated to ME/CFS. After breezing into the room and making a sarcastic remark about the quality of doctors’ notes … Continue reading

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We Are All Noncompliant

I learned something about ME/CFS advocacy from a comic book. Now wait, stay with me. I realize this sounds bizarre, especially coming from me. I haven’t read a comic book since I was eight years old. Enter Bitch Planet, a … Continue reading

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Someone Had To Say It

A long story about this moment in ME/CFS research and advocacy by journalist Virginia Gewin was published in Mosaic, a publication of the Wellcome Trust today. The article includes a great profile of Dr. Lenny Jason, coverage of the PACE … Continue reading

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