Category Archives: Commentary

A “Standard” Patient

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Jennie Spotila

Today, Joe Landson shares his experience as a standard, real patient. I work occasionally as a standardized patient, though there is not much standard about me. Standardized patients are actors; we play out a script of symptoms for health care … Continue reading →

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CFSAC Public Comment, January 2017

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Jennie Spotila

I prepared comments for the January 13, 2017 CFS Advisory Committee meeting, but when my time arrived I decided to wing it. Below is my best reconstruction of what I said, a mixture of my prepared and spontaneous remarks. Start … Continue reading →

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Zero, Zilch, Zippo

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Jennie Spotila

Zero, zilch, zippo, nada, cero, null, nulla, sifr, nul’, ling, nialas, sero, naught. No matter how you say it, we got nothing. Despite the promise in October 2015 that a request for proposals would be issued “soon.” Despite Dr. Collins’s … Continue reading →

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A Myalgic Carol

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

Or, A Most Merry Tale of Encephalomyelitis, by Joe Landson Dr. Stephen Straus was surely dead. Lo, he had been dead these nine-and-one-half years, but that made no difference to Ebenezer Scrooge, MD, PhD, as he locked up the Office … Continue reading →

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The Wall of Nope

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

I have reached a new low in life with ME. I call it: The Wall of Nope. The Wall of Nope is not a physical crash. It’s an inability to deal with obligations and necessary things. Here’s an example: I’m … Continue reading →

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The Government Attitude Needed

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

Government/advocate interactions frequently happen on a public stage, where everyone is rightly careful about what they say. Sometimes, though, we can get access to behind the scenes communication. In emails that the authors probably believed would remain private, we can … Continue reading →

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The Proverbial Olive Branch

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

In what will probably be the last word from NIH on the invited lecture by Dr. Edward Shorter, the Trans-NIH ME/CFS Working Group has issued a follow up response to the ME community. For background, read my open letter to … Continue reading →

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Enough Is Enough

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

After I pointed out to Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Chair of the Trans-NIH ME/CFS Working Group, that NIH had invited a speaker who has publicly insulted people with ME/CFS and anyone who takes this disease seriously, Dr. Koroshetz responded that “inclusion … Continue reading →

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An Open Letter to Dr. Koroshetz

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

The following text is an open letter that I sent to Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Director of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke. A plea for sanity, respect and science Dr. Koroshetz, I write to you tonight to personally … Continue reading →

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PACE: Grossly Exaggerated

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Jennie Spotila

On September 9, 2016, Queen Mary University of London released data from the PACE trial in compliance with a First Tier Tribunal decision on a Freedom of Information Request by ME patient Alem Matthees. The day before, the PACE authors … Continue reading →

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