David Tuller

By David Tuller, DrPH

What does it mean that the top investigators in a field of research have collectively and consistently misrepresented a seminal figure in their purported domain of expertise? I’m talking about all those who present themselves as authorities on the topic of so-called “medically unexplained symptoms” (MUS) but have found it difficult to accurately cite a study that examined the purported costs of these conditions to the National Health Service. (This phenomenon was initially pointed out to me by an observant sleuth; I first wrote about it here.)

The study in question, Bermingham et al, is called “The cost of somatisation among the working-age population in England for the year 2008-2009.” It was published in 2010 in the journal Mental Health in Family Medicine. As one of its core findings, it estimated something very specific: NHS costs for patients of working age identified as “somatising” to even a minor extent accounted for around 10% of the total costs for that demographic category. In paper after paper, “experts” in MUS have translated that straightforward data point this way: Patients with MUS accounted for 10% of total NHS costs. The effect of that error is to more than triple the apparent impact of MUS on the NHS budget.

[Read more…] about Trial By Errors: Why Have Experts in MUS Spent Ten Years Mis-Citing a Study about Costs to the NHS?

By David Tuller, DrPH

A recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece accused an apparently powerful “queer feminist wellness collective” of causing an international wave of mental illness, which is being expressed as reports of persistent disabling symptoms after an acute bout of COVID-19. The article was written by a psychiatry resident at Canada’s McMaster University in Canada. Given the arguments advanced by the resident, my friend and colleague decided to check in with the university’s psychiatry department.

Here’s his report.

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Can McMaster University Medical School Psychiatrists Be Trusted to Treat ME/CFS Patients?

By Steven Lubet

[Read more…] about Trial By Error: Northwestern Law Professor Steven Lubet Corresponds with McMaster U. About That WSJ Op-Ed

By David Tuller, DrPH

Earlier this week, I wrote to the journal Psychological Medicine about a significant mistake in a paper on functional neurological disorders. The mistake involved a misquotation of Bermingham et al, a key 2010 analysis of the National Health Service costs associated with care for working-age people found to be “somatising.” One of Psychological Medicine‘s two editors-in-chief, Professor Robin Murray of King’s College London, responded promptly and indicated that he was checking with the authors about the matter.

I subsequently followed up with Professor Murray to point out that the senior author of the paper was also co-author of another paper that had been corrected for the same mistake in October, 2019. He again responded promptly and indicated that he would check on it.

[Read more…] about Trial By Error: My Letter to Professor Anthony David Asks Why MUS Experts Keep Misquoting a Major Study

By David Tuller, DrPH

When I first investigated the PACE trail in 2015, one of the features most shocking to me was the investigators’ blatant violation of a core human rights document that they had promised in their protocol to adhere to. That violation of the Declaration of Helsinki involved their failure to tell study participants about their close ties with the insurance industry. For years, the lead investigators had advised disability insurers that the interventions being tested in PACE for efficacy were in fact effective and could get claimants back to work.

[Read more…] about Trial By Error: PACE Team’s Work for Insurance Companies Is “Not Related” to PACE. Really? (Reprise)