MAGICAL MEDICINE: HOW TO MAKE AN ILLNESS ... - Invest in ME

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Appendix 6: Summary of Therapies (page 42 of the SSMC Manual)
This is similar to but slightly different from the summary contained in the Therapists’ Manuals.
Appendix 7: CGI for SSMC Doctors (page 43 of the SSMC Manual)
This Clinical Global Impression (CGI) purports to record the “global impression of change scale” achieved by
the participant during the PACE Trial.
It asks questions such as “Overall, how much has the participant changed since the start of the study?”; “How well
has the participant adhered to both medical management and advice – did the participant actually implement what had
been negotiated in the sessions?”; “To what extent did the participant accept the principles underlying the
management advice they were given?”; “How many treatment sessions with you in total has the participant
received?”; “How many planned sessions did NOT occur?”; “How many unplanned phone calls took place?”; “How
many sessions were attended by a relative (not partner) of the participant?”; “How many sessions were attended by a
friend of the participant?”; “How many sessions were attended by the participant’s partner?” (the CGI rating scales
are commonly used measures of symptom severity, treatment response and the efficacy of the treatment for
patients with mental disorders [W.Guy, editor, ECDEU Assessment, 1976; US Department of Health,
Education and Welfare]. Many researchers regard it as too user‐subjective. Why are the PIs using a rating
scale commonly used in mental disorders?).
Appendix 8: Medical screening SOP ‐‐ Standard Operating Procedure (page 45 of the SSMC Manual).
This covers “Assessment; History; Examination; Investigations; Common medical exclusions; Temporary medical
exclusions; Psychiatric exclusions”.
Appendix 9: Contra‐indications and Cautions for Trial Treatments (page 47 of the SSMC Manual)
This lists “Absolute Contraindications to the PACE Trial” and “Potentially allowable conditions (To be discussed
with Centre Leader and Physiotherapist)”.
This SSMC Manual appears to be entirely based on the Wessely School belief that “CFS/ME” is a psychiatric
disorder.
Any participant entering the PACE Trial in the expectation of receiving “specialist” medical care may well
find themselves questioning if care from a consultant who ignores the significant biomedical evidence about
the disease and who is able to provide only “general advice” is deserving of the appellation “specialist.”
As stated above, the Principal Investigators expect SSMC to help only 10% of participants; in
any other medical discipline this would be considered unacceptable.
Right at the start of the PACE Trial selection process, Fatigue Service doctors failed to inform potential
participants of the extensive biomedical research evidence that invalidates the Wessely School’s behavioural
model of ME/CFS, or of the potential risks of GET.
This is deemed by many people to have lured unwitting patients into entering an MRC clinical trial under
false pretences and some consider that it amounts to professional misconduct that is pivotal to the whole
trial.