Can you actually lie to participants in a clinical trial and still pass ethical review? It seems so, at least at Western University in Ontario, Canada. virology.ws/2025/12/11/t...

Some things I've read recently: Australian aboriginals and Long COVID, Medscape on LC and ME/CFS disability claims, Stanford Medicine magazine profile of Ron Davis @croakeynews.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @janetdafoe.bsky.social virology.ws/2025/12/05/t...

In recent @jamanetworkopen.com exercise study with clinically insiginficant findings, all participants scored way below healthy adults--a major fact overlooked by the paper. Also, @thesicktimes.org reports on exercise trials. virology.ws/2025/11/25/t...

Why do these people keep promoting exercise studies with reported benefits that do not reach the threshold for clinical significance? Here's another one of these, from @jamanetworkopen.com: virology.ws/2025/11/21/t...

Someone asked me yesterday if they could still donate to the crowdfunder even though it technically ended Friday night and they missed the deadline. Yes! Berkeley has left the link open until midnight tonight, California time, for just this reason. crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

Yes, it's excellent! I've just seen it. Thanks to @mecfsskeptic.bsky.social for applying his usual care in highlighting @bmhughes.bsky.social's key points!!!

Berkeley's crowdfunding campaign for Trial By Error, which investigates problematic psycho-behavioral research involving ME, ME/CFS, Long COVID, etc., has reached 98% of the goal, with one day remaining: crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

Thanks for flagging it @drfionac.bsky.social. For those interested, Berkeley's crowdfunding campaign for Trial By Error has reached 98% of the goal, with 500+ donations and one day remaining. crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

With several days left to go, the current Berkeley crowdfunder for Trial By Error has received 400 donations! The support is greatly appreciated!! crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

For the first time, Berkeley's Trial By Error crowdfunding campaign has reached 50% of the goal right at the 15-day half-way point. Most times, it's at about a third at this point. If you'd like to donate, here's the link: crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

For several years, I have spent my time busting terrible and even fraudulent research into ME, ME/CFS, Long COVID, etc. If this crowdfunding works out, I will do one more in the spring and then retire from Berkeley. If you'd like to support my work, here's how: crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

Dutch Paper on Medical Abuse of Kids Ignores NICE Guidance on ME/CFS-Related Safeguarding Issues virology.ws/2025/10/20/t...

Berkeley's crowdfunder has reached 32% of the goal, with 199 donations so far. Who will make the 200th donation? crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

An interview with University of Edinburgh's Chris Ponting @cgatist.bsky.social about the PRIME project to increase ME/CFS research infrastructure; virology.ws/2025/10/13/t...

Berkeley's crowdfunder has reached 5% of the goal after its first day, with 49 donors! This pace won't keep up, but it's a decent start. Thanks to all past, current and future supporters! crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

Berkeley's fall crowdfunder for Trial By Error is now up! crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

I spoke last week with Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki about her work on Long COVID. This interview has more than 1.3K views so far: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJTa...

Thanks to Yale's Akiko Iwasaki @virusesimmunity.bsky.social, a leading immunologist and Long COVID investigator, for talking with me yesterday about the recent Keystone Symposium, the debate over viral persistence, and more. Here's our interview: virology.ws/2025/09/26/t...

This piece for @thesicktimes.org about people with Long COVID receiving diagnoses of funcitonal neurological disorder... thesicktimes.org/2025/09/26/l...

On Thursday there will be a preliminary injunction against the hospital. Pls help by reading & sharing this 🙏 #SaveSanne @georgemonbiot.bsky.social @swastrosarah.bsky.social @nelehelena.bsky.social @davetuller1.bsky.social @anilvanderzee.bsky.social @tomkindlon.bsky.social @janetdafoe.bsky.social

Dr Ian Lipkin: "There's no question that threshold for triggering inflammation with ME/CFS is lower than the threshold in people who are healthy. So anything can set this off." www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ih...

Nowhere near discharge yet but having such a large meeting recognise the limited NHS resources available to clinicians & patients was a better starting point than yet a-n-other re-run of an argument lost in 2021, with PFD report and responses from 6 national bodies as evidence of the risks being run

#Savannah #vsME update. A good MDT which ran over to twice the length of time allocated. Dr Weir and I were both invited, spoke at length and were heard. The absence of NHS ME specialists _anywhere_ in the UK is the biggest probem for every ICB, including Lewisham and Greenwich.

When an Australian ME/CFS study of an exercise intervention failed to find enough participants, the investigators decided to blame patient advicates instead of questioning their assumptions: virology.ws/2025/09/08/t...

If Farage wins the next election, it will be down to one person. His name is Keir Starmer. This thread explains why. 1. Destroying faith in democracy. The UK decisively voted out the Tories, only for Starmer to give us a Continuity Tory government, shamefully beholden to economic power. 🧵

A Belgian with ME/CFS sent me the following satirical "field guide to conducting biopsychsocial research in CFS/ME": virology.ws/2025/09/02/t...

Here's a post highlighting recent blogs worth reading from @julierehmeyer.bsky.social on Beth Mazur's death, @whitneydafoe.bsky.social on "real life," and @drelke.bsky.social on society's exercise obsession virology.ws/2025/08/28/t...

A major journal, eClinicalMedicine, published a meta-analysis claiming "high-certainty" evidence for exercise for Long COVID--even though the paper also acknowledged that most of the data used was of poor quality. Hm. I sent a letter to the journal. virology.ws/2025/08/27/t...

News bits: Update on Keystone gathering from @thesicktimes.org; Severe ME Day video from @anilvanderzee.bsky.social; Medscape article from @miriametucker.bsky.social on fractured care for postinfectious illness. virology.ws/2025/08/21/t...

In a meta-analysis of Long COVID interventions, most RCTs included were at high risk of bias and the quality of evidence for outcomes measured was overwhelmingly of low or very-low quality. Yet authors claim "high-certainty" evidence for exercise interventions. Huh?? virology.ws/2025/08/16/t...

Apparently Paul Glasziou has blocked me because I pointed out he was promoting a meta-analysis in which the vast majority of clinical trials were at high risk of bias and 84% of the outcomes were of low or very low quality. Here's my take on the study hyped by Glasziou: virology.ws/2025/08/16/t...

Paul, you mean most of these randomized trials that are at high risk of bias (per Cochrane risk of bias tool) with outcomes whose quality is overwhelmingly of low or very low quality (per GRADE)? Got it! In Australia, I guess it's typical to take guidance from poorly designed research??

Unfortunately, Paul. 33 of the RCTs--more than half--were found to be at high ris of bias, per Cochrane's risk of bias tool, while only 3 had low risk of bias. And 84% of the outcomes yielded evidence that was of either very low or low quality. For that reason and others, the findings mean nothing.

I spoke with Profiessor Chris Ponting @cgatist.bsky.social about the DecodeME findings, which reported eight "genetic signals" in people with ME/CFS related to the nervous and immune systems: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGUm...

The BMJ has not published a rapid resopnse from Maeve Boothby O'Neill's mum, @swastrosarah.bsky.social‬, to its ME/CFS "hope" propaganda piece from members of the biopsychosocial ideological brigades. So I have posted it here. virology.ws/2025/07/23/t...

Latest blog, breaking down some common narrative tricks bullshitters use so you can hopefully start to sniff it out a bit easier Do you smell what the bull is shitting? dontbelievehype.co.uk/bullshit-bre...

Oxford scholars say biomedical research requirements for evidence help "construct" what they call "chronicity rhetoric" around fibromyalgia. That means biopsychosocialists aren't allowed to make whatever "recovery" claims they want. Hm. virology.ws/2025/07/18/t...

A study from Japan in a BMJ journal found that 100 of almost 300 Long Covid patients who had neurological exams showed "positive signs" of functional limb weakness. The problem? Only 16 of those 100 patients reported actual limb weakness during the neurological exams: virology.ws/2025/07/15/t...

Sander Zurhake, a journalist with NOS, the Dutch broadcast organization, recently reported on the potential harms of psycho-behavioral treatment for kids with ME/CFS and received some pushback. This interview with him has had 1000+ views so far: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxT...

In this study of "functional limb weakness" (FLW) among almost 300 Long Covid patients, 100 had "rule-in" FLW signs. But only 16 of those 100 reported limb weakness as symptom. How can they have FLW without actual limb weakness? Hm. Kinda fuzzy! neurologyopen.bmj.com/content/7/1/...

Sander Zurhake, a journalist with NOS, the Dutch broadcast organization, recently reported on the potential harms of psycho-behavioral treatment for kids with ME/CFS and received some pushback. Here's my talk with him: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxT...

The just-updated version of Kumar & Clark's Clinical Medicine, a fixture of decades of medical education, continues to promote the biopsychosocial ideology when it comes to ME/CFS: virology.ws/2025/07/04/t...

A journalist for a major Dutch broadcast network covered the potential harms of CBT/GET for kids with ME/CFS. Some of the Dutch wing of the CBT/GET ideological brigades pushed back. virology.ws/2025/06/25/t...

Investigators at U of Edinburgh just published a study on "blood-based" traits that differ--on a population level--between people diagnosed with ME/CFS and others. I spoke earlier today with lead author Sjoerd Beentjes: virology.ws/2025/06/23/t...

After doing this for ten years, I wonder if the PACE "truther" movement will ever come to an end. Will it eventually die out under the weight of its own stupidity? Or will these deluded people believe till the end that PACE was "a thing of beauty"?

The so-called Science Media Centre called in PACE "truther" Alan Carson to weigh in on the new Edinburgh study about blood-based biomarkers for ME/CFS. Here's my interview from last year with Guardian columnist George Monbiot on the SMC's shady history: www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1W4...

Terrific documentary, definitely worth watching!!!

Thanks to Professor Vincent Racaniello for having me back on This Week in Virology to talk about RFK Jr. and the trashing of American public health, The Sick Times, the Cochrane ME/CFS Mess, a Norwegian Long Covid trial, "effort preference," etc. www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-sp...

I interviewed Dr Rob Wüst about his team's new study comparing effects of exercise on people with ME/CFS and Long Covid vs effects on healthy controls who were deconditioned after 60 days of bedrest: virology.ws/2025/06/04/t...

A propaganda piece for CBT/GET cosplaying as "research" on Twitter trends, from Canada's McMaster U. The trends they report are interesting--then the researchers essentially say in the discussion that everything patients are tweeting is wrong. virology.ws/2025/06/02/t...