Crowdfunding: Trial By Error [David Tuller]: Reporting on ME, ME/CFS, long Covid, and "Medically Unexplained Symptoms", Fall 2023

"I am once again seeking funds to continue my work on ME, ME/CFS, other complex chronic illnesses, and now long Covid. These tax-deductible donations to Berkeley will support my academic position as senior fellow in public health and journalism at the Center for Global Health for the first half of next year--January 1-June 30, 2024. The Center uses the funds to cover my salary and benefits, including health insurance. (A key poiht to understand is that only around 60% of the funds raised go towards my salary; the costs for benefits/health insurance are about 40% of the total.)

I thought about ending this project a couple of years ago; my work appeared to have positively impacted the situation and had helped to undermine bogus claims that ME/CFS was psychogenic. I figured I could comfortably move on to other projects. But the arrival of Long Covid changed my mind. It was immediately apparent that the same cabal of researchers I'd spent years criticizing were seeking to colonize the field of Long Covid with the same egregiously flawed arguments and research strategies. So it seemed worthwhile to continue."

More at, and to donate, https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

As always, my least favorite thing to do.

 

Image I'm sharing around on social media

 

Donating to your project is probably one of the most cost-effective things patients of any description could do. Chipping away at the religious BPS-paradigm is having and is gonna have a profound impact on people's lives even those unaware of who you are and what you're doing.

I do wish there were ways of donating without using a credit card as I don't own one of those, in NL we pay via debit card I think.

If someone knows a way around this, please let me know.

 

My UK debit card usually works for making a donation. I also don’t have a credit card.

 

Yes, I've given by debit card before. Just done my donation, and it looks as if any Visa or Maestro card will work.

 

in this context, "credit card" usually includes "debit card," as I understand it. although every country could be different. I also wish it accepted PayPal, but it doesn't. Berkeley contracts with a third-party for the template.

 

I don't have Visa or Maestro, the Dutch system works differently. We get a card from our bank and we pay for stuff with that or with our phones mostly. Used to have to push them into pin-machines at supermarket's and then type in your code, now you can just swipe them or even use your phone with the devices. But I think it's a distinctly different process to what's common in the US or UK.

 

done again i still believe it to be money well spent.

 

If you prefer to not use your own cards, you can buy a credit card at the supermarket. I use a Vanilla Visa card for these occasions. There's a roughly 5% charge in Australia.

Additionally, if you want to be completely anonymous for security purposes, Berkeley doesn't need to know your correct details either.

 

$4,797 raised, 7% of target, 28 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

Done.

 

$6,898 raised, 10% of target, 26 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

As always, its my honour and joy to contribute

 

$9,514 raised, 14% of target, 24 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

$12,134 raised, 18% of target, 23 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

$15,204 raised, 23% of target, 22 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

$16,239 raised, 24% of target, 20 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018

 

yes, it's hit a lull. that seems to happen every time.