David Tuller: Trial By Error: Per Fink in New York

Per Fink in New York

Someone uninformed or stupid or maybe both decided to invite Danish physician Per Fink to present at a conference on so-called psychosomatic medicine being held this weekend at Columbia University

 

What worries me is it's not just Per Fink. It's a discipline filled to the brim with professionals peering deep into the unconscious. I'm looking through that list of speakers and just cringing. Filled wiht plaudits from each other. Looks like there is as rampant support for MUS in Columbia, Cornell and Yale, as well as local New York hopsitals as there is in Europe. It's just the nature of our system that you won't be confronted with them unless your pcp is a joke. I'm sure they are perpetuating as much crappy research as he is, just not locking people up.

 

It's literally impossible at any given time and with limited information.

To some they extent they do - psychosis, delusiosn, etc. No one contests that, but this is not what the conference about. It's not about sweating mroe becuase you have anxiety. Non of those are psychosomatism.

 

Please check out MEAction's, and Jennie Spotila's request for letters to be sent to health authorities in New York re Per Fink's presentations.

Providing continuing medical education credits for something that is non-evidenced based to say the very least, is sending the wrong message to the attendees.

 

Excellent blog post!

Counted 6 talks from Germans im the program. One of the German speakers (Prof. Henningsen) has published a book with Per Fink:
Medically Unexplained Symptoms, Somatisation and Bodily Distress (from the description: "The range of disorders involved includes irritable bowel syndrome, chronic widespread pain and chronic fatigue syndrome.")

The other invited Germans also hold the same beliefs. I'm sure ME will be mentioned more often than just by Fink. It's always used as prime example to illustrate MUS/somatoform disorder/functional disorder/neurasthenia in Germany. It's also listed in the German guideline for functional and somatoform disorders. Per Fink will be one among many with the same believe system and sadly not stand out.