From Putrino on X following @dave30th 's recent piece - a long thread .
https://twitter.com/user/status/1817895583358521724
I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and I try to be fairly slow to anger, but jfc I just can’t with these #MECFS- minimizing clowns. Thank you, as always, to @davidtuller1 for taking the time to listen to every argument from would-be clinicians and every gut- 1/
wrenching detail of abuse and dire malpractice (which all too often ends in death) from people with #MECFS and their families. Your body of work is beyond reproach and I can only guess at the toll it takes, but we are so grateful for the work you do. Keeping receipts on this 2/
matter will be crucial as we begin to obliterate the anti-science rhetoric that clings to #MECFS and other infection- and exposure associated chronic illnesses. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), graded exercise therapy (GET) and their cousins/rebrands (e.g Lightning Process, 3/
etc) being shilled as appropriate therapies (or, indeed, “cures”) for #MECFS, #LongCovid and chronic #lyme aren’t hard to understand from a pragmatic standpoint: they’re cheaper than doing real biomedical research, they allow politicians to say “we’re doing something” to 4/
advocacy orgs demanding action, and there is no shortage of “optimizing” of the unscientific handwaving that is called a therapeutic process that can be researched: soaking up a lions share of the meager and unacceptably small amount of federal funds earmarked for these 5/
diseases. As I like to always state: this is not an attack on the field of psychology and psychiatry. Supportive care from these professionals is CRUCIAL for many with #MECFS (though many struggle to access it) and I am privileged to work with exceptional neuropsychologists, 6/
social workers and psychiatrists who are horrified by the behavior of their fringe-dwelling colleagues who have subsumed this space and worked under the cover of “darkness” (darkness brought about by the lack of public interest in #mecfs) until now. But today I just can’t 7/
unsee some of the disgusting comments being made by “clinicians” and self-styled “researchers” that claim to treat #MECFS and “functional disorders” as they react to Maeve’s inquest in the UK. Let me say unambiguously: if you’re out there blaming biomedical researchers who are 8/
attempting to understand the biological nature of #MECFS for the deaths of patients who have been abused by clinical protocols that you established and proliferated, that you taught in conferences about “malingering” and “conversion disorder”. If you’re trying to point the 9/
finger now, because someone with a biological illness had the courage to say “no” to your unscientific grift, the utter audacity to even hint that “had they only accepted *your* treatment you could have saved them? Well, then I have news: from an ethical standpoint you are 10/
no different from a member of the Westboro Baptist Church protesting a funeral. Absolutely despicable behavior and although you have no shame yourselves, your professional societies and licensure boards should be ashamed of you. Anyway, now I need to start my week with this 11/
rage burning so I’ll sign off by once again thanking @davidtuller1 for his tireless work. To Maeve’s family: I do not know you or Maeve, but my heart goes out. I am sorry for what you are going through and what you must endure in the name of justice. We’re with you. /end
https://twitter.com/user/status/1817895583358521724
I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and I try to be fairly slow to anger, but jfc I just can’t with these #MECFS- minimizing clowns. Thank you, as always, to @davidtuller1 for taking the time to listen to every argument from would-be clinicians and every gut- 1/
wrenching detail of abuse and dire malpractice (which all too often ends in death) from people with #MECFS and their families. Your body of work is beyond reproach and I can only guess at the toll it takes, but we are so grateful for the work you do. Keeping receipts on this 2/
matter will be crucial as we begin to obliterate the anti-science rhetoric that clings to #MECFS and other infection- and exposure associated chronic illnesses. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), graded exercise therapy (GET) and their cousins/rebrands (e.g Lightning Process, 3/
etc) being shilled as appropriate therapies (or, indeed, “cures”) for #MECFS, #LongCovid and chronic #lyme aren’t hard to understand from a pragmatic standpoint: they’re cheaper than doing real biomedical research, they allow politicians to say “we’re doing something” to 4/
advocacy orgs demanding action, and there is no shortage of “optimizing” of the unscientific handwaving that is called a therapeutic process that can be researched: soaking up a lions share of the meager and unacceptably small amount of federal funds earmarked for these 5/
diseases. As I like to always state: this is not an attack on the field of psychology and psychiatry. Supportive care from these professionals is CRUCIAL for many with #MECFS (though many struggle to access it) and I am privileged to work with exceptional neuropsychologists, 6/
social workers and psychiatrists who are horrified by the behavior of their fringe-dwelling colleagues who have subsumed this space and worked under the cover of “darkness” (darkness brought about by the lack of public interest in #mecfs) until now. But today I just can’t 7/
unsee some of the disgusting comments being made by “clinicians” and self-styled “researchers” that claim to treat #MECFS and “functional disorders” as they react to Maeve’s inquest in the UK. Let me say unambiguously: if you’re out there blaming biomedical researchers who are 8/
attempting to understand the biological nature of #MECFS for the deaths of patients who have been abused by clinical protocols that you established and proliferated, that you taught in conferences about “malingering” and “conversion disorder”. If you’re trying to point the 9/
finger now, because someone with a biological illness had the courage to say “no” to your unscientific grift, the utter audacity to even hint that “had they only accepted *your* treatment you could have saved them? Well, then I have news: from an ethical standpoint you are 10/
no different from a member of the Westboro Baptist Church protesting a funeral. Absolutely despicable behavior and although you have no shame yourselves, your professional societies and licensure boards should be ashamed of you. Anyway, now I need to start my week with this 11/
rage burning so I’ll sign off by once again thanking @davidtuller1 for his tireless work. To Maeve’s family: I do not know you or Maeve, but my heart goes out. I am sorry for what you are going through and what you must endure in the name of justice. We’re with you. /end
