This project is now in update mode. Check back regularly to see how things are progressing.
Long Covid now has its own magazine, The Sick Times...
Earlier today I posted an interview with Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis about The Sick Times, their new online publication about long Covid and related post-acute infection syndromes, including ME/CFS. I've been posting a lot more of these lately and trying to keep them relatively short--20 minutes or so--for easy viewing.
November's crowdfunder is entering it's final stretch. If you'd like to support my work this time around, please use this link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018
DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! THAT'S A DEFAULT LINK THAT GOES TO A PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN.
Thanks much!--David
Each update about November's crowdfunding triggers a few more donations...
Dear Past Supporter of Trial By Error:
Of the 152 donations so far, 62 are from the UK and 39 from the US. Australia is next with 13 donations, followed by Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands, with 11, 6 and 5 donations, respectively. Most of these campaigns garner around 600 donations, so this one still has a ways to go...
To donate to the current campaign, please use this link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/40018
DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! THAT'S A DEFAULT LINK THAT GOES TO A PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN.
Thanks much!--David
My panel discussion today on patient activism/advocacy
I've been at Cambridge this week, and today I'm on a panel discussion that will cover patient activism and advocacy, with a focus on ME/CFS, long Covid, and HIV/AIDS. Here's the info to register for online viewing!
If you'd like to support my efforts to debunk poor science, please consider a donation for this round. Donations are tax-deductible in the US and in Canada.
Here's the link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/33528
TO DONATE TO THE CURRENT CAMPAIGN, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to a previously completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
April 2022 crowdfunder heading into the final stretch...
Thanks for your past support for Trial By Error! Berkeley's current crowdfunder for Trial By Error has reached 72% of the goal. I am looking forward to continuing my work exposing bad research!
In the last week, I posted an interview with Meghan O'Rourke, author of The Invisible Kingdom, a NY Times bestselling memoir about living with chronic illness; an interview with Todd Davenport, a professor of physical therapy, about the role of post-exertional malaise in ME/CFS and long Covid; and a post about a Scottish long Covid trial that is testing an exercise program but whose investigators seem not to be aware of the risk of PEM.
If you would like to support Trial By Error again, here's the link--and thank you!:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/31347
TO DONATE TO THE CURRENT CAMPAIGN, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to a previously completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
April '22--The PACE Authors Once More Defend their Bogus Trial
Thanks so much for being a past supporter of the Trial By Error project!! I am planning to continue the project for one more academic year after this one--through June, 2023. This month's campaign will cover the costs from July through December of this year.
The campaign has reached 36% of the goal. The funds go to Berkeley's Center for Global Public Health and cover the costs of my academic position. This project is my sole job responsibility at Berkeley. I would prefer to be able to support my work through standard academic funding streams but that just hasn't been possible.
This week I wrote about what looks like something of a "PACE Rehabilitation Tour"--the latest efforts by the PACE investigators to rehabilitate their reputations and promote the CBT/GET treatment approach for long Covid patients--even though it has been discredited for ME/CFS.
I had thought of winding down this project after the release last October of the new ME/CFS guidelines from the UK's National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, which rescinded the previous CBT/GET recommendations. But the efforts to psychologize and impose the CBT/GET regimen on long Covid patients is terrible news not only for them but for ME patients as well and demonstrates that much work remains to be done.
If you would like to support Trial By Error again, here's the link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/31347
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
PACE authors reemerge and defend CBT and GET regimen as "evidence-based" (!!!)
With seven days left, this month's campaign has reached two-thirds of the goal!
Even as UK's NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) prepares to publish its new ME/CFS guidelines, the PACE authors are defending CBT and GET as "evidence-based" in a new paper. So despite some progress, there is still lots of work to be done!
Thanks to all past and current donors. Here is the link to support the project:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/27513
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last year's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
Yet another message about this month's crowdfunding campaign...
With ten days left, this month's campaign has reached 56 % of the goal. The project focuses on ME, CFS, ME/CFS, so-called "medically unexplained symptoms," and related issues--and on exposing poor quality research in these domains. Just this week, UK's NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) announced that it would publish its new ME/CFS guidelines! So some progress has been made...
If you would like to support Trial By Error again, here's the link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/27513
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
Trial By Error Crowdfunding for October, 2021 Reaches 34% of the Goal
This month's campaign has about one third over and the campaign has reached about a third of the goal, with 199 donations. So that seems right on track! The project focuses on ME, CFS, ME/CFS, so-called "medically unexplained symptoms," and related issues--and on exposing poor quality research in these domains.
If you would like to support Trial By Error again, here's the link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/27513
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
Trial By Error Crowdfunding--October, 2021
Hi, Everyone--Thanks much for your past support for my Trial By Error project, which focuses on ME, CFS, ME/CFS, so-called "medically unexplained symptoms," and related issues--and on exposing poor quality research in these domains.
October is again crowdfunding month at Berkeley. If you would like to support Trial By Error again, here's the link:
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/27513
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
Final spring toward the goal--88% there!! (Resending because of bad link)
Hi, all--If you've already donated, ignore this!! Berkeley's April crowdfunding campaign has reached 865 of the goal and is entering it's final stretch. I appreciate every donation! With this crowdfunding, I'll be able to continue to expose the research shenanigans of the biopsychosocial ideological brigades.
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/25504
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.
Thanks much!--David
Final spring toward the goal--88% there!! (Resending because of bad link)
Hi, all--If you've already donated, ignore this!! Berkeley's April crowdfunding campaign has reached 865 of the goal and is entering it's final stretch. I appreciate every donation! With this crowdfunding, I'll be able to continue to expose the research shenanigans of the biopsychosocial ideological brigades.
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/25504
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.
Thanks much!--David
Only Five More Days of April for These Crowdfunding Messages!!
Hi, all--Berkeley's April crowdfunding campaign has reached almost 80% of the goal and is entering it's final stretch. I appreciate every donation! With this crowdfunding, I'll be able to continue to expose the research shenanigans of the biopsychosocial ideological brigades.
https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/25504
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.
Thanks much!--David
UPDATE: Trial By Error Crowdfunding--October, 2021
Hi, Everyone--Thanks much for your past support for my Trial By Error project, which focuses on ME, CFS, ME/CFS, so-called "medically unexplained symptoms," and related issues--and on exposing poor quality research in these domains.
October is another crowdfunding month at Berkeley. Here is the link to support Trial By Error: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/27513
TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE ABOVE LINK!
(DO NOT CLICK ON THE "READ UPDATE" BUTTON BELOW! That default button is automatically included in this message and will take you to last fall's completed campaign--not to the page for donating now.)
Thanks much for your support!--David
Thanks to all of you, the crowdfunding goal was reached!!
Dear all--
Given the difficult times we're all experiencing on multiple fronts, I'm really touched by the support i've received this time around. I've got lots of things to look into going forward.
This week, I haven't done much besides obsessively tracking the US election returns. In the worst case scenario, I was preparing to join the resistance in the woods around the Berkeley campus but that seems like it won't be necessary at this point.
Thanks again!--David