ME Analysis is a group of people who have carefully examined the results of the PACE Trial, in so far as they have been published. Further details are due to be released under a Freedom of Information request. Their analysis can found on Phoenix Rising here. ME Analysis have just released the fourth in their series of short videos with little animations demonstrating the results of the PACE trial in a simple and easy to understand manner. They are available to watch on their youtube page here.
Their analysis shows a very different picture to that portrayed by the media and the official statements released by the Science Media Centre. For example Dr A Miller the chief medical advisor for Action for ME wrote, rather astonishingly in the light of the actual evidence – “This trial represents the highest grade of clinical evidence – a large randomized clinical trial, carefully designed, rigorously conducted and scrupulously analysed and reported. It provides convincing evidence that GET and CBT are safe and effective and should be widely available for our patients with CFS/ME.”
It is interesting to compare the PACE trial methodology with Prof Lipkin’s description of his XMRV research where he described how a well designed trial should be constructed; with criteria and method unanimously decided upon before starting (by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field) and then strictly adhered to without any changes, so as to give an unbiased result. This is not what happened with the PACE Trial, which could not be described by any stretch of the imagination as “the highest grade of clinical evidence”.