Media Politiek Washington Post 2014

Julie Rehmeyer

Onderstaand artikel van de hand van Julie Rehmeyer verscheen op 6 oktober in de Washington Post.

Het artikel vat op voortreffelijke wijze de medische en politieke situatie rond ME (CVS) samen.

What is chronic fatigue syndrome, and why aren't we doing more to treat the illness?

By Julie Rehmeyer October 6 at 5:59 PM

Eight years ago, collapsed on a neurologist’s examining table,

I asked a naive question that turned out to be

at the center of a long-running controversy:

"So what is chronic fatigue syndrome?"

I had just been diagnosed with the illness,

which for six years had been gradually overtaking me.

A week earlier, I had woken up barely able to walk.

Fatigue hardly described what I felt. Paralysis was more like it.

...

"We don’t understand it very well," my neurologist said, his face blank.

He could recommend no tests, no treatments, no other doctors.

I came to understand that, for him,

the term chronic fatigue syndrome meant "I can’t help you."

My neurologist’s understanding of the illness

mirrored that of many doctors,

who believe two things about CFS:

that it’s probably psychosomatic and

that there’s nothing doctors can do for it. .

...