There’s basically nothing to show for it.
| In the century-plus that we’ve been plinking around with the condition currently known as chronic fatigue syndrome (in the U.S.) or myalgic encephalomyelitis (in Britain and where British English is taught as a foreign language) (ME/CFS), we’ve also discovered very little, though they’ve changed the name regularly in an attempt to capture the latest understanding of the thing. In the US they actually renamed it systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID) when the CDC or NIH got involved — around 2015 — but it didn’t stick. I suspect in the end they’re going to discover Long Covid is just a special case of the general thing. |
The National Institutes of Health hasn’t signed up a single patient to test any potential treatments — despite a clear mandate from Congress to study them. And the few trials it is planning have already drawn a firestorm of criticism, especially one intervention that experts and advocates say may actually make some patients’ long Covid symptoms worse.Some people have noticed some overlap between long covid and vax injuries.
Instead, the NIH spent the majority of its money on broader, observational research that won’t directly bring relief to patients. But it still hasn’t published any findings from the patients who joined that study, almost two years after it started.
There’s no sense of urgency to do more or to speed things up, either. The agency isn’t asking Congress for any more funding for long Covid research, and STAT and MuckRock obtained documents showing the NIH refuses to use its own money to change course.
Maybe they know something they'd rather not disclose?
"So far, I don’t think we’ve gotten anything for a billion dollars," said Ezekiel Emanuel, a physician, vice provost for global initiatives, and co-director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. "That is just unacceptable, and it’s a serious dysfunction."
And par for the course.
The NIH said it chose to fund a large-scale research program instead of small-scale studies to make sure data and processes could be shared across different groups of patients, adding that clinical trials will be launching soon. In these trials, standardized study designs will allow the agency to test multiple treatments across multiple sites. If there are signals a drug works, the agency said it can pivot to devote more resources there.
Hand waving, smoke, and mirrors.
Related:
Long Covid: 2022-01-27 Long COVID expert says the world is in 'deep trouble' and millions may suffer from debilitating physical and cognitive issues for YEARS after being infected
Long Covid: 2021-07-20 Rabobank: Massive Lockdowns And Many Vaccines Later, We Appear To Be Where We Were 18 Months Ago
Long Covid: 2022-01-27 Long COVID expert says the world is in 'deep trouble' and millions may suffer from debilitating physical and cognitive issues for YEARS after being infected
Long Covid: 2021-07-20 Rabobank: Massive Lockdowns And Many Vaccines Later, We Appear To Be Where We Were 18 Months Ago