James Coyne to talk in Belfast on “scandal” of the PACE trial

Talk by James Coyne in February

Professor James Coyne of the University of Pennsylvania will be giving a talk entitled “The scandal of the £5 million UK PACE trial for ME: what can be done?” to two separate audiences in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in February.
One talk is directed specifically at professionals, including Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), scientists, health professionals and key health decision makers. The event will take place on Tuesday, 9 February in the Stormont Buildings, which house the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The talk is being organised by MLA Jo-Anne Dobson and the charity Hope 4 ME & Fibro Northern Ireland. The organisers are keen for patients and supporters in the area to urge their own MLAs and doctors to attend. Another talk, open to all, including patients and supporters, will be held on Sunday, 7 February, in Belfast Castle. Information on both events is available on a printable pamphlet.
The organisers hope that live Twitter commentary will be possible from the Stormont event, using the hashtag #PACEni. The talk will be videoed, thanks to sponsorship from the Irish ME Trust, and placed on YouTube. The video of a talk given last November in Edinburgh by Professor Coyne on the PACE trial has been viewed nearly 1,000 times and the slides from his talk have been downloaded 11,700 times.
The organisers hope to raise £700 ($1,000) to fund the events, including information packs for the professionals at the Stormont talk. Donors have already given £330 ($470). Further donations can be made via a dedicated MyDonate page or to [email protected] using Paypal (specifying in the comment box that the donation is for this event).
Sally Burch, one of the organisers, said, “We are currently campaigning to have the biopsychosocial treatment approaches to ME reviewed. There is increasing evidence that these therapies are not just inappropriate, but that they can also cause lasting damage to the health of some patients.” She added, “Professor Coyne will be challenging the evidence base provided by the PACE trial for these controversial, NICE-recommended therapies. We hope these talks will add pressure to the strong patient demand that UK NICE guidelines for ‘CFS/ME’ are urgently reviewed.”
The authors of the PACE trial claim that it shows that cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise therapy are effective treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome but the trial has received extensive criticism. At his Edinburgh talk, Professor Coyne said, “PACE really attracts my attention because it’s so goddamned bad. It’s bad in its conduct, it’s bad in its reporting, and it’s fascinating that it’s going unchallenged. And it’s uncritically being passed on by journalists and the media with clear harm to patients.”

Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
Email

1 thought on “James Coyne to talk in Belfast on “scandal” of the PACE trial”

  1. Thank you to ME Action and to the author of this article for giving our event such great publicity. Hopefully a few influential people will start to get the message. 🙂

Comments are closed.

Latest News

white rectangle with red splashes of tiny red dots in all four corners. #MEAction logo at the top. #MEAction Minnesota Helps Save Long Covid Program in red font.

Minnesota’s Long COVID Funding Saved from Elimination

We have good news! The first-in-the-nation Long COVID program run by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has been saved from elimination! This means #MEAction will be able to continue its work helping Minnesotans with ME/CFS, Long COVID and related conditions access vital home and community-based support services, as part of our multi-year grant.   Last

Read More »

Millions Missing Scotland 2025 raises a red alert

On Wednesday 14th May 2025, #MEAction Scotland held Millions Missing Scotland outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The rally sent a clear and urgent message to the Scottish Government to act on the £4.5 million pledged in the 2025-26 budget for specialist support for ME, Long Covid, and other similar conditions. This year’s theme, ‘Red

Read More »

Research Roadmap Petition

We reached 7,000 signatures on our last letter. This time, our goal is 10,000. Please sign the letter today and share it with your friends and family.

Read More »
Scroll to Top