Elsevier have responded to a petition to change the definition of ME/CFS in their book ‘Clinical Medicine' by Kumar and Clark, which has now gained more than 9,700 signatures.
Catherine Ashenfelter
Summary of the petition
- Since it's inception on 8th January 2025, the petition on Change.org has gained over 9,700 signatures, and is co-signed by many leading ME/CFS charities, including the ME Association.
- The petition is calling for the publishers to ensure that the next edition of the book, due to be published later this year, has an updated definition of ME/CFS. The key changes called for are:
- That ME/CFS is taken out from Liaison Psychiatry and Functional Somatic Syndromes section of the book
- The book includes the term ME as well as CFS
- The section is rewritten by a physician and not a psychiatrist
- That the promotion of Graded Exercise and CBT is withdrawn as a treatment for ME/CFS
- That the section should include up-to-date references
- That the statement declaring no obvious pathology has been found, to be withdrawn, as some ME specialists have confirmed pathology in ME/CFS
- To sign the petition, please click here.
The response from Elsevier
“Dear Supporters,
We have finally heard back from Elsevier after contacting their Board of Directors in November 2024. The following letter was received on 11 February 2025, from Elsevier's London address:
Dear Mrs Ashenfelter
Thank you for contacting Elsevier to highlight the petition at change.org calling for changes in the way ME/CFS is handled in Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine. The book’s editors are aware of the petition, and of the strength of feeling held by many ME/CFS patients and their friends and family members about the way the condition has traditionally been approached within the medical profession.
They have borne this in mind when producing the next (11th) edition of the book, which is due to be published in 2025. They have worked with the specialist chapter authors to produce content which addresses the concerns of patient groups, whilst being based on the range of published literature and contemporary treatment approaches within the field.
Yours Sincerely,
Vice President Global Medical Education Content
We will have to wait and see what the ‘content which addresses the concerns of patient groups' will be in the next edition.
Please keep signing and circulating the petition until a breakthrough is made.
Further information
Elsevier (publisher) – Petition to request updating of the description of ME/CFS in Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine textbook.
The Grace Charity for M.E. (registered charity 1117058)
Co-signatories of this petition:
The 25% ME Group, Tymes Trust , The ME Association and Dr. Nina Muirhead