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ME/CFS SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

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The Down Side of Fibromyalgia & CFS Awareness

Sunday 15 February 2009

NewspapersAbout.com’s Adrienne Dellwo makes an interesting point about the increasing awareness of ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia in the media:

“With drug approvals for fibromyalgia came advertisements for drugs and PSAs about the condition itself. Awareness went up. That's good, right? Well ... yes, except that it makes us a higher-profile target.

Just as there are two sides to every coin, increased awareness of fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) has a down side. An example of the down side is an Associated Press (AP) report accusing pharmaceutical companies of 'disease mongering' and bringing up the tired old debate about whether FMS is 'real.'”

The full article is here:

About.com: The Down Side of Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness

If, after reading Adrienne’s article, you doubt the media could be that unhelpful, here’s a recent news item from CBS News that proves Adrienne’s point:

CBS News: Fibromyalgia: Disease Or Marketing Ploy?

The article begins rather provocatively (those of a sensitive disposition may wish to look away):

“Two drugmakers spent hundreds of millions of dollars last year to raise awareness of a murky illness, helping boost sales of pills recently approved as treatments and drowning out unresolved questions - including whether it's a real disease at all.”

Fibromyalgia has been called a lot of things, but we’ve never heard it called “murky” before…

 


 

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