Forbes contributor includes Ron Davis/ Whitney Dafoe story

[Merry]

In a opinion piece in Forbes, a business and finance magazine, physician Paul Hsieh points to three recent news stories about "patients and families seeking the best health care values for themselves and their loved ones through science and technology." The story of geneticist Dr. Ron Davis's efforts to help his son, Whitney Dafoe, who is severely ill with ME/CFS, is the second one that Dr. Hsieh examines in this article.

Another story, “The Puzzle Solver,” described how Stanford genetics professor Ron Davis has almost single-handedly helped steer the course of research into the poorly understood condition Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME/CFS).

Davis’ 32-year old son Whitney Dafoe suffers from a severe form of this condition, leaving him house-bound. . . .

The current government-based medical research establishment has been slow to address this issue, despite the large number of patients suffering from this condition:

The National Institutes of Health allocated only $6 million in 2015 for research into CFS, which has roughly 2 million sufferers. (To put this in context, the annual NIH research budget for multiple sclerosis, with 400,000 sufferers, is $94 million.) A historical lack of acceptance within the medical establishment for CFS as a biological illness has resulted in a woeful underfunding of research, Davis says.
​

Fortunately, Whitney Dafoe’s father is a motivated world-class scientist willing to work on his son’s behalf — and on the behalf of millions of others. I wish them much success in their project.

Paul Hsieh is listed as a "contributor," which I think means that this is a freelance piece. Under his byline is the disclaimer "Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own." So it's not that the editors of Forbes are particularly interested in ME/CFS, but Paul Hsieh's free market politics fits that of the magazine. For the record, I find that view of how the world should work troubling. Nonetheless, I am heartened to see more and more serious, sympathetic press coverage of the struggles of ME/CFS patients.

You can read more of the article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsi...f-health-technology-and-freedom/#160b87fb684d

 

[Cort]

In a opinion piece in Forbes, a business and finance magazine, physician Paul Hsieh points to three recent news stories about "patients and families seeking the best health care values for themselves and their loved ones through science and technology." The story of geneticist Dr. Ron Davis's efforts to help his son, Whitney Dafoe, who is severely ill with ME/CFS, is the second one that Dr. Hsieh examines in this article.





Paul Hsieh is listed as a "contributor," which I think means that this is a freelance piece. Under his byline is the disclaimer "Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own." So it's not that the editors of Forbes are particularly interested in ME/CFS, but Paul Hsieh's free market politics fits that of the magazine. For the record, I find that view of how the world should work troubling. Nonetheless, I am heartened to see more and more positive, serious press coverage of the struggles of ME/CFS patients.

You can read more of the article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsi...f-health-technology-and-freedom/#160b87fb684d

I sympathize with your opinion and I'm glad that you posted this...boy are we getting around. (I had a feeling that this Ron Davis would be good news )

 

[Cort]

I'm glad Hsieh got this in there:

The National Institutes of Health allocated only $6 million in 2015 for research into CFS, which has roughly 2 million sufferers. (To put this in context, the annual NIH research budget for multiple sclerosis, with 400,000 sufferers, is $94 million.) A historical lack of acceptance within the medical establishment for CFS as a biological illness has resulted in a woeful underfunding of research, Davis says.​

Fortunately, Whitney Dafoe’s father is a motivated world-class scientist willing to work on his son’s behalf — and on the behalf of millions of others. I wish them much success in their project.