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Dr.Lapp CHATS on ImmuneSupport.com

On the evening of February 1, Dr. Lapp was the host of ProHealth's Chat Room.  According to the producer, this particular program set a new record by attracting 3 times more participants than the previous chat. If you're interested in finding out more, click on the link below:

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/8665

 

New York Times Article:  Is FM REAL?

On January 14, 2008, the front page of the New York Times featured an article by Alex Berenson titled, “Drug Approved.  Is Disease Real?”

Berenson pointed to the recent FDA approval of Lyrica® for the treatment of fibromyalgia, and then wondered how the FDA could approve a drug for a disease that doesn’t really exist.  He quotes several outspoken critics of FM in order to shore up his opinion.

I don’t know about you, but I was furious – as were most other physicians who (unlike Berenson or his skeptics) deal with FM every day. 

I encourage you take a sedative, lie down, then read the article at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04EFDD1531F937A25752C0A96E9C8B63

Here is Dr. Lapp's response to the Editor of the Times:

Alex Berenson's January 14 article on the front page of the Times queries, "Is [Fibromyalgia] Real?" How can Berenson – a young journalist and novelist with no obvious medical credentials – presume to challenge whether fibromyalgia (FM) is real when scientists with greater knowledge and understanding have already concluded that it is real?

The diagnosis of FM is accepted by such venerable institutions as the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Rheumatology, the FDA, and the World Health Organization. Those who suffer with FM know it's real; those with FM pain that interferes with sleep, and movement, and concentration know it's real; those who want and need to work but are disabled by FM know it's real.

It is distressing that a few individuals such as Fred Wolfe and Norton Hadler have been given such credence in the Times when the vast majority of authorities think otherwise. These men cling to an antiquated philosophy that says, "If you can't see something obviously wrong with a person, then the symptoms must be in the head." In a sense, FM is an invisible illness. You cannot see pain, or sleep disruption, or bone-crushing fatigue—but these are all real.

In addition to fibromyalgia, Hadler for one also discredits carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic low back pain. For those who have these painful and disabling problems, they are as real as rain. Other skeptics disregard "invisible" illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome and PMS.

Skeptics will always exist. There are some who believe that AIDS is not real. As is the case with FM, the skeptics are clearly wrong but entitled to their beliefs. They don't usually get a forum on the front page of the New York Times, however.

Berenson's article is clearly one-sided, giving a few skeptics a greater voice. I sincerely hope you will balance their perception with the wider-held perspective that FM is a real disease and a real cause of morbidity and disability. As a specialist who treats men and women with FM, I am grateful for the companies that research medications for the management of this disorder.

Charles W. Lapp, M.D.
Director, Hunter-Hopkins Center, Charlotte, N.C.
Assistant Consulting Professor, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

If you’d like to read other responses, go to the FM Network at: http://www.fmnetnews.com/basics-news.php#DrsRespond .