NICE GUIDELINES ON ME

Early day motion 271, tabled 6 September 2017 by Stephen Timms (Labour). Signed by 92 members.

That this House welcomes NICE's consultation with patients and their representatives on whether to review its clinical guidelines on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME (CG53); notes that myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a serious, debilitating, chronic health condition affecting about 250,000 people in the UK, and is concerned that about half of the patients asked in a number of surveys reported adverse effects on their health from Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) which is recommended by NICE; notes recent biomedical research indicating an abnormal physiological response to exercise in ME patients, and that the US Centre for Disease Control no longer recommends GET for ME; notes also the unanimous call from consultation stakeholders, and a petition of 15,180 patients, for NICE to update its guidelines on ME; and urges NICE to review CG53 and to consider patient experience and recent international scientific evidence in its assessment of the merits of GET for treating ME.

Signatures by party: Labour 42, Scottish National Party 16, Liberal Democrat 9, Conservative 7, DUP 7, Labour/Co-operative 5, Plaid Cymru 3, Independent 2, Green 1.