Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16179

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Publication type: Journal Article

Rawlins M, Littlejohns P.
NICE on back pain: NICE outraged by ousting of pain society president
BMJ. 2009 Jul 28; 339:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/339/jul28_3/b3028

Abstract:

The British Pain Society has voted to force its president, Professor Paul Watson, out of office because some members disagreed with a recommendation in the recent guideline on low back pain from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that he helped to develop.1 The society’s sustained campaign against a highly respected pain management and rehabilitation expert is shameful and professional victimisation of the worst kind.

All NICE guidelines are developed by independent clinical and patient experts who give up their time and expertise over two years to produce robust, evidence based guidance. It is totally unacceptable for guideline developers to be singled out and have their professional integrity called into question simply because some groups don’t like a robust, evidence based recommendation that has been developed by a group of independent experts.

The guideline developers’ only aim is to help to improve the care and treatment of . . .