Dr Esther Crawley responds to Prof Robin Gill’s letter of concern (Church Times, 8 October 2010) about the ethics of the Bath/Bristol SMILE Lightning Process pilot study
Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-3eB
On 8 October, Professor Robin Gill had a letter published in the Church Times. A full copy of Prof Gill’s concerns about this pilot study can be read in this posting:
Children should not be used as guinea pigs
Church Times, 8 October 2010
BY: ROBIN GILL
Clinical trials of a training programme for ME, MS, and other conditions raise serious ethical questions, argues Robin Gill.
Canon, Prof Robin Gill is a member of the BMA Medical Ethics Committee, has been a member of the Medical Research Council’s Stem Cell Steering Committee, is President of the Society for the Study of Christian Ethics and Chairs the British Sociological Association’s Study Group of Religion.
In the current issue of Church Times (Page 19, 26 November 2010) the Editor has published this response from Dr Esther Crawley, SMILE pilot study Chief Investigator to Prof Gill’s letter:
Professor Gill’s article on the SMILE study
From Dr Esther Crawley
Sir, — On 8 October, you published an article about a feasibility randomised controlled trial investigating interventions for CFS/ME in teenagers — the SMILE study. This article appeared two weeks after all study documentation was made publicly available, and we are disappointed that the author, Professor Robin Gill, made no attempt to contact the study team to verify his assertions before publication, particularly given the nature and strength of the assertions made.
We agree with Professor Gill that there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of the Lightning Process in treating CFS/ME. Despite this, approximately 250 children a year pay for and attend Lightning Process interventions. It is precisely for this reason that we listened to children and their families who have asked for improved evidence, and are conducting research that will enable them to make informed decisions about their care.
The SMILE project is not “comparing the effectiveness of the Lightning Process with that of conventional medical care”. Participants in this study will receive either specialist medical care or specialist medical care plus the Lightning Process. The purpose of the study is to assess the feasibility of recruitment to a full trial — it is not designed to compare outcomes of care.
In this article, Professor Gill argues that children or non-competent adults should be involved only when competent and consenting adults have been fully tested first or where this is impossible, and he quotes from the guidance issued by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the General Medical Council (GMC). There are, however, other quotations he could have selected, such as the MRC’s lengthy advice about when research into medical care for children is important (pages 7-8) and ethical (page 13), and similar statements from the GMC.
Our protocol makes it clear that CFS/ME in children is not sufficiently close to CFS/ME in adults to mean that research in adults could be extrapolated to children. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health states: “Research involving children is important for the benefit of all children and should be supported, encouraged and conducted in an ethical manner.”
Professor Gill ends by stating: “The coercion of children is not an ethically acceptable option.” We absolutely agree with this, and deeply resent the implication that our study involves such coercion. This view was encouraged by the cartoon used to illustrate the article, which we find abhorrent and unacceptable.
All the children and families participating in the SMILE study provide fully informed consent/assent by means of a rigorous, recorded procedure that has been reviewed and given a favourable opinion by a research ethics committee. No child is coerced to join the study, and participants can withdraw at any time.
ESTHER CRAWLEY
on behalf of the SMILE Study Group
School of Social and Community Medicine
University of Bristol
Hampton House
Cotham Hill
Bristol BS6 6JSThe Editor apologises for any offence caused by the cartoon, and for any misrepresentation of the research it might have suggested.
Related material:
1] SMILE – Specialist Medical Intervention and Lightning Evaluation documents (Lightning Process pilot study – children [now aged 12 to 18] with CFS and ME):http://wp.me/p5foE-37x
2] Background to this issue:http://wp.me/p5foE-2Vt
3] All posts on Lightning Process pilot study in children issue:
https://meagenda.wordpress.com/category/lightning-process-smile-study/
4] Children should not be used as guinea pigs, Church Times, 8 October 2010: http://wp.me/p5foE-3ak
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