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Editorial
To Fibromyalgia Nihilists: Stop Pontificating and Test Your Hypothesis DANIEL J. WALLACE, MD,
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai/UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA. Address reprint requests to Dr. Wallace, 8737 Beverly Boulevard, Suite 203, Los Angeles, CA 90048 USA. E-mail: dwallace@ucla.edu I was surprised to find my name mentioned in Dr. Ehrlich's editorial on fibromyalgia (FM), where he stated regarding its definition that, "If one consults Wallace's book, written for the public, anything goes"1,2. As an individual who is as outraged by the spawning of a litigation industry, as well as medicalization and stigmatization of the syndrome, as Drs. Ehrlich, Hadler3, and Wolfe4 are, it is obvious that Dr. Ehrlich did not read my book, or misunderstood it. He does not realize that I am very much in agreement with many of the statements he made in his editorial. The point is that a large number of individuals have chronic widespread pain, myofascial discomfort, and/or systemic symptoms that defy a well characterized etiology, definition, and classification system. Recordings of these complaints date back to biblical times and will not "go away." Dr. Ehrlich has written numerous opinion pieces and reviews, but according to PubMed has not been an author or coauthor of a peer-reviewed, published clinical trial or survey since 1986. My book employed an even-handed, conservative, evidence-based approach. It is fine to pontificate, but Dr. Ehrlich's acknowledged skills and wisdom could be better put to use trying to help rheumatologists elucidate what this group of individuals really has, with a prospective, epidemiologic survey addressing all of his well known concerns. Show me the evidence and you will be cited! 1. Ehrlich GE. Pain is real: fibromyalgia isn't. J Rheumatol 2003;30:1666-7. [MEDLINE] 2. Wallace DJ, Wallace JB. All about fibromyalgia. A guide for patients and their families. New York: Oxford University Press; 2002. 3. Hadler NM. "Fibromyalgia" and the medicalization of misery. J Rheumatol 2003;30:1668-70. [MEDLINE] 4. Wolfe F. Stop using the American College of Rheumatology Criteria in the clinic. J Rheumatol 2003;30:1671-2. [MEDLINE] |
