“Why can’t chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalitis be like other common chronic conditions where patients, carers, doctors, and researchers work together to pose research questions, gain understanding, and—in the absence of clear explanations and cures—at least find ways to respond to patients’ needs?” So asks BMJ deputy editor Trish Groves after attending this year’s Invest in ME conference (doi:10.1136/bmj.d3774). She had accepted the organisers’ invitation with an open mind, heartened by the conference theme: “A case for clinical trials.” But emotions were running high. The PACE trial had just found that cognitive therapy and graded exercise therapy can help, to the fury of patient groups who dispute a …