High court rejects challenge to NICE guidelines on chronic fatigue syndrome

A legal challenge to guidance that recommends that NHS patients with chronic fatigue syndrome should be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise therapy has been rejected by the High Court in London.

The judge, Mr Justice Simon, expressed concern at allegations by the two patients who brought the action that experts who had helped formulate the guidelines were biased against other types of treatments and had approached the exercise with closed minds.

He said the “unfounded” claims were “damaging to those against whom they were made and were such as may cause health professionals to hesitate before they involve themselves in this area of medicine.”

He added, “A perception that this is an area of medicine where contrary …