Whittemore Peterson Institute: Difference between revisions
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The Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease (WPI) is a pathology laboratory in Reno, Nevada[1] dedicated to the study of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The laboratory is affiliated with the University of Nevada and was named after founders Annette and Harvey Whittemore and Daniel Peterson, a CFS doctor. Annette Whittemore is the president of the Institute.[2] WPI is scheduled to open in 2010, but has already published a research finding, a controversial report that a retrovirus causes CFS.
History
Andrea Whittemore, daughter of Harvey and Annette Whittemore, developed CFS symptoms at the age of 11.[3] According to her parents, numerous doctors were unable to help her, and the first improvement in her condition came only ten years later, when she was treated with an experimental antiviral drug by Daniel Peterson. The Whittemores and Peterson shared a conviction that government agencies were ignoring CFS patients and that the disorder must have an infectious cause. They also felt that the syndrome should be renamed "myalgic encephalomyelitis". Envisioning an integrated facility for dedicated CFS treatment, education and research, they founded the institute.[3]
Funds for the project were provided by the Whittemores.[3] Harvey Whittemore is a lawyer,[4] lobbyist[5] and multimillionaire land developer in Nevada.[4] He also secured political support. The laboratory is scheduled to move into a University of Nevada, Reno building and officially open in 2010.[3]
XMRV/CFS controversy
In 2009, researchers associated with WPI reported in the journal Science that a retrovirus known as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.[6] The authors of the report included Daniel Peterson and Whittemore Peterson's lead researchers, Judy Mikovits and Vincent Lombardi. Robert Silverman, co-discoverer of XMRV, also contributed. XMRV DNA was found in the blood of 68 out of 101 CFS patients and in 4% of samples from healthy people. The authors suggested that XMRV might cause CFS or be associated with it as a disease marker. In later press releases, WPI scientists revised their estimate of XMRV prevalence in CFS patients to over 95%[1] and proposed a new name for CFS, X-associated neuro-immune disease (XAND). The WPI article was followed by extensive media coverage, and CFS patients reportedly began to buy a diagnostic test offered by a WPI-associated clinic and to ask for antiretroviral drugs.[7]
In a follow-up study published in 2010, researchers with Imperial College, London were unable find evidence of XMRV in 186 CFS patients. The United Kingdom group implied that the Nevada team's results could be explained by laboratory contamination and concluded that an XMRV/CFS connection is unlikely, at least in the UK.[8] These contradicting results sparked what the Economist dubbed a transatlantic "fight"[9] and Discover Magazine covered as a "Scientist Smackdown".[10] Supporters of the two teams traded accusations of conflicts of interest, technical sloppiness and failure to care about patients.[7] The subject of financial incentives for WPI was mentioned in several subsequent publications, including an article in ScienceNOW.[7] The lead author for WPI, Vince Lombardi, was in talks with WPI over intellectual property for XMRV diagnostics.[6] Soon after publication of the Science paper, Lombardi[1] and his clinic began selling the diagnostic kit for $650.[7] Virologist John Coffin and Myra McClure, corresponding author for the British team, expressed concerns that Lombardi's team were taking advantage of patients.[7]
References
- ^ a b c "UNR Virus discovery could lead to new drugs, treatments". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. 30 December, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "UNR Virus discovery could lead to new drugs, treatments". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. 30 December, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d Johnson, Cort (20 April 2008). "Annette Whittemore and the Making of the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Reno". ProHealth.com. Retrieved 06 January 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Neubauer, Chuck (25 June 2004). "Senator's Bill Would Help Friend's Development Plan; Harry Reid of Nevada seeks to lift an easement. Two sons work at the landowner's law firm". The Los Angeles Times.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Vogel, Ed (02 May 1999). "He's no listless lobbyist". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Las Vegas, Nevada.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Lombardi VC, Ruscetti FW, Das Gupta J; et al. (2009). "Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Science. 326 (5952): 585–9. doi:10.1126/science.1179052. PMID 19815723.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e Kean, Sam (06 January 2010). "Research casts doubt over US chronic fatigue virus claim". ScienceNOW Daily News. US: AAAS.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Erlwein, O; et al. (2010). "Failure to Detect the Novel Retrovirus XMRV in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". PLoS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008519.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ "A fight over the cause of a mysterious disease". The Economist. UK. 07 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Scientist Smackdown: Is a Virus Really the Cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?". 80beats, Discover Magazine. Discover Magazine. 06 January 2010. Retrieved 06 January 2010.
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