Richard Vallée
@richardvallee.bsky.social
I play language. Mostly irreverent. Debugger.
AI. Global warming. Integrity. Health. Science.
Chronically ill punk rocker.
I think about the future a lot.
AI. Global warming. Integrity. Health. Science.
Chronically ill punk rocker.
I think about the future a lot.
Nothing emphasizes the fact that health is political, health care is political, and medicine is political, than the fact that millions of people have to beg, BEG, to have their disabling illness be taken seriously.
Everything is politics, the little people always get screwed.
Everything is politics, the little people always get screwed.
1) No new research papers today, so we wanted to share some info from the big PAIS protest in the Netherlands on Sunday. It had a big turnout and reached the national press.
December 5, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Nothing emphasizes the fact that health is political, health care is political, and medicine is political, than the fact that millions of people have to beg, BEG, to have their disabling illness be taken seriously.
Everything is politics, the little people always get screwed.
Everything is politics, the little people always get screwed.
It's easy to think that humanity has progressed past the point at which basic physics like this is no longer controversial.
Yes, physics works the way it's been known to operate and it doesn't care about politics.
It's a miracle hospitals don't have phrenology departments, frankly.
Yes, physics works the way it's been known to operate and it doesn't care about politics.
It's a miracle hospitals don't have phrenology departments, frankly.
Real world experiment conducted in Swiss school.
"Prolonged exposure in shared, poorly ventilated spaces, which potentially includes several infectious sources, drives respiratory virus transmission more than close contact."
--> WE NEED CLEAN AIR
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Prolonged exposure in shared, poorly ventilated spaces, which potentially includes several infectious sources, drives respiratory virus transmission more than close contact."
--> WE NEED CLEAN AIR
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:55 PM
It's easy to think that humanity has progressed past the point at which basic physics like this is no longer controversial.
Yes, physics works the way it's been known to operate and it doesn't care about politics.
It's a miracle hospitals don't have phrenology departments, frankly.
Yes, physics works the way it's been known to operate and it doesn't care about politics.
It's a miracle hospitals don't have phrenology departments, frankly.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
I'll be writing about #LongCOVID trials in kids for
@thesicktimes.org.
With the protocol for the LDN trial now available for public comment. I wanted to hear from parents and researchers about their thoughts on the protocol. DM me to get in touch.
recovercovid.org/news/recover...
@thesicktimes.org.
With the protocol for the LDN trial now available for public comment. I wanted to hear from parents and researchers about their thoughts on the protocol. DM me to get in touch.
recovercovid.org/news/recover...
RECOVER: Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery
The long-term effects of COVID are real. Join the NIH in the search for answers.
recovercovid.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I'll be writing about #LongCOVID trials in kids for
@thesicktimes.org.
With the protocol for the LDN trial now available for public comment. I wanted to hear from parents and researchers about their thoughts on the protocol. DM me to get in touch.
recovercovid.org/news/recover...
@thesicktimes.org.
With the protocol for the LDN trial now available for public comment. I wanted to hear from parents and researchers about their thoughts on the protocol. DM me to get in touch.
recovercovid.org/news/recover...
Reposted by Richard Vallée
“...We are up against the seductive allure of claims we’d like to believe are true but aren’t... that we can prevent & cure cancer with some kind of ‘mind work’... This dubious research needs to be flagged w/sufficient prominence & transparency... to prevent researchers taking it in good faith.” 🧪
Diederik Stapel was a massive watershed moment in psychology.
However, he was -- and let's be slightly glib here -- some guy from The Netherlands who wrote social psychology papers.
The full accounting of the Eysenck case is approx, at minimum, TWO STAPELS.
retractionwatch.com/2025/12/03/n...
However, he was -- and let's be slightly glib here -- some guy from The Netherlands who wrote social psychology papers.
The full accounting of the Eysenck case is approx, at minimum, TWO STAPELS.
retractionwatch.com/2025/12/03/n...
Number of ‘unsafe’ publications by psychologist Hans Eysenck could be ‘high and far reaching’
Hans Eysenck A “high and far reaching” number of papers and books by Hans Eysenck could be “unsafe,” according to an updated statement from King’s College London, where the psychologist was a profe…
retractionwatch.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:38 PM
“...We are up against the seductive allure of claims we’d like to believe are true but aren’t... that we can prevent & cure cancer with some kind of ‘mind work’... This dubious research needs to be flagged w/sufficient prominence & transparency... to prevent researchers taking it in good faith.” 🧪
Reposted by Richard Vallée
In recent @jamanetworkopen.com exercise study with clinically insiginficant findings, all participants scored way below healthy adults--a major fact overlooked by the paper. Also, @thesicktimes.org reports on exercise trials. virology.ws/2025/11/25/t...
Trial By Error: JAMA Touts Long COVID Exercise Trial with Clinically Insignificant Results; Most LC Exercise Trials Ignore PEM, Per Sick Times | Virology Blog
By David Tuller, DrPH In its current “Medical News in Brief” section, JAMA is touting and amplifying the questionable claims of a flawed trial to treat or p ...
virology.ws
November 26, 2025 at 7:33 AM
In recent @jamanetworkopen.com exercise study with clinically insiginficant findings, all participants scored way below healthy adults--a major fact overlooked by the paper. Also, @thesicktimes.org reports on exercise trials. virology.ws/2025/11/25/t...
The basic problem of economics is very comparable to the economics of medical research.
Curing diseases is expensive. Not curing them is even more expensive. We are very far from the optimal level of investment.
We do the same with poverty and living, and no one gains anything from it.
Curing diseases is expensive. Not curing them is even more expensive. We are very far from the optimal level of investment.
We do the same with poverty and living, and no one gains anything from it.
One of the most common replies in any discussion of universal basic income is "but how do we pay for it?" and not once do those same people ever question the costs incurred by not doing UBI. We spend $1.5 trillion every year on the costs of child poverty alone. Poverty ain't free, folks. WE ALL PAY.
December 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The basic problem of economics is very comparable to the economics of medical research.
Curing diseases is expensive. Not curing them is even more expensive. We are very far from the optimal level of investment.
We do the same with poverty and living, and no one gains anything from it.
Curing diseases is expensive. Not curing them is even more expensive. We are very far from the optimal level of investment.
We do the same with poverty and living, and no one gains anything from it.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
Medicine, which should have led when the public were blind/ignorant to the problem, utterly failed. It should come out of #longcovid, #myalgicencephalomyelitis etc with no pride whatsoever.
And it should be reminded of this at every turn.
And it should be reminded of this at every turn.
December 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Medicine, which should have led when the public were blind/ignorant to the problem, utterly failed. It should come out of #longcovid, #myalgicencephalomyelitis etc with no pride whatsoever.
And it should be reminded of this at every turn.
And it should be reminded of this at every turn.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
It’s #GivingTuesday! Will you help us get our fundraiser back on track and keep our #LongCOVID journalism going? the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/
December 2, 2025 at 2:57 PM
It’s #GivingTuesday! Will you help us get our fundraiser back on track and keep our #LongCOVID journalism going? the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/
I'm fine with most of society doing that. There's lots of bad things going on that most people should be leaving to professionals.
The problem here is that medicine also would rather not think about or do something about it, is in fact helping covering it up.
The problem here is that medicine also would rather not think about or do something about it, is in fact helping covering it up.
“The problem with Long COVID is that most of society would rather not see it.”
@philipandrewhoover.bsky.social writes that he often feels that he’s living a double life. How can this sick side of him be so central, so enormous, yet so unseen by those who know and love him? bit.ly/4pf80g7
@philipandrewhoover.bsky.social writes that he often feels that he’s living a double life. How can this sick side of him be so central, so enormous, yet so unseen by those who know and love him? bit.ly/4pf80g7
December 2, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I'm fine with most of society doing that. There's lots of bad things going on that most people should be leaving to professionals.
The problem here is that medicine also would rather not think about or do something about it, is in fact helping covering it up.
The problem here is that medicine also would rather not think about or do something about it, is in fact helping covering it up.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
The people who are trying to destroy universities when it comes to inclusion around race and gender are also opposed to inclusion around disability. This bullshit gives them cover. Once again, legacy media laundering far right complaints because it makes elites feel smug.
The administration is extorting universities for billions of dollars and attempting to destroy free speech, academic freedom, and independent thought but the Atlantic talked to a few professors at elite universities who think the problem is that some students need a little extra time on exams
December 2, 2025 at 3:10 PM
The people who are trying to destroy universities when it comes to inclusion around race and gender are also opposed to inclusion around disability. This bullshit gives them cover. Once again, legacy media laundering far right complaints because it makes elites feel smug.
AI is not ready for medicine yet, but comparisons like this don't account for the most important difference AI medicine: availability.
Comparing AI to the best experts who are given ample time to work on a case is not a real life comparison. Health care is scarce, extremely rationed.
Comparing AI to the best experts who are given ample time to work on a case is not a real life comparison. Health care is scarce, extremely rationed.
Doctors still outperform AI in clinical reasoning, study www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/202... via @ualberta.bsky.social
"...advanced AI models struggle to update judgment in response to new and uncertain information, and often fail to recognize when some information is completely irrelevant."
"...advanced AI models struggle to update judgment in response to new and uncertain information, and often fail to recognize when some information is completely irrelevant."
Doctors still outperform AI in clinical reasoning, study shows
A U of A neurology resident developed a test to see how well large language models do at the clinical reasoning doctors need to diagnose patients — and found that even advanced AI struggles to adapt t...
www.ualberta.ca
December 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
AI is not ready for medicine yet, but comparisons like this don't account for the most important difference AI medicine: availability.
Comparing AI to the best experts who are given ample time to work on a case is not a real life comparison. Health care is scarce, extremely rationed.
Comparing AI to the best experts who are given ample time to work on a case is not a real life comparison. Health care is scarce, extremely rationed.
If you know anything about the history of post-infectious illnesses, like Long Covid and ME/CFS, this happening in The Hague is hugely symbolic.
A crisis of choice built on hubris and perpetuated by failed systems that refuse to learn from destroying millions of lives.
A crisis of choice built on hubris and perpetuated by failed systems that refuse to learn from destroying millions of lives.
Some photos from the #PAISProtest now happening at the Malieveld in The Hague.
Looks like a nice crowd has gathered.
Looks like a nice crowd has gathered.
November 30, 2025 at 3:47 PM
If you know anything about the history of post-infectious illnesses, like Long Covid and ME/CFS, this happening in The Hague is hugely symbolic.
A crisis of choice built on hubris and perpetuated by failed systems that refuse to learn from destroying millions of lives.
A crisis of choice built on hubris and perpetuated by failed systems that refuse to learn from destroying millions of lives.
The decision to neglect chronic illnesses like Long Covid and ME/CFS, largely made on the basis of seeing only the costs and never the benefits of research, is by far the most expensive option.
Curing diseases is expensive. The only thing more expensive is ignoring them. The losses never end.
Curing diseases is expensive. The only thing more expensive is ignoring them. The losses never end.
Just as some country's (e.g. Finland), are finding that it is cheaper to house the unhoused than not, the world may eventually realise that it is cheaper to prevent #LongCOVID, than not -
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/lon...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/lon...
Long COVID takes $1 trillion global economic toll each year, analysis suggests
www.cidrap.umn.edu
November 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The decision to neglect chronic illnesses like Long Covid and ME/CFS, largely made on the basis of seeing only the costs and never the benefits of research, is by far the most expensive option.
Curing diseases is expensive. The only thing more expensive is ignoring them. The losses never end.
Curing diseases is expensive. The only thing more expensive is ignoring them. The losses never end.
Very much like medicine's early resistance to the germ theory of disease, because germs couldn't be observed directly at the time.
This isn't about the same mistakes, it's about the same fallacious reasoning that leads to repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
This isn't about the same mistakes, it's about the same fallacious reasoning that leads to repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
Irish Farmers Journal: "My life has been shattered by long COVID"
'Part of the reason is because long COVID is “a very hidden disease,” he explains. “Because people get this debilitating fatigue and brain fog..."
www.farmersjournal.ie/life/health/...
'Part of the reason is because long COVID is “a very hidden disease,” he explains. “Because people get this debilitating fatigue and brain fog..."
www.farmersjournal.ie/life/health/...
‘My life has been shattered by long COVID’
There are more than 200 symptoms related to long COVID, which have a substantial impact on the daily lives of those living with it.
www.farmersjournal.ie
November 28, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Very much like medicine's early resistance to the germ theory of disease, because germs couldn't be observed directly at the time.
This isn't about the same mistakes, it's about the same fallacious reasoning that leads to repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
This isn't about the same mistakes, it's about the same fallacious reasoning that leads to repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
Every time a study shows rates of 'depression' and 'anxiety' in chronic illnesses like Long Covid, it must be pointed out that what they mean is that questionnaires that ask questions about similar symptoms to chronic illness have similar answers.
Which is normal. It's just the illness.
Which is normal. It's just the illness.
#COVID patients have higher rates of #depression, #anxiety, #headache, and #fatigue before diagnosis, study suggests
The association may be explained by shared biological pathways, such as chronic inflammation and neuroinflammation.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
The association may be explained by shared biological pathways, such as chronic inflammation and neuroinflammation.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...
November 27, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Every time a study shows rates of 'depression' and 'anxiety' in chronic illnesses like Long Covid, it must be pointed out that what they mean is that questionnaires that ask questions about similar symptoms to chronic illness have similar answers.
Which is normal. It's just the illness.
Which is normal. It's just the illness.
“It is deeply disappointing that we yet again mark another year where the government has failed to recognise Long COVID and severe post COVID-19 complications as an occupational disease in healthcare workers.”
The BMA has long opposed recognition of the chronic illnesses seen in Long Covid.
The BMA has long opposed recognition of the chronic illnesses seen in Long Covid.
Healthcare Today: 'Calls for the government to recognise Long Covid'
'The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing have written to the government urging it to recognise long COVID as a prescribed industrial disease'
healthcaretoday.com/article/call...
'The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing have written to the government urging it to recognise long COVID as a prescribed industrial disease'
healthcaretoday.com/article/call...
Calls for the government to recognise Long Covid
The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing have written to the government urging it to recognise long COVID as a prescribed industrial disease.
healthcaretoday.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
“It is deeply disappointing that we yet again mark another year where the government has failed to recognise Long COVID and severe post COVID-19 complications as an occupational disease in healthcare workers.”
The BMA has long opposed recognition of the chronic illnesses seen in Long Covid.
The BMA has long opposed recognition of the chronic illnesses seen in Long Covid.
The fact that the research has not progressed at all says everything.
Medicine got this all wrong from the start, despite having everything in their hands to do better, and has shown itself incapable of adapting.
A system with no real leadership, accountability or ability to learn. Major fail.
Medicine got this all wrong from the start, despite having everything in their hands to do better, and has shown itself incapable of adapting.
A system with no real leadership, accountability or ability to learn. Major fail.
#MEAction’s Scientific Director, Jaime Seltzer:
“The flawed idea central to these trials is that exercise is a panacea, and gradually increasing it could treat Long COVID. As a result, the research won’t advance our understanding of the disease’s actual underlying mechanisms."
“The flawed idea central to these trials is that exercise is a panacea, and gradually increasing it could treat Long COVID. As a result, the research won’t advance our understanding of the disease’s actual underlying mechanisms."
November 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
The fact that the research has not progressed at all says everything.
Medicine got this all wrong from the start, despite having everything in their hands to do better, and has shown itself incapable of adapting.
A system with no real leadership, accountability or ability to learn. Major fail.
Medicine got this all wrong from the start, despite having everything in their hands to do better, and has shown itself incapable of adapting.
A system with no real leadership, accountability or ability to learn. Major fail.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
I wrote recently about my experience with post-exertional malaise #PEM. Last year, I tried graded exercise therapy and it put me into a #PEMCrash that lasted for months. The physical therapist that “has worked with many #LongCovid #MECFS patients” had this mindset.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
November 24, 2025 at 11:30 PM
I wrote recently about my experience with post-exertional malaise #PEM. Last year, I tried graded exercise therapy and it put me into a #PEMCrash that lasted for months. The physical therapist that “has worked with many #LongCovid #MECFS patients” had this mindset.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Most governments and public health & medical authorities had more than enough information to act about LC by Fall 2020.
They all refused to do anything & covered it up instead. A massive scandal that anyone can easily see but is impossible to fix because there is no accountability in those systems.
They all refused to do anything & covered it up instead. A massive scandal that anyone can easily see but is impossible to fix because there is no accountability in those systems.
1/
"There was sufficient information available by October 2020 for decision-makers to understand that Long Covid was a significant policy and health issue to be tackled”. Yet those warnings were dismissed as anecdotal":
www.longcovid.org/impact/news/...
"There was sufficient information available by October 2020 for decision-makers to understand that Long Covid was a significant policy and health issue to be tackled”. Yet those warnings were dismissed as anecdotal":
www.longcovid.org/impact/news/...
Long Covid Support
To learn more visit LongCovid.org
www.longcovid.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Most governments and public health & medical authorities had more than enough information to act about LC by Fall 2020.
They all refused to do anything & covered it up instead. A massive scandal that anyone can easily see but is impossible to fix because there is no accountability in those systems.
They all refused to do anything & covered it up instead. A massive scandal that anyone can easily see but is impossible to fix because there is no accountability in those systems.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
All public health officials and infectious disease experts who advocated for “you do you” and “be kind” and refused to listen to experts in adjacent fields like physics, engineering and industrial hygiene:
This is on you.
You fed the anti-science monster. Now it has taken over.
This is on you.
You fed the anti-science monster. Now it has taken over.
Disinformation escalation by RFK:
The CDC has now "repudiated its past insistence that vaccines do not cause autism after decades of fighting misinformation linking the two, blindsiding career staff and delighting anti-vaccine activists."
What to know:
1/6
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
The CDC has now "repudiated its past insistence that vaccines do not cause autism after decades of fighting misinformation linking the two, blindsiding career staff and delighting anti-vaccine activists."
What to know:
1/6
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Under RFK Jr., CDC promotes false vaccines-autism link it once discredited
The CDC’s website now says health authorities ignored evidence of a potential connection between vaccines and autism, despite dozens of studies showing no link.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:41 PM
All public health officials and infectious disease experts who advocated for “you do you” and “be kind” and refused to listen to experts in adjacent fields like physics, engineering and industrial hygiene:
This is on you.
You fed the anti-science monster. Now it has taken over.
This is on you.
You fed the anti-science monster. Now it has taken over.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
Please fill in this survey if you are a HCP with #longcovid or #ME. Please share widely thank you
🚨New survey alert 🚨
The experiences of healthcare professionals living with Long COVID (with PEM) and/or ME
All information can be found on the landing page here.
www.physiosforme.com/hcpwithmesur...
The experiences of healthcare professionals living with Long COVID (with PEM) and/or ME
All information can be found on the landing page here.
www.physiosforme.com/hcpwithmesur...
hcps with ME survey | Physiosforme
www.physiosforme.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Please fill in this survey if you are a HCP with #longcovid or #ME. Please share widely thank you
It's wild how one of the many big cliffs coming for humanity, demographic collapse pushing already unfit health care systems into even more chaos, is never talked about.
Things are already really bad everywhere, and they will get so much worse as our societies age.
Things are already really bad everywhere, and they will get so much worse as our societies age.
What an awful mess the NHS is in. Nearly two thirds of staff working while sick. This is risking patient and staff safety. The government guidance needs updating to reflect COVID is airborne and management and unions need to push back please! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Two-thirds of nurses in UK work while unwell, says union
Understaffing is driving workers to ill health and discouraging them for taking leave, says Royal College of Nursing CEO
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:31 PM
It's wild how one of the many big cliffs coming for humanity, demographic collapse pushing already unfit health care systems into even more chaos, is never talked about.
Things are already really bad everywhere, and they will get so much worse as our societies age.
Things are already really bad everywhere, and they will get so much worse as our societies age.
Ironically, the increasing popularity of things that don't even work within medicine itself, driven by so-called evidence-based medicine, has been growing for decades and is a big reason for this.
People respond to failed systems. Failed systems don't adapt. Medicine isn't adapting. It's stuck.
People respond to failed systems. Failed systems don't adapt. Medicine isn't adapting. It's stuck.
First opinions, 2nd opinions, analyzing lab tests, preparing for a clinic visit, helping to make difficult diagnoses, and more use cases. Its popularity will keep increasing despite lack of objective data for benefit or harm
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/w...
Frustrated by the Medical System, Patients Turn to A.I.
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Ironically, the increasing popularity of things that don't even work within medicine itself, driven by so-called evidence-based medicine, has been growing for decades and is a big reason for this.
People respond to failed systems. Failed systems don't adapt. Medicine isn't adapting. It's stuck.
People respond to failed systems. Failed systems don't adapt. Medicine isn't adapting. It's stuck.
Hopefully they don't waste 90% of it like RECOVER did...
Or just cancel it under pressure from ideologues holding on to their precious fairy tales.
The biggest obstacle to solving those illnesses will remain the medical profession itself for quite a while.
Or just cancel it under pressure from ideologues holding on to their precious fairy tales.
The biggest obstacle to solving those illnesses will remain the medical profession itself for quite a while.
Big step for people with #mecfs & #LongCovid in Germany: the BMFTR announces a “National Decade on Post-Infectious Diseases” with long-term research funding and a focus on diagnostics & treatments. #mecfsresearch #research
November 14, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Hopefully they don't waste 90% of it like RECOVER did...
Or just cancel it under pressure from ideologues holding on to their precious fairy tales.
The biggest obstacle to solving those illnesses will remain the medical profession itself for quite a while.
Or just cancel it under pressure from ideologues holding on to their precious fairy tales.
The biggest obstacle to solving those illnesses will remain the medical profession itself for quite a while.
Reposted by Richard Vallée
Big step for people with #mecfs & #LongCovid in Germany: the BMFTR announces a “National Decade on Post-Infectious Diseases” with long-term research funding and a focus on diagnostics & treatments. #mecfsresearch #research
November 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Big step for people with #mecfs & #LongCovid in Germany: the BMFTR announces a “National Decade on Post-Infectious Diseases” with long-term research funding and a focus on diagnostics & treatments. #mecfsresearch #research