Keith Geraghty

Dr. Keith Geraghty is a Honorary Research  Fellow  at  the  University  of  Manchester (UK) in the Centre for Primary Care. His main research interests are patient safety and harms, doctor-patient relations, medically unexplained illness and ME/CFS research. He holds a Ph.D. in Health Management, a Master of Public Health (Merit with award of Distinction in Dissertation) and a Master Postgraduate Diploma in Research Methodology.

In addition to being a ME/CFS researcher, Dr. Geraghty is a ME/CFS patient.

Publications

 * 6 Dec 2016, Mind the Gap: Ethical Failures in the Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by Charlotte Blease & Keith Geraghty in Journal of Medical Ethics blog "Excerpt: 'In our paper, we find widespread evidence (in the literature) that ME/CFS patient testimony is devalued. Forms of exclusionary deflation may be unintentional but include ignoring patients’ views, undermining their testimony, and offering alternative explanations for their suffering (e.g. pain not being biological but somatised). We also find that exclusion is expressed as negative stereotyping (“heartsinky patients”), and by pernicious ways of psychologising patients’ worries and complaints (even labelling patients as “illness seeking”). Indeed, it is because of the incomplete knowledge of CFS/ME that patients may be especially vulnerable to insidious and harmful forms of ‘expert’ gap-filling.'"
 * 5 Dec 2016, Epistemic injustice in healthcare encounters: evidence from chronic fatigue syndrome by Blease C, Carel H. & Geraghty K (2016) in Journal of Medical Ethics "'Abstract: Chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) remains a controversial illness category. This paper surveys the state of knowledge and attitudes about this illness and proposes that epistemic concerns about the testimonial credibility of patients can be articulated using Miranda Fricker's concept of epistemic injustice. While there is consensus within mainstream medical guidelines that there is no known cause of CFS/ME, there is continued debate about how best to conceive of CFS/ME, including disagreement about how to interpret clinical studies of treatments. Against this background, robust qualitative and quantitative research from a range of countries has found that many doctors (and medical students) display uncertainty about whether CFS/ME is real, which may result in delays in diagnosis and treatment for patients. Strikingly, qualitative research evinces that patients with CFS/ME often experience suspicion by healthcare professionals, and many patients vocally oppose the effectiveness, and the conceptualisation, of their illness as psychologically treatable. We address the intersection of these issues and healthcare ethics, and claim that this state of affairs can be explained as a case of epistemic injustice (2007). We find evidence that healthcare consultations are fora where patients with CFS/ME may be particularly vulnerable to epistemic injustice. We argue that the (often unintentional) marginalisation of many patients is a professional failure that may lead to further ethical and practical consequences both for progressive research into CFS/ME, and for ethical care and delivery of current treatments among individuals suffering from this debilitating illness.'"
 * 23 Sept 2016, 'PACE-Gate': When clinical trial evidence meets open data access "'Abstract: Science is not always plain sailing and sometimes the voyage is across an angry sea. A recent clinical trial of treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome (the PACE trial) has whipped up a storm of controversy. Patients claim the lead authors over-stated the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise therapy by lowering the thresholds they used to determine improvement. In this extraordinary case, patients discovered that the treatments tested had much lower efficacy after an information tribunal ordered the release of data from the PACE trial to a patient who had requested access using a freedom of information request.'"
 * 1 Aug 2016, Chronic fatigue syndrome: is the biopsychosocial model responsible for patient dissatisfaction and harm? British Journal of General Practice.
 * 27 Jun 2016, Geraghty, K. (2016). The ‘all in the mind’ myth of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Nursing in Practice.
 * 2016, Geraghty, K., & Esmail, A. (2016). Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Biopsychosocial Model: Accounting for Harm in the Medical Encounter. Conference paper.
 * 1 May 2016Geraghty, K. (2016). Doing Research in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with Chronic Fatigue. Conference paper.
 * 7 Nov 2015, Geraghty, K., & Twisk, F. (2015). Deviant cellular and physiological responses to exercise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Jacobs Journal of Physiology, 1(2).

Online Presence

 * Twitter
 * keith.geraghty@manchester.ac.uk Professional email

Learn More

 * May 2016 IACFSME Newsletter - Doing Research in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Dr. Keith Geraghty