Malcolm Hooper

Malcolm Hooper is Professor Emeritus of Medicine Chemistry at the University of Sunderland in the UK and an advocate for people living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). He chaired the Invest in ME International ME Conference in London in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

His numerous articles on ME, many of which were in collaboration with Margaret Williams, were mostly published on MEActionUK but can now be found here. A passionate critic of psychological theories and treatments for ME, his articles illustrate how the "Wessely School" have ignored the biomedical science on ME/CFS for almost 30 years.

Professor Hooper is also the President and Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK National Gulf Veterans and Families Association.

PACE trial criticism
Professor Hooper was the principal author of the 442 page report: Magical Medicine: How to Make a Disease Disappear, a scathing criticism of the PACE trial released a year before the first results of the trial were published in the Lancet in 2011. This was followed up by numerous other articles listed below, including a formal Complaint to The Lancet, letters to the Medical Research Council, politicians, etc.

PACE Trial Key Dates and Chronology of Complaint

Open Letter to Richard Horton, Lancet, 4/15/16 Dr. Hooper wrote an open letter on April 15, 2016 to Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet regarding PACE trial and stating "Although not within your personal remit, subsequent papers flowing from it and purporting to validate the initial findings of the PACE study also need to be retracted..."

Prof Hooper gave a talk to the Academy of Nutritional Medicine (AONM) on 19 November 2017 called 'Off the PACE' about the PACE trial.

NICE guidelines criticism
Professor Hooper has written a number of articles critical of the NICE guideline review process which resulted in the controversial 2007 NICE guidelines used by the NHS. Hooper and Reid (2006) documented the issues with the expert evidence used in the NICE guidelines, which was produced by the York Centre for Research Development (CRD).

Major articles

 * 2001, What is ME? What is CFS? Information for Clinicians and Lawyers
 * 2001, Composite Response on the Final Version of the CMO’s Report of 31st August 2001 on CFS/ME
 * 2001, Concepts of Accountability?
 * 2001, Submission to Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group on CFS/ME


 * 2003, The Mental Health Movement: Persecution of Patients?
 * 2003, Ignoring the Evidence? A response to the final version of the MRCCFS/ME Research Advisory Group Strategy of 1st May 2003


 * 2004, Some Questions about ME to which Answers are Urgently Required


 * 2005, Gibson Inquiry: Illustrations of Clinical Observations and International Research Findings from 1955 to 2005 that demonstrate the organic aetiology of ME/CFS
 * 2005, Gibson Inquiry: Concerns about Conflict of Interest
 * 2005, ME - Why no Accountability? A synopsis for the Gibson Inquiry


 * 2006, Inadequacy of the 2005 York Evidence Review for NICE - with Horace Reid
 * 2006, A Response and Appreciation of the Gibson Inquiry Report


 * 2007, ME: a Review with Emphasis on Key Findings in Biomedical Research. J Clin Pathol 2007


 * 2007, Failure of Nice to Address its Remit
 * 2007, Corporate Collusion? An overview of the misinformation about ME/CFS arising from vested interests that pervades some UK Departments of State and other Agencies
 * 2007, Defiance of Science
 * 2007, Memorandum to Health Select Committee re NICE


 * 2008, Wessely's Way: Rhetoric or Reason?


 * 2010, Submission re: DSM-V and ME/CFS
 * 2010, Magical Medicine: How to Make a Disease Disappear


 * 2011, Statistics and ME
 * 2011, Further Concerns about the PACE Trial
 * 2011, Detailed Response to Prof Peter White’s letter to The Lancet
 * 2011, Complaint to The Lancet re PACE Trial


 * 2012, Prof Wessely's Award of the Inaugural John Maddox Prize for his Courage in the Field of ME and Gulf War Syndrome
 * 2013, Key concerns about the PACE Trial - for Lawyers
 * 2013, The Role of the Science Media Centre and the Insurance Industry in ME/CFS


 * 2015, PACE Trial Key Dates and Chronology of Complaint

Journal articles

 * 2007, Myalgic encephalomyelitis: a review with emphasis on key findings in biomedical research

Talks & interviews

 * 2006, Speaker at the 1st Invest in ME International ME Conference - Summary of “Key Findings” of past bio‑medical research - DVD available
 * 2008, Speaker at the 3rd Invest in ME International ME Conference - Opening Remarks as the Chair - DVD available
 * 2010, Speaker at the 5th Invest in ME International ME Conference - Opening Remarks as the Chair - DVD available
 * 2011, Speaker at the 6th Invest in ME International ME Conference - Opening Remarks as the Chair - DVD available

Online presence

 * PubMed
 * Website