Charles Lapp

Charles W. Lapp, MD, is an Internist and Medical Director at Hunter-Hopkins Center in Charlotte, NC with a practice specializing in ME/CFS, FM, and related conditions. Earlier in his career, he practiced family medicine and pediatrics in Raleigh, NC. He became interested in ME/CFS following an outbreak of three small epidemics of a chronic fatiguing illness in the Raleigh area. One of these outbreaks was among all the members of the N.C. Symphony Orchestra.

"Patients started coming to me with persistent flulike symptoms[...]They would work one day and have to sleep for two. Perfectly well-adjusted people became disabled almost overnight.”

From 1992 to 1995 Dr. Lapp acted as Medical Director of the Cheney Clinic in Charlotte, in collaboration with Dr. Paul Cheney. In August 1995, Dr. Lapp opened the Hunter-Hopkins Center. His center does testing for disability insurance such as the 2-day Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and a Computer-assisted cognitive function test.

He is currently in practice with Dr. Laura Black.

Awards

 * 2009, Nelson Gantz Outstanding Clinician Award awarded to a physician who emulates Nelson Gantz's clinical acumen, his passion for medicine, and his empathy for persons with CFS/FM awarded by IACFS/ME

Clinical Trials
The Hunter-Hopkins Center is currently one of two clinical sites participating in the Hemispherx Biopharma 511/open label Ampligen trials to gain FDA approval. Ampligen is an IV medication given twice weekly in the Hunter-Hopkins infusion room. For more information in this program please see this link: Ampligen study at Hunter-Hopkins.

Clinic location
Hunter-Hopkins Center

7421 Carmel Executive Park Dr.

Charlotte, North Carolina 28226

Telephone: (704) 543-9692

Email: drlapp@drlapp.net

Notable Studies

 * 2012, A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, clinical trial of the TLR-3 agonist rintatolimod in severe cases of chronic fatigue syndrome."Abstract: 'A Phase III prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial comparing twice weekly IV rintatolimod versus placebo was conducted in 234 subjects with long-standing, debilitating CFS/ME at 12 sites. The primary endpoint was the intra-patient change from baseline at Week 40 in exercise tolerance (ET). Secondary endpoints included concomitant drug usage, the Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Vitality Score (SF 36). Subjects receiving rintatolimod for 40 weeks improved intra-patient placebo-adjusted ET 21.3% (p = 0.047) from baseline in an intention-to-treat analysis. Correction for subjects with reduced dosing compliance increased placebo-adjusted ET improvement to 28% (p = 0.022). The improvement observed represents approximately twice the minimum considered medically significant by regulatory agencies. The rintatolimod cohort vs. placebo also reduced dependence on drugs commonly used by patients in an attempt to alleviate the symptoms of CFS/ME (p = 0.048). Placebo subjects crossed-over to receive rintatolimod demonstrated an intra-patient improvement in ET performance at 24 weeks of 39% (p = 0.04). Rintatolimod at 400 mg twice weekly was generally well-tolerated."

Talks & interviews

 * 2016, CDC Grand Rounds - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Advancing Research and Clinical Education

HHS/CFSAC Testimony

 * Oct 29, 2009 Testimony (read by [[Cort Johnson])]

Open Letter to The Lancet
Two open letters to the editor of The Lancet urged the editor to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial, which the journal had published in 2011. In 2016, Dr. Lapp, along with 42 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter.
 * 10 February 2016, An open letter to The Lancet, again - Virology blog

Online presence

 * PubMed - Charles Lapp
 * Hunter-Hopkins Center Facebook page
 * Hunter-Hopkins Center website

Learn more

 * 2012, What Are The Most Important Things To Remember About CFS/FM?
 * Curriculum Vitae - Charles W. Lapp, MD