Anne Örtegren

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Anne Örtegren (d. 2018) developed ME in 2001, after a major respiratory infection from which she never recovered.

Anne was a Swedish patient and advocate for ME/CFS, and spent 16 years with severe and very severe ME before dying by assisted suicide in 2018.[1][2][3]

Advocacy[edit | edit source]

Anne advocated for improved medical care, especially for those with severe and very severe ME, and criticized what she called the "erroneous psychosocial model", stating that it had caused harm to her and others.[2]

Anne wanted greater funding for biomedical research in order to raise the standard of treatment and medical care for ME to a similar level to that of others illnesses.[2]

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis[edit | edit source]

Anne suffered from myalgic encephalomyelitis for 16 years, with the disease becoming increasingly severe, and developing increasing medical complications. She wanted people to know that she did not develop depression and that mental illness was not a factor in her decision. She went through many medical assessments, which took years, before being approved for assisted suicide.[2]

Writing[edit | edit source]

News articles[edit | edit source]

Memorial lecture[edit | edit source]

The Anne Örtegren Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture held at the Invest in ME Research conference in memory of Anne.[4]

PhD student fund[edit | edit source]

In 2020, Invest in ME Research announced a funded PhD in memory of Anne, who had been a generous fundraiser for Let's Do It for ME.[5]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]