Welcome to The World of Osler’s Web. The column derives its name from my 1996 book Osler’s Web, an expose of the American federal health agencies’ malfeasance and negligence during the 1980s-1990s epidemic of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). My reporting for Osler’s Web resulted in two federal investigations of the Centers for Disease Control, each of which corroborated my reporting.
I became a journalist when I was twenty-two, many years ago. I’ve been a newspaper reporter (Women’s Wear Daily, Wall Street Journal), a magazine contributor (Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Life) and I am the author of three books. I began my reporting on ME with a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine in 1987, eighteen months after acquiring the disease. I followed up with my book Osler’s Web, for which I conducted hundreds of interviews and traveled to towns and cities around the world, creating a unique narrative that continues to inform patients suffering from ME about the history and politics of their disease. I also have published numerous magazine articles on ME over the years.
My keen interest continues to the present. Please dive in and read my perspectives on the past and present of ME as the field continues to expand.
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