And more on UNUM...

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A decade ago, the insurance company UNUM (one of the largest

disability insurers) reported that in the years from 1989-1993,

disability claims for ME/CFS had increased by an average of 460% and

in order of insurance costs, ME/CFS came second in the list of the

five most expensive conditions, being three places above AIDS.Ê

Brief background

In 1988 the giant American insurance industry realised that the

incidence of ME was increasing rapidly and became concerned about the

rise in claims for long-term chronic illness due to the disorder.

There is no NHS in the US, so insurers orchestrated the creation of a

ÒnewÓ disorder which was named ÒChronic Fatigue SyndromeÓ, with Ò

fatigueÓ being the dominant symptom.Ê They chose this name because Ò

fatigueÓ is ubiquitous and it afforded them an expedient way to deny

claims which could be said to be arising from such a non-specific

symptom as ÒfatigueÓ.Ê World class experts in ME who had been on the

case revision panel resigned from it because the newly constructed Ò

CFSÓ bore little relationship to the ME with which they were so

familiar and which had unequivocal neurological signs with

incapacitating post-exertional exhaustion, whereas ÒCFSÓ focused on Ò

fatigueÓ or ÒtirednessÓÊ (a totally different symptom).