AHMF: RACP letter appendix 6

Betrayal of the Severely Ill?
Appendix 6: RACP Letter Response to AHMF Query

Question to the RACP Working Party:
"Is the Working Party to consider and make recommendations concerning the extreme end of the suffering spectrum (i.e. death and suicide)? With little research into this matter and little statistical information, how will the Working Group consider this matter with the seriousness it deserves given its brief of 'evidence based guidelines'?"

Response from RACP Project Officer:
"This is an important issue which has not been specifically considered thus far. The Working Party would welcome any information or suggestions you may have. Areas such as this (where little or no published evidence currently exists) will be identificed as requiring "further research" in the course of our deliberations. Whether or not such information is incorporated into Clinical Practice Guidelines, and if so, how, remains to be determined. There may be more effective avenues. For example, NHMRC has informally expressed an interest in receiving a report from the Working Group on gaps in knowledge and areas in need of reearch funding, irrespective of whether they are included in the Guidelines."

Victorial Toulkidis
Project Officer
CFS Clinical Practice Guidelines

Return to the AHMF Letter to the RACP.