Chronic Fatigued Researcher Sued

A research institute has filed a lawsuit against its former employee, Judy Mikovits, who claimed to link a mouse retrovirus to chronic fatigue syndrome.

Written byJef Akst

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Just over a month ago, the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease (WPI) fired its former research director, Judy Mikovits, who led the study that identified a link between a mouse retrovirus to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which has since been widely discredited. Now, the non-profit institute has filed a lawsuit against Mikovits, ScienceInsider reported, claiming that she took lab notebooks and documents from her computer that she had no right to take and that could hinder the institute's research efforts.

"Without these materials, WPI's ability to continue its important research on finding a cure for these terrible diseases impacting over 4 million Americans each year is severely hampered," the complaint stated.

WPI discovered the missing notebooks after opening a drawer in Mikovits's desk that ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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