Panorama apologise for The Trauma Industry error

Following Monday's showing of the Panorama programme The Trauma Industry, which incorrectly referred to Fibromyalgia Syndrome as a psychological disorder, FibroAction have been in contact with the Panorama team to address the issues raised by the show, which upset many Fibro sufferers around the UK.

Panorama have now released a statement on their website apologising and have removed the programme from the BBC iPlayer while it is edited to correct the issue.

FibroAction founder & chair, Lindsey Middlemiss, said today:

"I am delighted that Panorama have taken the steps they have to address the issue of The Trauma Industry incorrectly referring to Fibromyalgia Syndrome as a psychological disorder. My personal thanks go to Panorama's editor Sandy Smith and the programme's director Kevin Toolis for the lengths they have gone to address this mistake.

Hopefully The Trauma Industry will now be able to better highlight the problems faced by people suffering following trauma and address the issues that the process of seeking compensation is open to fraud & may not always be the best thing for the health of genuine sufferers."

Panorama's statement is below and can be viewed here:

"Panorama's response to Fibroaction and FMA UK

Two organisations representing sufferers of fibromyalgia syndrome have objected to how it was represented in Monday's programme, The Trauma Industry.

The film referred to it simply as a psychological condition, which is inaccurate. While some in the legal profession regard it as a controversial diagnosis - and it is listed under psychiatric disorders in the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines, the NHS terms it a physical condition which causes pain to sufferers.

Fibroaction and FMA UK say the syndrome should be termed a neurological-related condition or a "condition, with an increasing body of evidence to show that it is a Central Nervous System related disorder".

The programme questioned whether sufferers of PTSD and other conditions that are difficult to test for should sue for compensation and included an example of a fraudulent claim by someone claiming to have fibromyalgia syndrome.

However, it was not the programme makers intention to imply that sufferers of any such condition are not genuine and apologise if any distress was caused to anyone in pain. "