ME/CFS Recovery Program Legitimacy Checklist

ME/CFS Sucks! We all want desperately to get better. There are people who try to profit from that.

Red flags (does not need to have all)

☐ Claims cure or guaranteed recovery

 - often including timelines or implying lack of improvement is personal failure

 - often using coded language such as remission or get your life back

☐  Psychologizes biomedical symptoms or misuses medical concepts (brain retraining, vagal toning, neuroplasticity...)

☐ Uses urgency or exclusivity and/or curated testimonials

☐ Encourages increasing activity or graded exercise, including pushing beyond limits or ignoring PEM

☐ Claims deconditioning is the primary barrier or frames illness mainly as inactivity or fear of movement

☐ Requires rigid routines or assumes predictable, steady improvements

☐ Withholds methods or uses proprietary or secret techniques only available after payment

☐  Silences dissenting experiences, including banning symptom talk or encouraging isolation from skeptics

☐ Discourages or replaces appropriate medical care

☐ Conflicts with evidence-based ME/CFS guidance

☐ Uses unverified research framing or studies that aren't scientifically valid.

☐ Uses scientific advisory boards without relevant ME/CFS expertise or real involvement

☐ Adds upsells such as supplements, detoxes, or unproven tests under a shifting program model and/or uses affiliate or MLM-style incentives that reward recruitment or biased promotion

☐ Lacks transparency on costs, refunds, or credentials

Green flags

☐ Explicitly recognizes PEM and lived experience; does not dismiss or reframe them

☐ Maintains realistic expectations; does not present cure or guaranteed recovery claims

☐ Emphasizes pacing and energy limits

☐ Encourages individual adaptation

☐ Avoids pressure-based systems such as tracking, compliance, or accountability

☐ Does not position itself as a medical treatment alternative

☐ Offers clear refund policies recognizing energy & disease variability

☐ Aligns with established ME/CFS guidance and current research

Note: Not all paid programs are intended to treat ME/CFS. Some offer support for comorbidities, coping, or reducing isolation. These should be ME/CFS-aware, flexible to fluctuating energy limits, and not present themselves as a cure.