Too little money for Long Covid: Karl Lauterbach sees "government failure"

Since the coronavirus pandemic, many more people have been suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Berlin is currently debating whether 10 or 15 million euros are needed for research into this. Former Health Minister Lauterbach believes at least one billion is necessary and reports of desperate patients.

Former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach accuses the federal government of failing to research chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID. "The sums allocated so far in the budget are completely unacceptable," Lauterbach told Der Spiegel magazine. "This urgently needs to be improved."

According to estimates, the number of people affected by ME/CFS has almost doubled since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, to 650,000. The coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD is currently arguing about whether to spend 10 or 15 million euros on research, Lauterbach said. "But that's nowhere near the scale needed for therapeutic research. We would need to invest at least one billion euros."

Lauterbach, who has headed the Bundestag's Research Committee since May, speaks of "government failure" with regard to ME/CFS and long-COVID research. The field is underfunded, he says. "We promised those affected that we would help them and announced research funding. But far too little is happening." He also bears some responsibility for the fact that more hasn't been achieved. "I definitely fought," Lauterbach said.

A few days ago, the SPD politician responded to an X-post by an ME/CFS patient who had announced her assisted suicide. He wrote that a cure is near. Research is in full swing. In an interview with "Spiegel," he said the post had affected him deeply. "I'm talking to some of those affected who say they don't want to live anymore. The fact that I can't prevent that is a burden to me." According to her X-profile, the patient in question is now dead.