Over 2,000 signatures—and an update on the FALCON campaign

Thank you to everyone who has signed and shared this petition. More than 2,000 people have now supported the call to pause McMaster’s FALCON Lightning Process trial for independent review.

This is my first detailed campaign update here, and I want to share what has happened since the petition launched in August.

In August, I contacted the investigator and institutional offices with questions about the trial. Dr. Jason Busse replied about funding, publication plans, outcomes and patient partners. HiREB acknowledged the concerns and said the study had not yet undergone its ethics review at that time. The HAHSO inquiry was forwarded to colleagues.

These replies provided some information, but they have not confirmed that the campaign’s requests have been fulfilled.

In September, The Sick Times covered the petition and concerns about the trial, helping bring wider attention to the campaign.

Read The Sick Times article:
https://thesicktimes.org/2026/09/22/people-with-long-covid-demand-pause-of-mcmaster-university-clinical-trial/

You can also find the article and video coverage on our campaign page:
https://longcovidaction.ca/falcon#media-coverage

Starting this campaign—and seeing the support and concerns shared by others—helped inspire me to create Long COVID Action Canada (LCAC), a patient-led, evidence-informed advocacy initiative that is just launching.

As part of that launch, I’ve created a dedicated FALCON campaign page bringing together the requests, timeline, institutional replies and redacted correspondence:

https://longcovidaction.ca/falcon

On October 11, LCAC sent further letters to McMaster, HiREB and HAHSO seeking answers about independent review, transparency, funding and participant protections. We also followed up with McMaster’s President and Faculty of Health Sciences Dean.

We requested replies, or expected response dates, by October 22. The institutions have not committed to that deadline. Further responses will be dated and added to the campaign page.

Additional actions are listed on the Long COVID Action Canada website:
https://longcovidaction.ca

Anyone can join and participate, from any country. You do not have to be Canadian—all are welcome.

Please visit the page, read the evidence and take part in the additional actions if you can. Let’s keep collecting signatures, sharing this petition and putting the pressure on for clear answers and accountability! 

Thank you,
Robert DeRosa
Long COVID Action Canada