Given that there's a crowdfunding drive towards completing the task of achieving net energy from fusion, I decided to look on the other side of the question and post something about the criticisms of Lerner's work.
With that in mind, I cite the following, which introduces a critical essay:
I recently responded to a claim from Lawrenceville Plasma Physics that they were close to a commercial fusion reactor. I was annoyed that such claims were being made and even more concerned that such claims were not receiving a strong criticism from the scientific community. I read the paper published in the journal – Physics of Plasma by Lerner and his colleagues. The journal is a reputable peered reviewed publication. It was clear to me that the paper was not significant. Dense plasma focus devices are well understood and have been modelled in detail. The results quoted by Lerner did not show that the focus device which he has developed was significantly better than other devices and there was no evidence that a commercial fusion device was any closer.--- Mike B Hopkins
Rather sobering. Yet I wonder if any of these devices, which he says are just as good as Lerner's, were ever funded to completion? It is a lot like what I read in connection with space. Space is said to be really hard, so we don't know if we can do it. Sometimes that becomes the rationale for not trying in space. Could there be an analogy here? He goes on to say that all Lerner has accomplished is to replicate what has already been done. Sounds familiar to what is being said about Elon Musk. In the case of Musk, he is taking it one step further. Is the analogy accurate? I don't know, but has anybody gone as far as Lerner with the development of a focus fusion device? Maybe the problem isn't the science, but the engineering. All that could be needed is to finish the job.
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