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Nautilus has an interesting rundown on how scientific fraud happens and what could possibly be done to correct it written in comic book form. It's a fun little read and oh so true.
The book that it is based on, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth, is worth reading as well.
Stuart Ritchie is a Lecturer in the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King's College London. His new book, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth, explains the ideas in this comic, by Zach Weinersmith, in more detail, telling shocking stories of scientific error and misconduct. It also proposes an abundance of ideas for how to rescue science from its current malaise.
How many Soylentils here are in academia? Have you felt the pressure of "publish or perish"?
(Score: 4, Informative) by pdfernhout on Sunday August 02 2020, @12:46AM (4 children)
by Peter C. Gotzsche: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Psychiatry-Organised-Denial-Gotzsche-ebook/dp/B014SO7GHS [amazon.com]
"DEADLY PSYCHIATRY AND ORGANISED DENIAL explains in evidence-based detail why the way we currently use psychiatric drugs does far more harm than good. Professor, Doctor of Medical Science, Peter C. Gøtzsche documents that psychiatric drugs kill more than half a million people every year among those aged 65 and above in the United States and Europe. This makes psychiatric drugs the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer. Gøtzsche explains that we could reduce our current usage of psychotropic drugs by 98% and at the same time improve patients' mental and physical health and survival. It can be difficult, however, to come off the drugs, as many people become dependent on them. As the withdrawal symptoms can be severe, long-lasting and even dangerous, slow tapering is usually necessary.
In his book, Gøtzsche debunks the many myths that leading psychiatrists - very often on drug industry payroll - have created and nurtured over decades in order to conceal the fact that biological psychiatry has generally been a failure. Biological psychiatry sees drugs as the "solution" for virtually all problems, in marked contrast to the patients' views. Most patients don't respond to the drugs they receive but, unfortunately, the psychiatrists' frustrations over the lack of progress often lead to more diagnoses, more drugs and higher doses, harming the patients further."
Pushback on that book got him fired from his job and removed from his position as a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-whistleblower-Cochranes-moral-collapse-ebook/dp/B07N927GXC/ [amazon.com]
"Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche co-founded the Cochrane Collaboration in 1993 and has become one of the most respected academics of his time. His career has exposed malfeasance in the pharmaceutical industry, human clinical trials and drug regulatory agencies, empowering Cochrane to evolve into one of the world’s most trusted scientific institutions. However, in September 2018, he was unceremoniously expelled after what can only be described as a show trial that left the rest of the world wondering what happened.
Gøtzsche fought to uphold Cochrane’s original values of transparency, rigorous science, free scientific debates, and collaboration. But instead of maintaining scientific integrity, Cochrane’s leadership had become consumed with managing the charity like a business, promoting its brand and products and demanding the censorship of dissenting views.
For the first time, Gøtzsche pulls back the covers on this unscrupulous process, giving us all access to secret recordings, which reveal how his own organisation betrayed him and mislead millions of people after Cochrane cowered to the threats and intimidation from his critics.
This is the fascinating story about institutional corruption in one of the world’s most venerated charities, which ultimately led to the worst show trial in academia you can imagine."
I donated 1000kr (~US$150) to his effort here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/scientific-freedom [gofundme.com]
I added the comment: "Donated in memory of Robin Rochlin Cooperman, M.D. in Psychiatry (October 7, 1963 - June 2, 2010). Thank you Peter for your work to make medicine more evidence-based and more humane. It is too late to help Robin, but I can hope your continued work will help many others. You may find the idea of visualizing discussions using argument mapping with IBIS (Issue-Based Information System) useful as you continue to move forward, and I would be happy to discuss that with you if you wanted."
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 02 2020, @03:12AM (3 children)
That deserves a +50 informative mod. Seriously, as you point out, dissenting voices are smothered. Big Pharma has far too much influence in all of medicine, and psychiatry/psychology seems to be hardest hit.
I have some rather intimate experience with ADD/ADHD. Asked "How does it affect you? What do you like or don't like?" Answer was, "It just makes me mad all the time. I'm always pissed off, thinking that people are out to get me, so I want to fight." At the same time, the drug obviously robbed the boy of motivation - turning him into a passive zombie.
THAT is what kids deserve, because they are "overly active"????
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @03:42AM
Psychiatry is the easy target in the medical field. It is complex, most of the symptoms are subjective, many medical doctors don't take it seriously, many psychologists don't take it seriously, and patients/guardians want a quick fix.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @04:45AM (1 child)
Not to mention, without studious effort, professors develop a highly inflated sense of their own opinion. *You* work for weeks on a project and *I* give you a few minutes of whatever I can think of off the top of my head. And take 50% of the credit.
This is literally how entire departments work.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 02 2020, @05:18AM
That's life in the work place, as well. You can spend months trying to bludgeon an idea into a thick skull, and when it FINALLY sinks in, the boss takes full credit. I mean, it's OBVIOUS that you're a moron peasant, and the idea couldn't have been yours.