The Truth Wears Off

The excerpts from The New Yorker (below) may be read as a companion piece to the Atlantic article profiling Dr. John Ioannidis.     However, the opening example that Lehrer uses to make the point that initial impressive positive research findings often weaken in time, perpetuates a myth about the new…

Article

The Evidence base: rock of certainty or shifting sands? – BMJ Wed, 5 May 2004 Dr. John Dewhurst, has written an extraordinary article from his first-hand experience as a pharmaceutical company physician who discovered the disparity that exists between the claimed and actual evidence of drug effectiveness–and the reality-based severe,…

"Black Hole" of medical research–Negative Results Don’t get Published – JAMA, WSJ

“Black Hole” of medical research–Negative Results Don’t get Published – JAMA, WSJ Sat, 5 Jun 2004 “No one likes bad news. But in science, there is an ethical imperative to publish research, even if the findings aren’t what the researcher had hoped for.” The New York Times, which tends to…

"Drug Companies Should Make Their Studies Public" NYT

“Drug Companies Should Make Their Studies Public” NYT Wed, 13 Aug 2003 Concealed and inaccessible research findings are undermining the integrity of medicine, the advancement of scientific knowledge, and most importantly, secrecy is putting people’s lives in jeopardy because prescribing doctors are ignorant about adverse – even lethal – drug…

British Psychiatrists Debate: "Clinical trials of antidepressant medications are producing meaningless results"

British Psychiatrists Debate: “Clinical trials of antidepressant medications are producing meaningless results” Wed, 27 Aug 2003 “The fact that most people support the psychopharmacological orthodoxy is, in itself, no argument and it is important to examine the evidence before drawing conclusions.” The psychiatric establishment is on trial–its foundation and claimed…