Since my blog about the impact of watching DopeSick including my ‘mini’ existential crisis, I continue to learn about corruption and fraud in research and advocacy.
The book by Charles Pillar, Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s says on the publishers website, “Piller uncovers evidence that hundreds of important Alzheimer’s research papers are based on false data. In the process, he reveals how even against a flood of money and influence, a determined cadre of scientific renegades have fought back to challenge the field’s institutional powers in service to science and the tens of thousands of patients who have been drawn into trials to test dubious drugs. Piller “masterfully unfolds an epic tale of astounding fraud, scientific egos run amok, and steely heroism in the pursuit of truth, creating both a page-turner and a seminal account of deceit that will long be remembered alongside Theranos and Enron as a scandal for the ages” (Katherine Eban, author of Bottleof Lies).
Check out the video interview by Dr Mike of Charles Pillar. FYI, Charles is “an investigative journalist for Science magazine and his work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Sacramento Bee, and more. Piller has been honored with many national journalism awards, and is the author of Gene Wars, The Fail-Safe Society, and Doctored. He has reported on public health, biological warfare, infectious disease outbreaks, and other topics from the United States, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central America.”
There are many days of late that I feel increasingly despondent, despite being an optimist! How can anyone bring about change, when the ‘experts’, including researchers and medical doctors, and the pharmaceutical companies, make such a profit from illness??????
The following review, “Doctored: fraud, arrogance, and tragedy in the quest to cure Alzheimer’s”: an important new book with direct relevance to GeroScience is a short open access read, and this quote from it highlights some of the challenges.
“For most readers, Doctored will obliterate any remaining faith in the amyloid hypothesis. Piller suggests that the entire field may be built on shaky foundations, with fraudulent papers reinforcing preexisting dogmas rather than legitimate science. He cites Nobel laureate Thomas Südhof, who argues that many scientists producing fraudulent research are merely conforming to overblown dominant paradigms, many of which are based on shaky original data. By the book’s final chapter, Piller writes “…even if amyloid plays a role…”—a tacit acknowledgment that the theory’s credibility has been severely undermined. In turn, he explores alternative theories of neurodegeneration, giving voice to researchers who have long been marginalized for challenging the amyloid orthodoxy.”
Too many people with ‘vested interests’ in this space don’t appear to want real change.
Thank you to the investigate journalists like Charles Pillar and Rob Wipond who are working in this particular space.
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