Psychologic/other biases in medical reseach

[rogermunibond]

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269

 

Really good profile of John Ioannidis.

[biaggio]

Thanks for the article.

 

A lot of truth but awfully cynical with some exagerations. (I quickly skimmed the bottom 3rd of the article)

 

Medicine is not easy. The human body, having survived millions of years of evolution has a lot of built in natural defense mechanisms (a lot of times we are better off doing nothing...but people today will not except that), and it is so complex that it is difficult to come up with absolute recommendations that work on everyone.

 

The biggest problem is the one related to conflicts of interest. It is often subconscious in my opinion. Scientist/researchers want their theories to be right. They want their cures to work. Incentives just push you over the edge.