So says Richard Smith, a former editor of the British Medical Journal at the BMJ’s blog (July 5, 2021).
At MercatorNet, Michael Cook comments:
In a recent webinar (see below) conducted by Cochrane, an independent group which reviews healthcare data, Professor Ian Roberts, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said that he has become sceptical about all systematic reviews, particularly those that are mostly reviews of multiple small trials.
The gold standard for fraud is a Japanese researcher in anaesthetics, Yoshitaka Fujii, of Toho University. By the time he came unstuck about 10 years ago, he had published around 200 articles – and 183 of them have been retracted because he had falsified the data. “If someone can publish 183 fabricated trials,” said Roberts, “the problem is not with him, the problem is with the system.”
Michael Cook, “There’s a bad smell coming from medical research” at MercatorNet (August 25, 2021)
So many people call for reform but is it really possible at this point? What would it take?
You may also wish to read: We did NOT make this up: Famed Honesty researcher’s paper retracted over made-up data. Of course, before the revelation that a main experiment was faked, Ariely was featured in TED talks, had an advice column in the Wall Street Journal and wrote a New York Times bestseller. (This post is dedicated to all who believe that SCIENCE is a big answer to the questions of the ages.)