From Kelly Crowe at CBC:
What gets clicks? Words like “breakthrough,” “groundbreaking,” “game changer” and “lifesaver.” And that’s how much of medical news is described.
In one week last June, researchers counted 36 different cancer drugs being described using those superlatives.
But when they took a closer look at the actual drugs, half were not yet approved as safe and effective, and some hadn’t even been tried on humans.
…
And there’s evidence of that hype being routinely amplified by reporters, scientists and scientific journals.More.
Why does that remind us so much of hypotheses for the origin of life? The difference, of course, is that in this case, the research actually matters.
See also: Scientists should publish less?
and
Authors: There is a worrying amount of outright fraud in psychology
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