Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed?
NatureJul 18, 2023
Leading Cancer Institute Retracts, Corrects Dozens of Studies
The Facts
The Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston has moved to retract or correct 58 published studies that were found to contain manipulated data. Newcastle University molecular biologist Sholto David, who spends his free time analyzing scientific papers, discovered the fraudulent stories.
Over 50 papers are being reviewed, including four co-authored by the Institute's Chief Executive and President Dr. Laurie Glimcher. So far, 31 are being corrected and six are retracted.
The Spin
Narrative A
From cancer to COVID and across the medical community, fraud in critical trial data is running rampant. This often happens due to the "paper mill" problem, where third-party firms churn out countless fake studies. More must be done to determine the trustworthiness of studies before they're utilized in determining the treatment of patients.
Narrative B
Fraud in a few clinical trials doesn't discount the US' position as the global leader in healthcare and research. Health centers at schools like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell still produce the finest research and apply the greatest medicine. They're life-saving institutions, which is why countless patients from around the world visit the US every year.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that in 2030 there will be at least 142K medical scientist jobs in the US, according to the Metaculus prediction community.