[CE] Bad Science?

Ben Goldacre: Battling Bad Science (Video)



Epidemiologist Ben GOLDACRE uses this TED talk to explore the faults of solely relying on popular magazines, newspapers, television commercials, etc. when looking at medications.

A newspaper or health magazine may say, "according to a new study...," but how reliable is that "scientific study?" How can we be sure that all the data presented in this study is unbiased and accurate? I'm guessing that the short answer is: We can't.

Pharmaceutical companies and governments spend billions of dollars researching and developing new medications, vaccines, and health supplements. Then, the manufacturers need to spend a few years to do controlled studies before these medicines can go on market. After so much money is invested in these products, they don't want to present the general public with unconvincing results. While not all companies use biased scientific test practices, it is difficult to prove otherwise.

GOLDACRE mentions the placebo effect and sugar pills. Control groups are used as a benchmark to see what improvement (if any) the medication does. The most common way to control a study is to administer the individuals of part of the study a placebo. In the case of pills, capsules, and tablets, the placebo is a sugar pill - which should have no effect on an individual (unless s/he is diabetic, I guess). For the control, theoretically nothing should happen at all. However, if the placebo responds positively and in the same manner as the medicated subjects (the placebo effect), then the administration of the medication is not any more advantageous than that of a simple sugar pill, in which case the medication has relatively no beneficial properties.