"Pay more attention to data than to narrative"
Bias in medical research isn't confined to financial matters, a recent Washington Post op ed explained. Dr. David A. Shaywitz , a former Harvard University endocrinologist and stem cell researcher, reminds
University research is not a pure enterprise; its researchers have feet of clay and are subject to an array of professional biases.
Consequently, our myopic obsession with industry conflicts of interest may have the unintended consequence of distracting us from some of the more important sources of prejudice and concern.
He might have included government researchers, either on-staff or on-the-research-dole. There are many conflicts and motivations for researchers to publish and interpret junk science. In many ways, the publications can be career-enhancing -- unless discovered and exposed. Writes Shaywitz:
Researchers are unlikely to become less self-serving -- just as reporters are unlikely to become less opportunistic in their hunt for news. Ultimately, it is up to each of us to develop a more skeptical ear, to approach received wisdom cautiously and to pay more attention to data than to narrative.
Amen.
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