Why Almost Everything You Hear About Medicine Is Wrong

Newsweek ^ | January 24, 2011 | Sharon Begley

[TigersEye]

Thanks for the ping, metmom.

[metmom]

Even when a claim is disproved, it hangs around like a deadbeat renter you can’t evict. Years after the claim that vitamin E prevents heart disease had been overturned, half the scientific papers mentioning it cast it as true, Ioannidis found in 2007.

If the scientific community didn't herald every new discovery as THE answer to all health woes and the fountain of youth, then this wouldn't be a problem.

When that news broke, EVERYONE heard about it. When they decided the opposite and had to admit they were wrong, well, it just didn't get the publicity as when they claim they're right.

[bluejay]

> Or we could simply recognize that pills cannot and do not cure anything

What an absurd statement. Of course pills cure. At times they can do it significantly cheaper than the alternative - for example, since doctors realized that peptic ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection, treatment comes down to the right antibiotics and does not require surgery.

> but make hundreds of billions of dollars for those that use those pills to kill.

Talk about a non sequitur. Are you claiming that pharma companies some how trick patients into taking medicine designed to kill them?

[neverdem]

Thanks for the ping. I have liked this Greek for a while.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Of course pills cure.” <<

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When did that ever happen?

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>> “Are you claiming that pharma companies some how trick patients into taking medicine designed to kill them?” <<

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Yes, they do it every evening on prime time TV with the FDA’s blessing.
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[Daffynition]

BTTT

[bert]

She works for the failed Newsweak, therefore, she has no credibility

BTW...... the buzzards have left my neighborhood and are headed your way. Spring must be coming soon

[momincombatboots]

You made me laugh. I am sure you blasting everyone on the thread for ad hominems was meant to extend the real dialogue and all was well until you did it too! As much as I love real debate on facts, sometimes you just have to call them like you see them. However, it hurts your angle of attack to use the tactic you dismissed two posts above.