Last week, the Medical Society was fortunate to welcome Dr Robert Boyle, a leading paediatric allergy specialist who strove to enlighten us on industrial misrepresentation of research in the global medical sphere.
He explained that whilst professional medicine maintains both its “tremendous satisfaction” and unparalleled personability, it has also been riddled with “human engendered health problems” caused by clinically-driven over-diagnosis and over-treatment.
Dr Boyle’s definition of ‘Ghostwriting’, where published research documentation was mislabelled with the intellect of leading professors about elements of their respective fields, helped to explain some of these issues. ‘Ghostwritten’ articles are often filled with cherry-picked data, a lack of negative test results, and comparisons with useless treatments or with results that are not relevant to the study. This successfully deceives unknowing and vulnerable members of the public.
In a society where money has substantial influence over all aspects of life, scientific researchers and medics are becoming powerless, a phenomenon that Dr Boyle is fighting to overcome.
We thank him for a fascinating talk.
