Experts and Studies are Usually Wrong

We, the public, are fascinated when we read anything in print.  And if can be supported with a study then for many it is gospel.  It has become a cultural phenomenon in the west to believe what research says even when our experience and strong intuition tells us otherwise.  I see this daily in clinical practice how patients take on labels and diagnosis given to them by experts.  It is refreshing to learn from David Freedman's new book,Wrong,  that us experts are usually wrong and that common sense and listening to your own body and gut feeling can serve you well.

Some Factoids from Wrong: Why experts* keep failing us--and how to know when not to trust them *Scientists, finance wizards, doctors, relationship gurus, celebrity CEOs, ... consultants, health officials and more.  I have highlighted the points related medical research.

1. About two-thirds of the findings published in top medical journals are refuted within a few years.
2. As much as 90 percent of physicians' medical knowledge has been gauged to be substantially or completely wrong.
3. Economists have found that all studies published in economics journals are likely to be wrong.
4. Nearly 100 percent of studies that find a particular type of food or a vitamin lowers the risk of disease fail to hold up.
5. Professionally prepared tax returns are more likely to contain significant errors than self-prepared returns.
6. In spite of $100 billion spent annually on medical research in the US,average life span here has increased by only a few years since 1978, with that small rise mostly due to a drop in smoking rates.
7. There is a one out of twelve chance that a doctor's diagnosis will be rong in a way that will cause significant harm to the patient.
8. Not a single NFL coach or manager was able to spot much potential in future-record-shattering quarterback Tom Brady, leaving him nearly undrafted by the league after college.
9. Genetics tests are one-tenth as accurate at predicting a person's eight as guessing based on the height of the parents.
10. Most major drugs don't work on 40 to 75 percent of the population.
11. Hearing an expert talk impairs the brain's ability to make decisions for itself, according to brain imaging studies.
12. A drug widely prescribed for years to heart-attack victims killed more mericans than did the Vietnam war.
13. Only about one percent of the scientific studies based on fraudulent data are identified and reported.
14. One-third of researchers admit to having committed or personally observed at least one act of research misconduct within the previous
    three years.
15. Two-thirds of the drug-study findings that indicate a drug may cause harm are not fully reported by researchers.
16. Ninety-five percent of medical findings are never retested.
17. Half of newspaper articles contain at least one factual error.
18. Sixty percent of newspaper articles quote someone who says the reporter didn't get the story straight.
19. Three-quarters of experimental drugs found safe and effective in animal testing prove harmful or ineffective on humans.
20. As many as 98 percent of medical researchers fail to fully disclose all potential conflicts of interest in published studies
21. A third of the studies published in top medical journals contain statistical errors.