The Department of Justice has initiated an inquiry into several leading medical journals, including CHEST, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Obstetrics & Gynecology. The investigation centers on concerns about potential bias, lack of transparency, and the suppression of dissenting scientific viewpoints, particularly related to COVID-19 policies and treatments.
Do you think this is a positive move?
What are (if any) the broader implications for science?
Yes, the right way to go, and Nicholas does a good job writing it up. But…
DOJ investigations have been used so often in the past as ideologically-based weapons that I’m a little skittish about this one playing into the “Out guy good, other guy bad” syndrome when setting precedents. Especially in the current slash-and-burn environment.
Directly related to this: there’s something (to me) deeply concerning about the extremist position NIH has taken in withdrawing/refusing grants to any researcher or establishment that suggests boycott/divestment/sanctions might be an appropriate way of dealing with the behavior and policies of the current government of Israel. With ideology now involved, this is a foot in the door for broadening this repression to any criticism of that government.
This is a direct analog of putting ideology over science in the same way the journals have done, and it’s stunning to see it having happened under the Kennedy/Bhattacharya leadership, which has declared as vital open and unfettered research.
Nicht nur Interessenkonflikte sind ein Problem. Es
werden viele Studien nicht veröffentlicht oder abgebrochen.
Das verfälscht wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse und Statistiken.
Von 30 europäischen Universitäten, die die meisten Studien gemeldet haben, fehlen insgesamt nachweisbare Ergebnisse von 778 fälligen
klinischen Studien im europäischen
Studienregister, das entspricht 83% Quelle Buko Pharma 2019
"Conflicts of interest aren’t the only problem. Many studies aren’t published or are discontinued. This distorts scientific results and statistics.
Of the 30 European universities that reported the most studies, verifiable results from a total of 778 pending clinical studies are missing from the European Trial Registry, corresponding to 83%. Source: Buko Pharma 2019"
Thanks very much hum07. Great point. - Vielen Dank, hum07. Guter Punkt.
