Why we're bamboozled by media hype and special interests - MMR, MRSA, Gillian McKeith and more! (Bad Science - Ben Goldacre)

Member Name: Neenawneenaw

Product:	Bad Science - Ben Goldacre
Date:	01/05/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Makes a minefield relatively clear; entertaining to read as well as informative

Disadvantages: Can be a bit preachy and labour the point, but only because it's rarely heard!

Ben Goldacre is a (medical) doctor who spends a fair chunk of his time - via newspaper columns, website, this book and other media - challenging and/or rubbishing what he terms 'Bad Science'.

In this book he explores specific examples of the dissemination of bad science by looking at such recent media storms as the MRSA scare and MMR jab controversy, dodgy individuals like Gillian McKeith, industries and therapies propogating scientific truths/half-truths/rubbish such as homeopathy, beauty and cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.

He delves into each of these, exposing the different ways in which we can be fooled. Sometimes this is plain deception, e.g. with individuals purporting to be experts publicising misleading or simply made-up qualifications to give credence to their unproven pronouncements on nutrition.

Elsewhere, he looks in detail at the quality, or lack thereof, of clinical trials methodology and results. This may sound like dry stuff but it's never done in an overly-technical way. You'll come away understanding a lot more about how results can be manipulated, or simply the way a clinical trial is designed can be so flawed that its results mean nothing!

While it's unsurprising that there are charlatans out there who get away with what they can, or are deluded enough not to see that their supporting 'evidence' is extremely weak, it is the media that Goldacre blames for the majority of our bewilderment by bad science.

Their lack of scientific understanding (with big science stories being taken away from science correspondents, and passed to features writers with little/no scientific background) contributes to a media habit of ignoring the evidence in favour of using soundbites from 'experts'. Thus stories become he said/she said affairs with no independent analysis of the evidence. Goldacre finds this lazy insulting to our intelligence - as if it's too hard for us to take in any well-presented analysis of evidence.

I hope this doesn't sound dry - because it's always interesting and relevant. I have a special interest in healthcare myself and already knew something of the way that clinical trials can be flawed and distorted. But I didn't know much about the details of the cases Goldacre describes, and sometimes it's quite horrifying how blatantly things can get distorted.

Now Goldacre is a polemicist and puts his view across strongly. He sometimes allows his opponents a small say, but has editorial control of the book so it's bound to come out in favour of his view. But then again, this paperback format does not allow for full discussion of opposing viewpoints. And, as Goldacre would say (and unlike his detractors), he's made his source data clear, so go and look at that and make the decision for yourself!

Summary: Clear, entertaining exposition of why we're bombarded and taken in by 'bad science'