Internationally recognized as the foremost expert in assessing credibility
of medical research, Dr. John Ioannidis announced that up to 90% of
published medical information is misleading, exaggerated, or obviously
wrong. That means the information doctors use to determine treatment is
90% false. Stunningly, the medical community agrees with his assessment.

Dr. Ioannidis started his medical career at the beginning of the
evidence-based medical movement and gravitated away from new research. He
began assessing the validity of previous research. Systemic inaccuracy
emerged consistently at every level, and revealed that most studies
were biased. As an expert statistician, Ioannidis carefully assembled a
team who spent ten years exploring the problem before publishing their
astonishing conclusions.

They discovered that with normal levels of researcher-bias, generally
imperfect research techniques and a common tendency to focus on
novel rather than plausible theories, wrong findings are inevitably
normal. Also, they found that scientific journals are strongly biased
towards publishing the most novel claims and lack effective safeguards
for rejecting inaccurate studies.

Their research showed that 80% of common non-randomized studies, 25%
of the "gold-standard" randomized trials, and nearly 10% of "platinum-
standard" large randomized trials were incorrectly executed.

To highlight the inability to eliminate bad research, Dr. Ioannidis' team
focused on the 49 most highly regarded and cited research papers published
in the 13 years prior to this study's inception. Forty-one percent were
disproved when tested, and 24% hadn't even been retested. Upon further
examination, in 3 of the studies which were firmly disproved during
retesting, they found scientists recited the original inaccurate study,
in one case for at least 12 years after it was discredited.

To be that pervasive amongst people who have such adept minds, we must
conclude that it is purposeful. What would be the purpose? Successful
scientific careers depend upon research being funded and published. That
motivates scientists to pursue and produce results that will be
funded. Who funds most research?

Scientific journals like to publish new and exciting research. They
utilize a vetted peer review process that is frequently commandeered by
scientists in pursuit of career advancement. Worst are drug studies funded
by pharmaceutical companies and commonly corrupted by a much stronger
financial conflict of interest than merely academic and social praise,
and power. Monetary gain is what we are taught to achieve in schools
and business. We are conditioned to believe the bottom-line (economics)
is always more important than other people's welfare.  Our politicians
and corporate leaders are proof in the pudding.

It is easily understood that many medications originally shown to be
safe and effective in large randomized control trials were found to be
dangerous such as Vioxx, Zelnorm, and Baycol which were taken off the
market after they did extensive harm to people. Science, by definition,
is supposed to rely upon continual retesting of previous results by
other scientists to protect against erroneous conclusions.  Dr. Ioannidis
stated, "[the] odds that anything useful will survive from any of these
studies are poor."

From my experience, 99% of medical information is wrong and will maintain
or even generate illness rather than health. Doing the opposite of
anything the medical profession proclaims, 99% of the time my body
generates excellent health.