Doctor Knows Best?

Police officers, politicians, psychologists, manufacturers, doctors. As a result of modernization we rely on these people more and more. Since we rely on them we are forced to trust their judgement and advice. Unfortunately, we as a species are naive and often too trustworthy of these sources simply because of their social status (sometimes it’s even less than that). In general, people are either too lazy and/or fearful of challenging the knowledge and administration these figures conjure. We are frequently content with merely accepting that these authorities are correct and when they aren’t we can easily point our fingers (if we still have any) and relish in our instinctual ignorance.

Well, guess what people? For the past 12 years, anesthesiologist Scott Reuben has been writing fictional documents. These twenty one fictional pieces of literature have been the structural foundation for knowledge on postoperational pain relief and drug treatment. Millions of patients worldwide have suffered from this dellusion. What’s even worse is that the medications Mr. Reuben has deemed appropriate may have even caused a prolonged healing period. Moral of the story: don’t be paranoid, but do be careful. Do your homework and don’t assume that just because a person makes 100K+ a year means they have all the know-how to supplement our lives.

Here’s the article: A Medical Madoff: Anesthesiologist Faked Data in 21 Studies