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pseudoscience on econtalk
I was aware of the scandal surrounding Andrew Wakefield fraudulently claiming research linking autism with vaccination. Interview subject Deer was the person primarily responsible for exposing Wakefield, so the discussion relates his account of originally taking the assignment, his starting to crack it open and attempts to silence him.
This post is about deliberate fraud and the failure of a scientific journal to promptly deal with the problem. It goes along with a couple others that address different and related problems in how science is conducted, and potential improvements: challenges in study replication, and this more general piece.
Autism, Vaccination, and Scientific Fraud (1/31/2011) - Investigative journalist Brian Deer talks about his seven years of reporting and legal issues surrounding the 1998 article in The Lancet claiming that the MMR vaccine causes autism and bowel problems. Deer's dogged pursuit of the truth led to the discovery that the 1998 article was fraudulent and that the lead author had hidden payments he received from lawyers to finance the original study. In this podcast, Deer describes how he uncovered the truth and the legal consequences that followed. The conversation closes with a discussion of the elusiveness of truth in science and medicine.