Those Damn Lyee, Liars

I don’t even need to add my thoughts on this story, but I probably will. From the Washington Post yesterday, an excerpt:

Few scientists fabricate results from scratch or flatly plagiarize the work of others, but a surprising number engage in troubling degrees of fact-bending or deceit, according to the first large-scale survey of scientific misbehavior.

More than 5 percent of scientists answering a confidential questionnaire admitted to having tossed out data because the information contradicted their previous research or said they had circumvented some human research protections.

Ten percent admitted they had inappropriately included their names or those of others as authors on published research reports.

And more than 15 percent admitted they had changed a study's design or results to satisfy a sponsor, or ignored observations because they had a "gut feeling" they were inaccurate.

So, the funny thing with this story is that it could be a total lie! The story itself is based on a study that could have had unethical researchers faking conclusions! Or, it could be an entirely fictitious account, since reporters have proven that they are not above making it up as they go along, either! Wouldn’t it be hilarious if this was a fake study, and the real study is monitoring how the media eat up the story without first fact-checking?

(But I’ll bet my American SSN that this is true. Sad, potentially deadly when the research is on meds, but true.)

Indulge me while I hop back on my high horse, but to everyone who blindly accepts the mantra, “vaccines are entirely safe and science has proven this to be so,” uhhh….can you maybe consider this type of bending research results behaviour has been used to fudge the results of vaccine safety and effectiveness studies? Maybe?