Doctoring Data: How to sort out medical advice from medical nonsense

313 Pages·2015·1.93 MB·English

by  Malcolm Kendrick

Doctoring Data
How to sort out medical advice
from medical nonsense
Dr Malcolm Kendrick
Published by Columbus Publishing Ltd 2014
Kindle edition
www.columbuspublishing.co.uk ISBN 978-1-907797-48-4
Rev 20150510
Copyright © Dr Malcolm Kendrick 2014
Dr Malcolm Kendrick has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the
prior permission of the author.
Cover design by Lewis Kokoc Typesetting by Raffaele Bolelli Gallevi Brand and product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
The content of this book is intended to inform, entertain and provoke your thinking. This is not intended as
medical advice. It may, however, make you question current medical and nutritional advice. That’s your
choice. It’s your life and health in your hands. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible
or liable for any loss or claim arising from the use, or misuse, of the content of this book.
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will
soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls who live under tyranny.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
Reviews for Doctoring Data
“A rollicking rant about everything that is suspect in modern medicine.”
Professor Iona Heath, former president of the Royal College of General Practitioners
“Dr Kendrick shares with the reader his wit, humor and laser-sharp insights to expose the misinformation
underlying accepted health guidelines. His book is an exposé on a broad range of flawed research and
treatments, including the unnecessary and unhealthy reduction of cholesterol with statins, the dubious
effectiveness of influenza treatment with Tamiflu and the demonization of saturated fat. Dr Kendrick has a
unique talent to explain the conceptual and methodological flaws in a broad range of scientific studies
which is of value to all clinicians, and is presented at a level which can be understood by laypeople. This
book is a must read for anyone interested in becoming aware of how deception and financial conflict
interest have dominated current health guidelines and treatment recommendations.”
David Diamond, Ph.D. Departments of Psychology, Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, University
of South Florida and Medical Research Service, Tampa Veterans Hospital
“In this witty exposé, Dr Malcolm Kendrick daringly prises open paradoxes, trade secrets and shoddy
statistics that lie behind so much of modern medicine.
“His highly entertaining and informative book undermines accepted wisdom of Britain’s biggest health
risks and shines a spotlight onto how persuasive and profit hungry drug companies have brought harmful
and potentially unproven treatments to market.
“Dr Kendrick is a maverick but his disturbing assertions are worryingly backed by strong evidence.”
Lucy Johnston. Health and social affairs editor, The Express
“Dr Malcolm Kendrick will challenge you to question everything you’ve ever been told about science from
the media, from the so-called ‘experts’ and those organizations with vested interests.
“As an investigative journalist, I’ve always believed that a fact is a fact, but now I question whether a ‘fact’
is also the ‘truth’. Dr Kendrick reveals much of what we’ve been told by trusted health authorities has been
influenced in some way, either by poor quality evidence or industry sponsorship, or both. Most concerning
is that these issues affect the very guidelines that influence doctors’ prescribing habits and the distribution
of health advice.
“Scientific research is supposed to encourage critical thinking but as Kendrick points out time and time
again, those who ‘rock the boat’ and challenge the establishment, are often persecuted - either with threats
to funding, to their careers and/or their reputations.
“As a former scientist, there were moments in this book where I felt utterly frustrated with my former
profession. Cognitive dissonance is widespread in an environment where there is competition for
laboratory funding and the publication of results in prestigious journals. With most of the clinical drug
trials nowadays being funded by the manufacturers who directly profit from drug sales, it’s no wonder we
have biased science that accentuates the benefits and underplays the risks. Sound cynical? I encourage you
to read the book and make up your own mind.
“This book promises to take you on a journey that will both frustrate and enthrall you.”
Dr Maryanne Demasi, Ph.D. Producer/Investigative reporter, ABC TV Australia
Dr Maryanne Demasi, Ph.D. Producer/Investigative reporter, ABC TV Australia
“Malcolm Kendrick is the Mark Twain of medical writers, wielding his own pen warmed up in hell – hell, in
this case, being a medical system designed to persuade doctors that nearly everyone with a pulse is
abnormal and in need of treatment. In fact, I can summarize Kendrick’s Doctoring Data by paraphrasing
Twain himself: ‘If your doctor doesn’t read the medical literature, he is uninformed. If he does read the
medical literature, he is misinformed.’
“Your doctor can afford to be misinformed. You cannot - that is, unless you don’t mind being diagnosed
with a previously unknown ‘disease’ … which was discovered just in time to coincide with development of a
new wonder drug … which was approved based on suspicious data … from a study designed and run by the
drug-maker …which paid key opinion leaders to sit on a government committee that wrote the treatment
guidelines … which instruct your doctor to prescribe the new wonder drug … which produces nasty side-
effects … which must be treated with more wonder drugs.
“Kendrick pulls back the curtains and invites the reader to understand how this system works (or more
correctly, doesn’t work), serving as a tour guide who happens to be as laugh-out-loud funny as he is
informative. For your own protection, I suggest you take the tour.”
Tom Naughton, health blogger and writer/director of the documentary
Fat Head: you’ve been fed a load of bologna
“Doctoring Data is the perfect antidote to the medical establishment’s recycled dogma. Dr Malcolm
Kendrick is one of the sharpest, best informed, most provocative challengers of received medical wisdom.
His engagingly irreverent and witty insights into how scientific ‘fact’ and ‘consensus’ is manufactured are
electrifying. Whether he is turning his attention to drug trials, or to bariatric surgery, everything Dr
Kendrick writes is worth reading.”
Joanna Blythman, award-winning journalist and author of
Shopped, What To Eat, and Bad Food Britain
“‘The only end of writing,’ said Samuel Johnson, ‘is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to
endure it.’ The great man would clearly have treasured every page of Doctoring Data.
“Kendrick’s latest work is the ultimate exposé on the modern medical establishment.
“Every reader stands to change their lives forever after reading this book. If that fact does not make you
seek out a copy then stay smiling in the dark. Ignorance is bliss, until it kills you.“
Justin Stoneman, Journalist and broadcaster
“If every doctor and scientist had as much honesty, integrity and quick wit as Dr Kendrick then we would
not be in such a sorry state of affairs. If you want to become a better doctor or scientist then you need to
read this book.”
Sam Feltham, Author of Slimology & Founder of Smash The Fat
“Kendrick is witty, hard-hitting, and irreverent, as he illuminates some of the egregious scientific practices
that have been used to underpin many of our misguided health recommendations today. He makes complex
scientific subjects simple for the average reader - like what’s wrong with linear modeling? His investigation
into corporations that finance scientists - ‘the hand that feeds’ - is a special treat.”
Nina Teicholz, author of The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese
Belong in a Healthy Diet
“Most of us witness the news every day with increasingly slack-jawed amazement. ‘Do these people think
we’re idiots?’ we commonly shout at the TV, newspaper and websites, which is a peculiarly silly waste of
time and can get you arrested in public libraries. But for those of us for whom this is a way of life, Dr
Malcolm Kendrick’s book Doctoring Data is a welcome friend.
“Ever had the feeling that your doctor is a fool? Yeah, me too. Ever had the feeling they’re pushing you
drugs you don’t need for illnesses you don’t have? Yeah, me too. Ever get the feeling that they’re passing
off guesswork, marketing ploys and downright corrupt data as fact? Yeah, me too.
“Kendrick tackles all of these issues and more head on and lays bare how, when it comes to medical, health
and food matters, we are being fed ignorance as though it is intelligence and misinformation as though it is
truth. He rationally exposes the innate corruption that lies at the heart of the industries which cream up big
profits on the back of ill people and even bigger profits from people whom they seek to define as ill but who
are perfectly healthy.
“He shows how a white coat and some letters after your name is used to con us into thinking there is more
efficacy and evidence to health claims than there is and better still, he does this with great humour, because
frankly, if you didn’t laugh about these scandals, you’d cry.
John Nicholson, Novelist, Writer, Columnist
“We have become used to thinking as a cohort, and believing that our leaders, the great and the good, will
have found us the right collective answers.
“While reading this book, I call upon individuals to think, to put themselves in the jury box, evaluate the
evidence and work out the probable truth for any question, statement or allegation.
“I believe Kendrick’s book The Great Cholesterol Con is essential reading for all people and not just all
health professionals in the Western World, where we have medicated normality. When most of the evidence
is in front of you, it is possible to reach a reasonable conclusion and decide your own way forward.
“This new book Doctoring Data addresses several areas where our collective wisdom has been
manipulated and we have been taught to think in an unhelpful and sometimes harmful way. Read it and
evaluate it. Read it and decide what you believe.”
Dr Joanne McCormack GP Warrington UK
“We all think that evidence-based medicine is a good idea. But how many of us really understand how the
evidence is skewed to serve financial, corporate or personal interests? Even if we are generally aware of
the extent to which this happens, how can we precisely determine when the ‘evidence’ is reliable and when
it has been spun all out of proportion? Dr Kendrick has been studying this for three decades and after
reading his book, I guarantee that you will never look at health news or published research in the same way
again.
“Doctoring Data lifts the veil of deception often surrounding the reporting of medical research. You should
read it if you have even the remotest interest in your own health or the health of someone else. Every health
journalist should also read this book - if they did, we would immediately see a drastic improvement in the
way that medical studies are reported.
“Now that almost all of the medical research is funded, conducted, and reported by corporations with
vested interests, it is essential that patients and future patients become savvy consumers of medicines and
perhaps more importantly, the medical data. Understanding medical research might seem daunting,
however, Dr Kendrick has managed to cover all of the important aspects in this very readable book.
“Reading the book, I felt that the seriousness of the topics covered was palpable. However, at the same
time, Dr Kendrick has skillfully called upon his famous dry sense of humour to highly entertain the reader
along the way.
“It is important to note that Dr Kendrick does not tell you what you should do. Throughout the book he
reminds the reader that each of us should make informed personal decisions about medicines and other
health issues. Probably the most powerful thing about this book is that it has the potential to completely
transform patient-doctor interactions for the better. Dr Kendrick has provided an extremely powerful tool
for people who have a desire to take personal responsibility for their own health.
Justin Smith, Producer/Director: $TATIN NATION
“Doctoring Data confirms Mark Twain’s assertion that ‘Figures don’t lie but liars can figure’, and that
‘There are lies, damned lies and statistics.’ The first law of statistics is that given enough statistics, you can
prove anything. The second is that if the statistics don’t support your theory, you need more statistics.
“This book supports the research of John Ionnadis, which concluded that ‘41% of the 49 most influential
research studies in medicine have been convincingly shown to be wrong or significantly exaggerated’, and
that that up to 90% of medical publications doctors rely on is flawed. Some of the reasons for this are that
so many studies are funded by Big Pharma, which is increasingly devoted to converting healthy people into
paying patients by hyping trivial complaints into diseases requiring prescription drugs or by inventing new
diseases that may respond to an existing drug.
“Once a drug is approved by the FDA as safe, it can be prescribed for any condition. Pharmaceutical
manufacturers also have significant clout on the publication process, since medical journals don’t want to
jeopardize their lucrative income from advertisements and reprints by including articles with unfavorable
drug studies.
“This book shows how pharmacracy, disease mongering and medicalization of healthy people has
transformed a profession devoted to healing into a trade or commercial enterprise where the goal is to
increase profits. This includes making diseases out of a wide range of human behaviors from alcoholism
and obesity to emotional disturbances and infertility, some of which have been elevated to public health
problems that are then subject to government intervention.
“It should be required reading for practitioners and all medical students.”
Paul J. Rosch, MD, FACP, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, New York Medical College.
Chairman of the Board, The American Institute of Stress
“I haven’t laughed this much since I first watched ‘The Life of Brian’!”
Kate Jones, Sixth form critical thinking teacher
“Doctoring Data is a timely masterpiece-a clever, witty and devastating analysis of the facade of
knowledge that sustains the current medical enthusiasm for overdiagnosis and overtreatment,and its
devastating consequences for so many. Obligatory reading.”
James Le Fanu, author of The Rise & Fall of Modern Medicine
Dr Kendrick does not write out of ego or arrogance. He writes because he has seen the truth and he finds
that truth very disturbing. He writes as a general practitioner working in the front lines of modern
medicine. He is not an ivory-tower academic; yet his grasp of science exceeds that of most such academics.
He writes solely to empower the individual because he believes that “knowledge is power”. Certainly I who
live and breath science, have been empowered by the scientific knowledge I have gained from his writings.
Thank you Dr Kendrick. You have made a significant difference to my understanding.
Now we must insure that everyone in our profession and most especially those just entering it, be exposed to
this empowering information. It is beyond important.
The future of our profession may just depend on our understanding why we believe as we do.
And why we are usually wrong.
Timothy Noakes OMS, MBChB, MD, DSc, PhD (hc), FACSM, (hc) FFSEM
Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Thank You
Nikki, my wife, for having to listen to my ramblings over the years, and for
helping me to see the wood for the trees.
Luke Kendrick, my son, for coming up with the title of this book and reminding
me to keep my sense of humour.
My father, Bill Kendrick, for tearing pages out of textbooks when I was younger
and announcing that ‘this is complete rubbish.’ This opened my eyes to the fact
that, just because an ‘expert’ says something, that doesn’t make it right, or true.
Uffe Ravnskov, founder of ‘The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics’,
a visionary, a man who seeks the truth, and an inspiration to many of us who
battle against medical dogma.
My Daughter, Catriona Kendrick. She kept my enthusiasm for medicine alive by
being so interested and keen on it, and then heading off to medical school.
Zoë Harcombe, for her bright enthusiasm, her encouragement of my ideas, and
her tireless energy to expose nonsense in the world of medical research.