Absolutely true. A tactic of lobbyists to oppose policy change .. say on climate .. deny the problem exists. Say they will change their minds when the evidence comes in. Then set a high bar, for what standard of evidence they'll accept... so high they know it's impossible for scientists to ever get it. Policy makers and media often fell for it. Naomi Oreskes, "Merchants of Doubt".
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and was described as the "saviour of mothers".
Postpartum infection, also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, consists of any bacterial infection of the reproductive tract following birth and in the 19th century was common and often fatal.
Semmelweis demonstrated that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands.
In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had thrice the mortality of midwives' wards. The maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings, Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever, in 1861.
Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could offer no theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand-washing, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it.
While his hygiene requirements (hand washing with chlorinated lime) were sometimes mockingly referred to as a "Jewish superstition" or "Jewish" by opponents, this was a derogatory, anti-Semitic slur used to discredit him and his ideas.
In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis allegedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleagues. In the asylum, he was beaten by the guards. He died 14 days later from a gangrenous wound on his right hand that may have been caused by the beating.
His findings earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory of disease, giving Semmelweis's observations a theoretical and scientific explanation, and Joseph Lister, acting on Pasteur's research, practised and operated using hygienic methods with great success.
What other readers said. And, might we also strive to ask better questions? Strong critical thinking at the outset can lead to stronger research, more reliable outcomes, and greater overall value and efficiency.
Weaponized certainty is a familiar tactic when evidence threatens money or power. As Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company stated, “Doubt is our product.” The tobacco industry repeatedly attacked scientific methods and smeared scientists themselves, manufacturing credibility deficits. Similar strategies were deployed against Rachel Carson when she presented evidence of the harms caused by synthetic pesticides.
Standards of proof and demands for methodological rigor tend to rise depending on a researcher’s gender or race. Our long history of bias ensures that many scholars begin their work with credibility deficits that are easily exploited.
Unlike doctors, my 50,000 "patients" were already buried...ten feet deep, no less. 2.85m cover, to the top-of-water-pipe, in Calgary, to stay below the frost line.
Needless to say, I had to "diagnose" with a lot of aluminum-standard evidence, so I felt for this one.
"When it comes to evidence, I’ve noticed some groups will demand ‘gold standard’ evidence for interventions and policies they disagree with, while accepting anecdote and speculation for topics they support."
Might this be a version of the fundamental attribution error?
Unfortunately Cochrane have changed their standards for updating reviews, leading to a situation where outdated information is presented as if it were still up-to-date. They still have a reputation for having the highest standards, but that reputation is no longer deserved.
Very interesting. Have you cross-typed with capital-building - ie if there’s money to be made? In the 1970’s a doc named Alan Ebringer discovered a connection between a biome bacteria called Klebsiella and spondy-arthritis sufferers - particularly Ankylosing Spondylitis. In 1989, his study showed overwhelming evidence that people with HLA-B27 genotype developed autoimmune pathology in response to Klebsiella overgrowth (I think while at Kings College, London). He went round the world talking to rheumatologist consultants. These were treating people with agonising nocturnal pain and debilitating diurnal stiffness (it’s the one that basically very painfully eats the cartilage between your vertebrae until your spine fuses together like bamboo and you are left bent double at 90° looking at the ground) with Big $$$$$ Pharma solutions like NSAIDS and latterly immune repressing therapies. The former cause life-limiting kidney damage and disease, the latter shut down sections of the immune system and therefore make ppl susceptible to disease, in particular cancer (this is a known risk and side-effect). Did anybody listen or apply what Ebringer had proven? Nope. To this day naturopaths have been treating a few random Google-savvy sufferers’ guts with klebsiella-limiting diets or supplements and virtually curing them of their disease. But the medical and pharmaceutical industries continues to make big money on treatments - not cures - that make their patients better in the short term but life-limit them in the long, and/but, it turns out most importantly, their shareholders extremely wealthy.
Absolutely true. A tactic of lobbyists to oppose policy change .. say on climate .. deny the problem exists. Say they will change their minds when the evidence comes in. Then set a high bar, for what standard of evidence they'll accept... so high they know it's impossible for scientists to ever get it. Policy makers and media often fell for it. Naomi Oreskes, "Merchants of Doubt".
In praise for Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and was described as the "saviour of mothers".
Postpartum infection, also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, consists of any bacterial infection of the reproductive tract following birth and in the 19th century was common and often fatal.
Semmelweis demonstrated that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands.
In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had thrice the mortality of midwives' wards. The maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings, Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever, in 1861.
Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could offer no theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand-washing, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it.
While his hygiene requirements (hand washing with chlorinated lime) were sometimes mockingly referred to as a "Jewish superstition" or "Jewish" by opponents, this was a derogatory, anti-Semitic slur used to discredit him and his ideas.
In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis allegedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleagues. In the asylum, he was beaten by the guards. He died 14 days later from a gangrenous wound on his right hand that may have been caused by the beating.
His findings earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory of disease, giving Semmelweis's observations a theoretical and scientific explanation, and Joseph Lister, acting on Pasteur's research, practised and operated using hygienic methods with great success.
Yes, Semmelweis also makes an appearance in the book!
What other readers said. And, might we also strive to ask better questions? Strong critical thinking at the outset can lead to stronger research, more reliable outcomes, and greater overall value and efficiency.
Weaponized certainty is a familiar tactic when evidence threatens money or power. As Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company stated, “Doubt is our product.” The tobacco industry repeatedly attacked scientific methods and smeared scientists themselves, manufacturing credibility deficits. Similar strategies were deployed against Rachel Carson when she presented evidence of the harms caused by synthetic pesticides.
Standards of proof and demands for methodological rigor tend to rise depending on a researcher’s gender or race. Our long history of bias ensures that many scholars begin their work with credibility deficits that are easily exploited.
Unlike doctors, my 50,000 "patients" were already buried...ten feet deep, no less. 2.85m cover, to the top-of-water-pipe, in Calgary, to stay below the frost line.
Needless to say, I had to "diagnose" with a lot of aluminum-standard evidence, so I felt for this one.
"When it comes to evidence, I’ve noticed some groups will demand ‘gold standard’ evidence for interventions and policies they disagree with, while accepting anecdote and speculation for topics they support."
Might this be a version of the fundamental attribution error?
Unfortunately Cochrane have changed their standards for updating reviews, leading to a situation where outdated information is presented as if it were still up-to-date. They still have a reputation for having the highest standards, but that reputation is no longer deserved.
Their "study" on whether masks work for COVID prevention is an embarrassment and a public health hazard. I no longer take them seriously.
Very interesting. Have you cross-typed with capital-building - ie if there’s money to be made? In the 1970’s a doc named Alan Ebringer discovered a connection between a biome bacteria called Klebsiella and spondy-arthritis sufferers - particularly Ankylosing Spondylitis. In 1989, his study showed overwhelming evidence that people with HLA-B27 genotype developed autoimmune pathology in response to Klebsiella overgrowth (I think while at Kings College, London). He went round the world talking to rheumatologist consultants. These were treating people with agonising nocturnal pain and debilitating diurnal stiffness (it’s the one that basically very painfully eats the cartilage between your vertebrae until your spine fuses together like bamboo and you are left bent double at 90° looking at the ground) with Big $$$$$ Pharma solutions like NSAIDS and latterly immune repressing therapies. The former cause life-limiting kidney damage and disease, the latter shut down sections of the immune system and therefore make ppl susceptible to disease, in particular cancer (this is a known risk and side-effect). Did anybody listen or apply what Ebringer had proven? Nope. To this day naturopaths have been treating a few random Google-savvy sufferers’ guts with klebsiella-limiting diets or supplements and virtually curing them of their disease. But the medical and pharmaceutical industries continues to make big money on treatments - not cures - that make their patients better in the short term but life-limit them in the long, and/but, it turns out most importantly, their shareholders extremely wealthy.