Blinded by Science

The unscrupulous know the desperately sick will risk all for potential cures. Experimental stem-cell treatment is but the latest quest in medical tourism, propelled by the internet and social media. Patients with autism, Alzheimer’s and other conditions travel to China, India or Central America seeking treatment from providers “generating false hope, robbing families of their resources, and potentially compromising legitimate stem cell science,” explains health law and policy researcher Timothy Caulfield in an essay for the Walrus. “Scientific breakthroughs stir the public imagination, become part of popular culture, and then get packaged and sold by opportunists,” what Caulfield refers to as “scienceploitation.” The long period between discovery and evidence-based care, combined with a powerful placebo effect associated with any care, provides opportunity for scams or wishful thinking. Motivations behind questionable treatments include greed, desperation or career ambition. Health-care consumers must be skeptical about breakthroughs so often touted in media and patient for research reviews and trials to unfold. – YaleGlobal