A survey was conducted to estimate the extent of scientific fraud in drug studies. The conclusion shows that the problem is widespread and really serious to the point that one would think it was a joke in bad taste.

This in-depth study highlights:

1) Pervasive conflicts of interest that threaten the integrity and credibility of most studies.

Time and time again, it becomes clear that the pharmaceutical industry is very biased. Indeed, when studies turn out to be contrary to their expectations, pharmaceutical companies call in experts from within the company to conduct studies that will lead to opposite results. Sowing doubt in everyone's mind, we don't know who to believe anymore, but that doesn't stop the drugs from being put on the market anyway.

The recent study on the real impact of industrial "light" sodas which, thanks to sweeteners, make you gain weight, whereas they are supposed to make you lose it, is only a very telling illustration of this type of dysfunction.

Except that for drugs like beta blockers to be used on patients who do not have heart problems, these erroneous findings could have led to the potential death of 800,000 Europeans.

In the meantime, the author of the study, Dr. Poldermans, who was also the chairman of the committee that drafted the guideline, has resigned.

This is just one striking example of the need for rigorous scientific integrity.

2) The manipulations of pharmaceutical companies.

In 2012, University of Illinois researchers at the Chicago Pharmacoeconomics Research Center found that among drugs studied and accepted in the pharmacopeia, nearly 75% of scientific studies were falsified. These deceptions range from the manufacture of drugs to questionable statistics to plagiarism.

And since the majority of health professionals trust them and follow their treatment recommendations, it is unfortunately the patients whose health is put at risk by the publication of these completely falsified results.

This is somewhat dramatic when you consider that over a 5-year period, it would be nearly a million surgical patients who would have lost their lives because of these poor scientific guidelines.

The Vioxx that almost everyone has heard about is an example of this type of drug being manufactured and marketed in the wrong way. In a few years, it killed more than 60,000 people before it was finally withdrawn from the market.

It was in 2008 that Dr. Joseph S. Ross of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York discovered the Merck report concocted by his department marketing. On the basis of these documents, legal proceedings were initiated against this company.

It is important to understand that our current medical system has been Machiavellianly orchestrated by pharmaceutical companies. They make us believe in a high level of scientific security when the whole process is based on lies and manipulation. This allows them to put us to sleep and sell us expensive and potentially toxic drugs without us taking notice.