Ben Goldacre



Profile: Timeline


Full name: Ben Goldacre

Area of interest: The misrepresentation of science in the media

Journals: The Guardian

Email: [mailto:ben@badscience.net ben@badscience.net]

Website: Bad Science | Guardian.co | (profile)

Blog: Comment is free...

Agent: PFD

Networks: Twitter



Biography:
Education: Magdalen College, Oxford: medicine - with a first class degree in his preclinical studies; University College, London: clinical medicine

Career: Written for Time Out, New Statesman, and the British Medical Journal, has written the Bad Science column in the Guardian since 2003
 * Academic career (Wikipedia)

Current position/role: Journalist


 * also writes/has written for:

Other roles: Junior Medical Doctor

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight: Bad Science.com: audio and media

TV/Radio: Appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and TV

Controversy/Criticism:
 * Goldacre doesn't make everything better'' - Jeremy Laurance writing in The Independent - 8th June 2010
 * Criticism of Gillian McKeith over validity of her qualifications and right to give nutritional and health advice, see A menace to science

Awards/Honours: Awards (Wikipedia)

Other: Son of singer Susan Traynor a.k.a. Noosha Fox



Books & Debate:

 * Bad science (London: HarperPress, 2007) OCLC 78988644

Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances:

Current debate: 

The Guardian: Bad Science
Column remit: Criticism of scientific inaccuracy, health scares, pseudoscience and quackery (esp. examples from the mass media, consumer product marketing and complementary and alternative medicine in Britain) - see the Bad Science Manifesto and (Wikipedia info)

Section: Home pages

Role: Columnist

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:bad.science@guardian.co.uk bad.science@guardian.co.uk]

Website: Science / Bad Science; Guardian.co / Ben Goldacre

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Saturday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length: 500/700 words



Articles: 2011

 * the workings out? You might as well be a Raelian'' - Sibling statistics, software secrecy and study shortcuts all show why scientific authority derives from transparency - 29th January
 * low? Don't blame Blue Monday'' - Despite hype around the 'most depressing day in the year' there is no reason to believe people are more miserable in January - 22nd January
 * you see it, now you don't: why journals need to rethink retractions'' - With errors sometimes perpetuated for years, academics need to know the reason for a paper being retracted - 15th January
 * 600 unwanted pregnancies really make an exceptional story?'' - Media claims about contraceptive implant 'failure' don't put figures into context - 8th January



Articles: 2010

 * dealings in tough year for whistleblowers'' - It's been a marvellous year for bullshit and pseudoscience - 18th December
 * migraine-inducing libel case'' - The US medical device company NMT are suing Peter Wilmshurst over his comments about the MIST trial - 12th December (Comment)
 * criticism is vital in science. Libel laws threaten it'' - Libel laws that restrict scientists and doctors scrutinising each others' ideas and practices are dangerous - 9th December (Comment)
 * painfully easy to trick the mind into seeing things that aren't there'' - People often manipulate what they have experienced to create an illusion of causality - 4th December 2010
 * to make people 'love' nuclear power'' - A poll on whether a new nuclear power station should be built at Hinkley Point provides a masterclass in manipulation - 20th November
 * from the lifestyle pages: the evidence of how Boob Job works'' - Enough to make your décolletage blush: cosmetics firm threatens plastic surgeon who doubts breast cream boasts - 13th November
 * scientific research often ends up making a glorious mess'' -Popular science tends to talk as if we have clear answers, but genuine studies constantly produce magn ificently conflicting results - 6th November
 * your libido? Let's try a little neuro-realism, madam'' - A study of women's libido raises questions about why brain imaging is used to make mental states 'real' for the public - 30th October
 * unacceptable face of medical research'' - News that the US infected asylum inmates with sexual diseases in the 1940s has caused outrage – and raised questions about participation in medical trials today - 23rd October
 * Daily Mail cancer story that torpedoes itself in paragraph 19'' - Studies of newspaper readers show that a late caveat is not enough - 16th October
 * genetic cause for ADHD won't necessarily reduce the stigma attached'' - Scientists who believe that labelling mental health problems 'an illness' will reduce prejudice may find the opposite is true - 9th October
 * does not fit crimes with the most victims'' - Empathy explains why Two Little Boys makes me cry yet two million Aids deaths a year never have the same effect - 2nd October
 * scandalises the Sun, but it may help in IVF'' - There is evidence that sexual images can increase sperm count – in animals and humans - 25th September
 * ghostwriters who build a brand'' - There are no rules against this, just traditions, good faith, and leaky regulations - 18th September
 * anti-condom message is sabotage in fight against Aids'' - Stance makes Catholic church a major global public health problem - 11th September
 * up appearances'' - A new study demonstrates that how women musicians dress alters the perception of how they play - 4th September
 * life-saving drugs: you have to draw the line somewhere'' - The press reported Avastin's 'life-saving properties' with an anecdote about one person, totally ignoring the treatment's reality - 28th August
 * exams getting easier? Nobody knows'' - For all the controversy about the ability of our children, there is a paucity of research on the subject - 21st August
 * firms hiding negative research are unfit to experiment on people'' - Another pharmaceutical giant has settled a big compensation claim. So why are they allowed to go on misleading the public? - 14th August
 * Office figures for Sarah's law – fact or fiction?'' - Claims that 60 children have been protected from child abuse by pilot scheme are impossible to verify - 7th August
 * 'shoot-out' between methods won't help us teach more children to read'' - Schools need large, robust randomised trials to help them decide which teaching methods to use - 31st July
 * like your findings? Spin them away'' - Even those carrying out formal academic research are guilty of twisting scientific facts to suit their purposes - 24th July
 * drug 'victory' is really an ugly story about incompetence'' - Rosiglitazone has been a magnet for disappointing behaviour since it was first marketed in 1999 - 17th July
 * oil salesmen find EU in the way'' - It's tough wading through health claims for food supplements, but Brussels has rejected 80% of 900 examined so far - 10th July
 * the scientific evidence is unwelcome, people try to reason it away'' - Research results not consistent with your world view? Then you're likely to believe science can't supply all the answers - 3rd July
 * are fine, but there are better ways to protect a population'' - Last year's earthquake in Abruzzo in Italy shows it is impossible to predict certain tragedies – but that hasn't stopped the seismologists being blamed - 19th June
 * crossing your fingers works … if you're lucky'' - In laboratory conditions, people who are superstitious can succeed. Does that apply in real life? - 12th June
 * lesson: Not so much brain boost as fishy research'' - One tiny brain-imaging study of fatty acids has been used to endorse fish oil as education's magic pill - 5th June
 * Martin Gardner warned us to beware the bee people from Mars'' - The writings of this debunker of pseudoscience show us how little has changed in the last 60 years - 29th May
 * treatment policy needs a dose of evidence'' - Grand promises from governments mean little without decent analysis - 22nd May
 * we can't help whistleblowers, then we won't hear their call'' - A BMA survey shows doctors fears over reporting concerns about patient safety. But are they just being melodramatic? - 15th May
 * election data that matters, we have our nerds to thank'' - Need to know who won where, or what dodgy statistics politicians deployed? Then don't expect the state to provide - 8th May (Cif at the polls)
 * power of election smears'' - How putting the facts straight entrenches deeply-held prejudices - 1st May 2010
 * last, the rise of evidence-based voting'' - Not only can we test claims made by politicians in this election, we can use data that has been previously hard to find - 24th April (Cif at the polls)
 * laws: a lethal muzzle of medicine'' - The chiropractors' absurd pursuit of Simon Singh is over, but libel laws are still a real health hazard - 16th April
 * for patients' deaths does not add up'' - A Dutch nurse given life for murdering seven people in a killing spree that never happened will hear about her appeal on Wednesday. Will the people who jailed her apologise? - 10th April
 * absurdity of patenting genes'' - A court has overturned patents owned by Myriad on the BRCA1 breast cancer gene. But such patents can have a chilling effect on research - 3rd April
 * statistics and Sunderland'' - Wild claims linking Facebook to a rise in syphilis only add to the wealth of misinformation - 27th March
 * don't cure colds, so why do patients think they do?'' - Imaginative trial shows antibiotics are only marginally helpful in treating colds, but doctors who cave into patient pressure create demand - 20th March
 * bugs were harmed in the media reporting of infested trains'' - The figures for bugs in train compartments sound a little bit on the high side. Where did they come from? - 13th March
 * prevents Alzheimer's? It depends who you ask'' - Papers by people with links to the tobacco industry play down the risks of Alzheimer's associated with smoking - 6th March
 * doesn't work. But are the claims for other medicines any better?'' - Drug ads that don't back up their claims show how dumb doctors can be about evidence and how lax regulation has become - 27th February
 * makes regulating herbal medicine difficult'' - A judge this week called for traditional medicine to be regulated, but it's not easy when practitioners make claims based on faith -20th February
 * Science: Accidents of birth and incidence of trigger-happy puppies'' - How rare is it really for three siblings to be born on the same date? - 13th February
 * view: The media are equally guilty over the MMR vaccine scare'' - Andrew Wakefield was at the centre of a media storm about the MMR vaccine and is now being blamed by journalists as if he were the only one at fault - 28th January
 * research study shows many tests are full of flaws'' - Whether you support or detest such experiments, it's important to know if they are well conducted - 23rd January
 * aliens help to line up Woolworths stores?'' - Researcher Tom Brooks reckons primitive man was a navigational genius. It's true, but only if you ignore the evidence to the contrary - 16th January
 * v private sector pay: the figures don't add up'' - There is no firm evidence either way to assess earnings 'gulf' - 9th Janaury



Articles: 2009

 * vintage year. Expect more in 2010'' - There are a lot of people out there who want people like us to shut up. That's their bad luck - 19th December
 * change? Well, we'll be dead by then'' - Why do roughly half the people in this country not believe in man-made climate change, when the overwhelming majority of scientists do? - 12th December
 * contact with a helping hand'' - Recent studies have found that claims made for 'facilitated communication' were unsubstantiated - 5th December
 * and the nocebo effect'' - Dr Peter Fisher from the Royal London Homeopathic hospital (funded by the NHS) says homeopathic pills have physical side-effects. Can a sugar pill have a side-effect? - 28th November
 * over statins' side-effects label finally ends'' - The pharmaceutical industry has taken almost two years to disseminate important information - 21st November
 * the myth of a miracle bomb detector'' - The New York Times and the magician James Randi have uncovered a nonsense of truly epic proportions - 14th November
 * your drugs laws working? Ask a scientist'' - Not just molecules: the lesson of David Nutt's sacking is that evidence-based policy relies on good quality research - 7th November
 * from the Sun and the Moon'' - Every now and then, it's fun to dip into the world of politics and find ou t what our lords and masters are saying about science - 31st October
 * and Aids: debate or denial?'' - A lot of strange stuff can fly in under the claim that you are 'simply starting a debate' - 24th October
 * cause controversy'' - Most people hadn't noticed chiropractors before they sued Simon Singh. Now the internet is awash with reviews of the evidence that raise questions about whether chiropractic is effective in conditions they had claimed it could treat - 17th October
 * jab fantasy closes down a debate'' - Professor Diane Harper's own words correct misrepresentations in story about cervical cancer treatment Cervarix - 10th October
 * damning verdict on drug trials'' - While the media wound themselves up into a frenzy, a much more important story was hidden away in a dry academic journal - 3rd October
 * film of Aids denialist propaganda'' - It would take two months of columns to address all the bogus claims of House of Numbers, a new film about Aids - 26th September
 * reform will stay on the fringe'' - Do I welcome the Liberal Democrats' stance on libel? Actually, I don't believe anyone in power will ever ditch these unfair laws - 22nd September (Comment is free)
 * Blueprint for how not to do research'' - Before we dismantle this Home Office report on drugs policy, can I just say I'm sure they've produced some other perfectly acceptable reports, and I shouldn't like any brittle souls to be dispirited by the criticisms that will follow - 19th September
 * review is flawed but the best we've got'' - Scientists should be free to pontificate in their internal professional literature - 12th September
 * lives? It's patently obvious'' - In developing countries drug patents may be doing more harm than good - 5th September
 * Weldon's verbal grenades'' - Focusing on Fay Weldon's mischievous remarks about women detracts attention from the feminism debate we do need to have - 29th August
 * warning: exercise makes you fat?'' - The Sunday Telegraph gives you permission to do nothing with a misleading feature that claims re-programming body fat is the key to weight loss, not working out - 29th August
 * column helps you lose weight. Honestly'' - Journalists can cheerfully make grand claims for a product that would be impossible in any advert - 15th August
 * and myth: curse of the ghostwriters'' - Two disturbing stories demonstrate the dangers of rejecting best practice of systematic review where the literature on a subject is surveyed methodically to find all the evidence - 8th August
 * is about capitalism, not food'' - A Food Standards Agency report on organic food triggered a swift response from the Soil Association - 1st August
 * intrepid, ragged band of bloggers'' - Chiropractors may regret choosing to sue Simon Singh, springing online scientists into action - 30th July
 * Office research so feeble someone ought to be locked up'' - This study is possibly the most unclear I have ever seen in a professional environment - 18th July
 * may not be so sweet after all'' - can science offer any practical help and insight in our pursuit of an evidence-based life? - 11th July
 * and prejudice: why rape story erred'' - Printing speculative research about rape isn't just ridiculous, it's irresponsible - 4th July
 * mystery and plain muddle'' - When is a conversation public, and when is it private? This problem rears its head with greater frequency in the age of the internet - 20th June
 * study that got up the nose of the US'' - A study which described mild cocaine use in positive tones prompted several blown outrage fuses - 13th June
 * downloads and dodgy figures'' - I doubt that every download is lost revenue, since people who download more also buy more music - 6th June
 * hacks and pressing problems with press releases'' - Obviously we distrust the media on science: they rewrite commercial press releases from dodgy organisations as if they were news - 30th May
 * flu and the difference between mice and men'' - An NHS website with 6m monthly visitors is helping dispel health myths behind the headlines - 23rd May
 * hypothesis and ideas. But where's the evidence?'' - It is possible that much of Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield's output on the effects of using computers is speculative flim-flam - 16th May
 * danger of drugs … and data'' - Bad information in medical literature leads doctors to make irrational prescribing decisions, which ultimately can cost lives, and cause unnecessary suffering, not to mention the expense - 9th May
 * the pandemic, the drugs do work'' - I don't want to freak you out, but I'm not sure Tamiflu can save us all from Parmageddon - 2nd May
 * flu and hype – a media illness'' - Even if the predicted millions don't die, a risk is still a risk – and that's why I've turned down everyone from the BBC to al-Jazeera - 30th April
 * fish oil to the snake oil of fake trials'' - Does fish oil make your child less hyperactive? In some cases, according to over optimistic subgroup analysis - 25th April
 * jabs, good or bad? The Mail's in two minds'' - Journalists wilfully misinterpret scientific evidence in order to generate stories that reflect their own prejudices - 18th April
 * and nonsense: which is news?'' - The new survey on Auschwitz was not published in a journal because it tells us nothing - 4th April
 * media reports on suicide can be fatal'' - The inclusion by the media of gratuitous detail in reports of suicides significantly increases the number of attempts - 28th March
 * journalists? Don't make me laugh'' - British journalists go out of their way to cherry-pick which evidence they cover, and then explain it in the most unhelpful way possible - 21st March
 * scumbag's masterclass in fraud'' - False research results and fraudulent practices in medical research are not that uncommon - 14th March
 * speaking, Pepsi's gibberish is hard to swallow'' - Across huge swaths of the world scientific reasoning is regarded as decorative - 7th March
 * on 60 million people doesn't add up'' - We are invited to accept that everybody's data will be surveyed and processed - 28th February
 * seizures: name your own price'' - In a week where our dear Daily Mail ran How Using Facebook Could Raise Your Risk of Cancer, I will exercise some self-control, and write about drugs instead - 21st February
 * and findings: the impact factor'' - This column is about tainted medical research, not MMR - 14th February
 * on the road to PR-reviewed data'' - 7th February
 * Monday? That's just too depressing'' - Ah yes, Dr Cliff Arnall's equation for the most depressing day of the year - the third Monday in January. This started life as a corporate puff for Sky Travel, but now Blue Monday has become part of the canon of pseudoscientific media myth - 24th January
 * things you can perk up with a cup of coffee'' - 17th January
 * detoxer in denial'' - My interest in Detox in a box was first piqued when they began to deny quotes from their own website - 10th January
 * stupid people and their pseudoscience cost more lives this year?'' - 3rd January



Articles: 2008

 * year for iffy studies and selective reporting'' - Rigorous scientific research languishes unpublicised while media continue to churn out bogus science stories - 27th December
 * statistics? The Sunday Times isn't kidding'' - The Times has started an innovative new column titled Bad Statistics. It seems to me to be somewhat lacking in thoroughness - 20th December
 * the Sun boobed over Britney equation'' - 13th December
 * not what the papers say, it's what they don't'' - MMR vaccine played no part in death of child, but only the Telegraph has covered the outcome - 6th December
 * births: how BBC misread the evidence'' - 29th November
 * it comes to a cold, you might as well try goat entrails'' - 22nd November
 * all losers in the numbers game'' - on where the number crunching figures appear from in consumer research surveys - 15th November
 * tale sets alarm bells ringing'' - the science of a disease is more interesting than made up nonsense about it - 8th November
 * air fallacies'' - on universities offering degrees in quackery - 1st November
 * carefully, I shall say this only once'' - Duplicate publication of data distorts a reader's impression of how much evidence is out there - 25th October
 * faultlines in carbon monoxide servicing survey'' - 11th October
 * space for the wild and wonderful'' - the simple fact that something has been "published" is becoming as meaningless as it always should have been: ideas are there to be read and critically appraised - 4th October
 * oil exam results fail all the tests'' - 27th September
 * in action: the trials that did not make the news'' - 20th September
 * let the facts spoil a good story'' - Academics' work can be 'grossly and crassly misrepresented' by the newspapers - 13th September
 * their money, myopia and abuses, these pill makers match big pharma'' - The food supplement industry likes to style itself as people's medicine, but the way it stifles debate is far from democratic - Guardian.co.uk - 12th September
 * up: it's all down to random variation'' - Britain's happiest places have been mapped by scientists - 6th September
 * dose of reality'' - As the pace of medical innovation slows to a crawl, how do drug companies stay in profit? By 'discovering' new illnesses to fit existing products. But for most problems the cure will never be found in a pill - Comment - 1st September
 * mind, healthy body'' - Maybe mindset alone can influence metabolism and the benefits of exercise - 23rd August
 * the mouths of morons in the media'' - There's not exactly a whole bunch of news going on right now - 16th August
 * season, silly machine'' - What is the mysterious QXCI machine? - 9th August
 * Working out the fame formula - So event-related fame declines rapidly with time? I don't think anyone is desperately surprised - 2nd August
 * A need for self-reflection - The papers are alive with criticism for quack nutritionism after the case of Dawn Page - 26th July
 * Still no cure for cancer hysteria - The newspapers are so profoundly overrun with pseudoscience about food that there's no point in documenting it any longer - 19th July
 * Testing the plausibilty effect - Week in, week out, we see apparently scientific claims being made as if they were based on evidence, when in reality they are based on nothing more than authority, often from one man - 12th July
 * Plagues of wasps, squirrels, rats? Let's see the data - 5th July
 * Aids, and a masts campaigner'' - 28th June
 * Why reading should not be believing - 21st June
 * How being swindled can make you feel better - 14th June
 * Decline of maths? Just do the arithmetic - 7th June
 * Determined bloggers who blew whistle - In this case it seems the bloggers win as branches of Dore close across the world - 31st May 2
 * How to market a miracle cure - How do you judge if an intervention is effective when you hear about it in the media? - 24th May
 * In pursuit of the perfect pitch - We would all do well to remember that elaborate runic rituals behind the scenes can have an enormous impact on what is heard - 17th May
 * How pools of blood trials could save lives - In the United States last week the papers went crazy: artificial blood products cause a 30% increase in deaths - 10th May
 * The missing finger that never was - The media is a confusing and inappropriate place to communicate new and unpublished epoch-making scientific breakthroughs - 3rd May
 * Celebs decry evidence on vitamin pills - 26th April
 * End is nigh for zombie slayers - 19th April
 * Arbitrary decisions on additives - 12th April
 * Deathless drug strategy buries good news - 5th April
 * Fish oil pills, exam results and a belated retreat - 29th March
 * Pep, zing, oomph, energy. You won't find them here - 15th March
 * Drug data that flatters to deceive - 8th March
 * Don't laugh, sugar pills are the future - 1st March
 * Ticking the boxes before trying to save lives - 23rd February
 * Nonsense dressed up as neuroscience - 16th February
 * Fluoride, teeth, and an argument that's full of holes - 9th February
 * Cannabis casualties, hybrid cars, and cubic litres - 2nd February
 * Depression - the facts and the fables - 26th January
 * With a Huff and a puff, I'll blow your stats down - 19th January
 * To screen or not to screen - that is the question - 12th January
 * Clinical trials and playing by the rules - 5th January



Articles: 2007

 * A year of scares, quacks, and geeky truths - 29th December
 * Chocs away! Eat, drink and be merry - 22nd December
 * Twisting the Pope's words on climate change - 15th December
 * The Mail gets it right, with one point missing - 8th December
 * Aids quackery in Africa, and nearer home - 1st December
 * Now for ID cards - and the biometric blues - 24th November
 * What does it mean when your brain starts to glow? - 17th November
 * A kind of magic? - 16th November
 * Free energy? It doesn't measure up - 10th November
 * Minority out of control - 3rd November
 * Some numbers in abortion debate just can't be relied on - 27th October
 * Threats - the homeopathic panacea - 20th October
 * After Madeleine, why not Bin Laden? - 13th October
 * The problem with herbalists - 6th November
 * Pinning down a remedy for backache - 29th September
 * Omega-3 and the GCSE year trial? It still smells fishy - 22nd September
 * Stick to sugar pills and avoid the hard stuff - 15th September
 * A wiggle in her walk? That's what Veet likes - 1st September
 * Out of the blue and in the pink - 25th August
 * Evolutionary regression back to 1866 - 18th August
 * Spectacularly expensive cost of trial and error - 11th August
 * Evil ways of the drug companies - 4th August
 * Cannabis data comes to the crunch - 28th July
 * Testing social policy - 21st July
 * The MMR story that wasn't - 18th July
 * Perpetual motion goes into reverse - 7th July
 * Examine the data, not the author- 30th June
 * Greetings from the Gong Bath - 23rd June
 * Moved to tears by the beauty of blogs - 16th June
 * Quackbuster causes too much flak for university - 9th June
 * Watch out for that blob of radiation! - 2nd June
 * Through the tube darkly - 26th May
 * The art of decorative electronics - 19th May
 * Best wrinkle for makers of these cures is to keep their fingers crossed - 5th May
 * Taking on the drug companies - 28th April
 * Winning streaks that risk losing the plot - 21st April
 * Don't blame the drug companies - 14th April
 * Lies, damned lies and statistics - 7th April
 * We've got the pills, so you must have a problem - 31st March
 * Cherry picking data to prove a point about cannabis - 24th March
 * Getting in the habit with 'brainpower' pill - 17th March
 * Nitrous oxide starves the brain of oxygen? Don't make me laugh - 10th March
 * Scare story on GM potatoes translates cysts into cancers - 3rd March
 * Opinions from the medical fringe should come with a health warning - 24th February
 * How money is not the only barrier to Aids patients getting hold of drugs - 17th February
 * Open access and the price of knowledge - 10th February
 * Brought to book: the poo lady's PhD - 3rd February
 * Doctored information on celebrity nutritionist - 6th January



Links:

 * Science Weekly podcast, 1st September 2008, with Alok Jha and Marcus Chown
 * Wikipedia bio