John Ioannidis

John Ioannidis   (academic, doctor)
Born	August 21, 1965 Athens, Greece
Nationality	US, Greek
Alma mater	University of Athens Medical School, Athens College
Greek-American physician-scientist who showed why "Most Published Research Findings Are False". Prominent opponent of lockdowns during Covid, but supported the jab.  Chair at Stanford Prevention Research Center In office 2010 - Present Employer Stanford  Chairman of the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology In office 1998 - 2010 Employer University of Ioannina School of Medicine

John P. A. Ioannidis is a Greek-American physician-scientist, writer and Stanford University professor. Ioannidis's 2005 essay "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" was the most-accessed article in the history of Public Library of Science (PLOS) as of 2020, with more than three million views. He was a prominent opponent of lockdowns during Covid.

Covid

Ioannidis was a prominent opponent of lockdowns during Covid, describing them as "mistakes", and pointing out the lack of evidence for the existence of a dramatic "Covid pandemic", comparing it to a "severe flu".

Shutdowns are an extreme measure. We know very well that they cause tremendous harm — for people’s lives, for their health, for their mental health, on their ability to get the best care for major problems like heart attacks, like cancer care. Shutdowns can take a major toll on employment, they can take a major toll on people who are disadvantaged, leaving them even more disadvantaged.

For this he was headily smeared in corporate media, where he became the "fringe scientist who pumped up a bad study that supported a crazy right-wing conspiracy theory in the middle of a massive health crisis," and censored from social media.

However, Ioannidis supported the Covid jabs.

Why Most Published Research Findings Are False

"Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" is a 2005 essay by Ioannidis, published in PLOS Medicine. It is considered foundational to the field of metascience, the use of scientific methodology to study science itself.

In the paper, Ioannidis argued that a large number, if not the majority, of published medical research papers contain results that cannot be replicated. In simple terms, the essay states that scientists use hypothesis testing to determine whether scientific discoveries are significant. Statistical significance is formalized in terms of probability, with its p-value measure being reported in the scientific literature as a screening mechanism. Ioannidis posited assumptions about the way people perform and report these tests; then he constructed a statistical model which indicates that most published findings are likely false positive results.

The greater the financial and other interests, the less likely the research findings are to be true

The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true. Conflicts of interest and prejudice may increase bias. Conflicts of interest are very common in biomedical research, and typically they are inadequately and sparsely reported. Prejudice may not necessarily have financial roots. Scientists in a given field may be prejudiced purely because of their belief in a scientific theory or commitment to their own findings. Many otherwise seemingly independent, university-based studies may be conducted for no other reason than to give physicians and researchers qualifications for promotion or tenure. Such nonfinancial conflicts may also lead to distorted reported results and interpretations. Prestigious investigators may suppress via the peer review process the appearance and dissemination of findings that refute their findings, thus condemning their field to perpetuate false dogma. Empirical evidence on expert opinion shows that it is extremely unreliable.

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