who’s telling you the truth?

This is an interesting — as well as honest — quote from a doctor that I thought was worth citing. It’s from an April 24, 2006, Wall Street Journal article, “Doctors With Ties to Companies Push Aspirin Objections.”

The doctor, John Eikelboom, is a hematologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has consulted for both an aspirin manufacturer and makers of more expensive blood thinners. What’s refreshing is his candor — doctors often suffer from the delusion that they are not part of the human condition. There are always biases, of course, especially when financial and professional gain is involved.

“There’s a real issue of who you can get unbiased opinion from in medicine,” said Eikelboom. “It is a terrible problem… I try to be honest with myself, but I can’t pretend I will always be as honest as necessary.”