Doctors are not systematically updated on the latest literature. What they're taught in med school is often wrong or gets outdated quickly. The result is the majority of current doctors are extremely uninformed/misinformed about many major medical conditions. I believe this is costing many lives.

Patients with zero medical training/knowledge are forced to resort to basically being their own doctors via internet research.

I have raised this issue in many places, talked to some doctors about it, brought it up with a doctor who is also a lawmaker. I've also contacted my state's medical board about it. Few people seem to care enough to do anything about it. The legislator didn't even respond and the state board seemed extremely apathetic.

The "systems" - education, medical, research - in this country are all incredibly unsystematic. There seems to be no one who sets policy. Any random establishment anywhere in the country is free to do as they please.

I just found this extremely excellent presentation about this exact issue given by a doctor at the European Parliament.

A few highlights:

Killing For Profit - at the European Parliament ! #LCHF Aseem Malhotra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcnd3usdNxo

"Half of what you learn in medical school will be shown to be either dead wrong or out of date within 5 years of your graduation; the trouble is that nobody can tell you which half. The most important thing to learn is how to learn on your own" - David Sackett, one of the fathers of Evidence-Based Medicine.

"As a doctor for 17 years I have slowly and reluctantly come to the conclusion that as it stands now we have a complete healthcare system failure and an epidemic of misinformed doctors and misinformed and harmed patients" - Aseem Malhotra 7:30.

$864 million dollars per year could be saved by doctors having one conversation with patients prior to placing stints - which is a largely unnecessary & unhelpful treatment 13:30

Misleading health statistics: ~16:00. Relative Risk Reduction (RRR) vs Absolute Risk Reduction (ARR), and number needed to treat (NNT).

Statins are covered next.

Starts covering system failure, misconduct, regulation, collusion for financial gain at 31:10. At 34:00 an example for Beta Blockers is given where fictitious data published resulted in ESC guidelines increasing patient mortality by 27% resulting in 800,000 excess deaths.

34:55: Talks about Peter C. Gøtzsche, co-founder of the Cochrane collaboration, regarding major pharma companies being found guilty for fraud, particularly in the US. Between 2009-2014 total of $14 billion worth of fines for illegal marketing and hiding data and harms which involved the majority of top 10 pharma companies, and there's no incentive for them to stop.

35:55 Covers innovation. Between 2000-2008 of 667 new drugs approved by FDA only 11% found to be innovative. Others copies. At great cost and no extra benefit.

Cites multiples of these excellent quotes/links: https://archive.is/9pXGh

Next covers obesity, diabetes, diet. At 49:20 starts covering CICO notions pushed by the soft drink industry. Then regulation & food industry resistance. Says obesity epidemic is due to diet, not exercise. Largely blames added sugar in processed food. "Ultra processed food constitutes half of UK diet". "Lifestyle changes are more powerful than any drug at treating heart disease, come without side effects, and need to be at the forefront of treating chronic disease".

1:13:08 Switches speaker to Sir Richard Thompson, personal physician to the queen and former president of royal college of physicians.

1:26:50 Switch to Professor Hanno Pijl, internist, endocrinologist, and professor of Diabetology at Leiden University. Promotes lifestyle changes instead of drugs for chronic, lifestyle-related diseases such as colon cancer, stroke, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes.

1:32:00 Switch to Sarah Macklin, journalist & nutritionist. Mentions outdated guidelines taught in university.

1:42:10 Begins Q&A.

Not sure if there's a larger sub which this would be appropriate to post to.