Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's with Charles Piller

In this episode of Inquiring Minds , host Indre Viskontas speaks with investigative journalist Charles Piller about his explosive new book, Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's . Piller unearths the troubling reality behind decades of Alzheimer's research, exposing how fraudulent data, unchecked ambition, and institutional failures have shaped the field—and wasted billions of dollars—while millions of patients and families await real solutions. Piller shares: How a single falsified study published in Nature helped cement the amyloid hypothesis as the dominant theory of Alzheimer’s, despite mounting evidence against it. The role of NIH funding incentives in steering researchers toward confirming flawed findings instead of exploring alternative approaches. The rise of scientific sleuths and whistleblowers like Matthew Schrag, who uncovered image manipulation in key Alzheimer’s studies. The institutional failures of major scientific journals, regulatory agencies, and funding bodies that allowed bad science to shape drug development for decades. Why Alzheimer’s patients and their families are still waiting for effective treatments, and what promising new directions could finally lead to breakthroughs. Despite the troubling revelations, Piller also highlights reasons for optimism, including emerging research into alternative causes of Alzheimer’s, such as viral infections and neuroinflammation, and promising clinical trials involving GLP-1 inhibitors. Listen in for a gripping and eye-opening discussion about how scientific fraud derailed progress in Alzheimer’s research—and how we can chart a new path forward. Doctored is available now at booksellers everywhere. Links: Get Charles Piller’s new book on Amazon: Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's Connect with Charles on LinkedIn and X Inquiring Minds Homepage: Support the show: Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can listen to Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's with Charles Piller online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's with Charles Piller is an episode from Inquiring Minds by Inquiring Minds.

This episode is 00:51:34 long.

This episode was published on Feb 4, 2025.

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