Opinion: Fixing health care’s replication crisis is important for researchers and patients

We are awash in articles reporting new study results. Whether it’s a potential cure for an illness, daunting statistics about health care outcomes, or the latest take on what makes a healthy diet, we’re receiving more information than we’ve ever had before nudging us toward making decisions about our health.

But are we getting accurate information?

Dr. John Ioannidis, a statistician and professor of medicine at Stanford, recently joined three dozen health researchers in a Stanford lecture hall to explain why most research findings are false. Of the most widely cited health research studies of the last decade, he found that could be replicated, and by later studies.