Book Forum 

# *Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health*

Published By Bloomsbury Publishers • 2024 

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Date and Time 

September 20, 2024 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 

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##### Featuring 

![Martin A. Makary headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-10/martin-makary.jpeg?itok=GN0yJdai) 

Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH 

Professor of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

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](https://twitter.com/MartyMakary) 

[![Media Name: dhyman.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/dhyman.jpg?itok=LfUKw9cY)](/people/david-hyman) 

[David A. Hyman](/people/david-hyman)

Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Health Law and Policy, Georgetown University Law Center; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute

[![jeff-singer-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/jeff-singer-cropped.jpg?itok=G_0nEnx7)](/people/jeffrey-singer) 

[Jeffrey A. Singer](/people/jeffrey-singer)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/dr4liberty) [ 

](mailto:jsinger@cato.org) 

Public health researcher Dr. Martin Makary claims in his new book, *Blind Spots*, that “the pandemic was not a one-off in how the medical establishment works. In fact, it was more the norm than the exception.”

Dr. Makary says that dogma, groupthink, and the suppression of scientific debate describe the culture of the modern medical establishment. He provides examples of public health recommendations and medical practices that persist despite lacking evidence or being shown to be harmful. Dr. Makary discusses weaknesses of the peer-review process for publishing scientific articles, alleging government research grants and the preferred narratives of “medical elites” affect the nature and quality of medical research. How did the medical establishment get this broken? Did public policy break it? What policy reforms can repair it? Please join us in discussing the book and its implications with the author.

**Lunch to follow.**

## Additional Resources

- “[Against Scientific Gatekeeping,](https://reason.com/2022/04/03/against-scientific-gatekeeping/)” by Jeffrey A. Singer
- “[Why Most Published Research Findings Are False,](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7686290_Why_Most_Published_Research_Findings_Are_False)” by John Ioannidis
- “[Medical Error—the Third Leading Cause of Death in the US,](https://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139)” by Martin Makary & Michael Daniel
- “[Johns Hopkins Study Suggests Medical Errors Are Third-Leading Cause of Death in U.S.,](https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/)” by Vanessa McMains
- [Speak Not of Error (PDF),](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2024-07/ssrn-807524.pdf) by by David A. Hyman & Charles Silver

![Blind Spots book cover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2024-07/blind-spots-cover.jpg?itok=AAxCPVC7) 

##### Featured Book 

### *[Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health](https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Medicine-Wrong-Health/dp/1639735313?tag=catoinstitute-20)*

More Americans have peanut allergies today than at any point in history. Why? In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a strict recommendation that parents avoid giving their children peanut products until they’re three years old. Getting the science perfectly backward, triggering intolerance with lack of early exposure, the US now leads the world in peanut allergies-and this misinformation is still rearing its head today.

[Purchase Book](https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Medicine-Wrong-Health/dp/1639735313?tag=catoinstitute-20) 

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