Who Decides Science?

How Anonymous Critics Override Peer Review and Controversial Medical Studies Disappear Overnight

September 26, 2025

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A Message from Dr. McMillan

When research is shaped to protect narratives rather than challenge them, true progress is lost. Academics know their careers depend on publishing, and that often means avoiding work that strays too far from consensus.

This culture of caution is likely one of the main reasons why COVID-19 science has struggled to answer the hardest questions of the pandemic. The difficult truths remain unexplored - not because they are unimportant, but because they are inconvenient.

Real science should not fear difficult questions.

Dr. Philip McMillan

In this week's September 26, 2025 update:

  • Ethics: How anonymous critics override peer review

  • Vejon: This week’s featured Vejon video

  • Dementia: Poor sleep may nudge the brain toward dementia

  • Infographic: Who decides science

  • News: Medical news in brief

  • Education: McMillan ROOT spike detox protocol

    Read time: 6 minutes

FEATURE ARTICLE

ETHICS

  • Rapid censorship pipeline: Papers challenging COVID vaccine narratives face removal within 24-72 hours via anonymous PubPeer complaints, bypassing proper peer review processes.

  • Institutional shunning: Researchers like Nicolas Hulscher face career threats, social isolation, and explicit warnings about permanent academic exile for controversial findings.

  • Financial conflicts: Major medical publishers receive significant pharmaceutical revenue, with half of journal editors and peer reviewers receiving industry payments.

  • Scientific discourse breakdown: Anonymous critics can trigger retractions faster than qualified peers can evaluate methodology, replacing scientific debate with narrative control.

Why this is important: Anonymous online critics now wield more power than qualified scientists in determining what medical research survives the process leading towards publication. This erosion of transparent peer review threatens scientific progress by ensuring controversial questions never receive proper investigation, potentially suppressing vital discoveries that challenge established narratives or powerful financial interests.

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DEMENTIA

Poor Sleep May Nudge the Brain Toward Dementia
Author: Timothy Hearn, Anglia Ruskin University

  • Mayo Clinic study found chronic insomnia increases dementia risk by 40% in older adults.

  • Poor sleep accelerates amyloid plaque buildup and white matter damage in the brain.

  • Insomnia combined with short sleep duration causes cognitive decline equivalent to aging four years.

  • Sleep problems in midlife may increase dementia risk decades later, suggesting early prevention matters.

Why this is important: Sleep has proved to be a powerful lever for protecting cognitive health, with chronic insomnia accelerating brain aging through multiple pathways. These findings suggest targeting sleep disorders in midlife could help to prevent dementia decades later, offering hope for reducing one of society's most feared age-related diseases.

INFOGRAPHIC

EDUCATION

McMillan ROOT Spike Detox Protocol

You don’t have to settle for feeling anything less than your best. The McMillan ROOT Spike Detox Protocol is designed to give you a clear roadmap to better health and lasting results. Complete our survey, get the link on submission to book a Check-In meeting with Dr McMillan and start your journey back to health. Note that all meetings are scheduled in UK time.

MEDICAL NEWS IN BRIEF

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

🚥 Neuroscience Finds Musicians Feel Pain Differently From the Rest of Us: Musical training creates a neurological shield against pain, keeping brain maps stable while non-musicians' brains may shrink under discomfort. This discovery could revolutionize chronic pain treatment by revealing how targeted practice literally rewires our brains to experience fundamental sensations differently, opening paths to therapeutic interventions.

🚥 Our Actions Are Dictated by 'Autopilot' Not Choice: Automatic habits control two-thirds of daily behavior, fundamentally shifting how we approach personal change and public health. Instead of relying on willpower, effective interventions must focus on environmental triggers, routine disruption, and systematic habit formation to create lasting behavioral transformation. [SOURCE]

🚥 Deadly Drug-Resistant Fungus Spreading Rapidly Through European Hospitals: Hospital systems face a narrowing window to prevent the drug-resistant fungus 'Candidozyma auris' from becoming permanently entrenched. Without immediate containment measures, this fungus threatens to establish endemic circulation, driving mortality rates up to 60% higher than normal while straining healthcare capacity and costs indefinitely.

🚥 Older Adults Can Bounce Back to Thriving Health: Recovery at any age becomes achievable when we recognize that aging trajectories aren't fixed. These findings challenge healthcare systems to pivot from managing decline to fostering recovery, while empowering older adults with evidence that physical, mental, and social wellness can be reclaimed through targeted, modifiable lifestyle interventions. [SOURCE]

🚥 Some New Drugs Aren't Actually 'New': Transparency is a powerful weapon against pharmaceutical monopoly abuse. By revealing how public clinical trial data naturally raises patent quality standards, this research illuminates a regulatory pathway that could slash drug costs without stifling genuine innovation—potentially saving patients billions while preserving incentives for breakthrough therapies that actually matter.

🚥 UK Study Links Long COVID to Abnormal Uterine Bleeding via Inflammatory and Hormonal Pathways: Millions of women with long COVID face heavier, longer periods without ovarian dysfunction—pointing instead to disrupted androgen regulation and inflammation as culprits. This mechanistic clarity opens doors for targeted treatments rather than hormonal interventions, while recognizing symptom fluctuations across menstrual phases could transform how clinicians approach diagnosis and care. [SOURCE]

BOOK NOOK

Set within a child’s nose, ‘Humming Heroes’ features a family of Lymphocytes led by a wise Mother, brave Father, determined Brother, and heroic Baby, confronting invading microorganisms. The story takes an imaginative turn, when a humming melody combines with the Lymphocytes’ song to repel the invaders and restore inner harmony.

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