DOCTORED

A riveting work of nonfiction from journalist Charles Piller, exposing the series of calculated actions, fabrications and forgeries that may have set back Alzheimer's research by decades.

Piller's article "Blots on a Field : A neuroscience image sleuth finds signs of fabrication in scores of Alzheimer's articles, threatening a reigning theory of the disease," was published July 21, 2022 and immediately generated a global storm for the field of Alzheimer's research. Hundreds of media outlets made it headline news on every continent - with intensive coverage in the US, China, and Europe. It focused on neuroscientist Matthew Schrag, the whistleblower who first noted inconsistencies in blots and images cited in research to support the "amyloid hypothesis," the dominant theory about the cause of Alzheimer's whose proponents have effectively monopolized funding and pushed aside or outright quashed competing notions of diagnosis and treatment, despite what appears to be a long history of exaggerated - and fabricated - research and results, in pursuit of professional glory and massive profit.

However, that article was just the beginning. In the vein of titles like Bad Blood and Dopesick, Piller's DOCTORED will expose the network of deceit and its distinct players - world-class scientists, as well as ambitious wannabes, frauds, and dupes - that stretches to all facets of the scientific enterprise, from university labs to scientific journals, all the way up to the FDA. DOCTORED will reveal how a heroic young neuroscientist and doctor challenged his field's institutional powers, never losing sight of the tens of thousands of individuals like Stephen P, also a "character" in the narrative, who have been drawn into trials to test these dubious drugs.
It is a shocking tale with huge ramifications not only for Alzheimer's research, but for scientific research, funding, and oversight at large. But the story also offers a crucial, hopeful takeaway: there is a growing cadre of visionary researchers who are pioneering new ideas - separately and in combination - that look poised to finally transport patients and families beyond disappointment and fear if we can release the hunt for a cure from its current stranglehold.

Charles Piller is an Investigative Correspondent for Science, one of the world's preeminent scholarly journals, and has received more than 35 honors from a wide variety of awarding bodies. His work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize nine times by STAT, the Los Angeles Times, and The Sacramento Bee. He is the author of two previous books: The Fail-Safe Society: Community Defiance and the End of American Technological Optimism (Basic Books) and Gene Wars: Military Control Over the New Genetic Technologies (with Keith R. Yamamoto; Beech Tree Books).