Liberation Therapy: How Social Media damaged trust in Medicine

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating and potentially terminal neurodegenerative disease where the immune system attacks the brain. Neurologists dominate the research and development of therapy. Imagine how upset they were when a vascular surgeon claimed to cure MS by opening collapsing veins from the brain? MS patients were clamouring for a treatment neurologists did not trust. Social media was filled with reports from patients reporting recovery. The resulting struggle to test and approve "Liberation Therapy" is a case study in how non-experts can derail the slow and methodical process of testing and approving a new treatment.