John Oliver Lashes Out At the Credibility of Misleading Science Studies

"Last Week Tonight" tonight host John Oliver took his time lashing out at the credibility of misleading science studies saying that tenure and funding are pressuring scientist to constantly publish studies with new and striking results.

"Scientists know that nobody is publishing a study that says "Nothing Up with Acai Berries"," said Oliver.

According to Oliver, there are so many studies thrown around, they can seem to contradict one another. Oliver cited the numerous studies about coffee these past few months, claiming that it may reverse the effects of liver damage, help prevent colon cancer, decrease the risk of endometrial cancer, and increase the risk of miscarriage.

"Coffee today is like the God in the Old Testament, it will either kill you or save you depending on how much you believe in its magical powers," said Oliver.

Oliver then commented on how the media oversimplifies blows scientific studies out of proportion. The late night show host then mentioned some media outlets covering new scientific studies with incorrect or incomplete information. In addition to the media, some scientists are also partly to blame because of the oversimplification of their study in their press releases and some TV producers only read these press releases.

On a clip featuring the Today show, one of the host said, "I think the way to live your life is to find a study that sounds best to you and you go with that." Oliver responded to the clip negatively saying, "In Science, you just don't get to cherry pick the parts that justify what you are going to do, that's religion, you're thinking of religion."

According to Oliver, this kind of thinking is dangerous and tends people to think that man-made climate change is not real or vaccines cause autism.

Oliver concluded stating that if media outlets plan to continue featuring studies, they should provide sourcing and context, or not mention it at all.