Imagine a therapy that supposedly cures most ailments and for which almost 100 per cent of all the published studies conclude is effective — in other words, a panacea which has been tested but never faulted by science. This can only mean that the treatment in question is a miracle cure which is useful for every single condition and in every single setting. Would we not all love to know such a therapy?想象下一种可以医治大多数疾病的疗法，完全所有公开发表的研究中得出结论的结论都是有效地的，换句话说，这是一种遗留下检验但未曾被科学批评过的灵丹妙药。这不能意味著我们提及的这个化疗是一种奇迹，它对有所不同情况下的每一种病症都有效地。我们不是都会讨厌这种疗法吗？Simple common sense tells us, however, that such miracle cures cannot exist — unless, of course, we consider the wide range of treatments that fall under the umbrella of Traditional Chinese Medicine.然而，常识告诉他我们，这种奇迹是不有可能不存在的——除非，当然啦，我们指出中医化疗覆盖面积的范围是很普遍的。Take acupuncture, for instance. Most traditional acupuncturists will try to convince you that acupuncture is a veritable panacea, a treatment that works for anything and everything ranging from acne to zoster. In case you find this hard to believe, go on the internet and try to find a single condition for which acupuncture is not claimed to be effective.以针灸为事例。

大部分传统针灸师不会企图劝说你，针灸是一个名副其实的万能药，化疗的范围，从痤疮到带状疱疹。如果你责备，网际网路去搜搜病例想到针灸是不是声称很有效地。What is more, acupuncture trials hardly ever generate negative findings — at least those that originate from China. We and others have shown that Chinese trials of acupuncture as good as never suggest that acupuncture does not work. This has led to the bizarre situation where one does no longer need to read the paper reporting a new Chinese study because one already knows what it shows, namely that acupuncture is effective. If that is so, one does not even need to conduct the study, since one already knows the outcome before the research has started.更妙的是，针灸试验没产生任何负面的结果——最少那些源于中国的信息是这么说道的。

我们和其他一些人于是明白了中国的针灸实验是从不不会指出违宪的。如果这样的话，你忘还要展开研究呢，在研究之前早已告诉结果了啊。Perhaps you think the ‘Western’ scientists who disclosed this baffling phenomenon are chauvinists who, for one reason or another, want to discredit Chinese science. In this case, you would probably want to wait for a team of Chinese researchers repeating our investigations.或许你指出西方科学家批评这一令人困惑的现象是因为沙文主义或其他啥原因好污蔑中国。在这种情况下，你有可能想要等候一队中国研究人员审核下我们的调查。

Wait no more.不必在等了。Chinese researchers identified all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture published in Chinese journals. A total of 840 RCTs were included in their assessment, and 838 of them (99.8 per cent) reported positive results. Only two trials (0.2 per cent) reported negative results. The authors concluded: ‘Publication bias might be a major issue in RCTs on acupuncture published in Chinese journals … which is related to high risk of bias. We suggest that all trials should be prospectively registered in international trial registry in future.’中国研究人员证实了中国期刊上公布的有关针灸的所有随机对照试验。共计840个随机对照试验及评价，其中838事例（99.8个百分点）报导结果有效地。

只有两个试验（百分之0.2）报告结果违宪。作者得出结论的结论是：在中国期刊公开发表关于针灸随机对照试验结果的主要问题是过于偏颇了……很显著的先入为主（指出有效地）。我们建议，以后所有实验都应当提早在国际实验登记备案。

For many years I, too, had been inclined to give my Chinese colleagues the benefit of the doubt and assumed that publication bias — the phenomenon where negative results tend to remain unpublished — might be the explanation. If so, trial registration would indeed be the answer. But think of it: publication bias might provide a reason for a preponderance of positive findings but it cannot truly explain that close to zero per cent of negative results see the light of day. There must be other factors involved.多年来我仍然致力于给我的中国同事灌输批评的益处，以及公开发表的文章一边倒——也有可能是负面的情况显然没被报导出来。如果是这样的话，实验前在国际实验登记备案是个不俗的办法。再行回过头来想到，发布的实验结果一边倒的回应有效地，负面效果完全为零，回应没个确切明了的说明。

认同还有其他因素。One obvious explanation could be that many or most of the Chinese studies are — dare I say it? — dodgy to the point of being fraudulent. This allegation seems so outlandish that I would never have voiced it, unless there is some pretty solid evidence to back it up.一个显著的说明是中国的很多研究或者说绝大部分研究——我为啥这么说道呢？——他们(的实验)不可信且不诚实。

如果没佐证的证据，我意味著会收到这样举止的指控。A recent survey of Chinese clinical trials has revealed fraudulent practice on a massive scale. China’s food and drug regulator carried out a year-long review and concluded that more than 80 per cent of clinical studies are ‘fabricated’. The investigators uated data from 1,622 clinical trial programmes of drugs awaiting approval by the regulator. Much of the data were found to be incomplete, failed to meet analysis requirements or were untraceable. Some institutions were suspected of deliberately hiding or deleting records of adverse effects, and tampering with evidence that did not meet expectations. ‘Clinical data fabrication was an open secret even before the inspection,’ an unnamed Chinese hospital director was quoted as saying. Contract research organisations seem to have become ‘accomplices in data fabrication due to cutthroat competition and economic motivation’.最近对中国临床实验的调查表明了他们有大规模的欺诈不道德。中国食品药物监管部门展开了长约一年的回顾总结，百分之80以上的临床研究数据为“编造”的。

研究人员评估了1622个等候监管机构批准后的临床试验方案的数据。大亮的数据被指出是不原始的，不符合要求或无法展开跟踪分析的。甚至一些机构因涉嫌蓄意掩饰或移除有利影响的记录，并伪造证据以合乎预期结果。

一位不愿透漏姓名的中国医院主任说道：“在审查前，“自制”临床数据早已就是个公开发表的秘密了”。合约研究的组织，由于白热化的竞争以及经济利益，沦为了数据不实的共犯。CRO----合约研究的组织，20世纪80年代初源于美国，它是通过合约形式为制药企业、医疗机构、中小医药医疗器械研发企业、甚至各种政府基金等机构在基础医学和临床医学研发过程中获取专业化服务的一种学术性或商业性的科学机构。The human rights activist Mai Ke went one step further, claiming that there is an ‘all-pervasive culture of fakery’ across all products made in the country. ‘It’s not just the medicines,’ he told Radio Free Asia. ‘In China, everything is fake, and if there’s a profit in pharmaceuticals, then someone’s going to fake them too.’人权专家Mai Ke更进一步补足道“在这个国家的产品制造业中有一种无处不在的不实文化，不仅是药物，”他告诉他权利亚洲电台“在中国，啥都有假货，如果药品有利可图，就有人不会去不实。

”Crucially, he stressed that the problem also extends to Traditional Chinese Medicines: ‘It’s just harder to regulate the fakes with traditional medicines than it is with Western pharmaceuticals, which have strict manufacturing guidelines.’最重要的是，他特别强调，这种现象也蔓延到了中医药：“相比西医传统的中医药监管一起可玩性要低的多，因为西药有严苛的生产标准。”Academic ethics is an underdeveloped field in China; this leads to a culture that is accepting of academics manipulating data. ‘I don’t think that the 80 per cent figure is overstated,’ another Chinese insider commented.学术道德是中国一个欠发达的领域；这造成了一种文化，对学者操控数据较为尊重。另一位中国内部人士评论说道，我指出80%的数字没高估。

Considering data fabrication on such an epidemic scale, it seems much easier to understand the above-mentioned phenomenon, where nearly 100 per cent of Chinese acupuncture studies generate positive findings. Such trials heavily pollute the worldwide evidence, particularly because the Chinese trials constitute a major chunk of the current evidence base in this area.考虑到这样大规模的数据不实，上述针灸实验几近百分百有效地的现象就不难理解了。这些实验数据相当严重污染了世界范围内的数据库，特别是在是现有的这类大部分由中国实验数据包含的数据库。If we agree that data fabrication has seriously detrimental effects, we must ask what we can do about it. I feel we have little choice but to distrust the evidence that originates from China. At the very minimum, we must scrutinise it thoroughly and sceptically. Whenever it looks too good to be true, we ought to discard it as unreliable.如果我们都赞成数据库不实不会造成相当严重的影响，我们必需思维下能做到些什么。

我们的自由选择不多，除了批评中国的实验数据。最少，我们要详尽的了解检查和批评。

无论何时，什么东西看上去好得不像话了，我们就应当把它当作不靠谱的东西舍弃掉。

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