Good science - bad science

Science has driven the development of human civilisation over the past 400 years. Since our emergence from the dark ages, the rate of scientific discovery and invention has been phenomenal.
Medical science, in particular, has been extremely benefi cial to us all. Diseases such as smallpox, that hitherto killed thousands of people every year, have been eradicated. Longevity has been extended to the stage where young people today can positively hope to live healthy lives until they are up to 100 years old. But science has also made mistakes. The scaremongering surrounding Swine ‘Flu last year was driven by a combination of ill-informed medical scientists and self-serving, vaccine-manufacturing companies. Warnings by international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), of pandemics and millions of lives being at risk resulted in governments across the globe, including the Irish Government, investing millions in purchasing ‘fl u vaccines. Quite how the scientists came to these incorrect conclusions is not clear, but what is certain is that a lot of money was wasted and a lot of people, especially the elderly, were needlessly stressed and worried. Yes, some people did die from the ‘fl u, but no more than would normally succumb to the virus, and these were predominantly people who had some pre-existing condition that made them more susceptible to the ill-effects of the 'flu. In fact, more people died from the effects of 'normal' 'flu than from Swine 'Flu. We may well see a 'flu that will kill thousands or millions of us, but the latest manifestation was not it.