We’ve been approaching this spiral in terms of a loss of trust in the scientific community as a whole for some time now. Part of this is a limitation in scientific communication. Part is due to influence of industry on policy decisions. Part is also due to the spread of chronic disease despite the amount of money put into healthcare.

Now, none of these issues are a direct fault of the NIH or any specific scientific organization. And it is often where industries threatened by research in preventive medicine will fund campaigns to undermine that research. It is a confluence of these issues that has created widespread distrust of the scientific community riding on the back of a populist political wave that has swept across the US. That very wave has made any “left” leaning issue an enemy of the republic.

It is difficult to say where we are heading, but it doesn’t not look good for the future of scientific endeavor.