One of the study authors, Dr. Howard Zellen, a noted cancer clinical trial researcher, said he still recommends mammography screening.

CNN: Should I get a mammogram?

"Naturally, powerful people tend to gravitate toward other powerful people, " explains clinical psychologist and celebrity researcher Jim Houran, for reasons that range from proximity (stars hang around other stars) to familiarity (people are attracted, at least initially, to others like them) to clearer expectations (shared priorities make it easier for celebrities to relate).

FORBES: Hollywood's Top-Earning Couples

Even the head researcher on some key torcetrapib clinical trials, the Cleveland Clinic's Steven Nissen, says he "encouraged" Pfizer to consider marketing torcetrapib as a standalone agent as well as in combination with Lipitor, to give doctors more options.

FORBES: Magazine Article

If a researcher wants to run a clinical trial on a Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people ) cancer drug, it's unlikely to happen if the company doesn't want to pay. (The National Institutes of Health funds relatively few trials.) Speaking can help raise an expert's profile among his peers.

FORBES: Breast Implants, Bextra And Fair Disclosure

In effect, Duchenne patients could develop a milder form of the disease, known as Becker muscular dystrophy, says Petra Kaufmann, a neuromuscular researcher who directs the Office of Clinical Research at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

WSJ: New Muscular Dystrophy Drugs Offer Hope

"This finding is very compelling since it fits with our clinical experience of autism, " said Dr Robert Schultz, the principal researcher.

BBC: Why autism can't find a face

Merit Cudkowicz, an ALS researcher at Harvard Medical School who was an investigator on a standard lithium clinical trial, said social network-generated data can offer valuable insights, but she cautioned that the PatientsLikeMe study was not a substitute for more rigorous studies.

WSJ: ALS Study Falls Short, But Use of Social Media Holds Promise

"We desperately needed new medications, " says Neal Benowitz, a leading researcher in nicotine addiction at UCSF who was paid by Pfizer to help advise it on its clinical trials.

FORBES: Tobacco-Free