If science is going to be "self-correcting" then it has to make mistakes in the first place.
These mistakes will happen from the original scientists, they will happen at the stage of editorial boards, they will happen at peer review, they will happen if external third parties start systematically reviewing every RCT.
So Cochran must similarly be scrutinized for their errors, because they will be making them as well.
And that's even before we get to the political factors outside of science misinterpreting complex data for their own purposes...
It's wicked hard just to get reproducible results (one facet of the replication crisis). Much less the challenges you list.
Confusion and miscommunication is the norm. Rising above that takes Real Effort™.
One of my formative experiences was on a team trying to adopt the processes from the book Applying Use Cases. So simple. Like a recipe. Really, what could be more simple?
We had shared purpose. We all read the book (among others). We discussed. We all thought we were good to go.
And then the wheels fell off once real work started. Turns out we didn't agree. On anything. What is "the system"? What level of abstraction are we working at? What does this line (points at diagram) here mean?
Writing this now, experiencing PTSD flashbacks, I can confidently say I would have never succeeded as a scientist.
These mistakes will happen from the original scientists, they will happen at the stage of editorial boards, they will happen at peer review, they will happen if external third parties start systematically reviewing every RCT.
So Cochran must similarly be scrutinized for their errors, because they will be making them as well.
And that's even before we get to the political factors outside of science misinterpreting complex data for their own purposes...