I tend to agree with a lot of your thoughts, I think.
Particularly as far as scientism goes as I think there are many pressing areas of research that are affected by scientism via assumptions that are considered settled science.
I've personally known a researcher who left research altogether because he tried to raise funding for research that wasn't popular to pharmaceutical corporate interests. Money won't be granted to things like that, but there's an opposite side where fellow academics will belittle, mock, and discredit papers that aren't corporate-friendly.

There tends to be a lot of scrutiny and suspicion whenever a claimed breakthrough is made with major implications.
One that comes to mind immediately was the team that claimed they had achieved cold fusion, and I've seen credible people who claim that was maligned & called a hoax despite having merit.
The number of people qualified to judge is relatively very small.

Another one that comes to mind is the gentleman who made the car that could convert water into fuel using it's existing engine as a basis, and drove it across the USA. He died running out of the restaurant grasping his chest and claiming he had been poisoned. And property was also stolen If I recall correctly, that is. It all fits neatly into the realm of conspiracy theory.

But this discovery was made in Korea where it may be harder to pull off the same sort of public academic assassination.