Ending medical reversal
by Vinayak K. Prasad · first published 2015
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Medical reversal happens when doctors start using a medication, procedure, or diagnostic tool without a robust evidence base - and then stop using it when it is found not to help, or even to harm, patients. The authors narrate stories from every corner of medicine to explore why medical reversals occur, how they are harmful, and what can be done to avoid them. They explore the difference between medical innovations that improve care and those that only appear to be promising. They also outline a comprehensive plan to reform medical education, research funding and protocols, and the process for
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…serious skeletons in the closet when it comes to medical reversals. I’ve found this book to be fascinating and super enlightening about what has gone wrong even in recent history. https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-Out... I’m hopeful one day that fat demonization will be formally reversed.
on “Omega-3: Intervention for childhood behavioral problems? (2015)” ↗…backed by a randomized clinical trial (where possible) to support it. If not, consider doing one. For evidence of harms done by medical reversal, see the other thread as well as consider reading the book "Ending Medical Reversal" by one of the authors Adam Cifu. Also consider following them on twitter if this topic is of interest (Adam Cifu, Vinay Prasad et al).
on “Medical Reversals” ↗Vinay Prasad, the new FDA chief medical and scientific director, is an extremely sensible guy and a co-author of a great 2013 book on evidence-based medicine targeting the lay audience (Ending Medical Reversal) Here's an EconTalk podcast with the other co-author, Adam Cifu, talking about the book. https://www.econtalk.org/adam-cifu-on-ending-medical-reversa... The NYT article presents his COVID vaccine policy…
on “The Collapse of the FDA” ↗…in medicine due to believing observational data rather than randomized control trials. An entire book was written on Medical Reversal by the person who's now head of CBER at FDA: https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-Out...
on “What Happens When a Scientific Field Changes Its Mind – Scientific American” ↗Tricky. In a book called “Ending Medical Reversal” the authors talk about how difficult it is to run a controlled study on diet all, and how the effect sizes are really small. That’s not to say it doesn’t matter — just that it’s hard to get a good…
on “Ask HN: Where do you find reliable information on diet?” ↗