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View Full Version : BMJ Christmas beat up.


Momtezuma Tuatara
20-01-10, 09:59 AM
First read this: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/dec15_1/b5432

then read the rapid responses.
MinorityView
20-01-10, 11:33 AM
Haven't I heard most of this before?


On the other hand, between 1996 and 2006 in England the number of prescriptions for pharmacological drugs issued by doctors has risen 51%, from 498 million to 752 million. Over the same period the number of reported deaths from adverse reactions to these drugs increased 155%, from 382 to 973 (actually it’s estimated the number of deaths reported is only 10% of the real number – this would give 10,000 deaths a year!) Also over this period the number of serious reactions to drugs has increased 214%, from 5,022 to 15,760, resulting in the occupation of 5,600 beds by patients with these serious problems. This has an estimated cost to the NHS in England of £466 million a year. So, if reducing the harms of medicines is still a laudable goal, Prof Colquhoun, how about attending to your own discipline....pharmacology? I thought this one was interesting, as were the responses, claiming that the drugs that are killing people are effective in treating the conditions, therefore useful, therefore nothing to worry about, move on folks.
Momtezuma Tuatara
20-01-10, 02:58 PM
Ultimately, if medicine is so laudible and evidence based medicine ensures "safety", why are drug reactions near the top of the list of causes of death?
MinorityView
20-01-10, 11:28 PM
Well, actually, they aren't much arguing for the safety of drugs, just that the efficacy outweighs the dangers. But some of the people who died from drug side-effects might not agree. As the drugs weren't actually efficacious for their condition, just fatal.

We all need to learn to see the BIG picture and quit caring about the individual.
Momtezuma Tuatara
21-01-10, 07:52 AM
It's a huge problem when a lot of medical analysis of benefit and risk is done using linear mathematical models.

Do non-linear, epigenetically controlled, genetically different humans actually "subscribe" to computer generated linear mathematical models?