Welcome to this, trial run, of a new kind of BMJ podcast – here we’re going to be focusing on all things EBM. Duncan Jarvies, Helen Macdonald and Carl Heneghan – and occasional guests- will be back every month to discuss what’s been happening in the world of evidence. We’ll bring you our Verdict on […]
Latest articles
Clinical Trials transparency is failing – here’s why
‘the current system is failing, and awareness isn’t ‘variable’, it is wholly inappropriate and unethical.’ Carl Heneghan The UK’s House of Commons Science and Technology Committee released its report on clinical trials transparency last week and it makes for a sorry read. Clinical trials transparency means ensuring clinical trials are recorded in a publicly-accessible […]
Editors’ Review of BMJ EBM’s Analysis of Cochrane’s HPV Systematic Review
On 27 July 2018, BMJ EBM published an analysis [1] that outlined problems with Cochrane’s systematic review of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which we shall refer to as the Cochrane HPV Review, published in May 2018; this included missing eligible trials, reporting bias, and biased trial designs and conflicts of interest. [2,3] In […]
Response to Cochrane editors: Jørgensen, Gøtzsche and Jefferson
Jørgensen, 1Gøtzsche 1 and Jefferson 1 consider their analysis was appropriate and that the Cochrane editors substantially ignored several of their criticisms. 1Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet 7811, Tagensvej 21, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally posted at: The Cochrane HPV vaccine review was incomplete and ignored important evidence of bias: Response to the Cochrane editors. at BMJ EBM on 17 September […]
Cochrane – A sinking ship?
By Maryanne Demasi, PhD A scandal has erupted within the Cochrane Collaboration, the world’s most prestigious scientific organisation devoted to independent reviews of health care interventions. One of its highest profile board members has been sacked, resulting in four other board members staging a mass exodus. They are protesting, what they describe as, the […]
TVT: seventeen year follow up and the shrinking denominator effect
The shrinking denominator enhances the effect size and misleads the reader into thinking the effect is better than it actually is. Carl Heneghan I am at the Ideal Conference, at a workshop talking about clinical trial reporting and recent surgical scandals. I chose the 17 years follow-up of the Tension-free Vaginal Tape – often quoted – […]
First do no harm: surgical mesh
Last week, I learnt with great sadness of the death of Eileen Baxter, who died in an Edinburgh hospital in August. Mrs Baxter’s cause of death was multiple organ failure. Sacrocolpopexy mesh repair is named as an underlying cause on her death certificate, meaning the mesh triggered the chain of events leading to her […]
Bronchial Thermoplasty – evidence does not back up NICE approval
We’ve been here before with devices, the studies are small, biased, there is lots of uncertainty about who, if anyone, benefits from this treatment and the adverse events including admissions are higher. Carl Heneghan Bronchial Thermoplasty is all over the news today: The BBC reports that the New asthma treatment is set for wider […]
Medicine: more precise, more effective, more overdiagnosis
I’m at the 6th preventing overdiagnosis conference chairing a session on Overdiagnosis 2.0 (Technology) by Henrik Vogt, Claus Ekstrøm & Johnny Kung. So I thought I’d share some insights. Carl Heneghan at Preventing Overdiagnosis Henrik Vogt from the GP research unit at Trondheim talked about the impact of new technology ‘that is heavily geared to […]
Do Calcium and Vitamin D supplements cause cancer?
In a recent trial calcium and vitamin D treatment elevated the risk of precancerous polyps nearly fourfold – but does this result matter? Carl Heneghan If you weren’t observing carefully, you likely missed this study, I did. A recent randomised trial participants with one or more adenomas received daily calcium, vitamin D3, both or […]