BMJ 2008;336:100 (12 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39454.622824.94
Views & Reviews
From the Frontline
The treatment paradox
Des Spence, general practitioner, Glasgow
destwo@yahoo.co.uk
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In my shabby and stained white coat, I twirled my thick gelled fringe. He sat in a crisp, double breasted, pin striped suit, nursing a leather FiloFax and flipping through the glossy charts showing pension growth. I nodded confidently to cover my bewilderment at his sales pitch. Twenty minutes later he crushed my hand and left, with my signature on a monthly investment. Five years later I scratched my now shaven head in bewilderment at the evaluation quote of £67. I complained about mis-selling to the financial ombudsman and vowed never to be fooled or confused by an "expert" or by numbers again.
Whether it’s worth treating high cholesterol is a common enough question. No one who sees the charts and listens to the sales pitch would doubt it—but numbers are open to being spun. Let’s consider the trial known as WOSCOPS—the west of Scotland coronary prevention study (New
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