Category archive: Clinical research

Breast cancer screening

Posted on March 31, 2010 by

Adam

Adam set up Dianthus Medical in 1999. He is an experienced medical writer and statistician, has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in medical statistics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

and filed under Clinical research Dreadful science reporting in the media Leave a comment

When I listened to the news on the radio this morning, the lead story was about a “major new study” that had found that breast cancer screening does more good than harm. It’s an important question. There are certainly women who are alive today who would not have been alive today if their cancers had not been detected via breast screening. Screening save lives, and that’s undeniably a good thing. However, there are some serious downsides to breast cancer screening … Continue reading →

Evidence based footcare

Posted on March 27, 2010 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Not work 3 Comments

I’m training for a marathon at the moment (and it’s in aid of Cancer Research UK, which is an excellent cause, so please sponsor me here), and all the running has given me some nasty blisters on my feet. So I went to see a podiatrist yesterday to try to make sure that the blisters are under control in time for the big day. She put a dressing on which seemed to make my blisters pain free on my run … Continue reading →

Facebook does not give you syphilis

Posted on March 25, 2010 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Dreadful science reporting in the media Medical writing Leave a comment

There is a beautiful aria in Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville” called “La calunnia è un venticello”. Watch it on YouTube here if you don’t know it. It tells of how easy it is to start a rumour very gently and for the rumour then to take on a life of its own and get totally out of control. It’s apparently as true today as it was in Rossini’s time. The rumour is that using Facebook can give you … Continue reading →

CDISC protocol representation model released

Posted on March 16, 2010 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Medical writing 5 Comments

Regular readers of this blog may remember that I was quite excited when the draft of the CDISC protocol representation model (PRM) was released last year. I am delighted to be able to tell you that the final version of the model was released last month. Again, I am quite excited. It is pleasing to see that many changes were made to the draft model in response to the comments that I and some other EMWA members made on it. … Continue reading →

Peer review of stem cell research

Posted on February 2, 2010 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Medical writing 1 Comment

I heard an interesting story on the radio this morning about stem cell research. It’s also reported on the BBC news website, although strangely enough I couldn’t find it reported anywhere else in the media. Apparently, a group of prominent stem cell researchers have written an “open letter” to journal editors complaining that their excellent research is being blocked from appearing in prestigious journals by some kind of peer review mafia. The “open letter” doesn’t seem to be very open, … Continue reading →

UK Biobank

Posted on January 13, 2010 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Medical ethics 11 Comments

I have just received an invitation to take part in the UK Biobank study. I have some serious concerns about their attitude to data protection, and I won’t be participating. Continue reading →

Does Tamiflu prevent complications of flu?

Posted on December 9, 2009 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Dreadful science reporting in the media Medical writing Statistics 4 Comments

There was a very strange story surrounding yesterday’s publication of a systematic review of the role of drugs such as Tamiflu in treating flu. This made the lead story on yesterday’s Channel 4 News. The story involved the Cochrane Collaboration, the British Medical Journal, and Roche (makers of Tamiflu), and I have to say I don’t think any of them has emerged from the story with much credit. A previous Cochrane review had concluded that Tamiflu was effective in preventing … Continue reading →

HIV vaccine results

Posted on September 24, 2009 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Statistics 1 Comment

Today’s big health news story is a “breakthrough” in HIV vaccine research, as the results of a study done in Thailand are announced. At the end of a 3-year study, 74 of 8,198 subjects became infected with HIV in the placebo group compared with 51 of 8,197 in the vaccine group. That’s a vaccine efficacy of about 31%, or if you prefer, a risk ratio of 0.69. Well, on the face of it, that does sound like a breakthrough, doesn’t … Continue reading →

Bugs in showerheads

Posted on September 15, 2009 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Dreadful science reporting in the media Statistics Leave a comment

A schoolboy error in one of the health news stories from the BBC today provides further evidence for a theory I’ve recently been developing. The headline reads Taking showers ‘can make you ill’. Once you read more, however, you realise that the research on which it’s based provides no evidence whatever that taking showers can make you ill. All it shows is that various unpleasant bugs, such as Mycobacterium avium, can lurk in shower heads. Given that most people shower … Continue reading →

Conflicts of interest

Posted on September 8, 2009 by

Adam

and filed under Clinical research Medical ethics Medical writing Statistics Leave a comment

We are no strangers to conflicts of interest in the world of medical writing. The best known case of this is when a pharmaceutical company has paid someone to write an article about one of their own drugs. The conflict of interest here is obvious. Because it is so obvious, however, journal editors are very well aware of the potential for bias in this situation, so such conflicts of interests are, in the main, transparent and well managed. That doesn’t … Continue reading →