Category: Clinical Trials
Peer review fail: Vaccine publishes antivax propaganda disguised as “reanalyses” of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial data
In order portray COVID-19 vaccines as dangerous, Peter Doshi has now managed to get poorly designed and performed "reanalyses" of the clinical trial data used by the FDA to grant emergency use approval of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines published in two reputable journals, The BMJ and Vaccine? What happened?
PreP for HIV/AIDS
Two pills and an injection are FDA-approved to prevent HIV infection. Not enough patients and providers know about them.
Is Olive Oil Good Medicine?
A study found that olive oil increased longevity and reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases, but it only showed correlation, not causation.
A Desperate Choice
A therapy for brain tumors in young children involves deliberately infecting them with a virus. Scary, and is it worth it?
Statistical Shenanigans?
The manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines say they are 95% effective. Peter Doshi re-examined the evidence and estimates they are only 19-29% effective. This pre-print of an as-yet unpublished re-analysis raises many questions but doesn't support the claims being made on antivaccine sites.
Apples, Oranges, and How Not to Analyze a Vaccine RCT
The evidence is overwhelming that COVID vaccines keep people alive and out of the hospital. Only someone who starts with the conclusion that vaccines don't work and then works backwards to find the evidence could claim otherwise.
Homeopathy and Pre-Registered Trials
Preregistering clinical trials is a great idea, but we have to actually track registration.
Plenity – A New Weight Loss Pill
Plenity is a new weight loss pill designed to create a sense of fullness. It is backed by a single study where users had an average weight loss of 22 pounds. Not an effective way to achieve ideal weight, but may help some people when combined with diet and exercise.
The “12% efficacy” myth from the “Pfizer data dump”: The latest slasher stat about COVID-19 vaccines
Last week, a claim that Pfizer's own documents demonstrate that the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine was only 12% (not the 95% reported) went viral. This is a slasher stat, so-named because it is not new and, like the killers in slasher movie series, even when it appears to be dead it always appears in another installment of the misinformation franchise to...
Pain Reprocessing Therapy
In a trial of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), 2/3 of patients with chronic low back pain reported significant pain relief with psychotherapy that helped them reconceptualize the pain as nondangerous. Impressive if true, but flaws in research design make the study untrustworthy.