A person asked if they should take this “drug”. The word, “drug” is in quotes to disguise the intervention that was proposed to this person. I have not been asked this person’s question in over 10 years, which prompted me to relook at the data on benefit and harm of the intervention.
This blog post only shows randomized controlled trial data on the intervention proposed to the person. I am not identifying the “drug”. My hope is that people learn to first look at data and make a choice without influence of marketing, physician or other providers’ suggestions. Studies show that we can be biased if we have heard of, or know the interventions proposed to us, as many “drugs” and other treatments are so hyped and marketed that patients can be influenced by name brands, for example.
So, I pose; Do you want this drug? Should everyone get this drug or have it proposed to them? And, then, who should pay for this drug, all of us, or only those who use it?
You may guess the intervention, but first, try to think through the questions and “feel” if the benefit versus the harm of this intervention is worthwhile, and how much would it be worth? I will tell the whole story later and this will give you a chance to reflect on the value of evaluating data rather than just getting interpretations and opinions about data. In my view, opinions and other’s interpretations of the value of medical data have no place in medical decision making.
