You would think a time when we needed to be able to “follow the science” would have been systematic evidence’s shining hour…
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Evidence Systematic Evidence and the Covid-19 Stress Test: Pass Or Fail?Read more
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Bias The Pioneering Crossover Trials for Covid Vaccines and What We’ll Find OutRead more
As results for the big phase 3 trials for the BNT-Pfizer and Moderna were looming, a debate ramped up: when would the…
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Evidence A Reader’s Guide to Safety & Adverse Event Data From Vaccine TrialsRead more
The competition for the “honor” of being the most confusing part of clinical trial results is fierce. I don’t think technical terms…
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Bias Clinical Trials Are Vital for the Rest Of Us. Are They a Good Deal for the Participants?Read more
“People on a trial tend to do better”. Ordinarily, when I see someone make that point, I agree. But last week, when…
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Evidence Science Heroes and DisillusionRead more
“Never have heroes” – I’ve heard some version of that a lot in the last couple of months, from people disillusioned by…
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Covid-19 The Limits of Those Reviews of Masks For All and What We Do KnowRead more
Have you noticed that you see so many pictures of people wearing face masks during the 1918-20 influenza pandemic, but you don’t…
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Covid-19 First in Human: Covid-19 Vaccines & Tales of Phase 1 Clinical Trials PastRead more
The people who sign up for the first-in-human trials of Covid-19 vaccines are about to do our societies an extraordinary service. Most…
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Evidence Why Do Scientists “Cite” the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying?Read more
It pops up in my Twitter feed quite often, it seems to me. A scientist will buttress their argument that academics…
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Evidence The High Risk Methods of a New Systematic Review of HPV VaccinesRead more
Back in 2018, the authors of a then-unpublished systematic review fired a spin- and error-laced salvo at the Cochrane review of the…
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Bias The Renewed Debate About Blinding in Clinical TrialsRead more
Things can go really off the rails in clinical trials. Take the most influential trial of the Mediterranean diet…
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Evidence The Power of Zombie Statistics: Systematic Review EditionRead more
It sucks you in before you can even think – that dramatic statistic that makes a point you’re inclined to believe, with…
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Evidence The Systematic Review is Dead! Long Live [insert preferred sweeping claim] !Read more
No, of course, the systematic review/meta-analysis hasn’t died. But I kind of wish the flag-waving for the claim that its current…