January 6, 2012
Ten Commandments of “the new therapeutics”
Sometimes I blog things that I see just to ensure that I have a place to keep them. This is one of those times. Because this is a keeper.
The Carlat Psychiatry Blog re-posted a list from BMJ blogger Richard Lehman – Ten Commandments for excellent clinical practice.
The New Therapeutics: Ten Commandments
- Thou shalt treat according to level of risk rather than level of risk factor.
- Thou shalt exercise caution when adding drugs to existing polypharmacy.
- Thou shalt consider benefits of drugs as proven only by hard endpoint studies.
- Thou shalt not bow down to surrogate endpoints, for these are but graven images.
- Thou shalt not worship Treatment Targets, for these are but the creations of Committees.
- Thou shalt apply a pinch of salt to Relative Risk Reductions, regardless of P values, for the population of their provenance may bear little relationship to thy daily clientele.
- Thou shalt honour the Numbers Needed to Treat, for therein rest the clues to patient-relevant information and to treatment costs.
- Thou shalt not see detailmen, nor covet an Educational Symposium in a luxury setting.
- Thou shalt share decisions on treatment options with the patient in the light of estimates of the individual’s likely risks and benefits.
- Honour the elderly patient, for although this is where the greatest levels of risk reside, so do the greatest hazards of many treatments.
Amen.
Time for a little of that religion.
Comments (4)
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Marilyn Mann
January 6, 2012 at 8:05 pmClarification: the list was published on Richard Lehman’s blog but it was written by John Yudkin.
Gary Schwitzer
January 8, 2012 at 10:20 amMarilyn,
Thanks for your correction.
Please also note that Alice Dreger posted a laymen’s explanation of the “Ten Commandments” for those who may not be aware of some of the terminology.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fetishes-i-dont-get/201201/get-your-doctor-treat-you-right?page=2
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