What Doctors Don't Tell YouAnyone who cares to glance at a medical journal will notice two things: that there are a few medical studies that are packed with jargon, and that there is a load of advertisements from the pharmaceutical industry.
These advertisements extol the virtues of some drug, and encourage the reader (usually a doctor) to prescribe the drug to appropriate patients. The advertisements make all sorts of claims, and it would be expected that the claims were based on facts, such as the findings of studies and trials.
But a study of drug advertising has discovered that just 6% of the material is supported by any evidence. In other words, doctors are prescribing drugs based on the wilder imaginings of some copywriter.
(Source: Arznei Telegramm, 2004; 35: 21-3).
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
