The controversy over the big Xarelto trial does not appear to be going away. A new investigation published in the BMJ raises more troubling questions about the ROCKET-AF trial, which compared the novel oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Johnson & Johnson) to warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation. The controversy about the trial first unfolded last…
The Lancet Versus BMJ: Dispatch From The Statin Wars
September 15, 2016 by 5 Comments
–The editors of the two top UK medical journals are in a bitter fight over statins. The editors of the two top medical journals in the UK are at war over statins. The bitter fight has its origins in the 2014 publication in the BMJ of two articles that were highly critical of statins. Rory…
Bad News Bears: After Scary Headlines Some Patients Stopped Taking Statins
June 28, 2016 by 2 Comments
Study provokes discussion about the responsibilities of medical journals and the general media. A new study and surrounding discussion raises important questions about the role and responsibility of researchers, editors, and journalists when tackling topics with potentially life-affecting consequences. The new study, published in the BMJ, found that many people stopped taking statins in the…
No, Drinking Coffee Won’t Save Your Life Or Prevent Heart Attacks
March 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Once again the media has swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker. Following the publication of a a new study in the journal Heart last night, hundreds of news reports have now appeared extolling the miraculous benefits of coffee. Here’s just one typical headline from the Los Angeles Times: “Another reason to drink coffee: It’s good for your heart, study…
No Retraction For You! Review Panel Exonerates Medical Journal In Statin Kerfuffle
August 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
An independent review panel has rejected a demand by a prominent researcher that TheBMJ retract two controversial articles. The report largely exonerates the journal’s editors from any wrongdoing. As previously reported, Rory Collins, a prominent researcher and head of the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ (CTT) Collaboration, had demanded that TheBMJ retract two articles that were highly critical of statins. Although TheBMJ issued a correction…
BMJ Names Panel Members To Review Disputed Statin Articles
May 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The BMJ has released the names of an outside expert panel who will decide the fate of two articles that are the subject of a heated dispute. As previously reported, last week the BMJ published a correction to two papers published last year, explaining that both papers had inaccurately overstated the incidence of the adverse effects of statins. However, a…
BMJ Articles Critical Of Statins Provoke Kerfuffle
May 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The authors of two BMJ articles have withdrawn statements about the adverse effects of statins. The two papers inaccurately cite an earlier publication and therefore overstate the incidence of adverse effects of statins. As a result, the two papers have drawn much criticism and set off a kerfuffle involving the editor of BMJ and a prominent British trialist who is demanding…
Studies Suggest You Can Help Your Heart By Walking More And Eating More Fiber
December 19, 2013 by 1 Comment
It probably won’t come as a surprise, but walking more and eating more fiber are probably good for your heart. That’s the conclusion of two new studies, but because the studies relied on observational data it should be emphasized that they are incapable of demonstrating cause and effect. And it’s by no means clear that most…
People Who Live Near Airports At Increased Risk For Cardiovascular Disease
October 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Most previous research on the health effects of noise has focused on road noise. Now two new observational studies published in BMJ extend the research to noise from airports and provide fresh evidence that people who live near airports are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. In the first paper, Anna Hansell and colleagues in the UK analyzed data from 3.6…
Cuban History Offers Important Lessons For Global Health Today
April 10, 2013 by 1 Comment
A large new study from Cuba shows the impressive benefits that can be achieved with weight loss and increased exercise. Much more ominously, the same study shows the dangers associated with weight gain and less exercise. In the study, published in BMJ, researchers took advantage of a “natural” experiment that occurred in Cuba as a result of a…
High Potency Statins Linked To Increased Risk For Acute Kidney Injury
March 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Although the beneficial effects of high-potency statins have been well-characterized in clinical trials, these same trials have lacked the power to illuminate rare but potentially important adverse events. A suggestion of one such area of concern, acute kidney injury, was first raised in the JUPITER trial. Now, a new study published in BMJ provides further information about this…
Popular Antidepressants May Put Patients At Risk For Serious Arrhythmias
January 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
In August 2011 the FDA issued a safety communication recommending that the extremely popular antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) not be used at doses greater than 40 mg/day because of a potential increased risk for serious cardiac arrhythmias associated with prolongation of the QT interval. Now a study published in BMJ lends support to this warning and suggests that…
Acute Kidney Injury Associated With Dual Antihypertensive Therapy And NSAIDs
January 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Adding a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to dual antihypertensive therapy (a diuretic plus either an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker) is associated with an increase in risk for kidney injury, according to a large new retrospective study published in BMJ. Click here to read the complete story on Forbes. …
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