Evidence-Based Satire

By SAURABH JHA Sequels generally disappoint. Jason couldn’t match the fear he generated in the original Friday the 13th. The sequel to the Parachute, a satirical piece canvassing PubMed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing parachutes to placebo, matched its brilliance, and even exceeded it, though the margin can’t be confirmed with statistical significance. The… Read More »

'Widespread and dangerous': Facing medical uncertainty, doctors tell patients it's all in their heads

But that doctor was proved wrong when an MRI showed that the girl had acute flaccid myelitis or AFM, a polio-like disease that’s struck hundreds of children since 2014. Erin Olivera, mother of a child with AFM and founder of a private Facebook page for parents of 400 children with the disease, says Bailey’s experience… Read More »

AstraZeneca, Merck's Lynparza plows ahead in ovarian cancer with $1B-plus approval, phase 3 data

The year may be winding down, but AstraZeneca and Merck’s Lynparza sure isn’t. It picked up a blockbuster new approval late Wednesday and followed up the act by posting positive phase 3 data Thursday morning. U.S. regulators green-lighted the fast-growing PARP inhibitor in BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer patients who’ve responded partially or completely to an initial… Read More »