This is exactly how statin therapy was sold to the medical profession. Instead of saying "Out of thousands and thousands of people on statins, only two died of a heart condition instead three dying in the equally-sized control group" the drug industry sold it as "A 50% reduction in heart-related deaths!"jnk wrote:I take issue with the word "significant" in the copy, though. "Significant" is a word and concept that is often misused. It usually means "mathematically significant" or "statistically significant" to the writer but generally reads as "medically significant" or "leading to meaningful ultimate outcomes" to the audience, including the newspaper people who try to report on the product. That verbal slight of hand is designed to mislead unless aimed at other researchers. And it works. Whenever I see that trick in print in an ad for the public, it makes me lose all respect for the product and the company, myself. And when I see a newspaperman fall for the trick, or misunderstand the use of the word as used in research documents, I tend to lose respect for him and his paper. The question is, " 'Significant' in what sense and when being compared to what?"
Regards, Nate
