Product Description

How do we know whether a particular drug, therapy or operation really works, and how well? How reliable is the evidence? Are clinical trials truly unbiased? And is current research focused on the real needs of patients? Such timely and pressing questions are raised and addressed in this probing inquiry into modern clinical research, with far-reaching implications for daily medical practice and patient care. Aimed at both patients and professionals, "Testing Treatments" builds a lively and thought provoking argument for better, more reliable, more relevant research, with unbiased or 'fair' trials, and explains how patients can work with doctors to achieve this vital goal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126866 in Books
• Published on: 2010-01-25
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review
'A terrific little book.' British Medical Journal 'Should be required reading, not just for clinical researchers, but for everyone interested in healthcare.' Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices 'Testing Treatments will inform patients, clinicians, and researchers alike.' The Lancet 'A timely, inspiring read.' British Journal of General Practice 'Testing Treatments is the best available introduction to the methods, uses, and value of fair testing.' Health Affairs

Customer Reviews

the story of how we know if medicines work
This is a complete anomaly, which is extraordinary really: it's a book written for a popular audience describing how research is done to test whether a treatment works. But beyond that, it also shows how bad research can slip through the net, and what to do about it, as well as showing, crucially, how to identify that bad research, and what constitutes a "fair test" of a treatment. Unlike other books that try to do that (and fail) here there are no simplistic attacks on pharmaceutical companies, or puffing of some quack treatment, it's a genuinely and thoughtfully critical look at the issue of published medical research.