Ending Medical Reversal

Vinayak K. Prasad, MD, MPH, is a practicing hematologist-oncologist and internal medicine physician at the National Cancer Institute. Adam S. Cifu, MD, is a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. He is a practicing general internist, medical educator, and the coauthor of Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence-Based Guide.

Introduction Part I Examples, Frequency, and Consequences 1. What Is Medical Reversal? 2. Subjective Outcomes Why Feeling Better Is Often Misleading 3. Surrogate Outcomes 4. Screening Tests 5. Systems Failure 6. Finding Flawed Therapies on Our Own 7. The Frequency of Medical Reversal 8. The Harms of Medical Reversal Today's Patients, Tomorrow's Patients, and the Health-Care Field Part II 9. A Primer on Evidence-Based Medicine What Is Evidence in Medicine? 10. What Really Made You Better When Evidence Gets Complicated Part III 11. Scientific Progress, Revolution, and Medical Reversal 12. Sources of Flawed Data 13. Why Are We So Attracted to Flawed Therapies? Part IV 14. Medical Education A Very Good Place to Start 15. Academic Medicine 16. Reforming the System The Burden of Proof and Nudging Our Way Past Reversal 17. How Not to Become a Victim of Reversal 18. Beyond Dogma When Randomized Trials Are Unnecessary Acknowledgments Appendix References Index

Every doctor should read this book. JAMA Internal Medicine Dr. Prasad and Dr. Cifu offer a five-step plan, including pointers for determining if a given treatment is really able to do what you want it to do, and advice on finding a like-minded doctor who won't object to a certain amount of back-seat driving. Of course, there are no guarantees that their tips will endure forever, but they probably have a longer shelf life than most medical advice. New York Times When I describe Ending Medical Reversal as revolutionary, I don't use the term lightly. Go out and read it-right now. Common Sense Family Dr. ... Should be considered for undergraduate reading lists. Keep a copy in the pharmacy or your briefcase as a great icebreaker or discussion point with other local healthcare professionals. The Pharmaceutical Journal [A]n excellent and realistic discussion of some of the horror stories that occur in medical practice...The examples are quite interesting and certainly educational for all readers. Highly recommended. Choice Ending Medical Reversal goes far in teaching medical students and practicing physicians alike how to learn on our own. The Lancet This has to be on the reading list for medical and nursing students. Nursing Times