Jerry Avorn, the man who would be FDA commissioner in a Democrat administration, tried to show those of us lacking in the intelligence and Olympian insights that only a physician and researcher of his stature possess that permits him to teach at the Harvard School of Public Health based on the data dredging of grad students could understand why it is so important that we let him — and him alone - decide what medicines to take and when.
Jerry used a charming parable called “The Sting of Ignorance” to teach us what evidence based medicine really and truly is. Written in the NY Times it was a story of Jerry frolicking in the ocean blue when —jeepers creepers — a mean old jelly fish bit our Homeric health care hero on the calf (I know there’s a more scientific term for that muscle mass but I a taking a page from Jerry and keeping it simple) . Well no one— I mean no one— not even the wise and worldly author knew what to do to treat the pain. It took a nurse who JUST HAPPENED TO WALK BY to tell Jerry and all the First Aid trained lifeguards to stop applying alcohol and ice and make sure the jellyfish stinger was completely out.
Now as an aside, I am not Harvard trained and nor do I teach at Harvard. But I had a Bubbie. (You see I can be colloquial too. That’s SAT speak for folksy.) And when I was stung by a bee, before putting an ice pack on my arm where I was stung…my Bubbie made sure the entire stinger was out. I was about six then and it was something that every camp counselor knew whether it applied to yellowjackets or jellyfish.
But not in Jerry’s world. In Jerry’s world regular folks are morons and he lumps himself in their to prove a point (That’s a strawman folks.) In his NY Times article Jerry goes to the internet to do a google search to find out applying cold to a jelly fish stinger only helps spread the neurotoxin…he does that to make a point…wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do a Google search on diseases to get a instant print out of what drugs to prescribe in each and every case.???
Yes indeed. One press of a button and you would get the right medicine for every illness in the same way that Jerry found the answer to how treat a jelly fish stinger when the rest of the boobs were screwing things up. And best of all, Jerry has been toling away to give the world the information they need to usher in this evidence based Uber Alles.
Except here’s the problem. Either Jerry is dishonest or those jellyfish neurotoxins have travelled to those neurotransmitters that control his memory….Jerry is really keen on warning old people not to take Vioxx because of the risk of heart attacks but he forgets his own research and that of others demonstrating that older people with rheumatoid arthritis are at higher risk for heart problems. He loves to talk about how restrictive formularies that shove generics down people’s throats increase compliance with drug regimens but ignores the mounting research demonstrating that such limits combvined with tiered copays discourage people from taking needed medicines. And in touting ALLHAT and claming that diuretics are more effective that calcium channel blockers, he ignores new research demonstrating that many sub groups live longer on newer agents and are less likely to have diabetes and kidney failure.
I could continue to point out the holes and exceptions and inaccuracies that, when woven together, make up Avorn’s ideologically-driven approach to evidence-based prescribing. But I couldn’t quite do it justice. It takes a degree of arrogance and condescension made possible only by repeated exposure to jellyfish neurotoxins.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/opinion/16avorn.html
