Medical Reversals

Practices that have been found, through randomized controlled trials, to be no better than a prior or lesser standard of care. [Herrera-Perez et al., 2019; Prasad et al., 2013; Prasad et al., 2011]

146 MEDICAL REVERSALS IN NEJM | 2001-2010

Through an analysis of randomized controlled trials published in the NEJM between 2001 and 2010, Vinay Prasad and Adam Cifu identified 146 medical reversals. “These are not occasions when a newer, better therapy was announced, and they are not negative studies of potential innovations; they are reversals—each study provided evidence that overturned a practice that was already in use, suggesting that what had come before that practice was better.”

Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives