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Few Studies Compare the Efficacy of Medical Treatments

from Scientific American

The forward momentum of medical progress is manifest, it could be argued, in the $50 billion spent in 2008 on pharmaceutical research and development in the quest to bring new drugs to market. But little scientific or governmental infrastructure exists to ensure that each new treatment is actually an improvement over existing therapies--and to tease out what therapies are best for which patients.

People facing tough medical decisions, such as cancer patients, often have to work with their doctors to decide what combination of surgery, chemotherapies, radiation, lifestyle changes or other treatments will likely be the most effective choice.

The array of options can be dizzying and most patients, and even some doctors, are ill-prepared to do the background research to glean an answer. And in many cases there is often no data available that compares the effectiveness of various drugs and other treatment options.