An interesting post by Arnold Kling (“Doctors, Pharmaceuticals, and Statisticians“) reports on a randomized clinical trial which demonstrated that on average, angioplasties have no incremental health benefits once the patient is placed on multiple medications such as beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, statins and blood thinners.
Dr. Kling writes: “Doctors think that they add value by giving advice on issues such as angioplasty. But the advice of statisticians may be better. Doctors also think that drug companies earn too much money. But it may be the doctors who earn too much money. I predict a collision between doctors and statisticians somewhere down the road.“