Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11581

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Cohen JT, Neumann PJ.
What's more dangerous, your aspirin or your car? Thinking rationally about drug risks (and benefits).
Health Affairs 2007 May-Jun; 26:(3):636-646
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/3/636?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=JT+Cohen&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Abstract:

We compare mortality risks of several common drugs with risks related to work, transportation, and recreation. Comparing risks can provide a more intuitive sense of the magnitude of drug risks than stand-alone estimates can, to help inform policy discussions. The drug risks we quantify generally exceed the magnitude of risks for other domains (although aspirin and cars are similarly “risky” under the definition of risk used here). Nonetheless, these comparisons underscore a crucial point: that risks should not be evaluated without considering attendant benefits. We discuss the need for the Food and Drug Administration to compare risks and benefits quantitatively, consistently, and explicitly.