http://blog.ted.com/2012/09/27/5-pre...heir-patients/

"'Drugs are tested by the people who manufacture them, in poorly
designed trials, on hopelessly small numbers of weird,
unrepresentative patients, and analysed using techniques that are
flawed by design, in such a way that they exaggerate the benefits of
treatments,” writes Goldacre in his book. 'When trials throw up
results that companies don’t like, they are perfectly entitled to hide
them from doctors and patients, so we only ever see a distorted
picture of any drug’s true effects.'"

Yet another reason that most "studies" today are mostly propaganda,
and, in many ways, not much different than a bunch of anecdotes.

http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/20...itute-anecdote

"Anecdotes that provide definitive evidence"
"Epidemiology, in its present form, a poor substitute for anecdote."

"It is not to be wondered at that anecdotal evidence is the major
source of knowledge in this subject, practical epidemiology has failed
the patient completely, and confidence in the system has been badly
affected."

--
Dogman

"I have approximate answers and possible beliefs in different degrees of certainty
about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure of anything" - Richard Feynman