Four-In-One Pill Prevents Third Of Heart Problems

[Aristus]

5. Not from a medical research point of view.

That part about treating thirty-five patients in order to prevent one adverse cardiac event is what researchers call the 'number needed to treat'. And 1 in 35 is spectacularly good.

There's a converse, of course; the 'number needed to harm', the number of patients treated versus how many of them suffered a harmful event as a result. 1 in 35 is so bad that it should never even be considered for release to the market, and they usually suspend all testing after learning of a result like that. A number needed to harm that gets a medication to market is usually around 1 in 10,000.