A study where scientists reviewed The New England Journal of Medicine from 2001 through 2010 and found 363 studies examining an established clinical practice. In 146 of them, the currently used drug or procedure was found to be either no better, or even worse, than the one previously used.

Among the practices found to be ineffective or harmful were the routine use of hormone therapy in postmenopausal women; high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, a complex and expensive treatment for breast cancer that was found to be no better than conventional chemotherapy; and intensive glucose lowering in Type 2 diabetes patients in intensive care, which not only failed to reduce cardiovascular events but actually increased mortality.

The problem here is that often doctors persist with procedures that lack evidence because they seem to make sense.  Basically, if you have cholesterol-clogged arteries, it makes sense that if you open them up it will help. But when studied, it didn’t improve survival.

The point is… before you jump all over the latest and greatest medical procedures (including vaccines, chemotherapy, heart medications and diabetes medications) you might want to investigate on your own the safety of such decisions!  Ask you doctor not only how it works, but does it work?