I'm not so sure it is a matter of being truthful, Harry, as the stats that are reported are accurate.
It is more a matter of what numbers are more relevant to us as consumers.
At a minimum, I want to know the average number of people who benefited,
over & above the ones that saw just as much benefit by using placebo.
What they are presenting though, is a number
relative to those on placebo. So, if placebo reduced relapses by 20%, and the drug reduced relapses by 30%, they advertise this as a
50% improvement [B].
30% - 20% = 10% --> 10%/20% = 50% improvement . . . wow!
People misunderstand this to mean that there IS a 50% improvement over using nothing.
The bottom line is that only 10% of the people did better then those on placebo or nothing, right?
But, many would argue "this is the way it is done".
Cherie
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I am not a Neurologist, Physician, Nurse, or Hairdresser ... but I have learned that it is not such a great idea to give oneself a haircut after three margaritas
.