Episode Details

Last December, The BMJ published an investigation into the 2009 PLATO trial - exposing serious problems with that study’s data analysis and reporting.  Our follow up investigation has shown that those data problems extend to other key supporting evidence in AstraZeneca’s initial application to regulators.

Peter Doshi, senior editor in the BMJ’s Investigations unit, and Rita Redberg, cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at UCSF and former editor of JAMA Internal Medicine, join us to explain what this means for scientific integrity, and trust in the FDA's approval processes.

Also in this episode. A group of international authors are arguing that weightloss advice given in primary care might actually be doing more harm than good - it’s ineffective and potentially reinforces damaging stigma. 

To explain why they came to that conclusion we're joined by Juan Franco editor in chief of BMJ EBM, and a practicing GP in Germany, and Emma Grundtvig Gram, from the Centre for General Practice at the University of Copenhagen

Reading list

Doubts over landmark heart drug trial: ticagrelor PLATO study

Ticagrelor doubts: inaccuracies uncovered in key studies for AstraZeneca’s billion dollar drug

Beyond body mass index: rethinking doctors’ advice for weight loss