Replies to post #86338 on Biotech Values

[AlpineBV_Miller]

Everyone thinks of statistics as an exact science - but it is far, far from it.

Statistics is FAR more art than science. Now if we could only get Fleming and Pazdur to realize that, we might actually save some patient lives...!

[genisi]

Statistics - The ARBITER 6–HALTS study

From the paper (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0907569):

In a post hoc analysis, we explored the bivariate relationships between changes in LDL cholesterol levels and mean carotid intima–media thickness. There was a significant inverse relationship between the changes in LDL cholesterol level and the carotid intima–media thickness in the ezetimibe group (R=–0.31, P<0.001), such that a paradoxical increase in the carotid intima–media thickness was seen in patients with greater reductions in LDL cholesterol. Such a relationship was not observed in the niacin group (R=–0.01, P=0.92) (Fig. 4 in the Supplementary Appendix).

This paradoxical negative correlation is another worrying sign for Zetia.