[BostonCard]

When I was in medical school, everyone "knew" that hormone replacement therapy was good for post-menopausal women, and specifically, in addition to treating symptoms, also reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease.  It was based on large number non-randomized studies, including the very large nurses health study (https://www.2minutemedicine.com/nurses-h...cs-series/).  The knowledge was so well engrained that when the women's health initiative proposed doing a randomized, placebo-controlled study, a number of experts in the field objected, saying it would be unethical to give some women placebo when hormone replacement so obviously works.

Suffice it to say, the WHI showed that not only do hormone replacement not work, but there looked to be some harm

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/science/womens...iative-whi

But even after the WHI showed evidence of harm, not all physicians believed the data, given the decades of experience and dozens of observational studies showing that hormone replacement reduced the risk of death (to be fair, there are benefits of HRT and some subrgroups do seem to benefit).  However, the furore it caused was so bad, that a second study was commissioned.

An obvious way to do get around the placebo problem would be a head-to-head trial against remdisivir.  Then patients are guaranteed to get at least one treatment, and you can figure out which is better.

BC

[BostonCard]

When I was in medical school, everyone "knew" that hormone replacement therapy was good for post-menopausal women, and specifically, in addition to treating symptoms, also reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease.  It was based on large number non-randomized studies, including the very large nurses health study (https://www.2minutemedicine.com/nurses-h...cs-series/).  The knowledge was so well engrained that when the women's health initiative proposed doing a randomized, placebo-controlled study, a number of experts in the field objected, saying it would be unethical to give some women placebo when hormone replacement so obviously works.

Suffice it to say, the WHI showed that not only do hormone replacement not work, but there looked to be some harm

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/science/womens...iative-whi

But even after the WHI showed evidence of harm, not all physicians believed the data, given the decades of experience and dozens of observational studies showing that hormone replacement reduced the risk of death (to be fair, there are benefits of HRT and some subrgroups do seem to benefit).  However, the furore it caused was so bad, that a second study was commissioned.

An obvious way to do get around the placebo problem would be a head-to-head trial against remdisivir.  Then patients are guaranteed to get at least one treatment, and you can figure out which is better.

BC