Throughout 1999 and 2000 we upset authors by declining to publish papers dealing with cisapride, reasoning that its withdrawal from use by many regulatory agencies relegated it, at least for the time being, to the dustbin of paediatric therapeutics. However, there is always a new lesson to learn. This month we publish the final, final word—with an analysis by Bourke and Drumm of the association (or lack of it) between randomised controlled trials and prescribing the drug to treat gastro-oesophageal reflux.

It is clear that widespread use preceded reliable evidence of efficacy. This is scarcely a first in medical history and doubtlessly not the last. Ten years ago Antman and colleagues used the technique of sequential meta-analysis of trials of treatment for myocardial infarction.¹ They showed that review articles in journals and textbooks often failed to mention important advances, delayed recommending effective interventions and continued to quote potentially harmful or . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Cochrane's epitaph for cisapride in childhood gastro-oesophageal reflux

B Bourke and B Drumm
Arch. Dis. Child. 2002 86: 71-72. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]