Pathology AV Club

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Against decorative statistics

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Against decorative statistics

And toward data minimalism

Benjamin Mazer
Mar 15, 2023
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Against decorative statistics

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  • On the pernicious popularity of “decorative statistics.”

    • I’m not sure if this phrase is new, but it cleverly encapsulates an issue that’s frustrated me for years.

    • Long COVID statistics are one notable example of this. Last year, I attempted to sort out whether the extreme numbers being thrown around were justified by other data sources.

    • The absurd idea that medical errors are the third leading cause of death is another decorative statistic that I’ve fought back against here and here and here.

    • Long COVID and medical errors are both serious and common problems. This can weaken our resolve to push back against inaccurate analyses when appropriate.

  • On the increased risk of heart attack, blood clot, and stroke from COVID compared to the vaccines, this time from a decent Danish study.

    • It’s easy to get distracted or overwhelmed by the deluge of observational COVID data. Let’s be clear: most studies have not used appropriate data sources or controls to truly understand the myriad potential post-infection health outcomes. Even good studies should be replicated given the analytic flexibility inherent in this process.

    • It’s nearly impossible now to separate out useful results from seriously flawed analyses. Scientists and journalists have shown little restraint in choosing which reports to highlight.

    • Nevertheless, the best studies we have show a real thromboembolic risk after COVID, likely attenuated by vaccination.

    • My article on “medium COVID,” an attempt to unify higher quality data into some understanding of how short- and medium-term risks from the virus are likely to differ from long-term outcomes.

    • My article on the now mainstream anti-vax campaign to falsely paint the COVID shots as having frequent cardiac risks.

Circulation. 2023;147:843–845
  • On the continued vulnerability of our public health laboratory infrastructure.

    • My article from last summer on the regulatory failures of monkeypox (mpox) testing.

  • On using diagnostic stewardship to prevent medical errors.

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Thanks for reading,

Ben

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Against decorative statistics

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