Reporting the Aspirin Study

Abstract

On January 28 of this year, the Journal published the preliminary results of the Physicians' Health Study, a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of aspirin for the primary prevention of myocardial infarction in 22,000 apparently healthy male physicians with no known contraindications to taking aspirin.¹ One tablet of buffered aspirin every other day was found to have reduced the incidence of myocardial infarction in this group by 47 percent over a period of nearly five years.In the flurry of public excitement surrounding this trial, the Journal's handling of the report has been sharply criticized. We have been accused by some . . .