What is medical reversal? -- Subjective outcomes : why feeling better is often misleading -- Surrogate outcomes -- Screening tests -- System failure -- Finding flawed therapies on our own -- The frequency of medical reversal -- The harms of medical reversal : today's patients, tomorrow's patients and the healthcare field -- A primer in evidence based medicine : what is evidence in medicine? -- What really made you better : when evidence gets complicated -- Scientific progress, revolution, and medical reversal -- Sources of flawed data -- Why are we so attracted to flawed therapies? -- Medical education : a very good place to start -- Academic medicine -- Reforming the system : the burden of proof and nudging our way past reversal -- How not to become a victim of reversal -- Beyond dogma : when randomized trials are unnecessary

Medical reversal happens when doctors start using a medication, procedure, or diagnostic tool without a robust evidence base - and then stop using it when it is found not to help, or even to harm, patients. The authors narrate stories from every corner of medicine to explore why medical reversals occur, how they are harmful, and what can be done to avoid them. They explore the difference between medical innovations that improve care and those that only appear to be promising. They also outline a comprehensive plan to reform medical education, research funding and protocols, and the process for approving new drugs that will ensure that more of what gets done in doctors' offices and hospitals is truly effective