Giv­ing beta block­ers to a per­son in the early stages of a heart attack makes sense: the drugs reduce oxy­gen con­sump­tion by calm­ing and slow­ing the heart; some­thing that is ideal dur­ing a heart attack.

How­ever despite evi­dence show­ing that beta block­ers may actu­ally increase heart fail­ure, the prac­tice of admin­is­ter­ing them con­tin­ues. As Dr. David New­man states in The New York Times, med­ical ide­ol­ogy reg­u­larly tri­umphs over evidence-based research and non-working treat­ments are still given to patients because they should work.

Other rev­e­la­tions from Dr Newman:

  • No cough reme­dies have ever been proven bet­ter than a placebo, either for adults or chil­dren. Yet their use is common.
  • Patients with ear infec­tions are more likely to be harmed by antibi­otics than helped. While the pills may cause a small decrease in symp­toms (for which ear drops work bet­ter), the infec­tions typ­i­cally recede within days regard­less of treat­ment. The same is true for bron­chi­tis, sinusi­tis, and sore throats.
  • Back surg­eries to relieve pain are, in the major­ity of cases, no bet­ter than non­sur­gi­cal treatment.
  • Arthro­scopic surgery to cor­rect osteoarthri­tis of the knee [is] no bet­ter than sham knee surgery, in which sur­geons “pre­tend” to do surgery while the patient is under light anes­the­sia. It is also no bet­ter than much cheaper, and much less inva­sive, phys­i­cal therapy.

via Over­com­ing Bias