I’d like to write an article about all the famous statistics that derive from a dubious basis. Here’s one of ‘em:
Opiods
Over the past 30 years, opioid-makers built their case for the long-term safety and non-addictiveness of their products on a thin scientific foundation. Based on an innocuous five-sentence letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, in which a Boston doctor observed that, according to his hospital’s case files, narcotic use rarely led to major addiction, Purdue Pharma claimed that less than 1% of patients taking opioids became addicted. That number was cited in lectures by pain specialists, and it became a mantra in videos designed for doctors to show their patients. But recent studies estimate that 21 to 29% of patients prescribed opioids end up misusing them, and the rate of addiction actually ranges between 8 and 12%.
