Reading the Evidence Before Believing the Headline

Every clinician now practises inside a stream of announced breakthroughs, and the ability to judge the study behind the headline has become a core clinical skill. The perspective article in this issue makes that case plainly and usefully. It reminds us that the distance between a promising result and a proven therapy is long: in the meta-analysis it cites, half of therapies moved from animal to human trials and 40% reached randomised controlled trials, yet only 5% won regulatory approval.