BMJ makes U-turn statement on glucosamine study |
| Mar 23 2011 |
BMJ makes U-turn statement on glucosamine study January 2011: the British Medical Journal has released a statement following a Post Publication Review Meeting on the recently published meta-analysis of Wandel et al, which questioned the clinical relevance of the effects of glucosamine (and chondroitin, and their combination) in osteoarthritis.
At this review meeting, the BMJ editors were obliged to state that the authors’ conclusions
• “Coverage of costs of health authorities or health insurers of these preparations and novel prescriptions of patients who have not received other treatments should be discouraged.” (Discussion section)
• “Health authorities and health insurers should not cover the costs of these preparations, and new prescriptions to patients who have not received treatment should be discouraged.” (Abstract)
It is these now retracted statements that were heavily reported in the Australian press, which shook public faith in the usefulness of glucosamine (and chondroitin, and their combination) preparations. The important fact to tell patients is about the heterogeneity of glucosamine products, and how ‘like’ products, cannot be expected to show ‘like’ results.
The BMJ statement is accessible at: www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c4675.full/reply#bmj_el_247719
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