$210b are wasted per year on unnecessary treatments in the us alone. time for less paranoia, and more science.

NNT describes how many people would need to take a drug for one person to benefit. The NNT for antibiotics in a case of acute bronchitis is infinity, because the medicine is no better at curing the illness than a placebo. If your kid is throwing up and you take her to the hospital, she might get a drug called Zofran. The NNT for that is 5. You’re pushing 50. You’re healthy, but your doctor suggests you start taking a baby aspirin. That NNT is 2000. Not especially helpful. It’s unfortunate that the NNT is not a statistic that’s routinely conveyed to either doctors or patients. But you can look it up on a site that you’ve probably never heard of: TheNNT.com

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