Suggested Reading
Articles:
The NNT A powerful tool to communicate benefit and harm
Treat Me? The crucial health stat you’ve never heard of (Slate)
Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good? Research suggests that, except for high-risk heart patients, the benefits of statins such as Lipitor are overstated (Business Week)
On the Number Needed to Treat SASA research paper providing a detailed analysis of NNT statistics.
Books:
Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health by H. Gilbert Welch et al, Beacon Press. A critical look at our national obsession with preventive medicine.