> The PARACHUTE trial satirically highlights some of the limitations of randomized controlled trials. Nevertheless, we believe that such trials remain the gold

> The PARACHUTE trial satirically highlights some of the limitations of randomized controlled trials. Nevertheless, we believe that such trials remain the gold standard for the evaluation of most new treatments. The PARACHUTE trial does suggest, however, that their accurate interpretation requires more than a cursory reading of the abstract. Rather, interpretation requires a complete and critical appraisal of the study. I love this paper. Whenever you see pop news articles saying "Study shows X is good/bad for you," if you dig in to the paper, it's often something like this. When you read the specific details, you realize the study doesn't generalize to "You should/shouldn't do X." But not enough people read the details, so it gets circulated into conventional wisdom :(