Vinay Prasad

Last updated

Vinay Prasad
Born
Vinayak K. Prasad
Alma mater Michigan State University
University of Chicago
Johns Hopkins University
Scientific career
FieldsHematology, oncology
Institutions University of California, San Francisco
Website vinayakkprasad.com

Vinayak K. Prasad is an American hematologist-oncologist and health researcher. He is a professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). [1] He is the author of the books Ending Medical Reversal (2015) and Malignant (2020).

Contents

Early life and education

Prasad was raised in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, before moving outside of Chicago in northern Indiana. His parents immigrated from India. [2] He attended Michigan State University, where he took courses in health care ethics and physiology. In 2005, Prasad graduated summa cum laude from MSU with a double major in philosophy and physiology. [2] He gave the commencement speech to the College of Arts and Letters on behalf of the Philosophy Department. [3] He completed his medical degree at University of Chicago in 2009 and completed a residency in internal medicine at Northwestern University in 2012. Prasad was certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 2012 and earned a Master's of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2014. In 2015, Prasad completed a fellowship in oncology at the National Cancer Institute and hematology at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Career

From 2015 to 2020, Prasad was assistant and then associate professor at the Oregon Health & Science University. [4] He currently works at San Francisco General Hospital. Prasad is currently a full professor of hematology-oncology at UCSF. [4] He is a cancer drug and health policy researcher. He also studies the financial conflicts in drug approvals. [5] In 2015, Prasad published the book, Ending Medical Reversal , with physician and academic Adam Cifu. [6]

Prasad hosts the podcast Plenary Session [7] [8] [9] and blogs at MedPage Today. [10] Prasad has won several teaching awards, including the 2017 Craig Okada Award for best teacher in the Hematology Oncology Fellowship program, the 2018 faculty mentorship award from the internal medicine residency, the 2019 J. David Bristow award from the graduating medical students, and the 2020 excellence in research and scholarship mentoring as awarded by the internal medicine residents. [11]

In the spring of 2020, Prasad published the book, Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer . [12]

Views and reception

In 2011, Prasad and colleagues published a research letter in the Archives of Internal Medicine. [13] Charles Bankhead, a senior editor at MedPageToday, covered the topic, outlining the paper's primary point, which was the high prevalence of research articles demonstrating findings that deviated from the accepted standard of treatment at the time. [14] Separately, "Retraction Watch" reported on Prasad's personal remarks about the paper, saying "For a long time, we were interested by what we believe to be a pervasive problem in modern medicine. Namely, the spread of new technologies and therapies without clear evidence that they work, which are later (and often after considerable delay) followed by contradictions, which, in turn, after yet another delay, is followed by changes in practice and reimbursement." [15]

Matthew Hoffman, writing in 2012 for MedPageToday's KevinMD covered a paper by Prasad and colleagues on "When to abandon ship" when it comes to failing medical practices and treatments. [16] [17] Hoffman builds on the authors' proposed barriers to market entrance, such as evidence of effectiveness in large randomized controlled studies before broad usage, and links them to the insidious aspects of healthcare, such as profit and status. In 2013, Prasad and colleagues addressed the necessity for randomized controlled trials for the inferior vena cava filter (VCF) despite the intervention's bio-plausibility. [18] The authors suggest that since the intervention has known adverse effects but an uncertain benefit, well-designed studies are necessary to shed light on the intervention's efficacy. The JAMA Internal Medicine article received widespread media attention, with Reuters' Genevra Pittman interviewing Prasad about his further views on the intervention. [19] According to the interview, Prasad advises against filter placement in all but the most extreme instances owing to a lack of proof and possibility for adverse events. [19]

In 2013, Prasad's paper A Decade of Reversal: An Analysis of 146 Contradicted Practices was published; [20] The article was covered in a piece by The Huffington Post, which highlights a key lesson from the paper: patients should become more involved in their health care decisions rather than assuming a prescribed medication or device is beneficial. [21] Patients may do this by asking their physician pertinent questions, such as what patient outcomes the intervention improved. Additionally, the article discusses the concept of healthcare cost. With growing anxiety about the expense of healthcare, utilizing limited resources on questionable medical practices with a weak evidence base threatens to jeopardize both the healthcare economy and patient health. Additionally, the authors of a Lancet Oncology editorial remark that "almost 10% of practice reversals occurred in oncology," suggesting that certain fields of medicine may be more susceptible to medical reversals than others. [22]

Prasad has criticized other medical skeptics for their choices of topics to tackle, including homeopathy, as being poor use of their time. [23] Skeptics David Gorski and Steven Novella published criticisms of and counter-arguments to Prasad's stance, pointing out the perils of not challenging alternative medicine during a pandemic. [24] [25]

Covid response

In October 2021, Prasad prompted social media controversy when he published a blog post comparing the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic response to the beginnings of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Bioethicist Arthur L. Caplan said that Prasad's arguments were specious and ignorant, and science historian Robert N. Proctor said that Prasad was "overplaying the dangers of vaccination mandates and trivializing the genuine harms to liberty posed by 1930s fascism". [26]

In January 2022, the conservative periodical City Journal published an opinion piece by Prasad in which he attempted to demonstrate that the American public health organizations were not being honest in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [27] Writing for Science-Based Medicine, epidemiologist Lynn Shaffer criticized Prasad's article for the various "mistruths" it contained about face masks as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, for example the unevidenced claim that mask wearing was stunting children's language development. In Shaffer's view Prasad's writing "lean[s] heavily on pushing people's emotional hot buttons" and amounted to a form of fearmongering. [28]

Prasad was an early member of the Urgency of Normal, a group that in 2022 campaigned against quarantines and mask mandates in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. [29] He spoke in support of repealing such mandates in a March 2022 interview. [30]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

A radiation oncologist is a specialist physician who uses ionizing radiation in the treatment of cancer. Radiation oncology is one of the three primary specialties, the other two being surgical and medical oncology, involved in the treatment of cancer. Radiation can be given as a curative modality, either alone or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy. It may also be used palliatively, to relieve symptoms in patients with incurable cancers. A radiation oncologist may also use radiation to treat some benign diseases, including benign tumors. In some countries, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are controlled by a single oncologist who is a "clinical oncologist". Radiation oncologists work closely with other physicians such as surgical oncologists, interventional radiologists, internal medicine subspecialists, and medical oncologists, as well as medical physicists and technicians as part of the multi-disciplinary cancer team. Radiation oncologists undergo four years of oncology-specific training whereas oncologists who deliver chemotherapy have two years of additional training in cancer care during fellowship after internal medicine residency in the United States.

Surgical oncology is the branch of surgery applied to oncology; it focuses on the surgical management of tumors, especially cancerous tumors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemetrexed</span> Chemical compound

Pemetrexed, sold under the brand name Alimta among others, is a chemotherapy medication for the treatment of pleural mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)..

A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (paediatrics), cancer (oncology), laboratory medicine (pathology), or primary care. After completing medical school or other basic training, physicians or surgeons and other clinicians usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple-year residency to become a specialist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative cancer treatments</span> Alternative or complementary treatments for cancer that have not demonstrated efficacy

Alternative cancer treatment describes any cancer treatment or practice that is not part of the conventional standard of cancer care. These include special diets and exercises, chemicals, herbs, devices, and manual procedures. Most alternative cancer treatments do not have high-quality evidence supporting their use and many have been described as fundamentally pseudoscientific. Concerns have been raised about the safety of some purported treatments and some have been found unsafe in clinical trials. Despite this, many untested and disproven treatments are used around the world.

Geriatric oncology is a branch of medicine that is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the elderly, usually defined as aged 65 and older. This fairly young but increasingly important subspecialty incorporates the special needs of the elderly into the treatment of cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oncology</span> Branch of medicine dealing with, or specializing in, cancer

Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an oncologist. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (ónkos), meaning "tumor", "volume" or "mass". Oncology is concerned with:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Druker</span> American physician-scientist

Brian J. Druker is a physician-scientist at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), in Portland, Oregon. He is the director of OHSU's Knight Cancer Institute, JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research, Associate Dean for Oncology in the OHSU School of Medicine, and professor of medicine.

Wallace Sampson, also known as Wally, was an American medical doctor and consumer advocate against alternative medicine and other fraud schemes. He was an authority in numerous medical fields, including oncology, hematology, and pathology. He was Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine at Stanford University. He was the former Head of Medical Oncology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, and a member of the faculty at the Skeptic's Toolbox 1998–2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binaytara Foundation</span> U.S. nonprofit organization

The Binaytara Foundation (BTF) was co-founded in 2007 by Dr. Binay Shah and his wife Tara Shah who believe every human being should have access to cutting-edge, evidence-based, and culturally appropriate health care. The goal of the foundation is to promote health and education in underprivileged societies, with an emphasis on improving access to cancer care in underserved areas. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Cancer Care Alliance</span> Cancer treatment and research center in Seattle, U.S.

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) is a cancer treatment and research center in Seattle, Washington. Established in 1998, this nonprofit provides clinical oncology care for patients treated at its three partner organizations: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children's and UW Medicine. Together, these four institutions form the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium.

Ashok K. Vaid is an Indian medical oncologist, known for his pioneering efforts in bone marrow transplantation in India. He is credited with the performance of the first 25 bone marrow transplantations in the private sector in North India. He heads the Cancer Institute- Division of Medical Oncology and Haemotology at Medanta The Medicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hutson</span> American oncologist and cancer researcher

Thomas E. Hutson is an American medical oncologist and cancer researcher based in Dallas, Texas. He is the director of Genitourinary Oncology Program and co-director of the Urologic Cancer Research and Treatment Center at Baylor University Medical Center. He is a Professor of Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and serves as a chair of Genitourinary Research for US Oncology and McKesson.

Medical reversal refers to when a newer and methodologically superior clinical trial produces results that contradict existing clinical practice and the older trials on which it is based. This leads to an intervention that was widely used falling out of favor, because new evidence either demonstrates that it is ineffective or that its harms exceed its benefits. It is distinct from replacement, which occurs when a newly developed medical treatment supersedes an older, less effective one as the standard of care. Medical reversals are caused when a treatment is widely adopted even when there is not compelling evidence for its safety and effectiveness. For example, an intervention may be adopted because it "makes sense", or because there are observational studies supporting its putative benefits. The negative effects of such reversals include harm to patients who received the intervention when it was considered relatively safe and effective, as well as reducing public trust in medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigid Leventhal</span> British-American pediatric oncologist

Brigid Gray Leventhal was a British-American pediatric oncologist. She was the first director of the Pediatric Oncology Division at Johns Hopkins University, a position she held from 1976 to 1984. She was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.

Brain Tumor Social Media (#BTSM) is a patient and care partner-run, grassroots Twitter community. The Twitter account @BTSMchat hosts bi-monthly tweet chats for the #BTSM community and consistently trends among the top 15 of disease-related tweet chats. A study published in 2020 revealed the hashtag was most commonly used by brain tumor patients (33.13%), along with patient advocacy organizations (7.01%), care partners (4.63%), and clinicians (3.63%) and researchers (3.37%) specializing in brain tumors and brain cancers.

Michael P. Link is an American oncologist. He is the Lydia J. Lee Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Adam Seth Cifu is an American physician, academic, author, and researcher. He is Professor of Medicine and Director of Academic Programming at the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence at the University of Chicago.

<i>Malignant</i> (book) 2020 book by Vinay Prasad

Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer is a nonfiction book by Vinay Prasad, published in 2020 by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Benjamin Djulbegovic is an American physician-scientist whose academic and research focus revolves around optimizing clinical research and the practice of medicine by comprehending the nature of medical evidence and decision-making. In his work, he has integrated concepts from evidence-based medicine (EBM), predictive analytics, health outcomes research, and the decision sciences.

References

  1. ↑ "Vinayak Prasad, MD, MPH". University of California San Francisco. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Terry, Lynne (September 7, 2017). "Dr. Vinay Prasad, OHSU's iconoclastic oncologist, calls out shoddy medicine". Oregon Live. The Oregonian. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Commencement" (PDF). MSU. Spring 2005. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH | OHSU People". Oregon Health & Science University. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ Piller, Charles (July 6, 2018). "Hidden conflicts?". Science. 361 (6397): 16–20. Bibcode:2018Sci...361...16P. doi:10.1126/science.361.6397.16. PMID   29976808. S2CID   206625989.
  6. ↑ Zuger, Abigail (October 30, 2015). "Book Review: 'Ending Medical Reversal' Laments Flip-Flopping". NYT. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Plenary Session". SoundCloud. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  8. ↑ Harris, Richard (June 24, 2018). "Tweeting Oncologist Draws Ire And Admiration For Calling Out Hype". NPR. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  9. ↑ Hayes, Elizabeth (April 5, 2017). "OHSU's Vinay Prasad on being the medical field's willing provocateur" . Portland Business Journal. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Articles You Will Definitely Read". Medpage Today. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  11. ↑ Prasad, Vinay. "Vinay Prasad". Vinay Prasad. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  12. ↑ Prasad, Vinayak (2020). Malignant | Johns Hopkins University Press Books. doi:10.1353/book.74312. ISBN   9781421437637.
  13. ↑ Prasad, Vinay (October 10, 2011). "The Frequency of Medical Reversal". Archives of Internal Medicine. 171 (18): 1675–1676. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.295 . PMID   21747003.
  14. ↑ "New Studies Often Reverse Existing Practices". July 11, 2011.
  15. ↑ Oransky, Ivan (July 11, 2011). "So how often does medical consensus turn out to be wrong?".
  16. ↑ "Bias and error are rampant in medical literature". March 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ Prasad, Vinay; Cifu, Adam; Ioannidis, John P. A. (January 4, 2012). "Reversals of Established Medical Practices: Evidence to Abandon Ship". JAMA. 307 (1): 37–38. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.1960. PMID   22215160.
  18. ↑ Prasad, Vinay; Rho, Jason; Cifu, Adam (April 8, 2013). "The Inferior Vena Cava Filter: How Could a Medical Device Be So Well Accepted Without Any Evidence of Efficacy?". JAMA Internal Medicine. 173 (7): 493–495. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2725. PMID   23552611.
  19. 1 2 Pittman, Genevra (March 19, 2013). "Filters often used to stop clots without evidence". Reuters.
  20. ↑ Prasad, Vinay; Vandross, Andrae; Toomey, Caitlin; Cheung, Michael; Rho, Jason; Quinn, Steven; Chacko, Satish Jacob; Borkar, Durga; Gall, Victor; Selvaraj, Senthil; Ho, Nancy; Cifu, Adam (August 2013). "A Decade of Reversal: An Analysis of 146 Contradicted Medical Practices". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 88 (8): 790–798. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2013.05.012 . PMID   23871230.
  21. ↑ "Changes in Modern Medicine: What Can We Expect?". January 30, 2014.
  22. ↑ Burki, Talha K (May 2020). "Shaping cancer policy to work towards the interests of patients". The Lancet Haematology. 7 (5): e369. doi:10.1016/S2352-3026(20)30119-8. PMID   32359451. S2CID   218490117.
  23. ↑ Prasad, Vinay (December 9, 2020). "Applying Skepticism to Medical Skepticism — Debunking should focus on areas most in need -- which might not be homeopathy". Medpage Today. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  24. ↑ Gorski, David (December 13, 2020). "Responding to Dr. Vinay Prasad's "dunking on a 7′ hoop" criticism of SBM". Science Based Medicine. Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  25. ↑ Novella, Steven (December 11, 2020). "Skeptical of Skepticism regarding Medical Skepticism". Neurologica Blog. The New England Skeptical Society. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  26. ↑ Tracey, Alice (October 8, 2021). "Did Vinay Prasad need to mention the Nazis to make a point on the U.S. pandemic response?". The Cancer Letter (News). 47 (37).
  27. ↑ Prasad, Vinay (January 19, 2022). "Public Health's Truth Problem". City Journal.
  28. ↑ Shaffer L (February 27, 2022). "Dr. Vinay Prasad: 'Public Health's (Mis)Truth Problem'". Science-Based Medicine.
  29. ↑ Schreiber, Melody (February 22, 2022). "Why Is This Group of Doctors So Intent on Unmasking Kids?". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  30. ↑ Weissmueller, Zach (March 21, 2022). "How Politics Corrupted Science: Dr. Vinay Prasad on COVID". reason.com. Reason. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.