Peter M. Sandman website update Risk = Hazard + Outrage en-us webmaster@psandman.com (Elenor Snow) http://www.psandman.com/index.htm May 2: When a Ship Captain Abandons Ship Prematurely <p>by Peter M. Sandman </p> <p>Email to Sheila M. Eldred, April 30, 2014</p> <p>On April 29, 2014, reporter Sheila M. Eldred of the Discovery News website emailed me about an article she was writing in the wake of an April 16 ferry disaster in South Korea on “why captains abandon ship.” My brief email in response stressed that a captain who abandons ship prematurely isn’t panicking, but is simply failing to be a hero in a situation where duty demands heroism. The temptation afterwards, I wrote, is to self-justify instead of admitting as much. Sheila’s story used a lot of my email. </p> http://www.psandman.com/articles/abandon.htm http://www.psandman.com/articles/abandon.htm May 2: Why Do Captains Abandon Ship? <p>by Sheila M. Eldred </p> <p>Posted on the Discovery News website, May 1, 2014</p> <p>On April 29, 2014, reporter Sheila M. Eldred of the Discovery News website emailed me about an article she was writing in the wake of an April 16 ferry disaster in South Korea on “why captains abandon ship.” My brief email in response stressed that a captain who abandons ship prematurely isn’t panicking, but is simply failing to be a hero in a situation where duty demands heroism. The temptation afterwards, I wrote, is to self-justify instead of admitting as much. Sheila’s story used a lot of my email.</p> http://news.discovery.com/human/psychology/why-do-captains-abandon-ship-140501.htm http://news.discovery.com/human/psychology/why-do-captains-abandon-ship-140501.htm April 23: Tamiflu report comes under fire

by Declan Butler

Posted on the Nature website, April 22, 2014; published in the print edition of Nature, vol. 508, pp. 439–440 (April 24, 2014).

In early April 2014, BMJ (British Medical Journal) published two articles reporting a research review by the Cochrane Collaboration, arguing that antiviral drugs are of minimal use against influenza. When reporter Declan Butler of Nature emailed me and my wife and colleague Jody Lanard asking for comment on how the Cochrane Review was communicated, we quickly sent back a response summarizing two key criticisms of the Cochrane researchers: that they ignored the downsides of the Cochrane methodology, which considers only randomized controlled trials; and that they massaged and cherry-picked their own results to make them look worse for antivirals. Declan’s article addressed many aspects of this complicated story, and he had room for only a little of what we had sent him. Meanwhile, we had written a more comprehensive assessment, which we are posting on this website as an introduction to what we originally sent Declan.

 http://www.nature.com/news/tamiflu-report-comes-under-fire-1.15091 http://www.nature.com/news/tamiflu-report-comes-under-fire-1.15091 April 23: Overstated Attack Hiding Behind Scientific Assessment: An April 2014 Cochrane Review Trashes the Usefulness of Influenza Antiviral Drugs

by Peter M. Sandman and Jody Lanard

Email to Declan Butler, April 15, 2014

In early April 2014, BMJ (British Medical Journal) published two articles reporting a research review by the Cochrane Collaboration, arguing that antiviral drugs are of minimal use against influenza. When reporter Declan Butler of Nature emailed me and my wife and colleague Jody Lanard asking for comment on how the Cochrane Review was communicated, we quickly sent back a response summarizing two key criticisms of the Cochrane researchers: that they ignored the downsides of the Cochrane methodology, which considers only randomized controlled trials; and that they massaged and cherry-picked their own results to make them look worse for antivirals. Declan’s article addressed many aspects of this complicated story, and he had room for only a little of what we had sent him. Meanwhile, we had written a more comprehensive assessment, which we are posting on this website as an introduction to what we originally sent Declan.

 http://www.psandman.com/articles/Cochrane.htm http://www.psandman.com/articles/Cochrane.htm April 7: What to say when a chemical that's outlawed in some countries is legal in yours Guestbook comment and response http://www.psandman.com/gst2014.htm#buckets http://www.psandman.com/gst2014.htm#buckets March 29: Going after pregnant women who drink: It's not just straightforward precaution advocacy Guestbook comment and response http://www.psandman.com/gst2014.htm#FASD http://www.psandman.com/gst2014.htm#FASD