Systematic reviews and health policy: The influence of a project on perinatal care since 1988

Milbank Quarterly

Volumn 89, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 425-449

  Fox, Daniel M ^a  

^a Milbank Memorial Fund   (United States)

Author keywords

clinical epidemiology; health cost containment; Health policy; health policy and politics; health services research; history of health policy; systematic reviews

Indexed keywords

DRUG;

CLINICAL PRACTICE; DRUG EFFICACY; DRUG INDUSTRY; DRUG SAFETY; EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE; HEALTH CARE ACCESS; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HEALTH INSURANCE; HISTORY OF MEDICINE; HUMAN; MEDICAL LITERATURE; NEWBORN CARE; PERINATAL CARE; POLITICS; PREPREGNANCY CARE; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW; SOCIOLOGY; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (TOPIC); WOMEN'S HEALTH;

DATABASES, FACTUAL; DECISION MAKING, ORGANIZATIONAL; DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE; EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE; FEMALE; HEALTH POLICY; HUMANS; INFANT, NEWBORN; MALE; OBSTETRICS; PEDIATRICS; PERINATAL CARE; PREGNANCY; QUALITY ASSURANCE, HEALTH CARE; REVIEW LITERATURE AS TOPIC; UNITED STATES;

EID: 80053186366     PISSN: 0887378X     EISSN: 14680009     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2011.00635.x     Document Type: Review

References (75)

1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2011. National Guideline Clearing House (search term: systematic reviews). Available at (accessed May 9, 2011).
2. Bastian, H., P. Glasziou, and, I. Chalmers,. 2010. Seventy-Five Trials and Eleven Systematic Reviews a Day: How Will We Ever Keep Up PLoS Medicine 7, September, (e1000326) (online only).
3. Benedict, I., C. Truman, K. Smith-Akin, and, A. Hinman,. 2000. Developing the Guide to Community Preventive Services. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 18: 18-26. (Pubitemid 30114231)
4. Benner, J.S., M.R. Morrison, E.K. Karnes, S.L. Kocot, and, M. McClellan,. 2010. An Evaluation of Recent Federal Spending on Comparative Effectiveness Research: Priorities, Gaps and Next Steps. Health Affairs 29: 1768-77.
5. Boston Women's Health Book Collective. 2011. Our Bodies Ourselves. Available at (accessed May 9, 2011).
6. Campbell Collaboration. 2011. About Us. Available at (accessed May 9, 2011).
7. Cauchi, R., 2008. Pharmaceutical Preferred Drug Lists (PDLs): State Medicaid and Beyond. Denver: National Conference of State Legislatures.
8. Chalkidou, K., S. Tunis, R. Lopert, L. Rochaix, P. Sawicki, M. Nasser, and, B. Xerri,. 2009. Comparative Effectiveness Research and Evidence-Based Health Policy: Experience from Four Countries. The Milbank Quarterly 87: 339-67. Available at (accessed June 16, 2011).
9. Chalmers, I., ed. 19881992. The Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10. Chalmers, I., 1993. The Cochrane Collaboration: Preparing, Maintaining and Disseminating Systematic Reviews of the Effects of Health Care. In Doing More Good Than Harm: The Evaluation of Health Care Interventions, ed., K.S. Warren, and, F. Mosteller, 156-63, vol. 703 of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
11. Chalmers, I., 2003. The Prehistory of the First Cochrane Centre. In Back to the Front, ed., X. Bosch, 242-53. Barcelona, privately printed.
12. Chalmers, I., M. Enkin, and, M.J. Keirse, eds. 1989. Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
13. Chalmers, I., L.V. Hedges, and, H. Cooper,. 2002. A Brief History of Research Synthesis. Evaluation and the Health Professions 25: 12-37. (Pubitemid 34157782)
14. Choudhry, N., R. Fletcher, and, S. Soumerai,. 2005. Systematic Review: The Relationship between Clinical Experience and the Quality of Health Care. Annals of Internal Medicine 142: 260-73. (Pubitemid 40216243)
15. Cleary, P., and, D.M. Fox,. 1993. In This Issue. The Milbank Quarterly 71: 345-48.
16. Coast, J., 2004. Is Economic Evaluation in Touch with Society's Health Values? BMJ 329: 1233-36. (Pubitemid 39551449)
17. Craig, T., 2002. Community Leaders Decry Lobby Firm's Fax. Baltimore Sun, March 9.
18. Dickersin, K., and, E. Mannheimer,. 1998. The Cochrane Collaboration: Evaluation of Health Care and Services Using Systematic Reviews of the Results of Randomized Clinical Trials. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology 41: 315-31. (Pubitemid 28287824)
19. Donaldson, L., and, N. Banatvala,. 2007. Health Is Global: Proposals for a UK Government-wide Strategy. The Lancet 369: 857-61. (Pubitemid 46365873)
20. Drug Effectiveness Review Project. 20042009. Archives of minutes, correspondence, and published and gray literature attacking systematic reviews (electronic and print). Portland, OR: Center for Evidence-Based Policy, Oregon Health and Science University.
21. Elshaug, A., J. Moss, P. Littlejohyn, P. Karman, T. Merlin, and, J. Hiller,. 2009. Identifying Existing Health Care Services That Do Not Provide Value for Money. Medical Journal of Australia 190: 269-73.
22. Enkin, M., M.J. Keirse, and, I. Chalmers,. 1989. A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
23. Fox, D.M., 2005. Evidence of Evidence-Based Health Policy: The Politics of Systematic Reviews in Coverage Decisions. Health Affairs 24: 114-22. (Pubitemid 40169778)
24. Fox, D.M., 2010a. The Convergence of Science and Governance: Research, Health Policy and American States. Berkeley: University of California Press.
25. Fox, D.M., 2010b. Realizing and Allocating Savings from Improving Health Care Quality and Efficiency. Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy 7 (online only). Available at (accessed May 9, 2011).
26. Fox, D.M., 2010c. The Governance of Standard-Setting to Improve Health. Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy 7 (online only). Available at (accessed June 16, 2011).
27. Fox, D.M., and, L. Greenfield,. 2006. Helping Public Officials Use Research Evaluating Health Care. Journal of Law and Policy 14: 531-50.
28. Gibson, M., 2006. Attacks on Systematic Reviews. U.S. Cochrane Center Conference, Baltimore, July 14.
29. Gold, E., 1990. Review of ECPC, vols. 1-2. JAMA 264: 2577-78.
30. Gross, A., 2006. The Place of Rhetoric in Science Studies. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
31. Haveman, J., 2001. Remarks of the then Commissioner of Community Health Services in Michigan at an off-the-record meeting of the Reforming States Group, November (with permission).
32. Hawkes, N., 2009. NICE Goes Global. BMJ 338: 266-67.
33. Hawkins, D., 1990. Review of ECPC. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (UK): 344-47.
34. Iglehart, J., 2010. The Political Fight over Comparative Effectiveness Research. Health Affairs 29: 1757-60.
35. Jewell, C., and, L. Bero,. 2008. "Developing Good Taste in Evidence": Facilitators of and Hindrances to Evidence-Informed Health Policymaking in State Government. The Milbank Quarterly 86: 177-208. Available at (accessed June 16, 2011).
36. Jorgensen, A., J. Hilden, and, P. Goetzsche,. 2006. Cochrane Reviews Compared with Industry Supported Meta-analyses and Other Meta-analyses of the Same Drugs: Systematic Review. BMJ 333: 1-5. Available at (accessed June 16, 2011).
37. Kramer, M., 1991. Review of Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth and A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. Science 251: 815-16.
38. Lenzer, J., 2010. Independent Drug Review Group in Canada Is Squeezed Out. BMJ 341:c7009. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
39. Lerner, J., D.M. Fox, S. Ruzek, and, G. Shearer,. 2010. The Case for a National Patient Library. Health Affairs 29: 1914-19.
40. Lomas, J., 1993. Retailing Research: Increasing the Role of Evidence in Clinical Services for Childbirth [in Canada]. The Milbank Quarterly 72: 439-75.
41. Mann, C., 1990. Meta-analysis in the Breech. Science 249: 476-80. (Pubitemid 20248882)
42. McCloskey, D., and, S. Ziliak,. 2008. The Cult of Statistical Significance: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice and Lives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
43. Miller, T., and, D. Zwerdling,. 2010. Pentagon Contractor Finds Therapy Inconclusive. National Public Radio, December 20. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
44. Moher, D., A. Tetzlaff, A. Tricco, M. Sampson, and, D. Altman,. 2007. Epidemiology and Reporting Characteristics of Systematic Reviews. PLoS Medicine 4. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
45. Montori, V., and, G. Guyatt,. 2008. Progress in Evidence-Based Medicine. JAMA 300: 1874-76.
46. Morgan, S., M. McMahon, C. Mitton, E. Roughead, R. Kirk, P. Kanavos, and, M. Devidas,. 2006. Centralized Drug Review Processes in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Health Affairs 25: 337-47. (Pubitemid 43529541)
47. Mosteller, F., 1993. The Prospect of Data-Based Medicine in the Light of ECPC. The Milbank Quarterly 71: 523-32.
48. Moynihan, R., 2003. US Seniors Group Attacks Pharmaceutical Industry "Fronts." BMJ 326: 351.
49. Moynihan, R., 2008. Independent Drug Watchdog in Canada under Funding Threat. BMJ 336: 1270.
50. Moynihan, R., 2010. Drug Firm's Legal Action against Government Advisers Is Described as "Intimidation." BMJ 341: c6527.
51. Moynihan, R., 2011. Biography. Wikipedia. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
52. Murray, A., 2004. Political Capital: Trade Group's Fight against Drug Review Is Self-Defeating. Wall Street Journal, November 24.
53. Neilson, J.P., 1991. Review of Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 45: 175.
54. Neumann, P., 2006. Emerging Lessons from the Drug Effectiveness Review Project. Health Affairs 25: w268.
55. Paintin, D.B., 1990. Commentary: Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 97: 967-73.
56. Pear, R., and, J. Dao,. 2004. States' Tactics Aim to Reduce Drug Spending. New York Times, November 21. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
57. Peckham, M., 1991. Research and Development for the National Health Service. The Lancet 338: 367-71.
58. Rawlins, M., 2008. De testimonio: On the Evidence for Decisions about the Use of Therapeutic Interventions. The Lancet 372: 2152-61.
59. Reforming States Group. 2003. State Initiatives on Prescription Drugs: Creating a More Functional Market. Health Affairs 22: 128-36.
60. Rettig, R., P. Jacobson, C. Farquhar, and, W. Aubry,. 2007. False Hope: Bone Marrow Transplantation for Breast Cancer. New York: Oxford University Press.
61. Rothman, S., V. Raveis, A. Friedman, and, D. Rothman,. 2011. Health Advocacy Organizations and the Pharmaceutical Industry. American Journal of Public Health 101: 602-9.
62. Royal College of Physicians. 2008. Sir Michael Rawlins Attacks Traditional Ways of Assessing Evidence. Press release, October 16. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
63. Sinclair, C., and, M.B. Bracken, eds. 1992. Effective Care of the Newborn Infant. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
64. Sisk, J.E., 1993. Improving the Use of Research-Based Evidence in Policy Making: Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth in the United States. The Milbank Quarterly 71: 497-521.
65. Starr, M., I. Chalmers, M. Clarke, and, A.D. Oxman,. 2009. The Origins, Evolution and Future of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 25 (suppl. 1): 182-95.
66. Steinbrook, R., 2008. Saying No Isn't NICE-The Travails of Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. New England Journal of Medicine 359: 1977-80.
67. Stocking, B.C., 1993. Implementing the Findings of Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth in the United Kingdom. The Milbank Quarterly 71: 497-521.
68. Timmins, N., 2009. The NICE Way of Influencing Health Spending: A Conversation with Sir Michael Rawlins. Health Affairs 28: 1360-65.
69. Tovey, D., 2010. The Impact of Cochrane Reviews. The Cochrane Library, July 7. Available at (accessed March 16, 2011).
70. Ubell, E., 1993. Are Births as Safe as They Could Be? Parade, February 7, p. 1.
71. Wall Street Journal. 2009. Of NICE and Men. Editorial, July 7. Available at (accessed May 10, 2011).
72. Watts, G., 2005. William Silverman: One of the Founders of American Neonatal Medicine. BMJ 330: 257.
73. Wennberg, J.E., 1984. Dealing with Medical Practice Variations: A Proposal for Action. Health Affairs 3: 6-32. (Pubitemid 14049679)
74. Winslow, R., L. McGinley, and, C. Adams,. 2002. Drug Prices-Why They Keep Soaring-Healing the System: States, Insurers Find Prescriptions for High Drug Costs. Wall Street Journal, September 11.
75. Zander, L., 1990. Review of Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth and A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. British Journal of General Practice 40: 396.