Web 2.0 Knowledge Technologies and the Enterprise

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Introduction

An irregular heartbeat is a common consequence of heart attacks and can be fatal. In the 1980s a drug called encainide was routinely used to reduce this risk by suppressing such arrhythmia. It was logical to assume that since this drug induced a regular heart rhythm, it automatically reduced the chance of a further heart attack: in fact the opposite was true and the drug was responsible for a significant number of deaths and did not even improve the health of those who lived. This only came to light when evidence was collected in randomised clinical trials. Similarly, although there is convincing logic that it must work, the common orthopaedic process of arthroscopic cleansing of arthritic knees by washing out the joint with fluid ...