'Dopesick'; why a critical view of the literature may save your patient's life

Teaching critical literature appraisal is challenging. Providing a compelling clinical context using 'cinemeduation' stimulates interest in the topic.

After watching the first episode of the mini-series 'Dopesick', where the scope, timeline and extent of the problem of opioid abuse are clearly seen, abstracts of the period literature strongly supporting the use of Oxycontin for use in chronic pain are shown. All were published in highly ranked medical journals. A simple paper evaluation structure is suggested. It is PPICOREAD which stands for the following questions: Who Paid for the study? What was the Population studied? What was the Intervention given in the study? What was the Control group used? What was the Outcome and was it of clinical significance to you? Was the trial Registered? Was there an Educational element for you? Was there anything Applicable to your practice? What was the Duration of the trial? Is this duration sufficient to reassure you that the trial is relevant to your practice?

The very poor quality and dishonest nature of the conclusions of these papers are quickly and easily uncovered in a supervised workshop. The causes for these clear discrepancies are discussed. The devastating consequences are described.