As with the discovery of a new wonder drug, the reporting of a major newclinical trial is usually followed by a three-step adjustment period in the collective attitudes of the health-care profession and the general public. There is initial euphoria that this is the answer, the panacea, i.e., the treatment for everyone. These feelings are followed by a rebound response of despondency that the side effects and problems with the new treatment are too serious and that the treatment is too costly and complex to make it useful at all. Finally, a rational place for the new discovery is found in medical practice.

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