I scribbled my signature on a pharmaceutical rep’s iPad last week for some samples of Jardiance, a diabetes drug that now has expanded indications, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

This drug lowers blood sugar (reduces HbA1c by less than one point) but also reduces diabetes-related kidney damage, heart attacks, strokes and now also admission rates for heart failure (from 4.1% to 2.7% if I remember correctly).

The latter figures represent a significant relative risk reduction but not a big absolute one; the Number Needed to Treat is about 70, so 69 out of 70 patients would take it in vain for the heart failure indication.

The NNT for cardiovascular death is around 38 over a three-year period, so more than 100 patient-years for one patient saved.