When O'Connor and his colleagues broke down the results based on how well people were sticking to the exercise recommendations, an analysis not published in the JAMA paper, more striking differences emerged.

CNN: Moderate exercise safe, healthy for heart-failure patients

They enlisted one of their fellows to do a statistical analysis, and published a Sept. 2001 paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association calling for an investigation into potential heart risks caused by Vioxx and Celebrex, a competing drug from Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ).

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His latest paper, published in the December issue of a journal called Decision Analysis, spells out what he believes is the right approach.

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