A VIDEO RECORDING OF THIS INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE HERE.

THE USUAL AUDIO FILE IS AVAILABLE BELOW

Steven Cummings has co-written a take-no-prisoners editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine. The topic? Vitamin D supplements. The conclusion? “…providers should stop screening for 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels or recommending vitamin D supplements, and people should stop taking vitamin D supplements to prevent major diseases or extend life.”

Dr. Cummings was commenting on research findings from the VITAL trial, also published in the journal, showing no fracture-lowering benefits of the supplements.

Allan Brett interviews Cummings to get the details on his pronouncement, and it takes just 13 minutes to dismiss vitamin D (which, by the way, is not a vitamin at all).

NEJM presentation of VITAL results

Cummings and Rosen editorial