- Share - [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://about.ebsco.com/markdownify/node/163368) - []() - []() - []() # Flight 2482 and the Value of DynaMed Much like air traffic controllers are critical for aviation safety, expert methodologists in evidence-based medicine are an integral part of clinical decision support – especially in the era of AI. ![](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/2214538d-ea74-4d58-afe9-4b507979b069/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-doctors-discussing-August-2026.png) [Roy Ziegelstein, MD, MACP](/health-notes/bio/roy-ziegelstein-md-macp) 27 August 2026 **Did you ever wonder how many planes are in the air at one time?** It turns out that as many as 200,000 planes fly every day and 12,000 to 14,000 are in the air at the same time ([How Many Planes Are Flying Right Now and Why](https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/number-of-planes-in-air)). That sounds like a lot that needs to be monitored and tracked to ensure passenger safety. **Did you ever wonder how many medical and scientific articles are published each year?** It is estimated that 1.5 million new articles are indexed in PubMed annually, and PubMed now contains over 40 million citations. That sounds like a lot that needs to be monitored and tracked to ensure patient safety. Earlier this month – on Friday, August 14th to be exact – a Phoenix air traffic controller recognized that there were two American Airlines passenger planes in the air at the same time, one arriving to and the other departing from the Phoenix airport, mistakenly flying with the same flight number (American 2482). The air traffic controller began referring to them as “American 2482 on the arrival” and “American 2482 on the departure” thereby avoiding a disaster ([2 planes with same flight number avoid possible disaster thanks to controller - ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/2-planes-same-flight-number-avoid-disaster-quick-135659078)). Several clinical decision support (CDS) tools obtain information from the overwhelming number of articles in the medical literature and deliver that information in an easy-to-use format that can be used at the point of care. The problem with many CDS tools is that they don’t come with an air traffic controller. DynaMed does. Some AI-driven CDS tools rely almost exclusively on information from peer-reviewed published articles in the medical literature without clinical experts and experts in evidence-based methodology overseeing the information the CDS tool provides. While CDS tools typically note that they are not diagnostic or treatment tools and require clinicians to use the information provided wisely and effectively, clinicians are often unable to distinguish high- from low-quality evidence, and even if they have that ability, they usually don’t have the time to do so at the point of care. So what’s the problem if clinicians rely on journal peer review? The demand for journal peer review now far exceeds the supply of reviewers, let alone quality reviewers able to distinguish an article with high-quality evidence from an article you would never want to be used by a clinician to inform your medical care. As a result of this, more and more articles – even randomized, placebo-controlled trials – have critical errors, need to be retracted, report findings that cannot be replicated, or report headline-grabbing results that are not nearly as newsworthy when a subsequent study examines the same intervention. John Ioannidis at Stanford has published the most on this topic. In a classic paper in JAMA in 2005 ([JAMA 2005; 294:218-228](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16014596/)), Ioannidis found that the findings reported in 1 of every 6 what might be called “classic” papers he examined, i.e., those published in one of three major, high-impact-factor journals that were each cited more than 1,000 times, were contradicted by subsequent comparable studies. What’s more, in a subsequent report ([JAMA 2007; 298:2517-2526](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18056905/)) Ioannidis and co-authors found that “*…a considerable segment of the literature continues to cite the contradicted articles long after the contradiction.*” Without expert clinicians and experts in evidence-based medicine providing the type of critical oversight provided by that air traffic controller, the equivalent of a critical airline crash can – and will – occur. The peer-reviewed literature is generally good, but “generally good” is not enough when it comes to airline travel or patient care. We need the type of oversight that DynaMed provides. And we need clinicians, patients, and health care systems to recognize that… before it’s too late. Category: [From Our EIC ](/blogs/health-notes/category/from-our-eic) Tags: [AI](/blogs/health-notes/tag/ai) [From the Desk of Dr. Z](/blogs/health-notes/tag/from-the-desk-of-dr.-z) - Share - [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://about.ebsco.com/markdownify/node/163368) - []() - []() - []() ## Related Posts [ ![From the desk of Dr Z with GPS in a car](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/be131353-868e-499a-b7ce-010591268bbf/from-the-desk-of-dr-z-july-2026-blog-780.jpg) ](/blogs/health-notes/where-are-we-going) [Where Are We Going? ](/blogs/health-notes/where-are-we-going) 27 July 2026 [ ![image of medical professionals talking with drug representative with "From the desk of Dr. Z" in the top left](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/c78c105d-6093-452b-90f1-a3f496bc9479/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-June-2026.png) ](/blogs/health-notes/are-physicians-easy-prey) [Are Physicians Easy Prey? ](/blogs/health-notes/are-physicians-easy-prey) 24 June 2026 [ ![From the desk of Dr. Z. 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