A misquote in the editorial "Cooperative Clofibrate Trial" (JAMA 241:2638, 1979) calls for correction. In the concluding sentence, "Whatever the implications of the cooperative trial for other cholesterol-lowering regimens, its Committee of Principal Investigators does not recommend the long-term use of clofibrate for the prevention of ischemic heart disease," the "long-term use" should have read "community-wide trials."
The recommendation of the Committee of Principal Investigators does not preclude the long-term use of clofibrate for sufferers from specific hyperlipidemias. Any misgivings about this use belong to the realm of uncertainty.
Acknowledging the speculative nature of such apprehension, a "leader" in the British Medical Journal (2:1585-1586, 1978) states: "There may well prove to be metabolic effects of its [clofibrate] long-term use that are as yet unrecognised: the authors acknowledge (as is implicit in their data) that the drug may have serious pathological consequences by mechanisms as yet unexplained.
"The immediate practical conclusion