Comments on a Sudden Infant Death Article in Another Journal

I have been an avid reader and admirer of the New England Journal of Medicine since I was a medical student many years ago. As an editor, I confess I envy the journal its large circulation and the many fine articles it publishes. Recently, however, the journal published an article by Schwartz et al entitled “Prolongation of the QT Interval and the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” (N Engl J Med.1998;338:1709–1714), and an editorial by Friedman and Towbin complimenting the study. The commentary cited the study as offering “compelling evidence” of a link between the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and prolonged QT interval, and suggested that “the development of a more useful tool that can be used in the physician's office to measure QT would be welcome.” Did they read the same article that I read? Even more alarming was the suggestion implying “some patients should receive β-blockers.”...