Where's the Evidence?

The chapters in this book focus on problems ignored. This book is a collection of critical and controversial chapters on intractable ethical issues and evidence-based problems in modern medicine. Although it is impossible to prevent all missteps in medicine, the book argues, a hedging strategy using concurrent controls when new therapies are introduced always reduces the number of patients killed or injured. It is dangerous to use treatments widely, it warns, before they are subject to rigorous comparative trials. Additionally, the book points out, questions have emerged about how to wield...

The chapters in this book focus on problems ignored. This book is a collection of critical and controversial chapters on intractable ethical issues and evidence-based problems in modern medicine. Although it is impossible to prevent all missteps in medicine, the book argues, a hedging strategy using concurrent controls when new therapies are introduced always reduces the number of patients killed or injured. It is dangerous to use treatments widely, it warns, before they are subject to rigorous comparative trials. Additionally, the book points out, questions have emerged about how to wield medicine's new capabilities wisely. How do we draw the line, it asks between ‘knowing’ (the acquisition of new medical information) and ‘doing’ (the application of that new knowledge). What are the long-term consequences (moral, social, economic, and biological) of responding to a demand that medicine always do everything that can be done?