Evidence-Based Medicine: A Myth in the Making
Business Week had a wonderful cover article recently about the myth of evidence-based medicine, as Dr. David Eddy has spent a career in illustrating to other doctors and anybody else who will listen. As noted below, somewhere in the range of 20-25% of our medicine practices are evidence-based — that is, there is strong objective research evidence to support a particular treatment or intervention for a particular medical problem or disease. Most of what doctors do is based upon their own clinical judgment — judgment, which is often based upon conventional wisdom (”This is just how we’ve always treated this problem”), which is often just plain wrong.
He proved that doctors had little clue about the success rate of procedures such as surgery for enlarged prostates. He traced one common practice — preventing women from giving birth vaginally if they had previously had a cesarean — to the recommendation of one lone doctor. Indeed, when he began taking on medicine’s sacred cows, Eddy liked to cite a figure that only 15% of what doctors did was backed by hard evidence.
It could be said the practice of medicine across healthcare, including mental health could benefit from some attention and review of medical intervention models.
For more on this topic, go to Evidence-based Medicine
He proved that doctors had little clue about the success rate of procedures such as surgery for enlarged prostates. He traced one common practice — preventing women from giving birth vaginally if they had previously had a cesarean — to the recommendation of one lone doctor. Indeed, when he began taking on medicine’s sacred cows, Eddy liked to cite a figure that only 15% of what doctors did was backed by hard evidence.
It could be said the practice of medicine across healthcare, including mental health could benefit from some attention and review of medical intervention models.
For more on this topic, go to Evidence-based Medicine
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