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Medicine is moving away from reliance on the proclamations of authorities to the use of numerical methods to estimate the size of effects of its interventions. But a rumbling note of uneasiness underlines present-day medical progress: the more we know, The more questions we encounter about what to do with the hard-won information.The essays in Where's the Evidence examine the dilemmas that have arisen as the result of medicine's unprecedented increase in technical powers. How do doctors draw the line between "knowing" (the acquisition of new medical information) and doing" (the application of that new knowledge)? What are the long-term consequences of responding to the demand that physicians always do everything that can be done? Is medicine's primary aim to increase the length of life? Or is it to reduce the amount of pain and suffering? And who is empowered to choose when these ends are mutually exclusive? This engaging collection of essays will be of interest to professionals interested in the evidence-based medicine debate, including epidemiologists, neonatologists, those involved in clinical trials and health policy, medical ethicists, medical students, and trainees.
This collection of essays investigates the fundamental tension between the rapid expansion of medical technical capabilities and the ethical dilemmas regarding the application of evidence-based practices. William A. Silverman, a noted neonatologist and researcher, utilizes his extensive background in clinical trials to critique the transition from authority-based medicine to numerical, evidence-driven decision-making. He argues that the accumulation of medical data does not automatically resolve questions of clinical practice, necessitating a deeper examination of the goals of modern healthcare.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts and medical professionals frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the evidence-based medicine movement. Readers often note that the prose is accessible yet intellectually rigorous, making it a standard reference for students and practitioners interested in medical ethics and health policy.
Page Count:
280
Publication Date:
1998-06-30
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192629344
ISBN-13:
9780192629340
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