“Evidence-Based Medicine”: Corporate Medicine’s Instrument

6
358

From Medium: The notion of “evidence-based medicine” is that a particular treatment is considered effective if research finds it safe and efficacious in the majority of patients. However, this notion fails to acknowledge the minority of patients who may be harmed or even killed by some “evidence-based” practices.

“In fact, when patients are harmed or die because of a practice, the guardians of the medical establishment point to their ‘evidence’ and argue that the practice was based on ‘good evidence’ — in this contorted way of thinking, the damage done to any particular patient, ‘though unfortunate’, is the acceptable cost of practicing ‘evidence-based’ medicine.

But when the patient or his/her advocate(s) object to this idea that the harm done ought to be accepted or is simply unfortunate — they are typically labeled, by a vast number of physicians and their managers, as being ‘crazy’, ‘unhinged’ or ‘uneducated’ . This, I know as a matter of fact, as a physician.

But the real trouble is that when corporate forces remove stringent ethical restraint from ‘evidence-based’ practice, it becomes nothing but a marketing tool to make money in a way that ‘benefits the majority’ of consumers/patients — irrespective of its cost to the minority subsets of people it might be harming.”

Article →­

Support MIA

MIA relies on the support of its readers to exist. Please consider a donation to help us provide news, essays, podcasts and continuing education courses that explore alternatives to the current paradigm of psychiatric care. Your tax-deductible donation will help build a community devoted to creating such change.

$
Select Payment Method
Personal Info

Credit Card Info
This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

Billing Details

Donation Total: $20 One Time

6 COMMENTS

  1. I like evidence based medicine as the proof is in the outcome. When we had Lobotomies the proof was in the outcomes. How the promoters of Lobotomies got the Nobel prize I don’t know.

    “Moniz reported that the patient seemed less anxious and paranoid afterwards, and pronounced the operation a success. ”
    What about the patient? What did they think of the operation? Can they form the words or the thoughts necessary to complain?

    If the evidence is arraigned to favour the treatment, which is done with electroshock , of course evidence based medicine DOES NOT WORK IF THE EVIDENCE IS FALSIFIED and there is no one with the power to question the foundation.

    If the supposed doctor removes the patients ability (thought and action) to complain, that is not a successful treatment.

    • Likewise I’m not against intelligence or advanced medical degrees. But if a remorseless person who lies nonstop and doesn’t care about anyone else has these benefits he is not trustworthy but dangerous. He will use his intelligence and medical degree to get what he wants by deceiving others and not caring how he hurts them. Like Bernie Madoff, but instead of robbing retirees of their life savings this dangerous doctor will cripple and kill with impunity.

  2. “…DOES NOT WORK IF THE EVIDENCE IS FALSIFIED…”:-

    Yes, at least 50% of people that consume “Antipsychotics” will experience Akathisia – a condition that is recognised and accepted to drive people to suicide.

    About 40% of “antipsychotic” consumers do attempt suicide – 10% successfully.