Abandoning the Term "Voodoo" in Medicine.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: EBM — : evidence-based medicine Spend enough time around medical practitioners here in the United States and you will definitely hear the word “voodoo.” In medicine, the term is used to denote an absence of evidence or a superstitious practice, either as an apology for one’s own medical choices in the face of limited or contentious evidence or often as a disdainful dismissal of the medical choices of others. When my medical career began in the mid-to-late 90s, the term was already in use. I suspect it had been in use for some time, but it took on particular relevance in the evidence-based medicine (EBM) era. In the EBM context, it often signifies practices that lack sufficient evidence by EBM standards.1 I suggest we abandon this use of the term “voodoo” to refer to medical practices of unsure or poor quality of evidence. The problem with the use of the term “voodoo” in this dismissive or derogatory way is that Voodoo, also written Vodou, Vodun, or Vodu, is a religion. This religion grew out of the inheritances, beliefs, and experiences of mostly West African people who were enslaved and brought to the island of Quisqueya, present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as from the dynamic experiences of their descendants as they navigated a changing world of colonial power, slavery, revolution, occupation, and dictatorship. Voodoo has direct connections to several West African and Central African religious systems and practices, including the Vodun practices of the Fon people of Benin, Togo, … Address correspondence to Nathan Luna, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, 3600 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611. E-mail: nathan.luna{at}kp.org