Evidence-based medicine: A non-starter in India?

Abstract

Introduction: All patients have a right to the best treatment for the ailment that they suffer from, and the best treatment usually would be evidence based medicine (EBM).Practice of EBM: This is formulated considering the physician's personal experience, that of the peers and the patients' expectations. In our country EBM is conspicuous in its absence due to poor maintenance of patients' records, poor access to journals and non-involvement of patients in therapeutic decisions. Physicians in private practice are generally not trained to evaluate external experience, whatever is available. Badly designed diagnostic approach and poor quality of information on which therapeutic decisions are based add to factors that prevent the implementation of EBM.Conclusions: In certain conditions patient centred medicine may be superior to EBM. However, patient centred medicine for special situations can only be a reality after EBM has been made the norm for commonly encountered diseases.