Social and Regulatory Consequences of Misleading Medical Information

Abstract

Arguing that the scientific method must be the ultimate test in determining drug efficacy and safety, Dr. Ruskin points out that the medical profession is often plagued by unscientific attitudes and “research.” Like their patients, physicians are influenced by nonscientific sources of drug information such as advertising and often trust their own “experience” rather than the results of controlled clinical and epidemiologic trials.