A must-read from Dr. Weed

Kudos to The Health Care Blog for publishing a long, two-part treatise this week from the legendary Dr. Larry Weed and his attorney son, Lincoln Weed, who talk about how “evidence-based medicine” really just represents educated guessing.

Dr. Weed has been arguing for close to half a century in favor of computers in medicine to aid in decision-making because the unaided human mind simply cannot recall all possible permutations of symptoms at the point and time of care. It’s been an uphill battle his whole career because he directly challenges so many elements of the medical establishment, but this is someone whom Don Berwick considers a hero.

It’s a long piece, broken into five installments, and it’s highly academic, even including endnotes, but worth your while.

Part 1: Medicine’s Missing Foundation for Health Care Reform

Part 2: Medicine and the Development of Science.

Part 3: Economy of Knowledge in Decision Making

Part 4: Harvesting Medical Knowledge from Patient Care

Part 5: Patient Autonomy