Hope or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7545.859-a

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Ray Moynihan, medical writer and author (ray.moynihan@newcastle.edu.au)

Byron Bay, Australia

Imagine, if you will, a long line running from left to right, from one extreme to the other. The pole at the left hand end of the continuum represents a pathological obsession with new health technologies, and at the right hand end an all-consuming cynical rejection of the value of medical advances. Somewhere in the middle is the healthy scepticism we all strive for, yet find so elusive, particularly when we or our loved ones fall ill.