Intended for healthcare professionals

Letters Evidence based medicine and clinical judgment debate

Evidence based versus defensive medicine

BMJ 2018; 363 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k4114 (Published 03 October 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;363:k4114
  1. Eugene Y H Yeung, physician
  1. Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Lancaster LA1 4RP, UK
  1. eugeney{at}doctors.org.uk

Both sides of the argument on evidence based medicine are right1: it does protect patients from harms, but it can also adversely affect clinical judgment if used only as a tool for defensive medicine. Some clinicians simply regurgitate what the guidelines say, without trying to …

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