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Where's the Evidence?: Debates in Modern Medicine

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Where's the Evidence is a collection of essays written by William A. Silverman, a pioneer in neonatology who is well regarded for conducting one of the most important randomized control trials in medicine. (see Pediatrics vol 102:1:2 , July 1998, Fifty Years of Pediatrics: 1948-1998).

The essays were written over the past decade for a medical audience, but their subject matter and the range of materials Silverman brings to the discussions make them useful, and important reading for a much larger public. Silverman centers the debates in medicine around the social consequences of medical practice and covers such issues as the increasing and "gross maldistribution of power between patient/family and medical techocrat; the problems caused by a "confusion of goals" within medicine, and the process(es) by which medical authority is established. In so doing, he raises key questions such as, what's the new knowledge for, or, when is medicine's benevolence on behalf of patients/families misplaced. As a collection of key issues in the development and application of medical knowledge, the present volume provides a wealth of case studies which could be probed by scholars in fields such as anthropology, sociology, public policy and philospphy.

Integrity, courage, clarity, and an impressive breadth of scholarship characterize the essays and his afterthoughts. He has truly mastered the art of explaining the most complex and critical issues in medicine in terms that are understandable, and useful to the public at large.

This compilation of Dr. Silverman's essays, written over the last decade for the quarterly journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology and revised for this volume, deserves the widest possible readership within and beyond the medical community. As a pioneer in neonatology and controlled clinical trials, the author brings unparalleled experience to these pieces.

The common themes addressed here include the need for (and obstacles hindering) evidence-based medicine, the unregulated application of medical technology, and the balance of power between physician and patient. The essays are pithy, scholarly, lucid, iconoclastic, and suffused with the author's humanity and humor.

Those in medical training, and their future patients, would especially benefit from early and frequent exposure to this book and the issues discussed within.

Where's the Evidence is a collection of essays written by William A. Silverman, a pioneer in neonatology who is well regarded for conducting one of the most important randomized control trials in medicine. (see Pediatrics vol 102:1:2 , July 1998, Fifty Years of Pediatrics: 1948-1998).

The essays were written over the past decade for a medical audience, but their subject matter and the range of materials Silverman brings to the discussions make them useful, and important reading for a much larger public. Silverman centers the debates in medicine around the social consequences of medical practice and covers such issues as the increasing and "gross maldistribution of power bewteen patient/family and medical techocrat; the problems caused by a "confusion of goals" within medicine, and the process(es) by which medical authority is established. In so doing, he raises key questions such as, what's the new knowledge for, or, when is medicine's benevolence on behalf of patients/families misplaced. As a collection of key issues in the development and application of medical knowledge, the present volume provides a wealth of case studies which could be probed by scholars in fields such as anthropology, sociology, public policy and philospphy.

Integrity, courage, clarity, and an impressive breadth of scholarship characterize the essays and his afterthoughts. He has truly mastered the art of explaining the most complex and critical issues in medicine in terms that are understandable, and useful to the public at large. Individually essays would serve a public good as op-ed pieces in the New York Times, as a collected work they reinforce the importance of a medicine that is public spirited.

Suzanne Calpestri, Librarian The George and Mary Foster Anthropology Library University of California, Berkeley

The 1999 British Medical Association Book Competition Prize for Basis of Medicine has been awarded to "Where's the Evidence?