The extent of the uncertainty in medical science can fully be appreciated if we take a look across the whole literature. One way of doing so is to consult all the many comprehensive reviews published by the Cochrane Collaboration, a highly reputable charity that systematically assesses the quality of medical treatments. Of those, a startling 45 per cent conclude that there’s insufficient evidence to decide whether the treatment in question works or not.66 How many patients have had their hopes raised, have suffered, or have even died because their doctors have used worthless or harmful
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