Evidence, Medical Decision Making and Policy: Trials and Tribulations
Joint event (day 1) of the AHRC Contingency & Dissent in Science project at LSE and the Leverhulme Evidence Programme at UCL. Today there is a drive to make medicine and policy more evidence-based. But how? What challenges are faced in making medical decisions/policy more informed by evidence? Are the existing methods for bring evidence to bear in health policy problems adequate for the requirements of policy (and can they be)? How do institutional and political structures impact the ways evidence-based medical research and results are supported and used? And, in what ways might the relationships between researchers and policy makers be improved? Presenting three interesting cases, our panel critically discuss this and more. 'Sunlight and shadow - conflicts in public health policy': Dr Oliver Gillie, Former Science Correspondent for the Sunday Times, founder of the Health Research Forum. 'Bayesian decision making in primary health care - or how to stop people dying of chicken pox': Prof Trish Greenhalgh, Prof of Primary Health Care, Dept of Primary Care, UCL. 'Why did uncontrolled asbestos use continue for 20 years after the risks were known?': Prof Julian Peto, Cancer UK Research Prof. in Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.