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Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 9, 2228-2229, September 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Debates continued

Alternative treatments in reproductive medicine

The vexing problem of `seemingly impeccable trials....'

Jan P. Vandenbroucke

Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, C9-P, P.O.Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. E-mail: j.p.vandenbroucke{at}lumc.nl

The problem of `seemingly impeccable trials' that produce unbelievable results is approached from basic notions of the philosophy of science: facts and theory are interdependent, and `crucial experiments' do not exist. This does not lead to an `anything goes' attitude, but obliges us to consider arguments and counter-arguments in the spirit of the `crossword' analogy by Susan Haack. The role of editors and readers might be different: while editors might be under some obligation to publish `seemingly impeccable trials', readers are not obliged to accept the findings.

Key words: alternative treatment/epidemiological methods/evidence-based medicine/homeopathy/philosophy


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