Family Practice Vol. 20, No. 5, 614
© Oxford University Press 2003
Book Review |
Ethics and evidence-based medicine: fallibility and responsibility in clinical science.
Kenneth W Goodman. (180 pages, paperback £19.95, US$27; hardback £55, US$75.) Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN paperback 0-521-79653-9, hardback 0-521-81933-4.
Primary Care Internist and Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota, USA
I suspect that, like many people, I am interested in ethics but find it terribly difficult to study. I just seem to like the idea of ethics far more than I like most of the literature on the subject. I find much of it difficult to read and often confusing. However, given my interest in evidence-based medicine, I was driven to take a look at this book and I am glad that I did.
The author breaks an immense subject down into fairly digestible sections. The first section examines the history of evidence-based practice from Beddoes, to Osler, to Sackett. After this ‘light’ review, the book addresses topics such as the evidence for evidence, Internet and evidence, evidence at the bedside and in public policy, and ethical implications of evidence-based practice. Not bad for 168 pages including the index!
I do not mean to imply that this book is a light read. The arguments and information are well written but not a quick scan. The topics are important, timely and complete, but this is not a book to pick up at the end of a hard day for a little light reading. The book is useful mostly as a reference and a teaching tool, and in fact many ideas in the book were developed and used in tutorials, grand rounds and conferences.
Even with the complex topic and occasionally dense writing, you have to love a book that quotes Hippocrates, Albert Einstein and Will Rogers. And that fact perhaps highlights the greatest strength of the text; it addresses real problems and decisions in health care and mixes them with careful research, well-thought arguments and complete notes (very interesting and well worth a read) and reference sections.
Overall, this is a thought-provoking book for any heath care worker, policy maker, teacher or researcher. The book may be hard work, but it is well worth the time and effort. The author provides very up to date and relevant examples in the text and a bounty of resources and notes for further reflection and study. He presents clear arguments but suffers from a stilted writing style so typical in the other texts I have tackled. After reading the book, I still like the idea of ethics but at last I finally have a useable book on my shelf.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||