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Evidence-Based Medicine and Quality of Care

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Abstract

In this paper we set out to examine thearguments for and against the claim thatEvidence-Based Medicine (EBM) will improve thequality of care. In particular, we examine thefollowing issues:

1. Are there hidden ethical assumptions in the methodology of EBM?2. Is there a tension between the duty of care and EBM?3. How can patient preferences be incorporated into quality guidelines and effectiveness studies?4. Is there a tension between the quality of a particular intervention and overall quality of care?5. Are certain branches of medicine and patient groups innately or prima facie disadvantaged by a shift to EBM?

In addition we consider a case study in theethics of EBM, on a clinical trial concerningthe collection of umbilical cord blood inutero and ex utero, during or afterlabour in childbirth.

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Dickenson, D., Vineis, P. Evidence-Based Medicine and Quality of Care. Health Care Analysis 10, 243–259 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022995623172

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