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. 2014 Sep;20(9):473-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2014.06.007. Epub 2014 Aug 20.

Clinical trials of integrative medicine: testing whether magic works?

David H Gorski  1 , Steven P Novella  2
Affiliations

Clinical trials of integrative medicine: testing whether magic works?

David H Gorski et al. Trends Mol Med. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Over the past two decades complementary and alternative medicine treatments relying on dubious science have been embraced by medical academia. Despite low to nonexistent prior probability that testing these treatments in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) will be successful, RCTs of these modalities have proliferated, consistent with the principles of evidence-based medicine, which underemphasize prior plausibility rooted in science. We examine this phenomenon and argue that what is needed is science-based medicine rather than evidence-based medicine.

Keywords: Evidence-based medicine; clinical trials; complementary and alternative medicine; integrative medicine; science-based medicine.

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