Items of Interest August 29, 2011 Issue

Growing body of evidence challenges validity of medical studies

Bill Scott

“Who knew that standing firm on ‘scientific evidence’ could be so controversial?” BlogCritics.com. June 21, 2011.

Like many of us, I’m interested in learning about efforts to improve health care in America. One method in my home state of Washington began in 2006, with the creation of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) committee. The primary purpose of the 11-member group is to “ensure medical treatments and services paid for with state health-care dollars are safe and proven to work.”

Since the committee’s inception, it has ruled on 21 procedures and denied coverage to about half of them. The decisions to date are expected to save the state approximately $32 million annually—but the savings have not come without controversy.

The HTA committee relies on “scientific evidence and a committee of practicing clinicians” to base its decisions. Sounds reasonable, but recent high-profile articles and other commentaries say that defining “scientific evidence” in assessing health-care treatments leaves room for ambiguity.

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