Scientific data can be used in medicine or it can be ignored by physicians and others. I began my search of the use of scientific evidence based on the analysis of large data sets for the state in the work of John Graunt in the 1600s and in the work on developing and analyzing large data sets to prove the efficacy of a surgical procedure, lithotrity, by French urologist, Jean Civale, in the 1800s. Two commentaries on these examples were published in Big Data & Society: Big Data in the 1800s in surgical science and Analyzing and interpreting “imperfect” Big Data in the 1600s.
The commentaries are related to my book, Science in Medicine: From Authoritative Opinion through Evidence-Based Medicine to Big Data and Beyond, which examines the history of the development of science in medicine from its origins in authoritative opinion through evidence-based medicine to Big Data today and beyond. I examine what was needed in medicine before there was an acceptance of the importance of the construction and examination of large data sets. Firstly, I examine what shifted some physicians’ views toward acceptance of the construction and analysis of large data sets as important understand how to best treat their patients and secondly, what obstacles remain in the minds of other physicians who still remain reluctant to recognize the importance of well-constructed and well-analyzed large data sets in the care of their patients.
About the author
Dr. Mazur has served as Senior Scholar, Center for Ethics in Health Care, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, Oregon, USA; has served as Professor of Medicine, OHSU; and had served as Feature Editor of the journal Medical Decision Making.
