Causal Assessment of Pharmaceutical Treatments: Why Standards of Evidence Should not be the Same for Benefits and Harms?

This study illustrates the tension between implicit epistemologies adopted in evaluating evidence and causality; furthermore, it also shows that discounting causal evidence may be a result of unacknowledged low priors or lack of valid alternative options. We conclude with a presentation of the changing landscape in pharmacology and the trend towards an increased use of Bayesian tools for assessment of harms.
Source: Drug Safety - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research