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C. Alvin Paulsen, MD

JAMA. 1970;212(5):873.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Once again the political arena has provided the ingredients for turmoil in the medical field. Although much has been said and written during and since the recent Senate hearings, it is worthwhile to focus on some of the important issues which are involved.

Firstly, medical consensus or "truth" is a precious but fragile state. Generation of new data which revise previously held concepts requires careful attention to experimental design and then hopefully a nonbiased analysis of the results derived. Despite these ideal guidelines, honest and even heated differences of opinion may emerge during the presentation and discussion of these new data at scientific meetings. Fortunately, the glare of the public media is either absent or minor in importance at these deliberations. Therefore, it is usually possible to conduct further work and let the passage of time place new or startling concepts into proper perspective before widespread publicity occurs.

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Author Affiliations
Seattle

Footnotes
Address editorial communications to the Editor, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago 60610

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