Gridlock Break

Challenges to Scientific Consensus on COVID-19 with Dr. Arturo Casadevall and Dr. Nigel Paneth

Episode Summary

Dr. Casadevall is the chair of the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology department at Johns Hopkins University. And Dr. Panth is a Professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Pediatrics at Michigan State University. Today, they will discuss their recent Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal, in which they explore why it is often so hard for scientists to reach consensus about COVID-19. In their Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, the doctors asked two questions: What are the standards of evidence in medicine and how do they apply in the particular case of convalescent plasma for treating COVID-19? The gold standard in medical research is of course experimentation and double blind clinical trials. But as the doctors argue, we should be more open to the benefits of medical care born of observation, especially, as in the case of COVID, where greater speed is needed to find treatments.

Episode Notes

Dr. Casadevall is the chair of the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology department at Johns Hopkins University. And Dr. Panth is a Professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Pediatrics at Michigan State University. Today, they will discuss their recent Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal, in which they explore why it is often so hard for scientists to reach consensus about COVID-19. 

In their Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, the doctors asked two questions: What are the standards of evidence in medicine and how do they apply in the particular case of convalescent plasma for treating COVID-19? The gold standard in medical research is of course experimentation and double blind clinical trials. But as the doctors argue, we should be more open to the benefits of medical care born of observation, especially, as in the case of COVID, where greater speed is needed to find treatments. 

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