Response

It is true that, in medicine and in the world, things would generally run so much more smoothly if there were only one truth. Everything would be so much simpler if every physician blindly followed the recommendations contained in the guidelines and espoused the sacrosanct truths contained in the hard evidence. Questioning their soundness? What an idea!

Listen up you GPs; do as you’re told. Screen for colon cancer and don’t ask yourselves whether you have the resources to do so. Don’t you dare question the relevance of systematic screening for prostate cancer or worry about the consequences for your patients. And, above all, don’t ask yourselves why family medicine should suddenly be a specialty now, when it wasn’t a specialty before. Don’t ask questions. Remember: all’s well that ends well.

And if, one day, someone tells you that the flower you are peering at is a rose, whatever you do, don’t say that it looks rather like a petunia—or perhaps a hybrid!

You’re right. Debates: what good are they?

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