I often give an impromptu talk on rounds about how medicine has changed since I graduated from medical school (class of 1975). We laugh about many things that I was taught. We marvel at the advances. As I share my personal view of medicine over the past 25+ years, I am often amazed at the advances, but also at our naivete.

Ann Patchett, writing in the New York Times Magazine, has written an essay - Estrogen, After a Fashion - which mostly looks at how estrogen use has changed over the years. Embedded in that discussion, she makes some very important observations.

What we want is for medicine to be a science. We want competent, well-informed doctors to give us consistent answers based on exhaustive research. We want them to be right. But medicine is a peculiar combination of science and fashion, half penicillin, half shoulder pads. It takes what is known at the moment, combines the knowledge with what the consuming public wants and comes up with a product. One doctor endorses the product, and while you can always go for a second opinion, it's hard to stop at just two, especially when the opinions turn out to be in direct conflict with one another. Read the papers. One doctor says to discontinue Prempro immediately. Another says more studies are needed and what we're facing is a massive overreaction. In the end it will be up to you, who never went to medical school, to make the decision your life may depend on, and while there might not be one definitive right answer, you can bet on the fact there are plenty of wrong ones.

She has much more to say, and even comments (from a consumer perspective) on pharmaceutical direct to patient advertising.