Karl Popper 120th anniversary; Some reflections on the decision-making
process in medicine
Abstract
Rereading Popper’s “The Logic of scientific discovery”, at his 120th
anniversary, brings some thoughts regarding the diagnostic process and
decision making in medicine from the viewpoint of the classical
scientific method. In recent years physicians are increasingly becoming
technical experts who base their decision-making on uniform criteria,
guidelines and classifications but unfortunately have moved away from
understanding the basic concepts in the philosophy of science. This
raises an ethically and philosophically important issue; what does a
medical diagnosis mean? Is this an absolute or a relative truth? The
implications of this question are enormous in terms of prognosis and
treatment. Both patients and physicians should be educated about the
nature of the diagnostic process.