Testimonials Are Anecdotes, Not Evidence
Leaning on science to make better decisions
During the pandemic, despite the absence of a consensus from the medical and scientific communities, our nation’s governing officials openly endorsed the use of hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19.
When panic trumps thinking.
Media channels were flooded with anecdotal evidence from various locations about miraculous cures seen by people injected with hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug.
Within a matter of days, United States citizens were whipped into a frenzy, visiting their doctors in droves and demanding a prescription for hydroxychloroquine. Between mid-February and mid-April 2020, nearly 500,000 such prescriptions were written.
Consumed by panic, people stopped thinking. Or, perhaps, they were never taught how to think.
Anecdotes are not data.
In the world of science and medicine, the mantra is “anecdotes are not data.” That’s worth repeating…
Anecdotes are not data.
Did hydroxychloroquine cure anyone?
There is no evidence that it did.
