Re: The newness of "evidence-based medicine."

Agreement: I Agree Body: Dear Editor, I appreciated Professor Pearson's critique of evidence-based medicine [The BMJ Interview, 26 September - 3 October] but take issue with her assertion of newness. Of course, the term "evidence-based medicine" was introduced in 1991, and endlessly repeated mantra-like ever since. However, I would argue that the roots were laid down over 700 years ago by Roger Bacon, 1247 et seq, with his insistence upon experimental verification. To be fair to our predecessors