A lack of high-quality evidence often forces us to rely on other sources of information, such as clinical experience, expert opinion, and extrapolation from pathophysiology, to make decisions about patient management. After years of practice, we began to accept these "truths" from nonempirical evidence, as is obvious from reliance on textbooks with statements, such as "We have found that. . ." and "In our hands. . .." This complacence makes our jobs as clinicians easier, because it obviates self-questioning and doubt, but it comes at a great cost: it impedes progress, the acceptance of new evidence, and the drive to improve the quality of evidence, and our patients ultimately suffer.
Michael Benatar sets out to set the record straight. In his excellent new book, he strips clinical management bare of all non-evidence, revealing the naked uncertainty that remains. The book religiously adheres to empirical evidence from studies of clinical evaluation and treatment of neuromuscular disease. There is nothing here about history, anatomy, or pathology, and no description of how he practices or what he recommends in the absence of empirical data. The book uses many tables and pithy text to