Behind many pandemic-era debates are deep divisions between two schools of thought in the world of health care; randomized controlled trials (RCTs) vs. evidence-based medicine (EBM).  In environmental health, randomized controlled trials are often impossible. “You’re not going to do a RCT of the effects of PFOA on pregnant women.  It’s just not going happen,” said Lisa Bero, PhD, Chief Scientist at CBH. To answer public health questions, the Cochrane folks had to get used to applying their methods to observational studies and other forms of evidence.  This specifically meant doing more systematic reviews, in order to have a transparent, consist way of evaluating evidence.  Read article>>