Conference Review
Healthy Futures: Medical Regulation and Human Agency
21-22 January 2010
(a) Summary Abstract
Regulatory agencies routinely make cost-benefit analyses of new medical products and treatments. Yet there is little agreement on how such analyses ought to be performed, and utilitarian paradigms are seldom applied in other areas of medical decision-making. Envisaging futures is also an integral part of planning health care (e.g. the ‘obesity epidemic’ or pandemic influenza). Predictions based on bio-statistical data-analysis are underpinned by numerous assumptions. How can we quantify medical uncertainties, and how should they impact on policy?
b) Conference Review
The choice and range of speakers was reasonable, although some fulfilled the aims more than others. Michael Rawlins provided an excellent and revealing public lecture and the q/a was one of the highlights. Some other speakers were too circumspect and so did not provide any great insights into the problems faced. Others were more outspoken about the overly cautious view taken by decision-makers, including using worst-case scenarios which were implausibly pessimistic.
The event fulfilled the aims of the seminar series in bringing together a diverse audience and set of speakers to discuss risk and uncertainty.
