Hello Sarah and Harby. Well I am not against your opinions however; I believe that Evidence Based Medicine has more positive effects than the negative effects. :)
EMB is defined as “ the use of mathematical estimates of the risk of benefit and harm, derived from high-quality research on population samples, to inform clinical decision-making in the diagnosis, investigation or management of individual patients” ( Greenhalgen, Donald 2012). I totally agree with you Harby that RCTs are expensive and there are chances of biasness and EBM creates limitations especially for the doctors. However, I think that, the doctor uses his or her experience and education, along with EBM guidelines, to make informed medical decisions.
In my opinion, using evidence based guidelines benefits all. Both the doctor and patient decide a treatment based on the most proven science available. It is being applied not only to pharmaceutical treatments but also to surgical interventions and medical advice. And the effectiveness of using EBM has proven itself repeatedly. Moreover, EBM considers the evidence of risks as well as benefits of treatment and diagnostic tests. And the evidences change with time that is; if a medicine found to be less beneficial it is then shifted or changed. So, though it restricts the doctor’s creativity to a certain extent however, its positive effects shouldn’t be ignored totally. :)