(1/4) SSC claims medical experts told people not to use masks because there wasn't sufficient evidence backing mask use up and medical experts only recommend things when there is really strong RCT data showing that their recommendations work. I disagree.
slatestarcodex.com/2020/04/14/a-f…
slatestarcodex.com/2020/04/14/a-f…
(2/4) These same organizations also told people repeatedly to wash their hands. But meta-analyses have repeated shown hand hygiene interventions don't offer protection against influenza like viruses. And there are countless other examples of medical...
(3/4) experts telling people to do things before good research is done and then years later we find out they caused serious harm (e.g. opioids for chronic pain, saturated fat is the devil, various heart and back surgeries, etc). They do not exhibit a pattern of requiring rigorous
(4/4) proof before making recommendations. Also, the literature suggests that epidemiologists are generally statistically illiterate, so I doubt they care all that much about rigor. For these reasons, I think SSC's explanation is unlikely to be true.
researchgate.net/publication/28…
researchgate.net/publication/28…
