Panacea or revolution? 'Evidence-based medicine' and 'cost-effectiveness' have become buzz-phrases for a wide variety of initiatives and planning processes which aim to give patients treatments that will benefit them. On the surface this seems a reasonable idea, but there are underlying currents which cast doubt on the process and reveal methodological problems, which must be understood if the concepts are to be properly used. Assuming no prior knowledge of the field, and written in the clear, straightforward manner the author uses in the highly successful Health Economics for the...