Correspondence (letter to the editor): No Substitute for a Doctor’s Intuition

„Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for assessing relationships between intervention and outcomes“, state the authors of the article (1). This statement is not entirely correct because it does not apply to the use of new antibiotics or vaccines. Antibiotics and vaccinations are clinically assessed based on their effects rather than on RCTs.

Clinically active physicians should not sacrifice their own judgment simply because a randomized study of certain treatments is lacking. Randomized studies can be very useful, for instance in chemotherapy; however, their use should be critically evaluated, and they should not replace medical observation and intuition.