Paralysis in public health: evidence as an alibi?

In their Viewpoint (April, 2026), Habib Benzian and colleagues1 raise a legitimate concern: evidentiary demands can function as a rhetorical shield for inaction. However, the argument contains weaknesses that merit scrutiny and the causal story is underdeveloped. The authors assert that escalating evidence requirements cause policy paralysis, but they conflate correlation with causation. Policy inaction more plausibly derives from political will, resource constraints, and industry opposition—evidentiary demands could be a symptom of those forces, not their mechanism.