Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Starting from a review of four major experimental areas in medicine (Polio, Coronary Surgery, Diabetes, Breast Cancer), some of the special statistical problems arising in the design and analysis of clinical experiments are reviewed, and the limitations of current formulations are emphasized. Particular attention is given to the ethical dilemma and an alternative formulation of the inference/decision problem is proposed.
Paul Meier (1975) studied this question.