Page 11 - Spring 19

The Medicine of Choice vs the Burioni Science Pact
by Ivan Cavicchi, Italy January 2019 A version of this article in French can be viewed at: https://www.bahvs.com/ivan-cavicchi-french
Roberto Burioni is a prominent Italian medical doctor, university professor and researcher. He is active in developing human monoclonal antibodies against infectious agents. Burioni gained notoriety with his vocal stance against anti-vaccination advocates. He is currently leading a lab active in the development of human monoclonal antibodies against human infectious agents, the study of pathogen-host interplay and the use of molecular tools in the early diagnosis of infectious diseases.
He has authored many scientific publications, been invited to lecture at several international conferences, and owns a number of international patents regarding human mono- clonal antibodies and molecular immunological procedures.
Ivan Cavicchi teaches Sociology of Health Organizations and Philosophy of Medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Faculty of Medicine. Cavicchi explores health policies and philosophical problems of medicine. He participates in
many conferences, debates, and seminars, as an independent post-modern reformist, one with his own ideas of change. Writing is his first profession, though he has been awarded an honorary medical degree for his services and insights into medicine.
The following article discusses how Burioni’s “Science Pact” is a misleading depiction of science and medicine.
Cavicchi argues for an accurate depiction of science and medicine. He discusses how medicine, as an inexact science, must take into account the individual. He explores the role of social hesitation, where people are right to consider the significance of inconsistencies in medicine, and how they affect them and their children. He describes the importance of complementary therapies as social shock absorbers, providing care for patients who are disillusioned with the conventional medical establishment. Cavicchi discusses the significance of
evidence, proof, and method, and concludes that the ultimate goal should be a “Medicine of Choice” to support the needs of the citizens.
Why the Burioni Science Pact did not convince me
The “pact” proposed by Prof. Burioni is a misleading rhetorical argument. It metonymically applies the generic idea of Science to a inaccurate idea of medicine. This is obviously incorrect, misleading, and very unscientific.
A few days ago Prof. Burioni proposed a pact for science (http://www.quotidianosanita.it/cronache/articolo.php?a rticolo_id=69767), co-signed by Beppe Grillo and Matteo Renzi. As was to be expected, this caused a great media outcry. Alas, the outcry had nothing to do with the object of the pact, that is, with “science” but with its unlikely signatories, contrived to create a sensation.
If “that” pact, with the same content, had been signed by
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