Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in neonates

To the Editor: Lantos and Frader¹ offer a well-written and thoughtful paper on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in neonates with respiratory difficulties. However, in proposing that a technology such as this (which has the potential for serious side effects) be accepted without the benefit of rigorous scientific study with randomized, controlled methods, they may be deceiving themselves as well as their readers.“Scientific discipline is the antidote to a surfeit of the art of medicine, which, carried too far degenerates into medical lifesmanship,”wrote Platt² in 1952.“Self-deception is the sin against which scientific discipline protects,”he concluded. Sackett et. . .