How to assess new treatments

Abstract

A 12-year old child with a sore throat and fever presents to your office. On examination, the throat is red with no tonsillar exudate, and anterior cervical nodes are tender. You take a throat culture for group A β-hemolytic streptococci and tell the family you will phone in a prescription for penicillin if the culture is positive. A resident on elective rotation in your office mentions she has seen many variations in the way pharyngitis is treated and asks if your antibiotic choice is "evidence-based." You and the resident decide to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different sources of evidence about therapies.