WILLIAM BEAUMONT

At the time, American medicine was not much of a science, but mostly controlled by ideological opinion of prestigious physicians espousing theories in the speculative non-scientific sense. Beaumont, who had made discoveries that contradicted the established ideology of most physicians, laid down a scientific principle. However, it would take American medicine another century to accept scientific method as the driver of medical practice. Even into the 21st century, there were some physicians who did not accept scientific research as determinative. In 2009, it became a major area of political controversy as to whether scientific research should control what the Government would or would not pay for when public funds were involved. There was still a part of the society that saw scientists as elitist and not to be trusted in public policy making.

At the time, American medicine was not much of a science, but mostly controlled by ideological opinion of prestigious physicians espousing theories in the speculative non-scientific sense. Beaumont, who had made discoveries that contradicted the established ideology of most physicians, laid down a scientific principle. However, it would take American medicine another century to accept scientific method as the driver of medical practice. Even into the 21st century, there were some physicians who did not accept scientific research as determinative. In 2009, it became a major area of political controversy as to whether scientific research should control what the Government would or would not pay for when public funds were involved. There was still a part of the society that saw scientists as elitist and not to be trusted in public policy making.