Having the Courage to be Proven Wrong

Abstract

In 1919, osteopathic researchers used survey data to conclude that osteopathic treatment was superior to usual care in treating influenza. While the study had several notable shortcomings, it continues to be used as evidence supporting the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). For more than 100 years, osteopathic researchers have designed studies that showcase the clinical utility of osteopathic manipulative medicine at the expense of designing studies that carefully build reality-based models of manual medicine. Osteopathic manipulative treatments are often based on premises such as Fryette’s laws, Chapman’s points, and the primary respiratory mechanism, which have not been subjected to rigorous scientific scrutiny within the osteopathic profession. As these models are supposedly based in biologic reality, the claims they make should be subject to falsifiability. Thorough scientific investigation of the foundational tenets of OMM will either lead to their reinforcement or their dismissal. Either outcome will place OMM on more solid ground in the eyes of the medical and scientific community. We must have the courage to be proven wrong. Only then can we move forward as a profession to discover what is true.