[Guidelines and autonomy of physician decision. A critical survey under ethical aspects]

The convergence of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) and Evidence-based Medicine (EbM) in the present German Health Care System Reform (GMG) leads, due to time constraints, to a misuse of EbM as cook-book medicine. The communication level of physicians has already shifted to abstract discussions of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) and guidelines, inducing per sea preference for pre-defined clinical decisions. The inconsistencies of evidence definitions, together with the overwhelming number of guidelines and providers thereof, burden medical reasoning with superfluous complexity, and contributing to the development of cook-book mentality. Without comprehensive trial registration of all RCTs before the start of a study, a publication bias will continue to exist. In the clinical practice, it is necessary to reduce the impact of study results and guidelines to a degree that remains compatible with patient interests and economy. In this field, prospective controlled outcome registries may provide a control for over- and faulty regulation. Clinical professionalism is characterized in parallel by a critical implementation of EbM and a necessary degree of independent reasoning.