PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - M Peterson
TI  - Should the precautionary principle guide our actions or our beliefs?
AID  - 10.1136/jme.2005.015495
DP  - 2007 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 5--10
VI  - 33
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/33/1/5.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/33/1/5.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2007 Jan 01; 33
AB  - Two interpretations of the precautionary principle are considered. According to the normative (action-guiding) interpretation, the precautionary principle should be characterised in terms of what it urges doctors and other decision makers to do. According to the epistemic (belief-guiding) interpretation, the precautionary principle should be characterised in terms of what it urges us to believe. This paper recommends against the use of the precautionary principle as a decision rule in medical decision making, based on an impossibility theorem presented in Peterson (2005). However, the main point of the paper is an argument to the effect that decision theoretical problems associated with the precautionary principle can be overcome by paying greater attention to its epistemic dimension. Three epistemic principles inherent in a precautionary approach to medical risk analysis are characterised and defended.