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Science and policy in the Third Reich: a commentary on history and current relevance

Pediatric Research (2024)Cite this article

The readership of this journal, comprising pediatric clinicians and child health investigators, collectively put their faith in the objectivity of science. The process of the scientific method yields ‘facts’ that are proven and rigorous beyond dispute. Being factual they are importantly also accepted as value-neutral. These facts are then applied in the clinic to inform the desired practice of evidence-based medicine to choose the best approach for a child’s particular health challenge and are foundational in the laboratory (whether ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ in methodology) to inform and guide the steady advancement of knowledge. Oftentimes, it is urged by clinicians and investigators that the facts yielded by science be utilized by policy makers, including politicians, to inform public health decisions.

While at first glance the points brought forward in the above paragraph appear self-evident and beyond debate, there have been instances in human history when either the ‘facts’ of science might actually be wrong and the agenda for public health, though presumably having a scientific basis, might be in the service of what are ultimately nefarious objectives. Both of these occurrences should not come as any surprise. After all, science intrinsically requires a process of testability that carries the element of a necessary risk that a ‘proven’ theory or set of ‘facts’ may be shown to be wrong.1 The history of medical science is littered with such instances when accepted ‘dogma’ undergoes a paradigm shift and is shown to have been conclusively erroneous. Unfortunately, human history is also littered with instances of political theories offering depraved intentions and solutions in the guise of health policy that are in reality gravely injurious, deleterious, and in some extreme instances, actually intentionally lethal to segments of the population.2

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  1. Departments of Pediatrics & Neurology/Neurosurgery, McGill University, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Montreal Children’s Hospital-McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Michael Shevell

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  1. Michael Shevell
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Correspondence to Michael Shevell.

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Shevell, M. Science and policy in the Third Reich: a commentary on history and current relevance. Pediatr Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-024-03123-5

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