Evidence-based policies: Lessons from regulatory science

Abstract

[eng] In this article, various examples of controversies in regulatory science are analyzed concerning chemical and pharmaceutical products and functional foods. In these controversies, it is possible to show the relationship between epistemic policies and regulatory objectives (decision-making objectives). From an analysis of this relationship, four points must be noted that can be extrapolated to current evidence-based policy proposals: (1) The regulatory objectives determine the evidence hierarchies. (2) Evidence hierarchies determine the appropriate scientific methodology and, by extension, the scientific knowledge that will be generated. (3) The use of scientific knowledge in the formulation of public policies is an example of extrapolation, and such cases should be viewed as hypotheses whose testing requires evidence from different lines of research. (4) The suitability of a particular evidentiary hierarchy depends on what is at stake; that is, on an assessment of the gains and losses to which the policy or regulation based on such an evidentiary requirement may lead.