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Previous Volume 336:876-878 March 20, 1997 Number 12 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: The diagnostic error we are invited to learn from in the interesting Clinical Problem-Solving article by Brown et al. (Oct. 3 issue)¹ would not have occurred if the original clinicians had been familiar with the medieval logical tool known as Ockham's razor. William of Ockham (1285 to 1349), a Franciscan monk and logician, postulated that "entities must not be unnecessarily multiplied,"² or to put it another way, it is illogical to propose two processes to explain an observation when one will do.

This idea is central to the making of sensible medical diagnoses. The most likely explanation . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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