Gold effect

The Gold effect is the phenomenon in which a scientific idea, particularly in medicine, is developed to the status of an accepted position within a professional body or association by the social process itself of scientific conferences, committees, and consensus building, despite not being supported by conclusive evidence.

The Gold effect is used to analyze errors in public health policy and practice, such as the widespread use of cholesterol screening in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

[2] The effect was reviewed by Petr Skrabanek and James McCormick in their book Follies and Fallacies in Medicine.

[3] In their book, Skrabanek and McCormick describe the Gold effect as: "At the beginning a few people arrive at a state of near belief in some idea.

A representative committee will be nominated to prepare a collective volume to propagate and foster interest in the idea.

A gaussian curve, which is used to describe the progression of the Gold Effect.
Progression of a gaussian curve into a delta function as the area under the curve keeps concentrating at the center.