Advocates of evidence-based medicine have used this as an example of the importance of basing health-care recommendations on statistical evidence, with one researcher estimating that as many as 50,000 infant deaths in Europe, Australia, and the US could have been prevented had this advice been altered by 1970, when such evidence became available.
Os partidarios da medicina baseada na evidencia usaron esta cuestión como exemplo da importancia que teñen os consellos médicos baseados en evidencia estatística, informando de que puideran evitarse aproximadamente 50000 mortes súbitas en Europa, Australia e os Estados Unidos se se adecuase o consello en 1970, ano en que se dispuña xa de evidencia suficiente.