Read the passage provided, and then consider the followingscenario. A physician is trying to decide whether to prescribemedication for cholesterol reduction in a 45-year-old femalepatient. The null hypothesis is that the patient’s cholesterol isless than the threshold of treatable hypercholesterolemia. However,a sample of readings over a 2-year time period shows considerablevariation, usually below but sometimes above the threshold. DefineType I and Type II error. List the costs of each type of error (ingeneral terms). Who bears the cost of each? How might the patient’spoint of view differ from the HMO’s or doctor’s? In what sense isthis a business problem? A societal problem? An individualproblem?
