The FDA recently issued guidelines for using Bayesian statistical methods to correlate data from current and earlier clinical trials of medical devices.  The agency supposes this would permit shorter clinical studies and, perhaps, could justify data nationally for quicker decisions on insurance coverage. Bayesian theory allows new data to infer greater or lesser probability in testing a hypothesis over time.  It takes its name from a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Thomas Bayes, who first explained this approach in his “Essay Towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances,” in 1764.              MORE