Medical education in the Protestant North West has for some time been more scientific than elsewhere. There are, however, still problems. There is resistance to the idea of randomised controlled trials in West Germany. An attempt was made to have them declared illegal. After lecturing in Germany on the value of randomised controlled trials in cardiovascular medicine, and after a rather violent discussion, I was taken aside by the chairman, who said, "Dr. Cochrane, you don't seem to understand. Controlled trials are done by the pharmaceutical industry. Gentlemen don't do them." It is difficult to interpret this particular remark, but I suspect that the feeling of shame about the Nazi medical pseudo-experimentation may be a factor.