["Clinical medicine will be a science or it will not be," Observations on evidence-based medicine and its critique by Rogler and Scholmerich (2000)].

During its short life time evidence-based medicine (EbM) has been subject of partly fierce criticism, mainly from the side of the clinic. In Germany, Rogler and Schölmerich (September 2000) published a critical commentary on EbM in the Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift. Our text is intended as a rejoinder. It firstly aims at clarifying the concept of EbM, especially its contribution to the science of clinical medicine, and it secondly answers relevant details of Rogler and Schölmerich's criticism. Their text turns out to be a mixture of truly relevant remarks, exaggerations, misunderstandings and obvious errors.