# Cause-Agnostic RCT (CAR)

**URL:** <https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/cause-agnostic-rct-car/28515>\
**Category:** comparative methods\
**Tags:** rct, design\
**Created:** [October 31, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/cause-agnostic-rct-car/28515 "2025-10-31T19:12:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 11

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**Author:** ![llynn](https://discourse.datamethods.org/user_avatar/discourse.datamethods.org/llynn/32/2827_2.png) [@llynn](https://discourse.datamethods.org/u/llynn)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 5:54am UTC](https://discourse.datamethods.org/t/cause-agnostic-rct-car/28515/11 "2026-07-05T05:54:00Z")

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The presentation and comparison of the two species of RCT, specifically the presentation of the Cause Agnostic RCT (CAR) has now been published.

 ![image](https://discourse.datamethods.org/uploads/default/original/2X/4/4fbef687777fa6d521b66000c96cf617da1d8d02.jpeg)

> **[Inherent safety risks of guidelines derived from "cause-agnostic" randomized...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41992366/)**
>
> Physicians rely on guidelines derived from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine whether interventions are safe and effective for specific diseases or causal mechanisms. In critical care, however, well-powered RCTs demonstrating clear...

The next publication in the RCT history and math analysis trilogy (which has been accepted) addresses the generation of E3, the “third layer estimand” comprising “the mean of unrelated means” which generates the “cause mixture paradox” which explains the harmful 39 year history of CAR based critical care syndrome guidelines. The associated “covariate mass” has major implications for the success of ANCOVA in this RCT species.

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