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Toss-Ups and Close Calls
The term toss-up has different senses in the different contexts in which it is used. In a more technical sense, it is best understood in terms of the flip of a fair coin, where the chance of heads coming up is 50:50 and the chance of tails coming up is also 50:50. The term close call has more variation in the medical literature; for example, in the peer-reviewed scientific medical literature, a close call can be interpreted as a near miss in relation to patient safety—for example, during a surgical operation. Yet some individuals may interpret the term close call to reflect a decision to be made where the separation of a chance of a benefit accruing to a patient from one of two treatments ...
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