Who conducted a trial with a comparison group on scurvy?

• A. Edward Jenner
• B. Pierre Louis
• C. James Lind
• D. John Snow

Answer: (C)

The main idea is using a trial with a comparison group to figure out which intervention works. James Lind ran a controlled trial aboard the HMS Salisbury in 1747, where sailors with scurvy were divided into groups that received different dietary remedies, including citrus fruit, vinegar, seawater, and others. By comparing outcomes across these groups, he found that citrus fruits were the most effective at reversing scurvy symptoms, providing early, still-influential evidence that a specific treatment could be tested against alternatives. This is one of the first clear demonstrations of a comparison-group approach in clinical research, laying groundwork for how later trials are designed. The other figures are known for different contributions—Jenner for the smallpox vaccine, Snow for cholera mapping, and Louis for introducing the systematic use of clinical data—so none of them conducted this scurvy trial.