Rambam “accepted emes regardless of a source”. In science also, there is a system of open publications that allows other knowledgeable people to verify what is published. So, if you are looking at a popular publication and there are several studies on the issue, you might rely on the exppertise. Still, context matter. While generally halakha defers to one doctor, R Mayer Twersly had a teshuva early on during covid where he explains that in this case of great uncertainty, we should consult several sources and act cautiously according to all of them. Now, our lack of knowledge about covid was not greater than medieval lack of knowledge about any diseases of the time, but we simply know better what we don’t know 🙂
