When high tech medical treatments are overused, patients pay and suffer

Take the low road

Doctors are just like the rest of us. They love shiny new things…golf clubs, Porsches, and new medical technology.

A new technology to them is like a new iPhone to the rest of the world. They just can’t wait to get their hands on it.

But don’t let your doc convince you to let him play with his new toy — on your time or on your dime.

Because a lot of these innovations are way more expensive than the old standards. And now we’re learning they are often less effective — and more dangerous, too.

Wow…that’s a promising combination.

No thanks in advance

Don’t get me wrong. A lot of medical advancements are literally life-saving.

This just isn’t one of them.

Over the past decade, researchers have wisely figured out how to address prostate cancer in older men. If the cancer hasn’t spread, and if the patient is past age 70, you DO NOT treat.

Simple, right? Most prostate cancers grow very slowly. So it’s pointless to treat a condition that will likely never have time to grow into a problem.

In fact, there was a saying in the medical community that you’re “far more likely to die WITH prostate cancer than FROM prostate cancer.”

And yet even in these senior men with very little risk, new research shows that doctors have dramatically increased their use of two advanced prostate cancer treatments. One is intensity-modulated radiotherapy. The other is robotic prostatectomy.

Over a five-year study period, use of these high tech treatments in men who didn’t need them increased by 85 percent!

I don’t have to tell you that all that “high tech” translates to “sticker shock.” And what do you get in return? Well, side effects are still an issue. That doesn’t go away. But the worst is that improvements in outcomes are “marginal at best,” according to one of the researchers.

We recently saw the very same thing when I told you about the “advancement” of 3-D mammography. High tech. High price. Plenty of dangers. And an improvement in outcome that’s…well…marginal at best.

It’s deeply upsetting that medical professionals are hyping and using pricey new technology in patients who need LESS treatment, not more.

But it’s most upsetting to realize how easy it is for doctors to sell patients on fantastic new “lifesaving” developments. In a desperate moment, after hearing the word “cancer,” just about any of us might agree to a treatment that’s touted as bigger, better, and advanced.

Cutting edge. World class. They can call it whatever hyped up term they want. In the end, it’s just a shiny new bike with streamers on the handlebars.

Source:
“Use of Advanced Treatment Technologies Among Men at Low Risk of Dying From Prostate Cancer” Vol. 309, No. 24, 6/26/13, jama.jamanetwork.com