Cardiologists cope with ethical problems the easy way: just tweak the terminology!
This past decade was a gold rush for many cardiologists. They ran hog wild with artery stenting. Some docs actually landed in jail for subjecting patients to multiple unnecessary stents.
So what can the American College of Cardiology do to put things right?
Maybe they could overhaul ACC guidelines to make sure cardiologists don’t overstep their bounds for easy paydays.
Naaaa! There’s a much easier way to patch up the situation.
The ACC plans to tweak the guidelines. So they’ll stop using the word “inappropriate” to describe a case where a patient doesn’t need a stent. Instead, they’ll use the phrase, “rarely appropriate.”
And when there’s doubt about whether stenting is necessary, they won’t use the word “uncertain.” They’ll say, “may be appropriate.”
See how easy it is to solve sticky medical ethics problems? Just open the thesaurus.
Sources:
“When is a coronary stent ‘inappropriate’? Now, it’s never” Peter Waldman, Bloomberg News, 11/5/13, health.hearldtribune.com
