According to a just-out report, there’s a really good chance that, at some point in your life, you’ve taken unnecessary drugs… submitted to tests that weren’t required… or undergone a procedure that you didn’t need.
We’ve been telling you for some time now that loads of unnecessary drugs and medical procedures are being ordered every day. Seeking out care for almost anything — big or small — has become a risky proposition these days.
Before you know it, you’re being wheeled down a hallway for a scan, a blood draw, or anything else on your doctor’s menu of services.
And according to the shocking responses to a survey given to over 2,000 docs, over a fifth of all medical care is a waste of time and money.
Where drugs are concerned, it’s even higher! Close to a quarter of dispensed pharmaceuticals are not needed.
Submitting to all these tests and taking unnecessary drugs is more than just annoying and expensive — it’s downright dangerous.
But by just knowing a few “tricks” of the trade, you can prevent yourself or someone you love from becoming another victim of this medical free-for-all.
Two important questions
Well, the cat’s finally out of the bag. And when doctors start complaining, you know things have gotten out of control!
Dr. Martin Makary, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins, asked the doctors he surveyed why so much unnecessary medical care was being doled out left and right.
The first reason is obvious: fear of being sued. Thanks to all those TV ads that tell you to “ask your doctor” about this or that, more patients than ever are pressuring their physicians to take a test or a drug — and those docs apparently think if they don’t comply, they could be on the hook for malpractice.
Although few people who are injured due to medical negligence ever take legal action — only around 2 percent — when they do, it can cause a doc’s malpractice insurance rates to skyrocket.
And that’s not the only way that this problem can hit them where it hurts — that is, straight in the wallet. Over half the physicians surveyed said that their colleagues (not them, of course!) don’t want to lose out on the easy profits to be gained from all these tests and procedures.
So, what are you to do when your doc tells you that you need something that might actually not be necessary? After all, isn’t he the expert?
While you can’t get your own medical degree overnight, there are some other ways to protect yourself when it comes to dealing with a test-happy doctor.
First, watch out for the Big Three. These tests are not only unnecessary, but they can put you in danger of even more unneeded tests, drugs, and procedures.
- The DXA Scam: If you’re a woman over a certain age, no doubt you’ve been told that a DXA scan of your bones is one of the most important things you can do. Don’t believe it. This test is probably the most unreliable medical screening you can take. And it can result in you starting up on those horribly dangerous “bone” drugs before you know it.
- The overdone MRI: Submitting to an MRI for simple low back pain is not only unnecessary, but it also exposes you to radiation and often produces false positives that can have you frightened into other unneeded tests… or even surgery.
- The PSA pot of gold: As an eAlert reader, you already know that having an annual PSA test to check for prostate cancer is only a good idea for the doctors who profit from it. Not only are close to 80 percent of elevated PSA findings false alarms, but they lead right to more tests — including painful and risky biopsies. Plus that, if a PSA does alert a man to prostate cancer, it’s typically a slow-growing one that won’t kill him. The procedures to treat that cancer, however, are another story.
If your doc orders any of the above three tests, all you’ve got to do is ask whether you really need it… and whether the problem might improve on its own without it. And that goes not only for tests, but other procedures and prescription meds, too.
If you can pressure him into getting a test or a drug, you can also pressure him into not getting it!
Now, if your doctor is ordering tests you’ve already taken elsewhere because he doesn’t have access to your medical records, all you have to do is make sure you have updated copies of allthose records that you can share with him!
After all, they’re your property, and you have every right to ask for and receive them from every primary care doctor and specialist you’ve seen — whether at a hospital, clinic, or private practice.
Just make sure you request your full records, including the notes that were written up after your appointments.
“Many Americans getting medical care they don’t need” Robert Preidt, September 6, 2017, HealthDay, consumer.healthday.com
