“AN AVALANCHE OF UNNECESSARY MEDICAL CARE”

C. Norman Shealy. M.D., Ph.D.

The NEW YORKER May 11, 2015 had a remarkable article detailing the waste and harm of 26 tests or treatments that have NO BENEFIT or are OUTRIGHT HARMFUL-at the staggering wasteful cost of $750 BILLION DOLLARS a year—tests such as EEG for uncomplicated headache or CT or MRI for back pain without neurological involvement. From 25 to 42% of Medicare patients receive at least one such test each year. In fact the Institute of Medicine reports that 30% of all “health-care’ spending is just this useless! When you couple this with the previous report that the THIRD LEADING COAUSE OF DEATH IS THE MEDICAL SYSTEM, the SYSTEM sucks! And undoubtedly this report does not include such USELESS, HARMFUL procedures as stents and coronary bypass surgery, the vast majority of spinal fusions, antidepressants, statins and most antihypertensive drugs. I think it is an understatement to say that only 30% of medical care is useless or harmful. Probably 50% is an understatement.

I wish I could offer you a way to decide when to accept medical advice, but the best I can say is that in an emergency you have little choice. In any non-emergency, I strongly suggest two or three opinions from totally unrelated specialists, at least one of whom should be clearly HOLISTIC!