The Overused Medical Procedures that Needlessly Waste Billions of Dollars
Posted By Dr. Mercola | April 10 2012
A new study put together by nine U.S. medical special societies representing 374,000 physicians shows that wasteful medicine costs the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $700 billion a year. The "waste" list covers all facets of medicine and includes such things as unproven diagnostic tests, CT scans and routine X-rays in certain situations, including Pap smears on women younger than 21 or those who have had a hysterectomy.
Routine cancer screening for dialysis patients with limited life expectancies is also on the list, as well as stress cardiac imaging or coronary angiography in patients without cardiac symptoms. The full list has 45 "evidence-based recommendations" posted on a website created to educate both doctors and patients about working to improve medical care while reducing costs.
According to Yahoo! News, the list was inspired by a 2010 article in American Thinker, which asserted that the real problem with America's health care system is the expensive cost of goods and services.
http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2012/04/10/the-overused-medical-procedures-that-needlessly-waste-billions-of-dollars.aspx
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