Speaking of unnecessary medical procedures, a Q&A article in the Los Angeles Times with Dr. H. Gilbert Welch highlights his views on the potential public health consequences of preventative medicine. Though Dr. Welch voices support for health care reform, he takes issue with the Obama Health Care bill’s emphasis on preventive screening.
Speaking of unnecessary medical procedures, a Q&A article in the Los Angeles Times with Dr. H. Gilbert Welch highlights his views on the potential public health consequences of preventative medicine. Though Dr. Welch voices support for health care reform, he takes issue with the Obama Health Care bill’s emphasis on preventive screening.
[Emphasizing preventative screening] may improve health for some, but it also harms the health of others. The reason is overdiagnosis: the detection of abnormalities in people who are never destined to develop symptoms — or die — from their condition. We don't know who these patients are, so we treat everybody. That means we are treating some people who can't benefit from treatment — because there's nothing to fix. But they can be harmed. The truth is it's hard to make a well person better, but it's not hard to make them worse.
Dr. Welch thinks that the screenings will cost us a lot of money, however.
