Thousands of unnecessary medical procedures and surgeries are performed yearly — are you getting one of them? Here are the disturbing facts
Your physician tells you that you need surgery. Assuming it’s not an emergency how do you respond? Say “Yeah sure where do I sign?” Or — “Whoa wait a second! I appreciate your input but I need to get more information and a second opinion.”
According to a USA Today review of government records and medical databases tens of thousands of patients undergo unnecessary surgery each year. There are multiple reasons why these unneeded procedures take place. In the worst of scenarios they’re the result of criminal acts in which surgeons intentionally dupe patients deliberately performing surgeries they know are not medically justified.
More often however physicians perform unnecessary surgeries out of incompetence or a lack of training in less-invasive alternatives. Some doctors may believe that surgery is the only answer even when the success rates are minimal and better nonsurgical treatment options exist. Then there are those providers who are more businessmen than medical professionals and perform surgery simply because it helps the bottom line and they can justify it as medically “necessary.”
Speak to experts in various medical fields and many will readily acknowledge that surgeries are sometimes performed without due cause. Nancy Epstein, MD, chief of neurosurgical spine and education at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York, says that “many unnecessary spinal procedures are performed in the US.”
Create a free account to keep reading.
