“The U.S. spends $200 billion each year — about 8 percent of the nation’s health care tab — on medical care stemming from improper or unnecessary use of prescription drugs.”
While there will be a certain amount of improper use due to human error, this number is way too high. Better technology should help this problem. I think that personalized medicine can go a long way to decreasing that number.
I wonder how this number has changed over time? You’re right. As technology improves we should see a reduction in this type of thing. It would be interesting to find out if that is reflected by the data. If it isn’t, we need to focus on what factors are causing us to be more negligent.
I think I’m going to get a second opinion for anything major that I need done. I don’t know which is worse: competent doctors trying to bilk you or doctors making a lot of mistakes.
Found this in comments, from Alexis de Tocqueville:
“After having thus taken each individual one by one into its powerful hands, and having molded him as it pleases, the sovereign power extends its arms over the entire society; it covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated, minute, and uniform rules, which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot break through to go beyond the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces action, but it constantly opposes your acting; it does not destroy, it prevents birth; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, it represses, it enervates, it extinguishes, it stupefies, and finally it reduces each nation to being nothing more than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”
Enough to know that your surgery isn’t imperative and in many cases unnecessary. This is a very, very serious issue. Many surgeries can have adverse health effects and the risk must definitely be justifiable.
“Medicare pays for hundreds of thousands of drug prescriptions ordered by massage therapists, athletic trainers, chiropractors and other professionals without the authority to do so.”
While it doesn’t go into as much detail as I would have liked, this report is still a very important testament of how broken our system is.
Doctors perform thousands of unnecessary surgeries.
I doubt that a doctor sets out to perform unnecessary surgery any more than a auto mechanic sets out to replace a water pump that’s still good. In both cases, they’ve deluded themselves into believing that more services are good services and they know their customers’ needs better than their customers do.
The U.S. spends $200 billion each year — about 8 percent of the nation’s health care tab — on medical care stemming from improper or unnecessary use of prescription drugs.
If accurate, this is amazing because it suggests that more than two-thirds of drugs are either taken improperly, or unnecessarily. Add to this the multisource drugs that are branded and the amount of expenditure could even be less.
“The U.S. spends $200 billion each year — about 8 percent of the nation’s health care tab — on medical care stemming from improper or unnecessary use of prescription drugs.”
While there will be a certain amount of improper use due to human error, this number is way too high. Better technology should help this problem. I think that personalized medicine can go a long way to decreasing that number.
I wonder how this number has changed over time? You’re right. As technology improves we should see a reduction in this type of thing. It would be interesting to find out if that is reflected by the data. If it isn’t, we need to focus on what factors are causing us to be more negligent.
I think I’m going to get a second opinion for anything major that I need done. I don’t know which is worse: competent doctors trying to bilk you or doctors making a lot of mistakes.
Found this in comments, from Alexis de Tocqueville:
“After having thus taken each individual one by one into its powerful hands, and having molded him as it pleases, the sovereign power extends its arms over the entire society; it covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated, minute, and uniform rules, which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot break through to go beyond the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces action, but it constantly opposes your acting; it does not destroy, it prevents birth; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, it represses, it enervates, it extinguishes, it stupefies, and finally it reduces each nation to being nothing more than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”
Alexis de Tocqueville, always wise words. Especially coming from a Frenchman.
I am not sure that you can necessarily blame Medicare for doctors malpractice, or even associate the two topic, they are completely different.
They are directly associated, because Medicare forces doctors to see patients, which incentivizes them to prescribe more drugs to get more money.
“Doctors perform thousands of unnecessary surgeries.”
This really sickens me. No transparency for the patient, whatsoever.
How much transparency is necessary?
Enough to know that your surgery isn’t imperative and in many cases unnecessary. This is a very, very serious issue. Many surgeries can have adverse health effects and the risk must definitely be justifiable.
“Medicare pays for hundreds of thousands of drug prescriptions ordered by massage therapists, athletic trainers, chiropractors and other professionals without the authority to do so.”
While it doesn’t go into as much detail as I would have liked, this report is still a very important testament of how broken our system is.
Doctors perform thousands of unnecessary surgeries.
I doubt that a doctor sets out to perform unnecessary surgery any more than a auto mechanic sets out to replace a water pump that’s still good. In both cases, they’ve deluded themselves into believing that more services are good services and they know their customers’ needs better than their customers do.
The U.S. spends $200 billion each year — about 8 percent of the nation’s health care tab — on medical care stemming from improper or unnecessary use of prescription drugs.
If accurate, this is amazing because it suggests that more than two-thirds of drugs are either taken improperly, or unnecessarily. Add to this the multisource drugs that are branded and the amount of expenditure could even be less.