"Itâ€™s always easier to order a test than to have a conversation about why the harms of the test outweigh the potential benefits"

Which is why PSAs continue to be ordered in 85 year-old men.

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Anonymous
My father’s doctor orders a test without even informing my father of doing so. Just orders it as part of the blood panel. My parents didn’t even know the test was ordered until they showed me the results. I mentioned to my parents that there is no evidence it is even helpful for younger men, never mind the old ones. But for many people it is easier to go along with the doctor than to argue with him. Mom always says, I am already talking about this problem, I don’t want to bring up this other thing.
For the same reason my 70-something mom who hadn’t had sex in god knows how long continues with pap smears.
Anonymous
I work at a VA in a subspecialty area. We have one primary care doc who must order stuff on autopilot too often and not think what she is doing. She ordered a PSA on a 50 year old woman!
I suspect this is what is happening in many VA facilities – their is little to no scrutiny of inappropriate resource utilization based on my observations at 2 different VA facilities.
Anonymous
Oh, how do you know your mom “hasn’t had sex in God knows how long”? I doubt she is telling you all about her sex life. Don’t just assume that 70 year olds don’t have sex, because, they do!
Anonymous
Oh, how do you know your mom “hasn’t had sex in God knows how long”? I doubt she is telling you all about her sex life. Don’t just assume that 70 year olds don’t have sex, because, they do!

Because my father can’t? Because I see my mom every day, and I know where she is every moment of time? Those of us who come from other countries are much closer to our parents then Americans are.
Anonymous
Anon at 5:38, are you aware of USPSTF recommendation on this subject:
“The USPSTF recommends against routinely screening women older than age 65 if they have had adequate recent screening with normal Pap smears and are not otherwise at increased risk for cervical cancer.”
Of course, doctors routinely forget to mention this to us.
Anonymous
Because if you order “it” you can sleep at night, no matter how ridiculous. Nobody will ever sue you for ordering a PSA on a woman, but I’m sure somewhere. somehow, some lawyer sodomite tried to sue a doctor for not ordering one. I order PSAs on my 21 year old guys with possible Testicular Cancer. What do I care if it costs $500 for a test that’ll be negative. It may help me in court someday, showing how thorough I was when the patient has a bad outcome.

"Itâ€™s always easier to order a test than to have a conversation about why the harms of the test outweigh the potential benefits"

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