Defensive medicine: Only in the USA

Scalpel with another real-world example:

She claimed that she discussed her symptoms with a relative in Guatemala who is a physician, and he told her to take some ibuprofen, and of course she got better. Why didn’t I think of that? Time for me to start looking for some CME, I suppose.

If I was a physician in Guatemala, I wouldn’t have ordered any tests either, and I would have only charged her a couple of chickens, or maybe a young goat. In America, unfortunately, we are required to overcharge, overtest, and overdocument in order to keep the hyenas at bay.

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