http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/03/are-doctors-doing-too-much-cancer.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:04:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/03/are-doctors-doing-too-much-cancer.html#comment-90390 Anonymous Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:47:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2009/03/are-doctors-doing-too-much-cancer-screening.html#comment-90390 These screening posts recently remind me of the book Calculate Risks. Although it was published in 1986, it talks about the effect false positives have on patients. The first few pages are available on Amazon and talk about a patient who received an HIV+ result and subsequently fell into despair. <br/>http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader?ie=UTF8&p=S00D&asin=0743205561 These screening posts recently remind me of the book Calculate Risks. Although it was published in 1986, it talks about the effect false positives have on patients. The first few pages are available on Amazon and talk about a patient who received an HIV+ result and subsequently fell into despair.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader?ie=UTF8&p=S00D&asin=0743205561

]]> http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/03/are-doctors-doing-too-much-cancer.html#comment-90384 Anonymous Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:29:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2009/03/are-doctors-doing-too-much-cancer-screening.html#comment-90384 One of the major medical spokespersons who consistently over-recommends for screening is Dr. Bernadine Healy, who is Health Editor for U.S.News & World Report. She wrote a column in 2007 which pretty much came out in favor of CT screening for lung cancer, and she has also commented on calcium score CT scanning favorably. It is very difficult to tell your patients that there is a lack of evidence for these measures when someone with such official qualifications urges people to obtain these tests. It is even harder to get them to have the tests they really need that are more difficult (colonoscopy) or do the hard work of quitting smoking when there is such a plethora of contradictory advice in the media. The fact that she actually served as a director of the NIH makes it even worse. One of the major medical spokespersons who consistently over-recommends for screening is Dr. Bernadine Healy, who is Health Editor for U.S.News & World Report. She wrote a column in 2007 which pretty much came out in favor of CT screening for lung cancer, and she has also commented on calcium score CT scanning favorably. It is very difficult to tell your patients that there is a lack of evidence for these measures when someone with such official qualifications urges people to obtain these tests. It is even harder to get them to have the tests they really need that are more difficult (colonoscopy) or do the hard work of quitting smoking when there is such a plethora of contradictory advice in the media. The fact that she actually served as a director of the NIH makes it even worse.

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