$2,000 to diagnose a cold

Why not CT scan everybody? Here’s why:

The search for extremely unlikely diagnoses would kill more patients than would missing those diagnoses. Researchers at Dartmouth University have shown that more care is often worse care.

[Another] reason is cost. Embracing this policy would necessitate closing the Pentagon and abandoning public education. As it is, some of my younger colleagues, paralyzed by the fear of being sued, regularly spend $2,000 to diagnose a cold.

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