by CathyG | Sep 18, 2013 | health care waste
Highlights summarized here:
From a report that appears in the August issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Out of 363 studies reported in the NEJM from 2001-2010, 146 found that the current drugs or procedures were no better – or even worse – than those previously used.
Over 40% of “established practices studied” were ineffective or harmful
Just 38% were beneficial.
Remaining 22% were unknown.
Examples of harm:
— routine use of hormone therapy in postmenopausal women;
— high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant for breast cancer
— intensive lowering of glucose levels of intensive care patients (which increased mortality and conferred no benefit)
The article quotes a doctor who says that procedures often seem to “make sense” despite evidence of benefit. For instance, if you have cholesterol-clogged arteries, it seems reasonable to open them up – but this procedures doesn’t increase survival.
The advice to patients: “You shouldn’t ask how does it work, but whether it works at all.”
Okay, guys, we get it. Now just how many of us are going to get booted from a doctor’s practice when we attempt to put this in practice?
by CathyG | Jul 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
Al Lewis and Vik Khanna wrote an article for the WSH – Here Comes Obamacare’s ‘Workplace Wellness’ – June 20, 2013 full article here.
The article begins, “During the congressional debate over ObamaCare, few provisions stirred less controversy than an amendment providing incentives for companies to encourage their workers to stay healthy.” The reason there was so little controversy is that it’s not just about Obamacare. It’s a reflection of an established trendm where employers and insurance companies get to play Big Brother and nanny all at once.
As the article points out, these wellness programs don’t work. As the article says, “are ineffective at reducing costs, lack support in medical literature, are unpopular enough to require incentives, and are occasionally even harmful to employees.”
It’s not Obamacare. It’s insurance mythology. When I was am ember of an HMO program with Keystone (a division of the Blues), I kept getting messages about preventive care. “Talk to your doctor about getting a mammogram,” they said. They even told outright lies: Low bone density is “easily treated,” they said. The truth? Mediication reduces the risk of fracture by 3% with tons of horrific side effects.
These tests even har employees. Nebraska sent dozens of employees falsely diagnosed with cancer ” on a painful, emotionally draining, potentially dangerous quest to address what in most cases was a phantom illness—mostly at Nebraska taxpayers’ expense.”
THese employees no doubt incurred copays and other expenses that weren’t reimbursed.
So why do these programs magically claim a savings? My hunch is that they’re getting paid by insurance companies, who may be getting reimbursed by Big Pharma in some way. If more people get diagnosed with high blood pressure or high cholesterol, they’ll be on drugs … even if some doctors have questioned these statistics.
When people are forced to undergo unscientific procedures to avoid paying more, it’s no different than fining people who have a different religion. It’s not clear why doctors aren’t speaking up.
Meanwhile people who really need care have trouble getting help because everybody’s spending all this money on “wellness.” Here in Philly, primary care doctors spend a full hour on medical “exams,” but are booked up months in advance. If you get sick you go to the emergency room or an urgent care clinic where you see strangers.
T
