Hi Maurice - opposite end of 'most probable' is "Defensive Medicine" - (real term) doctor assumes they will be dragged into court.
In the US, if a piano drops on you from five stories up, and you are crushed, you can still sue the hospital & doctors for not saving you...and some times win.
So, you show up at your doctor with X, a realively common disease. They do 2 or 3 different tests for X (not just one),
and one for y (3% occurance, slightly worse than X),
a test for Z (0.01% , but deadly)
and for Q (0.001%, somewhat deadly)
Now you feel weaker because of the blood loss from all the tests....;-)
Bu you can walk easier, since your wallet is lighter, with each test averaging about $50.
You get treated for X, and then have to come in 2 more times to check for side effects of X on liver function.
Then when you are cured, there is one more test for U, (0.1% occurance) which can SOME times be masked by the condition X.
Treatment for X is a fairly standard dug, either generic or relaivley low priced...maybe $30-60 for two months treatment.
You and/or your insurance company gets to pay for all this - one reason 40 million Americans have no health insurance.
By the way, there is a movement called "evidence based medicine" which tends to be a little more reasonalble, but still leans towards heavy testing.
The HMOs here have pushed many doctors to move faster and take short cuts. In rich places like Silicon Valley, many doctors are now setting up private practices and let their patients deal with the insurance problems while they practice medicine.
My previous doctor, a brilliant woman who spoke English, Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin, left for a private practice. She did not like the HMO pushing a high patient load. I hope she does very well.
If you read the blog of the Dr. Jen in Singapore, they have different issues there. See first post in thread for url. |
