Stan Geiger

Feasting on the Sick

Cat scans cause cancer. So says the most recent data concerning medical care to hit the news.

Go figure. Those that swear to first do no harm are doing harm.

I’ve been a bit frustrated with all the reports about what one should do or not do for some time. I mean a report comes out that says we should do this. Then a new report comes out that says we should do that. Then a new report comes out that says we should do both this and that. Then a new report comes out that says we should do this but not that.

Make up your freakin’ minds!

Back to the CT scan, is it a good thing or a bad thing? They say the number of such scans given has ballooned from a relative handful per year a few years ago to about 70 million per year today.

Would you argue nearly a fourth of this nation’s population needs CT scans in any given year? If not, then why is nearly a fourth of this nation’s population going in for CT scans in any given year?

It’s all about the money.

The point of “defensive medicine” is well taken. Doctors faced with possible massive increases in their malpractice insurance premiums should they get sued will, naturally, look to thicken medical files to the max. But there is more to the story.

I’ve only seen this reported once, on public television’s The News Hour. Physicians in private practice own interests in companies that, for example, do CT scans. So, if I were a doctor, I could not only schedule you for more appointments than you need I could send you off for a needless CT scan. I would make money on both ends of that deal.

There are some things we can do to reduce costs relative to health care. At this point, I would say none of them include the gubment piling another trillion dollars on a table and ringing the dinner bell. I think the doctors have feasted long enough.

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