I am overdue for a colonoscopy. I’ve been meaning to schedule one for over a year but when the time comes to do so I put it off because it’s not the most pleasant procedure to endure. Colonoscopies for colorectal cancer are one of the few cancer screenings recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the others are breast, cervical and lung cancer. However, I just read that only 14.1% of cancers are caught through screening.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
Tuesday Links
- Evidence against The Great Barrington Declaration’s idea of focused protection.
- The feds are cracking down on Medicare Advantage plans.
- CDC: Flu season appears to be normal, despite the media hype.
- CTUP study: Government payments and free health care benefits can pay more than the annual equivalent of a $100,000 job in three states, and the equivalent of an $80,000 a year job in 13 states.
Ask Your Doctor Four Questions to Avoid Unnecessary Care
I went to a urologist a couple years ago. He examined me and told me he was 85% sure what I had was not serious and would resolve on its own. However, if I wanted to be 100% sure, there was an in-office test ($450) and an MRI ($350) that he could order for me. I got the feeling he was probably really 95% sure I was fine. The urologist likely offered additional tests out of defensive medicine and the fact that some patients desire more care than others. I was cash pay so I opted out of it.
Saturday Links
- Pew Foundation “striking findings.”
- In addition to drug shortages, the US has been experiencing medical device shortages.
- Free covid tests by mail are back.
- CNN: Covid-19 vaccines have saved more than 3 million lives in US. But no mention of Donald Trump or Operation Warp Speed. CTUP: this is like trumpeting the polio vaccine and not mentioning Jonas Salk.
- A defense of Canadian euthanasia: The average age of those who seek assisted death is 76.3, and 65% have cancer.
- All the bad things in the Hippocratic Oath that I bet you don’t know about.