4 ms·

Me neither. I know people who didn't go to the doctor because of this, or because "if you go to the doctor they will always find something wrong". Some of these

Me neither. I know people who didn't go to the doctor because of this, or because "if you go to the doctor they will always find something wrong". Some of these people died leaving sons and daughters without parents, grandkids without grandparents. I not only don't understand the attitude, I find it borderline irresponsible/selfish. And I'm saying this from the pain of being one such son left without a father far too soon and in avoidable circumstances.

phant0mas 9y ago
This reminds me of my father. He was digging water wells for a living, but never checked his equipment. One day the link from the wire rope broke and he fell to his death 20 meters inside a well. This could have been avoided if he was taking care of his equipment. Hell even a simple check would have been enough.
perl4ever 9y ago
Unnecessary treatment can be wasteful, harmful or both. Medical professionals and public policy experts have debated how much cancer screening improves average outcomes. Portraying anyone who questions the value of medical testing as irrational and selfish is denying the fact that smart, thoughtful people have a hard time defining what is best practice on average. As many as 3/4 of positive cancer screening test results can be false positives, and if you get one, you have to then do further testing and possibly treatment, which entails risks. 'overscreening for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening “is common in both men and women, which not only increases health care expenditure but can lead to net patient harm.” ' [1] My father was diagnosed (and eventually died) of cancer shortly before the age at which periodic screening was recommended, in the early 80s. Nowadays, screening is recommended at a younger age, and if he had been tested, then it might have been caught in time. However, I reject the idea that anyone is irresponsible based on hindsight in a single case. It's just bad luck. And public policy needs to be set based on what is best for everybody. [1] http://www.ascopost.com/issues/october-15-2014/overscreening-for-prostate-breast-colorectal-and-cervical-cancer-can-raise-costs-and-harm-patients/ http://www.ascopost.com/issues/october-15-2014/overscreening...

phant0mas 9y ago

This reminds me of my father. He was digging water wells for a living, but never checked his equipment. One day the link from the wire rope broke and he fell to his death 20 meters inside a well. This could have been avoided if he was taking care of his equipment. Hell even a simple check would have been enough.

perl4ever 9y ago

Unnecessary treatment can be wasteful, harmful or both. Medical professionals and public policy experts have debated how much cancer screening improves average outcomes. Portraying anyone who questions the value of medical testing as irrational and selfish is denying the fact that smart, thoughtful people have a hard time defining what is best practice on average. As many as 3/4 of positive cancer screening test results can be false positives, and if you get one, you have to then do further testing and possibly treatment, which entails risks. 'overscreening for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening “is common in both men and women, which not only increases health care expenditure but can lead to net patient harm.” ' [1] My father was diagnosed (and eventually died) of cancer shortly before the age at which periodic screening was recommended, in the early 80s. Nowadays, screening is recommended at a younger age, and if he had been tested, then it might have been caught in time. However, I reject the idea that anyone is irresponsible based on hindsight in a single case. It's just bad luck. And public policy needs to be set based on what is best for everybody. [1] http://www.ascopost.com/issues/october-15-2014/overscreening-for-prostate-breast-colorectal-and-cervical-cancer-can-raise-costs-and-harm-patients/ http://www.ascopost.com/issues/october-15-2014/overscreening...