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> But I can't think of any other area in healthcare where your care is held hostage unless you pay them for some unrelated diagnostics you don't want. Happens
by mrep 7y ago
> But I can't think of any other area in healthcare where your care is held hostage unless you pay them for some unrelated diagnostics you don't want.
Happens to women too for birth control.
- sliken 7y agoMy dentist pushes a periodic "comprehensive/full panel" xray. More than the usual, and claimed the justification was in case I have jaw cancer or something serious (non tooth/gum) related problem. I asked what about all the rest of the bones in my body? I skipped it.
- bluedino 7y agoRoll the story where the person has an abscess and dies from it weeks later
- sliken 7y agoSeems unlikely, at least for people willing to seek medical care when they have a surprisingly pain in their jaw. Large doses of xrays aren't without risk. Apparently the comprehensive xray uses 4-6x the exposure of a normal xray.
- randommuser90 7y agoSource?
- WarOnPrivacy 7y agoI was willing to seek medical care for the ongoing pain of TMJ and I didn't because what I can afford is one Dr visit & one RX for generic opioids (the only treatment that touches that pain). But there was no point. The only Dr I could afford became terrified of prescribing opioids (thanks DEA. yes it was the DEA). No matter that I had, for years and years, taken opioids responsibly. However it's no longer a problem. That only Dr - that countless thousands of us could afford to visit - just closed up shop. Am I willing? Sure. Able, no. Not in any way.
- tbyehl 7y agoHappened to my mother's second husband. Tho, as sibling comment points out, that came down to avoiding medical treatment for something quite painful for so long that it became life-threatening.
- cma 7y ago5-6% of cancer comes from excess medical imaging.
- randommuser90 7y agoSource?
- johndubchak 7y agoIt was an obvious joke.
- baxtr 7y agoSource?
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoNot all that obvious. We actually do have statistics on how X-ray scans affect your cancer odds. Full-body scans and other intense X-rays can have a 1 in 1000 chance of killing you in a couple of decades; most doctors won't consider them unless the condition they're hoping to diagnose is more dangerous than that.
- Broken_Hippo 7y agoUnfortunately not. Folks have some odd beliefs about medicine and with this, it isn't unlikely that a certain percentage of folks get cancer from medical treatments. I imagine that number is less in the modern world than it was before I was born. We did use Xrays to check how shoes fit, after all.
- AdrianB1 7y agoSo taking that xray every 3-5 years saves you from the death in a few weeks? Or should you take the xray weekly?
- jclos 7y agoThis is key here. As a general rule of thumb is some information has no influence on the course of action then it is useless, as interesting as it may be. In this case you have the odd chance of that 5 year exam catching the problem at just the right time, but the overwhelming probability is that it will even show nothing (in which case you do nothing) or that you are about to die (in which case you can do nothing).
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoMine does as well, once every three or five years or so? It's (also) so that they can see whether a cavity is forming underneath an existing filling, for example. Mind you it's covered by my dental insurance so it's fine.
- EGreg 7y agoOr to get a blood test to see what kind of blood type you are, it’s not even enough to go to a primary cRe doctor and then get a lab ordered. They will try to resist telling you! Supposedly there is “no need” for you to know that information, and you can’t simply take a blood test from a lab without a PCP ordering it. Try it! Luckily there is a loophole when you donate blood. Or you can do your own lab, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
- jfim 7y agoThere are labs online that will gladly take your money for that, where they'll have a healthcare professional order the test and make the results available online. A quick Google search returns this, for example: https://questdirect.questdiagnostics.com/products/blood-type-abo-rh/15969f8d-e391-4500-8694-be1fd4439f6d https://questdirect.questdiagnostics.com/products/blood-type...
- EGreg 7y agoI did exactly this, went to Quest diagnostics from an online thing and in the end they don’t give you the blood type or Rh factor. It’s just a standard test for various STIs etc.
- VectorLock 7y agoI asked my PCP what my blood type was when I was getting blood tests for other things and he told me the same thing.
- conductr 7y agoIt’s most likely he doesn’t know. Order that test would be very strange for a PCP. Typically you’re only getting typed and screened if you’re about to surgery/birth/donate. This is so they can act quick to transfuse you if needed or know who to give your donated blood to. You need to ask your doctor to order this test for you and tell them your ok paying for it because it won’t get approved without reason. From a PCP perspective, he’s monitoring your cholesterol, blood counts, etc. knowing your blood type has no medical significance to him.