From Men's Journal:
Every time you walk into a physician's office, you run the risk of overtreatment: Tests you don't need, medications that are ineffective (or dangerous), procedures that cause more problems than they solve. In many cases the best thing for your health is to do nothing.
Make no mistake: A good doctor is, or should be, your most trusted resource if you're sick. If you're not sick and he wants to treat you anyway, that doesn't necessarily make him a bad doctor. But it does make him a player in a system that operates according to the unspoken and often unexamined assumption that more treatment is better for the patient. It's unquestionably better for the financial health of the stakeholders in the system: the doctors, the pharmaceutical industry, the health-insurance companies, and the hospitals. If you don't know how the game is played, the odds go up that you'll wind up the loser.
What do you people think, will people change if they know this?
(Score: 1) by Whoever on Thursday September 25 2014, @02:36AM
I would agree with you that NHS treatment is generally very good. In fact, one experience I had was a diagnostic treatment in the USA (which found nothing), followed by seeing an NHS doctor who provided an actual treatment for my condition and also remarked that the diagnostic treatment I received in the USA wasn't indicated based on my symptoms. Relatives on mine have received excellent care for cancer.
On the other hand, there is this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Hospital_scandal [wikipedia.org]