The July/August issue of AARP magazine features a column on “Reasons to think twice before going under the knife.”
The column’s preamble states:
“The following four operations are overperformed for a variety of reasons: Some are moneymakers for hospitals and doctors, others are expedient, and still others seem to work, at least in the short term. But evidence shows that all have questionable long-term outcomes for treating certain conditions, and some may even cause harm.”
The four they list are:
1. stents for stable angina
2. complex spinal fusion for stenosis
3. hysterectomy for uterine fibroids
4. knee arthroscopy for osteoarthritis
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
A great read on this weekend’s NYT claims of a cure for Type 1.
Cure for Type 1 diabetes? We’ve been down this road before with NY Times https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/11/cure-for-type-1-diabetes-weve-been-down-this-road-before-with-ny-times/
"But it is the framing and the emphasis of the #journalism by a leading science journalist at a leading newspaper that demands scrutiny. It has an impact on readers and on sick people that may cause harm by promoting false hope about extremely preliminary research"
👍👏💪 truth https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1465399358137024518
Why we should still miss healthnewsreview. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1465399358137024518
Comments
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allan jones
July 5, 2011 at 10:36 amaarp is a rip off and a great supporter of obamacare and i therefore have no use for this subversive organization…
ed krzykwa
July 21, 2011 at 4:03 pmi don’t understand why aarp articles repeatedly ignore chiropractic care. chiropractic has saved me from numerous medical interventions. three hospitals in two states and it was a doctor of chiropractic that saved my life. you are missing the boat when all health professions are not given fair research.
Thomas
November 14, 2011 at 12:56 amGood information, thanks Gary. Another one that a family member was convinced to have is a gallbladder removal. Although generally a lot less traumatic than open surgery, the laparoscopy method is used in most gallbladder removals (an increase of 40% since the advent of laparoscopy), there are still major potential risks. Unintentional cutting of the bile duct, which could result in permanent liver damage, happens in 1 to 2 % of laparoscopies.
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