Re: Herd instincts?

On Nov 24, 6:05 am, "Tom Del Rosso" <td...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<bill.slo...@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:ae9b754b-8824-4ab3-8a16-4d7636c4d58d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I think that it is more likely that the Europeans and Canadians come
to US because they can buy medical procedures there that look like
dangerously premature interventions to medicos outside the U.S.

My medically qualified younger brother tells me that U.S. doctors
spend a lot more money on tests than their foreign counterparts, and
are much more likely to intervene (at vast expense).

We approve drugs years after other nations. We're far too cautious. It
makes no sense to be more cautious with drugs and less cautious with
surgery.

It makes sense for the FDA to be ultra-cautious - they don't score any
brownie points for being quick and they risk huge embarrassment if
they approve something they shouldn't have.

Surgeons make money when they operate. It doesn't make a much sense
for them to be cautious.

We do more tests (again, degree of caution can't be the reason) and surgery
because we give better care than any public program could.

The best of US medical care is as good as - but no better than - the
best medical care in Europe and Australia. The public health
statistics show that fewer Americans get acess to it than their
European and Australian counterparts.

The more extravagant testing is usually explained as driven by anti-
malpratice insurance rules. Don't omit any test that a lawyer could
claim to have been potentially useful. It is relatively easy to
convince a jury that some irrelevant test might have been useful, and
defence lawyers don't want to have to try and unconvince them.

--
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
.

Relevant Pages

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