Now there are 135. That's how many medical tests, treatments and other procedures - many used for decades - physicians have now identified as almost always unnecessary and often harmful, and which doctors and patients should therefore avoid or at least seriously question.
The lists of procedures, released on Thursday by the professional societies of 17 medical specialties ranging from neurology and ophthalmology to thoracic surgery, are part of a campaign called Choosing Wisely. Organized by the American Board of Internal Medicine's foundation, it aims to get doctors to stop performing useless procedures and spread the word to patients that some don't help and might hurt.
"Americans' view of healthcare is that more is better," said Dr Glenn Stream, a family physician in Spokane, Washington, and board chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which has identified 10 unnecessary procedures. "But there are a lot of things that are done frequently but don't contribute to people's health and may be harmful."
More than 3.1 million bottles of eye drops sold at major retailers, including Walgreens and CVS,...
The abortion rate is holding steady in the US despite total and partial bans in some...
The Supreme Court sided with a Christian counselor on Tuesday in her free speech challenge to...
A new COVID-19 variant, BA.3.2, has been detected in 25 states, according to a recent report...
