Surgery

Miscellaneous (tonsils/adenoids, prostatectomy, cancer, carotid endarterectomy, mastectomy etc):

Rufer and her husband sued Abbott Laboratories, UWMC, and the cancer specialist who treated her. UWMC and the doctor argued that they had relied on the Abbott test results. Abbott denied all responsibility, even though the literature distributed with its tests made no mention of the potential for false positives. What's more, according to a court opinion, it turned out that "Abbott also had access to reports that false positive results on its assay led to unnecessary cancer treatment before 1998. It received over forty complaints of false positives, including multiple complaints of unnecessary chemotherapy and surgery before Jennifer Rufer's first treatment in April 1998.

Critical condition by Donald L Barlett and James B Steele, page 63

Although it embraces new technology, the medical profession has a tendency to reject new ideas. Surgeons are willing to learn new ways of performing operations, although few seem eager to examine possible alternatives to surgery. Much of this can of course be explained by the fact that research into surgery is normally performed by surgeons. Their training and experience does not lend itself to looking into other options. Cardiac surgeons, for instance, would be unlikely to work at a project that would prove that most heart operations are unnecessary or dangerous. That conclusion would not only put their livelihood at risk, but also invalidate their entire vocation. The only people in the operating room who have a clear reason for wanting the truth are the patients on the tables. But if we wait until that moment to learn the truth, it might be too late.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 131

Anesthesiologists benefit from bypass surgery. In medical slang anesthesiologists are called gas passers. Anesthesiologists use measured amounts of poisons to put surgical patients to sleep and, hopefully, wake them up. They bill patients by the hour. Each cabbage case may take about two to three hours of their time. They have nothing to do with the decision to do surgery, but you don't hear any of them making waves by complaining about unnecessary surgery. To do so would jeopardize their standing in the anesthesia department and their livelihoods.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 53

About 300,000 men per year have surgery to correct enlarged prostates, but many of those surgeries may be unnecessary. There are many natural remedies that you can find in health food stores that will shrink your prostate, if BPH is the cause. (Note: Only a doctor can tell the difference between BPH and prostate cancer, so get a firm diagnosis before you go ahead with natural remedies).

Proven Health Tips Encyclopedia By American Medical Publishing, page 136

But religious considerations aside, circumcision has caught on among non-Jews in the United States. The operation has been the center of a medical debate: Does it provide health benefits, or is it unnecessary surgery?

Healthcare Online for Dummies by Howard and Judi Wolinsky, page 200

Surgery has come under increasing criticism in recent years for a number of other reasons. Some doctors and patients hold that much cancer surgery is either unnecessary or excessive in its scope. The fiercest argument has taken place over the question of breast cancer, but the issues raised in this debate appear applicable to other forms of cancer as well.

The Cancer Industry by Ralph W Moss, page 49

Surgery is unnecessary when the risk is greater than the benefit, or when there is no strong evidence that the surgery will benefit most of the people operated on.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 186

Going under the knife. One explanation for high U.S. medical costs is that so much surgery is unnecessary. Ask for a plain-English explanation of the need for and alternatives to any surgery.

The Hope of Living Cancer Free by Francisco Contreras MD, page 114

The innocuous behavior of recurring tumors is a mystery. Some surgeons think that leaving a few cancerous cells to roam about after surgery is a deadly mistake. Others believe that these cells simply turn into tumors that can be removed without threatening the life of the patient. Still, many leaders in the field of oncological surgery, either out of fear or arrogance, continue to demand that more studies be conducted before modifying the traditional treatments. How many patients will become the innocent victims of this irrational posturing? The same tendencies have also been observed in other types of tumors. For example, sarcomas are tumors that generally form from muscle or fat in the extremities. Treatment of them always consists of an extensive amputation followed by radiation therapy, with the object of reducing the incidence of recurrence. After reviewing the experiences of numerous hospitals, one concludes that "a reduction of local recurrence does not mean a betterment of average life expectancy in the long run." In other words, the frightening mutilations are entirely unnecessary. The same conclusions can be applied to melanoma a very aggressive skin cancer, which is generally treated with excessively radical surgery.

Health In The 21st Century by Fransisco Contreras MD, page 196

The indiscriminate, and often unnecessary, surgical removal of these glands does not solve the underlying immunological problem that caused them to be swollen and diseased in the first place. Often, after a short period of improvement, it leads to chronic allergy problems. If the microorganisms get past the tonsils and adenoids, ciliated microfilaments lining the upper passages of the lungs remove them in secreted phlegm; they do this in a wavelike fashion, much like firemen of an earlier time on a bucket brigade.

Viral Immunity by J.E, page 90

The common carotid endarterectomy surgery is designed to prevent a full-fledged stroke. But is it often overused and unnecessary, especially when there is insufficient diagnosis.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 187

In fact, because of the high potential for false positive readings�where people are told they have cancer when they don't�screening may only be increasing the number of patients mutilated through unnecessary drug treatment or surgery.

The Cancer Handbook by Lynne McTaggart, page 12

Doctors differ considerably in their approval of this "nontreatment." Naturally the more surgery-prone physicians lean in the direction of early removal of the prostate, while the more conservative ones tell us that for any man whose life expectancy is less than 10 years, the surgery may offer only unnecessary discomfort and incapacity.

The Prostate Cure by Harry G Preuss MD and Brenda D Adderly MHA, page 184

Alvsborg County Council felt the costs of a mass-screening program far outweighed any benefits, and that the money saved could be better spent helping those diagnosed with cancer. The council voted for the ban, following advice from the county's chief physician, Dr. Christer Enkvist, who felt that the advantages of screening are "extremely marginal" and can lead to unnecessary surgery.

The Cancer Handbook by Lynne McTaggart, page 60

Music by Laura Sullivan - The Serpent Mound

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