Surgery

Multiple Types of Surgery Mentioned:

In 1985 the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging found that unnecessary operations (most for hernias, hemorrhoids, gallstones, enlarged prostates, heart disease and similar conditions), far from helping patients were actually shortening their lives and wasting money � billions of dollars. The committee found that operations increased 130 percent after Medicare went into effect. The American College of Surgeons and the American surgical Association suggested that 30 percent of the millions of operations being performed each year were unnecessary with 50 percent of the remaining procedures beneficial but not essential to save or extend the patient's life. In all, it was thought that the needless and dubious operations were causing an unnecessary thirty thousand deaths per year. The unnecessary expenses and deaths become noticeable when doctors are in short supply or go on strike. In such cases the death rate in an area can drop remarkably � much to the embarrassment of the medical community (when the facts can't be covered up).

Attaining Medical Self Sufficiency An Informed Citizens Guide by Duncan Long, page 9

1974: 2.4 million unnecessary surgeries performed annually resulting in 11,900 deaths at an annual cost of $3.9 billion. 2001: 7.5 million unnecessary surgical procedures resulting in 37,136 deaths at a cost of $122 billion (using 1974 dollars). It's very difficult to obtain accurate statistics when studying unnecessary surgery. Dr. Leape in 1989 wrote that perhaps 30% of controversial surgeries are unnecessary. Controversial surgeries include Cesarean section, tonsillectomy, appendectomy, hysterectomy, gastrectomy for obesity, breast implants, and elective breast implants.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 19

Myriad of reasons�mix-up of X rays and patient charts, surgeons' haste to "beat their time" doing a procedure, poorly trained surgeons, and unnecessary surgeries, especially hysterectomies (nearly half are unnecessary), coronary bypass operations (one out of every three may be unnecessary), and Cesarean sections. In addition, the area of the country in which you live plays an important part in the type of surgery you will undergo.

How to get out of the hospital alive by Sheldon P Blau MD FACP FACR, page 140

Hysterectomies. American Health also reported in April 1993 that the chance that a woman in Maine will undergo a hysterectomy varies from 20% to 70%, depending on where in the state she lives. Local preference, not science, explains the disparity. In general, the reason for most hysterectomies is to resolve symptoms related to benign uterine fibroids. New studies show that if they aren't causing any serious and immediate symptoms, surgery is unnecessary. Cesarean sections. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that in 1991 some 349,900 unnecessary cesarean sections were performed, at a cost of more than $1 billion. The rate skyrocketed from 10.4% of births in 1975 to 24.5% in 1988. Again, the issue isn't just money, although $ 1 billion would pay for a lot of health care for those who don't have it. Surgery can lead to infections and longer hospital stays.

The Consumer Bible by Mark Green, page 70

On the other hand, studies show that particular areas of the country as well as specific hospitals within a community often are more likely to perform operations that may be unnecessary�such as tonsillectomies, hysterectomies, and cesareans�than others. If you're assigned to a particular physician's group or hospital where the standard of care mandates surgery rather than more conservative treatment, demand a second opinion.

How to get out of the hospital alive by Sheldon P Blau MD FACP FACR, page 194

Myringotomies are currently being performed on nearly 1,000,000 American children each year. It appears that the unnecessary surgery of the past, the tonsillectomy, has been replaced by this new procedure. In fact there is a direct correlation between the decline of the tonsillectomy and the rise of the myringotomy. Over 2 million myringotomy tubes are inserted into children's ears each year, along with 600,000 tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies. These surgeries are unnecessary for most children.

Textbook of Natural Medicine Volumes 1-2 by Joseph E Pizzorno and Michael T Murray, page 1465

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