Mammography

Unwarranted Surgery due to Results of Mammography:

Mammograms Add to Cancer Risk Mammography exposes the breast to damaging ionizing radiation. High Rate of False Positives Mammography's high rate of false positive test results wastes money and creates unnecessary emotional trauma. A Swedish study of 60,000 women, aged 40-64, who were screened for breast cancer revealed that of the 726 actually referred to oncologists for treatment, 70% were found to be cancer free. According to The Lancet, of the 5% of mammograms that suggest further testing, up to 93% are false positives. The Lancet report further noted that because the great majority of positive screenings are false positives, these inaccurate results lead to many unnecessary biopsies and other invasive surgical procedures. In fact, 70% to 80% of all positive mammograms do not, on biopsy, show any presence of cancer. According to some estimates, 90% of these "callbacks" result from unclear readings due to dense overlying breast tissue. High Rate of False Negatives Mammography also produces a high rate of false negative test results.

Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 588

Breast Cancer type of abnormality found and the age of the woman. Usually the follow up tests begin with the least invasive methods, such as an ultrasound or second mammogram, and progress, if necessary, to the more invasive methods, such as a needle or surgical biopsy. A biopsy should spare the tissue, removing just enough tissue to make a diagnosis without being unnecessarily invasive. A woman should not rush from one abnormal screening mammogram or clinical breast exam to a major, invasive surgical procedure or to treatment for breast cancer. Following the series of tests outlined below can ensure that the diagnosis is correct and assist in avoiding unnecessary procedures.

Disease Prevention And Treatment by Life Extension Foundation, page 30

Early detection is currently one of the primary strategies for prevention and successful treatment, which is why the breast self-exam is so important. The benefits of mammography are still a subject of debate. Questions that are still present include whether low level radiation used in the test can contribute to cancer, whether equivocal results lead to unnecessary surgery, and the accuracy rate of test results.

Treating Cancer With Herbs by Michael Tierra ND, page 467

Equivocal mammogram results lead to unnecessary surgery, and the accuracy rate of mammograms is poor. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in women ages 40-49, there is a high rate of "missed tumors," resulting in 40% false-negative mammogram results. Breast tissue in younger women is denser, which makes it more difficult to detect tumors, and tumors grow more quickly in younger women, so cancer may develop between screenings.

Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 973

Corruption and Unjustified Surgery ($):

Doctors and hospitals are paid more for doing more, largely without regard for evidence of improved health outcomes examples are the rapid increase in the number of M.R.I. machines, excess capacity for neonatology and invasive cardiac procedures that lead to excess use, and the approximately 12,000 deaths that occur each year as the result of unnecessary surgery. Health care providers that deliver high quality, efficient care are financially penalized for not delivering a higher volume of more intensive services, beneficial or not referred to as the "perverse incentive".

Overdosed America by John Abramson MD, page 256

We could do much more to lower costs, such as practicing scientifically based medicine, but it's like combating an epidemic. There is such a strong incentive, as with the pharmaceutical industry and surgical sub specialists, to keep prices and profits or incomes high. It will likely require a major change in how we organize health care in America to effect any meaningful change. If we were really to practice scientifically based medicine, the cost savings would be great. We order and do so many unnecessary tests and procedures, and our prescribing patterns are illogical and expensive.

Health Care Meltdown by Robert H Lebow MD, page 57

Most health problems are not emergencies. To treat them as though they were chronic, recurrent emergencies, which is the way medicine is often practiced today, is costly, time consuming and generally ineffective. It causes many problems, often more than it relieves, and these are sometimes deadly. Side effects of medications kill more people annually than automobile accidents. Unnecessary surgery (heart disease and other conditions) has significant mortality while it also drives up health care costs. This approach to health care also takes the power and responsibility for your health out of your control.

The Vitamin Revolution by Michael Janson, page 200

Clinical care, which was improving, is now being subject to new rules, systems, and regulations from the outside, which punish both good medicine and good doctors. Surgery is still too often unnecessary. Medical fraud, always a small problem, has become near epidemic. American hospitals are adrift, struggling against empty beds, fierce competition, and massive confusion.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 254

Surgery is similarly a vastly lucrative practice, acting as the third financial mooring in the tripod of cancer treatments. The more radical the operation, the more costly. Since surgeons are rewarded monetarily for the magnitude of their handiwork, excess becomes a perverse incentive for financial success. The amount of unnecessary surgery is high. As early as 1953, Dr. Paul Hawley, director of the American College of Surgeons, stated matter-of-factly in an interview in U.S. News and World Report, "You'd be shocked, I think we are at the amount of unnecessary surgery that is performed." The reason, according to Hawley? "Money."

When Healing Becomes A Crime by Kenny Ausubel, page 268

The technique, called "Focused Appendix CT" or FACT, could eliminate this type of unnecessary surgery at least in the hands of honest surgeons. Unlike other doctors, surgeons are not content to live on forty dollars per patient visit. Many still see the operating table as a chance for the brass ring the new SL600 Mercedes coupe for $139,000, or even the down payment on a piece of land in Southampton or Malibu.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 180

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