Overdiagnosed, Steven Woloshin, MD
Overdiagnosed, Steven Woloshin, MD
3 Rating(s)
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Overdiagnosed
Making People Sick in Pursuit of Health

Author: Steven Woloshin, MD, Lisa M. Schwartz, MD, H. Gilbert Welch, MD

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Unabridged: 9 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/11/2012

Categories: Nonfiction, Medical


Synopsis

Going against the conventional wisdom reinforced by the medical establishment and Big Pharma that more screening is the best preventative medicine, Dr. Gilbert Welch builds a compelling counterargument that what we need are fewer, not more, diagnoses. Documenting the excesses of American medical practice that labels far too many of us as sick, Welch examines the social, ethical, and economic ramifications of a health-care system that unnecessarily diagnoses and treats patients, most of whom will not benefit from treatment, might be harmed by it, and would arguably be better off without screening.
 
 Drawing on twenty-five years of medical practice and research, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch and his colleagues, Dr. Lisa M. Schwartz and Dr. Steven Woloshin, have studied the effects of screenings and presumed preventative measures for disease and “pre-disease.” Examining the social, medical, and economic ramifications of a health care system that unnecessarily diagnoses and treats patients, Welch makes a reasoned call for change that would save us from countless unneeded surgeries, debilitating anxiety, and exorbitant costs.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on July 31, 2016

More than 35 years ago my father died, too young, from pancreatic cancer. I learned at a young age that there were benign tumors and malignant tumors but I've always held the belief that if I have cancer in my body I want it removed. And sooner rather than later. And I would want to know as soon as......more

Goodreads review by Jodi on April 09, 2011

If you are interested in America's health care system, you should read this book. The authors are practicing physicians and bring both real world experience and an MD level understanding of clinical trials. We are moving from treating sick people that have definite symptoms to looking at healthy peo......more

Goodreads review by Mark on August 24, 2017

I've always liked technical papers that have a graphic in them that summarizes the whole paper. Dr. Welch and his coauthors' sobering look at over-diagnosis can be summarized with one graph that they present in the opening chapters: We've been screening for more and more in asymptomatic patients in t......more