Health Advances May Not Mean Good Health

(CBS)  Americans are taking more pills, having more procedures and getting more scans than ever before. But is more health care making us healthier?

"More is not always better. These technologies can offer benefit but too much of them can certainly lead to harm," said Dr. Elliot Fisher, director of population health and policy at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

Fisher is referring to the use of CAT scans, PET scans and MRIs - imaging tests that have more than tripled in 10 years, reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.

The benefit is earlier diagnoses. The problem - an estimated 35 percent of scans are unnecessary, often leading to radiation exposure and more tests.

"If I were a patient, I'd ask two questions: 'Help me understand the risks and benefits of these procedures? And by the way doctor, do you have a financial interest in ordering this particular test?'" asked Fisher.

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Prescription drug use has also exploded. The percentage of people taking three or more medications has almost doubled - from 11 percent between 1988 and 1994 to 21 percent between 2003 and 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That has benefits and risks.

For example, while the number of adults taking cholesterol-lowering statins has jumped tenfold, a benefit may be that the deaths linked to heart disease have plunged by more than 22 percent from 2000 to 2006.

But experts warn popping pills can't replace healthy habits.

"It's easy and attractive to take a pill [and] often they make a big difference, but they're never enough," said Dr. Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. "We have to learn how to be more physically active. We have to learn how to eat less and eat more healthy food."

Now that Americans are living into their late 70s, more are replacing worn-out parts.

In the last 10 years, the number of people receiving knee replacements increased 70 percent. Experts say that procedures like knee and hip replacements are overdone.

It's clear that technology has its benefits. But it's also clear that throwing money at pills and procedures can't buy good health.

"Our data would suggest that we're not getting our money's worth," said Fried.

To help patients get their money's worth, doctors need to clearly explain the pros and cons of everything they suggest. And that includes helping then understand that sometimes the best option is … nothing at all.

[formrusmcsgt]

This whole "ask your doctor" campaign by big pharma is a sham.

They encourage patients to pester their doctor for more meds whether they're indicated or not. The doctor is faced with caving or run the risk of losing his patients to docs who will.

Meds should not be advertised like candy.

Period.

[mammographer]

As mentioned in the article, the CDC report covers from 1996 to 2007. There was a significant drop in utilization of CAT scans, MRI, and PET scans in 2009 that has been reported but often overlooked. Dr. Eliot Fisher's advice is still good advice.

[lakota2012]

It's clear that technology has its benefits. But it's also clear that throwing money at pills and procedures can't buy good health.

Our data would suggest that we're not getting our money's worth.
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Of course not.....$2.5 Trillion per year for a 37th in the world ranking in health care -- a whopping $7,000 per person when other industrialized countries spend about $3,500 for much better results!

Our health care system is as severely broken as our political system!

[ajb723]

The time is long overdue to take another look at the overtesting and overtreatment which is so commonplace. I am a primary care physician and I see on a daily basis the pressure to prescribe medication for every symptom and to order expensive scans where they are not indicated. CAT scans are grossly overused to evaluate back pain. Antibiotics are routinely given for upper respiratory infections (colds, bronchitis) which are caused by viruses and thus are unaffected by antibiotics. Emergency rooms order CAT scans of the head for nearly everyone with a headache, satisfying patient expectations and decreasing the chance of missing some rare disease which might lead to a lawsuit. We pay more per capita for health care in this country , but we do not get our money's worth.

[lbsghd]

It's not just satisfying patient's expectations. It's also the doctor's trying to protect themselves from a potential lawsuit. Medical malpractice must be controlled and the threat of frivolous lawsuits decreased if there is to be a meaningful decrease in the number of unnecessary tests ordered.

[riser310]

This is one of the most confusing CBS segments on health yet. It leads me to question what interest group is behind you. There obviously must be an alterior motive behind a segment which clearly is designed to confuse and mislead the american public. First, an increased american life span is heralded, then segments with the increased use of therapies and patients appreciative use of them including statistics showing decreased death rates, Then broad unspecific statements that the tests that resulted in these treatment modalities were deemed " unnecessary" without defining the criteria for assigning the judgment unnecessary. Finally you bring up the issue of " you paying the price" when the majority of medicare recipients are not bearing the large burden of these costs.
Who demands of CBS that it cannot present an difficult yet accurate picture. Advances in technology and pharmaceuticals can have a major impact on quality of life and life expectancy when applied to a large number of aging, overweight, out of shape americans. This is going to cost an ever increasing amount of the federal entitlement program, which is already projected to increase the defecit. Preventitive care, including deit improvement, excercise and regular MD visits, have not been shown to reduce costs, and logically, only will increase a persons healthy years, and just delay the time when they too will consume an increasing proportion of GDP in taking more tests, consuming more drugs, getting more body part replacements and bypasses, until they too will meet our common fate. They will have lived a few years longer than the decade before them at a great expense. When the world stops financing our deficit, the taxpayer will have to step in. Will they agree to that?

[LaJollaBarry]

This report, on the alleged overuse of drugs and procedures, is another example of LaPook basically expressing his bias without a study to back him up and just using other medical people expressing general opinions that seem to support his generalizations. This report is a good example of why CBS News should more closely monitor LaPook's work: He may have been a decent GI specialist for Katie but he is not much of a journalist.

[marty98]

The Dr LaPook segment is revealing in what America is doing to stay well without the work that it takes, that is diet, exercise and the changing of unsafe habits. However, one problem shortly afterwards 3 ads were run. Yes its income but they could have been rescheduled for another slot. One ad featuring an osteo drug, another on a pharmacy with drug pricing policy and another anti-acid drug which use to be scrip only is now OTC. Unfortunately these ads increase the probability of doing as suggested, asking your doctor or just going to the pharmacy and get this free or buy this anti-acid. We are getting more drugged just through suggestion.