We are fortunate to benefit from dramatic new advances in medicine that have undoubtedly saved and improved countless lives. But the new advancements do not always provide better care for everyone. Some of the reliable older treatment might still be the best choice for some patients.
Heart stents, for example, have saved numerous lives since their introduction, yet evidence now indicates that stents are being overused with some dangerous outcomes. The procedure for placing a stent is quite invasive: It requires an angioplasty, can be painful, and is not without side effects. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that it is less expensive and just as effective to treat many heart attack patients with drugs instead of angioplasty with stent. Researchers found that the stents were unnecessary in many cases and that those receiving the drug treatment only had a slightly longer life expectancy. Other studies found the overuse of unnecessary stents is leading to thousands of heart attacks and deaths each year. Unnecessary use of heart stents is also expensive—providing unnecessary stents to the 100,000 heart attack patients in the United States that do not need them costs $700 million a year.
Researchers estimate that the cost of overuse of spinal surgery for low back pain is even more expensive than stents, and exceeds $11 billion each year. Another study estimates that 70 percent of the women receiving a hysterectomy did not need this major abdominal surgery and would have benefited from less severe therapies. In this case nearly 450,000 women undergo an unnecessary surgery, which requires weeks of recovery, at the cost of an additional $1.1 billion each year.
Heart stents, for example, have saved numerous lives since their introduction, yet evidence now indicates that stents are being overused with some dangerous outcomes. The procedure for placing a stent is quite invasive: It requires an angioplasty, can be painful, and is not without side effects. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that it is less expensive and just as effective to treat many heart attack patients with drugs instead of angioplasty with stent. Researchers found that the stents were unnecessary in many cases and that those receiving the drug treatment only had a slightly longer life expectancy. Other studies found the overuse of unnecessary stents is leading to thousands of heart attacks and deaths each year. Unnecessary use of heart stents is also expensive—providing unnecessary stents to the 100,000 heart attack patients in the United States that do not need them costs $700 million a year.
Researchers estimate that the cost of overuse of spinal surgery for low back pain is even more expensive than stents, and exceeds $11 billion each year. Another study estimates that 70 percent of the women receiving a hysterectomy did not need this major abdominal surgery and would have benefited from less severe therapies. In this case nearly 450,000 women undergo an unnecessary surgery, which requires weeks of recovery, at the cost of an additional $1.1 billion each year.
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