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America's Doctors Are Performing Expensive Procedures That Don't Work (vox.com)

"The proportion of medical procedures unsupported by evidence may be nearly half," writes a professor of public policy at Brown University. An anonymous reader quotes his article in Vox: The recent news that stents inserted in patients with heart disease to keep arteries open work no better than a placebo ought to be shocking. Each year, hundreds of thousands of American patients receive stents for the relief of chest pain, and the cost of the procedure ranges from $11,000 to $41,000 in US hospitals. But in fact, American doctors routinely prescribe medical treatments that are not based on sound science.

The stent controversy serves as a reminder that the United States struggles when it comes to winnowing evidence-based treatments from the ineffective chaff. As surgeon and health care researcher Atul Gawande observes, "Millions of people are receiving drugs that aren't helping them, operations that aren't going to make them better, and scans and tests that do nothing beneficial for them, and often cause harm"... Estimates vary about what fraction of the treatments provided to patients is supported by adequate evidence, but some reviews place the figure at under half.

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  1. Re: Kind of like when Russia rigged the US electio by kenh · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    So the Russians influenced Democrat voters in several key states - states the Clinton campaign ignored in the general election - to not turn out for their candidate?

    The Russians coerced Clinton into having no clearly articulable vision for America other than her 'superiority' over her opponent?

    The Russians convinced Clinton to call all republicans 'deplorables', hurting her chances to win-over reluctant Republican voters?

    The Russians advised Trump to have a message that resonated with millions of Americans in so-called 'fly-over' country discussing pocketbook issues?

    Did the Russians contrive the Electoral College to thwart Clinton's lopsided vote advantage in certain states?

    Are these the ways Russians 'rigged' the election?

    --
    Ken