Nov. 17, 2004 - 19:22 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Back Door ?

There is good news that some are trying to turn into bad news. An article in the Rocky Mountain News this morning by Gina Kolata of The New York Times, in full:

Heart scanner possibly too good

"What if doctors had a new way to diagnose heart disease that took only seconds and provided pictures so clear it showed every clogged artery and so detailed that it was like holding a living heart in your hand ?"

"In fact, that new way exists, is coming into use in scattered areas of the country, and there is wide agreement that it will revolutionize cardiology."

"But there is hardly wide agreement over whether this new technique, known as multidetector CT scans of the heart, is a good thing or a bad thing."

"The scans can largely replace angiograms, the expensive, onerous way of looking for blockages in arteries, and can make diagnosis so easy that doctors would not hesitate to use them. They are expected to cost about $700, compared with about $4,000 for a diagnostic angiogram. They take seconds and require no recuperation time."

"The scans can also see not just the outline of the blood vessels but every detail inside and out."

"But critics say, "the technology is ripe for overuse, with doctors scanning people who do not need to be scanned and finding, and fixing medical problems that do not need to be fixed."

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Oh well, some of my opinions on the subject.

This seems to be a remarkable advance in medical science which will benefit mankind immensely. Both the heart and the pocketbook.

But the nay-sayers are busy stirring up doubts right and left.

I think it is a pretty well established fact that some unscrupulous doctors are already padding their bills doing unnecessary procedures and tests as well as surgeries. So what the heck is new ?

Should we forbid the use of the X-ray machine, surgery, radiation and all procedures just because one or a few doctors are misusing what is available to fill their own pockets ?

Is this a bunch of squirrely, off the wall armchair experts making trouble ? From what I have read, most things like that are under hospital review and inspection. Or am I wrong ? If not it should be, I think.

If people had listened to that type of person in prehistory any method of relieving pain or treatment of wounds would have been shot down in flames before its good could be proven.

All well and good, medical science is minding the store, but who is watching our Back Door ? . . . . . . . .

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