–Cardiologists fear the new high sensitivity troponin test will lead to lots of unnecessary testing. Along with many other cardiologists, Sek Kathiresan (Massachusetts General Hospital and Broad Institute) is worried that a new and improved diagnostic test will have disastrous unintended effects. Kathiresan expressed his concern on Twitter yesterday in response to my summary of a…
Hospitals, Like Vampires, Want Your Blood
Anyone who has been in the hospital, either as a patient or a healthcare provider, is keenly aware that hospitals perform a lot of tests. It has even been suggested that some of those tests may not be necessary. Now a new study published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery sheds light on just how excessive some of…
Doctor: You’re Going To Have A Heart Attack! Patient: Your Tests Results Are Giving Me A Heart Attack!
Last month I wrote a series of articles (starting here) about HDL, a laboratory company under investigation by the DOJ for giving kickbacks to physicians who use their tests. I reported additional allegations of serious misconduct based on questionable sales, marketing, and billing practices involving unnecessary testing. In response to those articles I’ve received emails from several individuals,…
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