A coalition of doctor and consumer groups says Americans get too many unnecessary medical tests and treatments. The Choosing Wisely Initiative has just released a list of tests and procedures that they say doctors should prescribe less frequently. But some of the recommendations -- for example that patients debilitated with advanced cancer shouldn't get chemotherapy -- are likely to cause concern.
We discuss the initiative, and whether patients really do want fewer tests.
- More: About the Choosing Wisely Initiative - at ChoosingWisely.org
- More: Doctors Urge Their Colleagues To Quit Doing Worthless Tests - from NPR's Shots blog
- More: Read lists of "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question" - from nine different societies representing 374,000 physicians, at ChoosingWisely.org