Today, I dutifully attended to my wife after she endured one of those invasive procedures "recommended" by the medical community for all of us after age 50. In recovery, her doctor asked me when he could schedule ME for that same procedure and I answered "Never." He seemed a bit surprised by my response and asked why I would resist such a beneficial check-up. I responded:

"Doctor, you medical people do a great job of scaring the Hell out of healthy people, especially women. You throw out frightening statistics and provide graphic examples of the horrors of cancer. Your fear mongering causes some people to submit to procedures that they DON'T need! You engage in theft of medical dollars and help drive up insurance premiums to levels that many people and small businesses can't afford. You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

He defended his profession by throwing out statistics (typical fear campaign...he noted that 1 in 19 people will have colorectal cancer in their lifetimes.

I responded, "So, that means, 94% of your billings were a waste of money."

He continued to defend the practice by saying how almost half of the cancer cases that are detected can be "cured" (then he added "...for at least 5 years...") if they are caught early.

I argued, "Since the other half of the cancers that you detect still end up in death within 5 years, then your efforts only benefit 1 in 38! That means you wasted nearly $100,000 of insurance money (at $3000 per procedure) on the 37 unnecessary procedures. It's a greater waste than I thought."

He finally told me the truth. He said it didn't matter to him how much it cost. He would be willing to bankrupt an insurance company to save just one life. Doctors claim to be engaging in these wasteful practices in an effort to reach some Utopian ideal...one which coincidentally provides them with tremendous compensation for all those unnecessary procedures. And, they don't care how difficult it is becoming for people to pay their premiums.

By the way, this doctor drove up to the facility in a new Maserati. I was sitting in my vehicle eating lunch in the patient parking area when he drove past me. When he parked in the "doctor's designated parking", he was next to a Ferrari on one side and a Landrover on the other. That is the REAL incentive for all those "check-ups."

The other thing I noticed was that in the two hours while I sat in the waiting room, 11 out of 12 patients for this procedure were women! Women have been sold this same "preventive" scare theme for years in the female check-up categories. Naturally, they are easy victims for this latest professional medical scam. Men don't seem to scare as easily.

Personally, I think everybody should refuse these outrageous "check-up" procedures. If you have actual symptoms like rectal bleeding or elevated protein levels in a simple blood test (proteins are thrown off by cancers and often those protein levels are elevated long before the cancer is large enough to be detected) then, by all means, get the colonoscopy. But, let's stop these doctors from using scare tactics to buy more Maseratis.

BTW - my frightened wife, who bought into the doctor's fear mongering, was 100% fine . . . just as I told her she would be. It was a waste of our money but there was not much I could do about it because he had her so paranoid. The medical community fear tactics worked their magic on her. Yes, I DID tell her "I told you so." in the recovery room. And, I told the doctor and his nurse that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for stealing from us and the insurance company.

He didn't continue pushing me for a check-up . . . LOL!

Nicely done. It's amazing how easily the unnecessary can become "necessary."

Wow, I actually learned something today! Wish I had something smarter to say, but I don't, so...

Hopefully I'll remember this when I'm wicked old and don't get scared out of a buncha money. Thanks, NaCl :)

I agree that the medical community has corruption, most people don't end up getting sick, people shouldn't be made afraid of sickness, the procedure can be intrusive, and it takes time. But that's all okay since it helps people. The decison is yours, but I reccomend you choose wisely. It might be important.

Good job NaCl. My father's a doctor, so we get to go around different doctors and medical communities. All liars and forges. My Dad, being a doctor, might've given me less than quarter the pills doctors have prescribed in one month to a patient. :p

The only problem is, what if the person did have something wrong with them? And they didn't know because they didn't have the check-up?

You might actually be able to pay for treatment.

If this was some new-fangled creation by doctors, I might've agreed with you.

I'd rather be safe, spot it in the early stages, and treat it then. The symptoms you described aren't always the symptoms for everyone. Other symptoms of colorectal cancer: constipation and cramps. Additionally, not everyone takes the time to check what they delivered after every trip to the toilet.

I'm sorry that you feel ripped off by this, but I'm sure that the people who did have something turn up during their colonoscopy, and were able to get the proper treatment before the cancer metasticized, don't.

The only problem with this NaCi is that my doctor gave me the whole scare tactic routine. Only to find out that there was something seriously wrong. If it weren't for his scare tactics, I would never have known and it could have been a lot more serious than it was.

This is the case for many women. A friend of mine had never been ill for many years. Not even a slight sniffly nose. Her doctor gave her the scare tactics and that is when she found out she had cancer. She had treatment and was fine.

Another of my friends had the scare tactics thrown at her... sadly she passed away 4 months later after going back to her husband and her other children. She had a mere 2 months with them before she passed away. If she had of got checked up sooner, there may have been more they could have done.

While you say it is a waste of time, many peoples lives are saved through this, many others die because they didn't ever bother. It is there to help prevent seriuos complications. Would you rather have a doctor tell you now that you are ok, or 2 years down the track go to him with symptoms and have him say you are dying, but if you had of come 12 months ago, we could have really helped you out?

Think about... yeah, so they don't give a stuff if it costs you more at the end of the day, but they are making sure you aren't going to drop dead tomorrow.

Invasive procedures do save lives. Some people realyl don't have symptoms and they don't know they are ill until it is too late, because they never get a check-up.

1 in 19 is a pretty high rate. And the statistic could be much higher for people over 50. And other factors should be considered (Family history, personal risk factors). Maybe there should be more information present before one makes a decision either way; if a doctor suggested it, it could be worth doing research into first. (And while he does make a profit off these, he doesn't set the price, really.) Although after ten years of expensive schooling, I would want to be able to drive a Ferrari, too.

Kudos for your math skills, by the way, if you were able to reel off all those numbers in his office.

Money means nothing if your dead. In my opinion it is worth the money...even if it does "just" save one life. Imagine if that one persons life it saves was your wifes.
Better safe than sorry.

good Show NaCl.

I am glad you stood up for yourself and did not let people use fear tactics to dictate your life.

You did the right thing and I am proud of you!