Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Pithy (HT: Mickey Kaus):
Here is a handy-dandy way to determine whether the failure to order some exam or treatment constitutes rationing: If the patient were the president, would he get it? If he'd get it and you wouldn't, it's rationing.
I agree, but let me approach this from another angle. Perhaps the next time a doctor recommends a test, procedure, or drug to me, I should ask, "If I were a CEO, and my time and productivity were very valuable, would you still recommend this?" I want to avoid long-shot treatments of dubious benefit. I hope, for the President's sake, that he feels the same way.

To overtreat is not to err on the side of caution. Medical errors kill 200,000 Americans every year.

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