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pros and cons to health screenings.
pros and cons to health screenings.
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1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the Issue Health screening is often thought of as the key to early diagnosis and treatment of illnesses – if a disease is spotted early, successful treatment is more likely. However, in reality, there are several complications behind medical screening tests that most patients have not had the opportunity to understand. In many cases it holds true that doctors and researchers have long known the consequences of certain medical tests, but this information has not been relayed to patients (Mc Cartney, 2014; “When to Say ‘Whoa!’ to Doctors,” 2012). 1.2 Recent Developments The belief that medical screening is essentially beneficial for health has been brought about by the recent influx of new treatments and technologies into the market (Begley & Sharon, 2011). As private-sector medical tests become increasingly common in countries like the UK, doctors now warn patients that these tests may actually bring about more harm than good (Bhattacharya, 2005; Dixon, 2013; Mc Cartney, 2014). Studies have concluded that several medical tests, like the Prostrate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test, do not actually offer any overall benefits. However, these tests continue to be recommended without clear explanations about their benefits (Mc Cartney, 2014). 1.3 Research Question In light of these recent developments, it is now of great importance to find out: Does health screening do more harm than good to patients? 1.4 Thesis Statement Health screening is, undoubtedly, more harmful than beneficial to patients by and large, because it leads to overdiagnosis, unwanted side effects as well as unnecessary expenditure on treatment. 1.5 Scope of the report This report describes the current situation in the medical scene – th... ... middle of paper ... ... warn of harmful medical screening. Retrieved from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7889-doctors-warn-of-harmful-medical-screening.html Dixon, H. (2013, August 19). NHS MOT health checks are ‘useless’, experts claim. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10253660/NHS-MOT-health-checks-are-useless-experts-claim.html Geraci, R., Gordon, D., Gower, T., Harrar, S. & Paturel, A. (2008). What works, what doesn’t. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest. Mc Cartney, M. (2014, January 3). Patients deserve the truth: Health screening can do more harm than good. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/jan/03/patients-truth-health-screening-harm-good When to say ‘Whoa!’ to doctors. (2012, June). Consumer Reports Health. Retrieved from http://consumerhealthchoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ChoosingWiselyWhoaPkg.pdf
The unknown is commonly something that people fear, but what happens when intelligent individuals dare to uncover the facts within it? The answer to this question is that remarkable discoveries are made that change human knowledge, technology, and health forever. Possibly the most beneficial of these discoveries are the ones involving the betterment of human health. Doctors and scientists are often viewed as the most intellectual people in the world’s communities, but they are still human and therefore prone to error. However, Morton A. Meyers’s book Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs explores the various positive outcomes that arose from human error. Specifically, Meyers writes about the diverse serendipitous breakthroughs
The debate over public disclosure often pits consumers, insurance carriers, and health maintenance organizations (the payers) against healthcare providers. The payers want performance data made available so that they can be better purchasers of healthcare services. Healthcare providers are concerned that the data may be flawed and misleading. Personnel at healthcare institutions also are concerned about the additional cost for resources that will have to be expended to collect the required data. The stakes may be even higher because results of these analyses conceivably can be used by health plans to choose among competing providers or incorporated into the reimbursement process (pay for performance). [Nevertheless,] support comes from consumer advocates/advocacy groups arguing for publicly available data, on the basis of a right to know,/who argue the public has the right to be informed, and from others who view HAI as preventable and hope public disclosure will delivers an incentive to healthcare providers and institutions to improve their
The patient should have confident and trust in their doctor, but the doctor must also recognize that the patient is entitled to have an attitude to illness and his preferred way of tackling this (Turner-Warwick, 1994). Buchanan infers that paternalism eliminates an individual’s power of making their own choices and thus pressed into making decisions. To achieve public health goals, greater considerations must be directed toward promoting a mutual understanding of a just society (Buchanan, 2008). So, if people are given the choice to make certain decision over another, then they are still granted freedom of choice. Buchanan identifies 3 arguments in justifying paternalistic actions: informed consent, weak paternalism, and utilitarianism. To support his argument of informed consent, Buchanan admits there is no significant ethical concern because an individual may reach out to the professional for help, but it is problematic when an intervention is targeting the entire population (Buchanan, 2008). This point of view from Buchanan is flawed and completely limits what public health is all about. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines public health as “what we, as a society, do collectively to assure the conditions for people to be healthy.” With its use of the phrase “we, as a society,” the IOM emphasizes cooperative and mutually shared obligation and it also reinforces the notion that collective
Page-Reeves, J., Niforatos, J., Mishra, S., Regino, L., Gingrich, A., & Bulten, J. (2011). Health
The most common medical malpractice claims are mainly from missed diagnoses. Their common result was, unfortunately, death, found in fifteen percent and forty eight percent of the cases filed. Most common cases involving missed diagnoses for adults were cancer and heart attacks (Jaslow). Other cases that were common were ectopic pregnancies, appendicitis, and fractures of the bone. Most missed diagnoses involving children were cancers, and meningitis (Jaslow). On account to this, Doctor Richard E. Anderson, chairman and CEO of the physician-operated medical malpractice insurer, The Doctors Company, says, “nobody benefits but lawyers…But the second message is [that] medical care is too expensive, we’re ordering too many tests” (Jaslow). Stated from the quote above, “too many tests” appear to be unnecessary and unwanted tests. Apart from this, some cases regarded the patient’s lack of attention to their disease or disorder. Not only is it the doctor’s responsibility to look after the patient, but it is also the patient’s responsibility to be attentive and persistent about their health and the health care provide...
There have been many documented cases of doctors being falsely accused from behaving inappropriately during intimate examinations. It could be argued that a chaperone should be recommended for physical examinations of all parts of the patient’s body. Doctors have extensively been advised to have a chaperone present during any physical intimate examinations to provide protection to the doctor against false allegations. But the frequency of chaperone utilization in health clinics has generally remained low in the United States. For years now there has been a heated debate whether or not chaperones should be present during intimate examinations and every time the argument is rekindled, it ends in a stalemate, and is a topic that tends to stay away from (1.2). However, chaperones should be present during an intimate examination to provide protection to health care professionals against false allegation.
This can potentially be a problem as all humans are different, and therefore each case is different. Race can sometimes be a misleading factor that leads to a false, premature diagnosis but this is so rare. When diagnosing a disease, medical professionals send results into a lab to be tested. Stating that knowing the race of a patient often causes misdiagnoses is absurd.
Doctors, hospitals and other care providers dispute that they should have access to the medical records and other health information of any patient citing that they need this information to provide the best possible treatment for proper planning. Insurers on the other hand claim they must have personal health information in order to properly process claims and pay for the care. They also insist that this will provide protection against fraud. Government authorities make the same arguments saying that in providing taxpayer-funded coverage to its citizens, it has the right to know what it is paying for and to protect against fraud and abuse. Researchers both medical and none nonmedical have the same argument saying that they need access to these information so as to improve the quality of care, conduct studies that will make healthcare more effective and produce new products and therapies (Easthope 2005).
Siegel, L.J., Brown, P., & Hoffman, R. (2013).CRIM 2nd edition. Toronto, Canada: Nelson Publishers. pp. 203-205
When it comes to genetic diseases and conditions, testing can be very helpful and serve a good purpose. People with diseases that are inheritable to their children are encouraged to be tested. For example, in the article about Jewish testing, it says
Discrimination in health care is an ethical issue focused on age, gender, income, chronic illness, and ethnic disparities. Discrimination occurs when a group of individuals are highly favored above another, either consciously or not. In Carolyn Clancy’s speech, she addresses this issue of “It makes a difference in people’s lives when breast cancer is diagnosed early with timely mammography; when a patient suffering from a heart attack is given the correct lifesaving treatment in a timely fashion; when medications are correctly administered; and when doctors listen to their patients and their families, show them respect, and answer their questions” (Clancy, pp. 3). It is very interesting to see that knowing is able to cure treatment, but minorities especially blacks face breasts cancer in the worse manner due to not having the right resources for treatment. Whether the issues of direct or indirect discrimination occurs, these actions affect the lives of working Americans and their right to receive quality healthcare. In a the research article it mentioned that, healthcare providers’ assessment and treatment decisions are based off their feelings about patients, which is usually influenced by patients’ race or ethnicity. (Nelson, pp. 5) Relationships between race or ethnicity and treatment decisions are complex, they are usually influenced by
Wood, W. M., Karvonen, M., Test, D. W., Browder, D., & Algozzine, B. (2004). Promoting
In recent years, genetic testing has become a popular topic in the media. Usually involving cheek swabs, blood samples, or amniotic fluid samples, the procedure is relatively simple and can help diagnose genetic disorders, determine ideal medication types, or simply determine the patient’s heritage. It has saved many lives from cancer and other afflictions, but to say that genetic testing is always the correct choice is false. There are many issues with the tests, considering that they are new to the medical world. Genetic testing is mostly harmful because of privacy concerns, how underdeveloped it is, and the risk of it pushing a mother to abort her child.
Genetic testing by employers is where DNA, proteins and any other chromosomes are detected for any mutations. The aim in this is to find any forms of cancer, sickle cell or other diseases. When it comes to being employed, it helps to forecast any illnesses that is followed by the temptation for employers to decide whether hiring is worth it based on the information from the testing. The test provides only a little amount of information about the condition the person being employed has inherited. It can not provide information about whether or not the person will show symptoms or whether it will affect the job. “Genetic mutations can have harmful, beneficial, neutral (no effect), or uncertain effects on health. Mutations that are harmful may increase a person's chance, or risk, of developing a disease such as cancer. Overall, inherited mutations are thought to play a role in about 5 to 10 percent of all cancers.”(8) Throughout my essay i will state the implications of Genetic testing in the workplace, the different viewpoints on genetic testing (both for and against, my personal opinion of the topic and strategies that could work in various forms.
Stohr, M., Walsh, A., & Hemmens, C. (2013). Corrections: A Text/Reader (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.