Monday, November 23, 2009

Raising the age for mammograms and the maginalization of self examinations.

In a recent decision, a government medical taskforce suggests that women have mammograms after the age of fifty and not before and marginalizes self examination. The idea is that the tests are unnecessary and in fact lead to more stress and complications for the general public. This is a view arguably that seeks to find what is best for the masses and not the individual. For many individuals early testing and self examinations have helped prevent disease. Some argue that it is meant to help insurance companies who can now choose not to cover such services since many local doctors and health organizations in practice promote the idea of early examinations. Others argue that this is the politics of rationing care that parallels what has been done in Europe.

If all politics is local, many health issues can be considered to be of a personal and individual nature. This seems to be a subversion of the oath doctors take to do their patients no harm. Doctors treat individual patients and not an anonymous public. People should be encouraged to take preventative measures and the means of doing so should be improved.

2 comments:

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Others argue that this is the politics of rationing care that parallels what has been done in Europe.

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