Thousands Taking Unneeded Health Tests

Thousands of healthy people lured by celebrity endorsements are taking expensive private medical tests which they do not need and may even do them harm, British doctors said.

In Britain alone last year 65 million pounds was spent on private health screening and the business is booming across the rich developed nations, British Medical Association president Charles George said.

"It is big business. The independent sector has seen a market and is exploiting it," he said presenting a report -- Population Screening and Genetic Testing -- critical of the private screening sector.

"This is to the benefit of their wallets and little else. It is very rare that any problems will be picked up," he added.

The BMA said private screening often examined healthy people who wanted reassurance and could produce misleading results if it did not take account of people's backgrounds and their likelihood of developing certain diseases.

It said not only did false positive results cause trauma and sometimes lead to unnecessary and painful surgery, but the computerized CT scans using special X-ray equipment could cause harm as they emitted much more radiation than a normal X-ray.

The BMA did not offer any specific explanation for the boom in the global business, but George referred to growing numbers of what he called the "worried well" -- people concerned about their health but lacking information.

Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's director of professional activities, said testing should be targeted where it was most effective -- on ethnic or age groups known to be at risk.

She called for ad hoc testing to be properly regulated to ensure quality and for the public to be fully informed about the potential risks and benefits.

"These tests have very low benefits related to the risks," she said.

She expressed deep concern about genetic screening tests performed without proper counseling that could not only traumatize the individual but also members of their family and even be used by life insurance companies to refuse cover.

Reference Source 108
August 23, 2005

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