Saturday, March 31, 2012

Rise of Medical Expertocracy

3/31/12.

Drs. Pamela Hartzband and Jerome Groopman:

"Should everyone take vitamin D, and if so, how much? At what age and how often should a woman have a mammogram? Should a healthy man be screened for prostate cancer, and if cancer is diagnosed, how should he be treated?..."

"...For patients and experts alike, there is a subjective core to every medical decision. The truth is that, despite many advances, much of medicine still exists in a gray zone where there is not one right answer. No one can say with certainty who will benefit by taking a certain drug and who will not. Nor can we say with certainty what impact a medical condition will have on someone's life or how they might experience a treatment's side effects. The path to maintaining or regaining health is not the same for everyone; our preferences really do matter..."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577311641531125820.html?KEYWORDS=groopman

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