A number of articles are questioning whether surgery may be the right option at the right time. These articles shed light on a topic that may be on your mind.

The costs of unnecessary surgery - Vital Signs

“Imagine undergoing surgery, being in pain and out of commission for several days or weeks, not to mention missing work and time with your family – and then finding out your operation was completely unnecessary.”

Unnecessary Surgery - National Center for Biotechnology Information

“The extent of unnecessary surgery has been the object of considerable speculation and occasional wild accusation in recent years.”

Australians are undergoing unnecessary surgery - here’s what we can do about it

Despite the references to Australia, much of the article is pertinent to this country, as well.

“For decades, clinicians and researchers have been concerned about patients getting treatments, including operations, that don’t work. As well as failing to treat the original health problem, ineffective care exposes patients to complications and side-effects and waste precious health-care resources.

“Yet while many clinicians believe there is a problem, the policy response has been limited. It is often hard to isolate treatment choices that are inappropriate. A choice that is wrong in one case may be right in another.”

Unnecessary cardiac procedures?

“A U.S. News analysis finds some doctors may be putting patients at risk - and reaping the benefits in Medicare payments.”

Overkill - An avalanche of unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically and financially. What can we do about it?

The New Yorker Magazine article reports,”The one that got me thinking, however, was a study of more than a million Medicare patients. It suggested that a huge proportion had received care that was simply a waste.”