Unnecessary surgery exposed! Why 60% of all surgeries are medically unjustified

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Unnecessary surgery exposed! Why 60% of all surgeries are medically

unjustified and how surgeons exploit patients to generate profits

 

 

Every year millions of Americans go under the knife, but many of them

are enduring great pain and shelling out thousands of dollars for

surgeries they don't really need. In fact, the only people who seem to

really benefit from these unnecessary medical procedures are the

medical professionals who stand to make exorbitant amounts of money

from performing them.

 

An estimated 7.5 million unnecessary medical and surgical procedures

are performed each year, writes Gary Null, PhD., in Death by Medicine.

Rather than reverse the problems they purport to fix, these

unwarranted procedures can often lead to greater health problems and

even death. A 1995 report by Milliman & Robertson, Inc. concluded that

nearly 60 percent of all surgeries performed are medically

unnecessary, according to Under The Influence of Modern Medicine by

Terry A. Rondberg. Some of the most major and frequently performed

unnecessary surgeries include hysterectomies, Cesarean sections and

coronary artery bypass surgeries.

 

Coronary bypasses are the most common unnecessary surgeries in America

In a nation plagued by heart disease, it often seems that the

knee-jerk reaction of American doctors is to treat heart problems with

surgery. However, many of the heart surgeries performed each year are

unnecessary procedures that could be putting the patients' lives at

greater risk. " (W)hen faced with heart disease, doctors recommend a

bypass. By so doing, we think, they bypass the real problem. Bypasses

are the single most commonly performed unnecessary surgery in the

country, " write Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Mark Liponis in

Ultraprevention. In fact, according to Burton Goldberg, author of

Heart Disease, most coronary artery bypass surgeries and angioplasties

produce no real benefit to the patient and dangerous side effects like

stroke or brain damage may result from the operations. " Coronary

artery bypass surgery is called an 'overprescribed and unnecessary

surgery' by many leading authorities, " Goldberg writes. " Complications

from such treatments are common and the expense to the health care

system is extraordinarily high. In 1994, an estimated 501,000 bypass

surgeries at $44,000 each were performed on Americans, 47 percent of

which were done on men. "

 

Women are at an especially high risk of unnecessary surgery

Women may be at an especially high risk for unwarranted operations,

since hysterectomies and Cesarean sections also top the list of

" overprescribed and unnecessary " surgeries. Of the approximately

750,000 hysterectomies performed each year, 90 percent are

unnecessary, writes Goldberg in Alternative Medicine, making the

removal of a woman's uterus one of the most commonly performed

unnecessary surgeries. And the risk that comes with an unwarranted

hysterectomy is high. " Each year 750,000 hysterectomies are performed

and 2,500 women die during the operation. These are not sick women,

but healthy women who go into the hospital and do not come out, " says

Dr. Herbert Goldfarb, a gynecologist and assistant clinical professor

at New York University's School of Medicine, in Null's Woman's

Encyclopedia Of Natural Healing.

 

Women are also frequently subjected to Caesarean sections they don't

really need. With an estimated 920,000 Cesarean births performed each

year, the Cesarean has become the " most common major surgery in

America " and it is four times more likely a woman will give birth via

cesarean section today than it was in 1970, according to The Medical

Racket by Martin L. Gross. Women are also at special risk for

receiving unwarranted surgeries because of the results of a mammogram,

since the high rate of false positives in mammography often leads to

invasive procedures. Women who do not even have cancer to begin with

are treated for breast cancer, Goldberg writes. That's right: These

women's bodies are carved up and altered and they aren't even sick. So

why does this happen?

 

Needless surgeries mean higher profits for doctors and hospitals

It may seem unfathomable to think a doctor could be so careless as to

perform an operation that doesn't need to be done, but it has been

happening for years, from the more minor routinely- performed

tonsillectomies of the past to the invasive heart procedures,

hysterectomies, back surgeries and more of today. " (T)he reality is

that unnecessary surgery, whether performed by doctors who operate out

of ignorance, self-delusion, or simple greed has long plagued medicine

and today still reaches epidemic proportions. " writes Gross. It may be

hard to stomach the idea that doctors are capable of operating out of

greed for more money, but some feel that is exactly what is happening.

" American physicians are generally way too eager to use the surgeon's

knife to carve up and chop out whatever they think is ailing you, at

great expense to you and great profit to them and the hospitals they

work for, " write Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins in Prescription

Alternatives.

 

When it comes to heart surgeries, Heart Frauds author Dr. Charles T.

McGee writes, " As Harvard professor Braunwald predicted, a financial

empire has developed around surgical procedures on the heart. With so

many powerful vested interests involved, it will be difficult to

change how American doctors treat patients with coronary artery

disease. No one who is currently gaining from the system has any

incentive to try to stop the unnecessary costs and suffering. " In

other words, surgery makes money and surgery is what medical

professionals are trained to do, so rather than exert the time and

energy to try more conservative treatments that could threaten their

very careers, medical professionals often turn to surgery as their

most immediate and financially logical avenue. " The economic incentive

for a physician to operate on you is great. Surgeries make doctors a

lot of money. Doctors are human beings and they are not immune to the

lure of bigger profits, " according to Prescription Medicines, Side

Effects and Natural Alternatives by American Medical Publishing.

 

One extreme case involving a doctor knowingly reaping the financial

benefits of unnecessary surgeries occurred in California, where an

ophthalmologist managed to bill Medicare $46 million over four years

for unwarranted operations he performed on his patients. " According to

the government, he created a 'surgery mill,' in which he falsified

patient records to justify numerous unnecessary cataract and eyelid

operations. In addition to this wholesale theft, he put his patients

through unneeded pain and worry, " writes Gross. It is also important

to note in all of this that unnecessary surgery is not considered

medical malpractice, according to Rondberg in Under the Influence of

Modern Medicine, which makes it even more important for patients to

protect themselves by looking into all possible avenues before going

under the knife.

 

If you imagine for a moment being knocked out, sliced open and having

a part of your body removed for no logical reason, it sounds more like

a nightmare than a visit to the hospital. But that's what is happening

to millions in American hospitals every year. We are having organs and

body parts removed without reason, and for what? Why are we so willing

to give our bodies over to a person wielding a very sharp knife and

some very strong drugs? Maybe it's because we trust that our doctors

will do what is best for us, since, after all, we don't have the

medical training they do. But when it comes to your body and your

health, it's okay to be skeptical and to want all the information you

can get. The bottom line is: Surgery is not something to be taken

lightly. When confronted with the suggestion that you need to go under

the knife, it's important to remember that you have a choice. Don't

just trust one doctor to know what's best for you. Get a second

opinion. It could mean the difference between life and death.

 

The experts speak on unjustified surgery:

 

A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals,

and government health statistics shows that American medicine

frequently causes more harm than good. The number of unnecessary

medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The

number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is

8.9 million.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 10

 

Annually, between 20 million and 25 million surgical procedures are

carried out among all the specialties except plastic surgery. This

study determined that between 15% and 29% were unnecessary. For

example, 27% of the women who had hysterectomies, the second most

common surgery, didn't need the operation!

Health In The 21st Century by Fransisco Contreras MD, page 212

 

Despite what appears to be an attempt by the medical profession to

keep that kind of information from the public, a few reports have

surfaced which show clearly that the problem with unnecessary

surgeries is not a thing of the past. In a 1995 report issued by

Milliman & Robertson, Inc., titled " Analysis of Medically Unnecessary

Inpatient Services, " researchers David V. Axene, FSA and Richard

Doyle, M.D., concluded that " the level of medically unnecessary use

may actually be closer to 60% " (than their previously projected 53%).

This included a variety of surgical procedures as well as associated

services. That same year, the federal government's Agency for Health

Care Policy Research (AHCPR) concluded that most back surgery was

unnecessary. Back surgeons immediately began a campaign to abolish the

agency. Other reports confirm this frightening statistic.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 132

 

Women with urinary incontinence are often advised to get bladder

surgery, even hysterectomies. But this drastic approach may be

completely unnecessary, according to Dr. Hufnagel, who says that women

need to be educated about more conservative treatments for this common

everyday occurrence.

Womans Encyclopedia Of Natural Healing by Dr Gary Null, page 26

 

The Harvard University School of Public Health estimates that as many

as 1.3 million Americans suffer disabling injuries in hospitals

yearly, and 198,000 of those may result in death; 7 out of 10 of which

were preventable (48% from faulty surgery), and 1/3 from negligence.

Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 100

 

Almost thirty years ago, in 1974, the Congressional Committee on

Interstate and Foreign Commerce held hearings on unnecessary surgery.

They found that 17.6% of recommendations for surgery were not

confirmed by a second opinion. The House Subcommittee on Oversight and

Investigations extrapolated these figures and estimated that, on a

nationwide basis, there were 2.4 million unnecessary surgeries

performed annually, resulting in 11,900 deaths at an annual cost of

$3.9 billion.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 19

 

One surprising discovery in recent research is that smoking is the

cause of 28 percent of urinary incontinence in women. Studies indicate

that surgery and the use of pharmaceuticals are often unnecessary;

other methods that have proven effective are behavioral techniques and

biofeedback, Kegel exercises, which strengthen pelvic muscles,

electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor, and acupuncture. A natural

treatment, according to one study, can be extracted from the plant

marshmallow; this helps incontinence by treating inflammation of the

genito-urinary tract.

Womans Encyclopedia Of Natural Healing by Dr Gary Null, page 26

 

Unfortunately for millions each year, this may not be the case. They

may instead be victims of powerful medical propaganda that makes every

operation seem essential. But the reality is that unnecessary surgery,

whether performed by doctors who operate out of ignorance,

self-delusion, or simple greed has long plagued medicine and today

still reaches epidemic proportions.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 176

 

The unnecessary surgery figures are escalating just as prescription

drugs driven by television advertising. Media-driven surgery such as

gastric bypass for obesity " modeled " by Hollywood personalities

seduces obese people to think this route is safe and sexy. There is

even a problem of surgery being advertised on the Internet.76 A study

in Spain declares that between 20 and 25% of total surgical practice

represents unnecessary operations.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 19

 

In his book, " Health Shock, " journalist Martin Weitz reported that a

1974 Senate investigation into unnecessary surgery found that

" American doctors performed 2.4 million unnecessary operations,

causing 11,900 deaths and costing $3.9 billion. " In 1982, Robert G.

Schneider, M.D., calculated that between 15 and 25% of all surgeries

were unnecessary — with that figure rising to 50-60% with some types

of operations. In the case of tonsillectomies and hysterectomies, the

percentage was as high as 40-80%.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 131

 

Some studies suggest that almost 40 percent of surgical operations in

the United States are unnecessary.

When Healing Becomes A Crime by Kenny Ausubel, page 333

 

A 1987 JAMA study found the following significant levels of

inappropriate surgery: 17% of cases for coronary angiography, 32% for

carotid endarterectomy, and 17% for upper gastrointestinal tract

endoscopy. Using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

statistics provided by the government for 2001, the number of people

getting upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, which usually entails

biopsy, was 697,675; the number getting endarterectomy was 142,401;

and the number having coronary angiography was 719,949.13 Therefore,

according to the JAMA study 17%, or 118,604 people had an unnecessary

endoscopy procedure. Endarterectomy occurred in 142,401 patients;

potentially 32% or 45,568 did not need this procedure. And 17% of

719,949, or 122,391 people receiving coronary angiography were

subjected to this highly invasive procedure unnecessarily. These are

all forms of medical iatrogenesis.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 20

 

Your best defense against an unnecessary hysterectomy? Information—and

a second opinion, says Nora W. Coffey, president of Hysterectomy

Educational Resources and Services, an educational organization in

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Educational organizations can supply

information about the surgery.

Woman's Encyclopedia by Denise Foley, page 219

 

Overlapping of statistics in Death by Medicine may occur with the

Institute of Medicine (IOM) paper that designates " medical error " as

including drugs, surgery, and unnecessary procedures. Since we have

also included other statistics on adverse drug reactions, surgery and,

unnecessary procedures, perhaps as much as 50% of the IOM number could

be redundant. However, even taking away half the 98,000 IOM number

still leaves us with iatrogenic events as the number one killer at

738,000 annual deaths.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 10

 

When in doubt about the diagnosis or recommendation, don't hesitate to

get a second opinion —or a second diagnostic test. Your best defense

against an unnecessary hysterectomy is obtaining information before

you meet with the doctor. Read books, find people who've had the

surgery (or the alternatives), contact support groups, locate medical

literature. And then show them to your doctor, says Nora W. Coffey,

president of Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services in Bala

Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. " That's the way to get a doctor's cooperation,

and not hostility. " And take control in making the decision, she

encourages. Get comprehensive information about the condition you

have, your options and the risks and dangers of the options.

Woman's Encyclopedia by Denise Foley, page 222

 

Stressors create a field of disturbance in the energetic web of the

body. These fields of disturbance are most often in the head, because

the mouth is where we most readily allow thoughtless or unnecessary

surgery, excessive procedures, and implantation of foreign materials.

The results of the disturbance can be felt anywhere in the body and

can virtually block any treatment's effectiveness.

Whole Body Dentistry by Mark A Breiner DDS, page 159

 

Unwarranted Surgery and Heart Related Problems:

 

YOU DON'T HAVE TO DIE: Angioplasty and coronary artery bypass surgery

are frequently unnecessary and produce no benefit to the patient at

all. Some people endure multiple operations (one patient whose case is

discussed in this book underwent 14 angioplasties) without result or

their condition returns later. In addition, bypass surgery is

dangerous, many people suffering strokes or other damage to their

brain as a result of the operation.

Heart Disease by Burton Goldberg, page 10

 

The bottom line is this: when patients are advised to have a coronary

angiogram, chances are eight out of ten that they do not need it. The

critical factor in whether a patient needs coronary artery bypass

surgery or angioplasty is how well the left ventricular pump is

working, not the degree of blockage or the number of arteries

affected. The left ventricle (chamber) of the heart is responsible for

pumping oxygenated blood through the aorta (the large artery emanating

from the heart) and to the rest of the body. Bypass surgery is only

helpful when the ejection fraction (the amount of blood pumped by the

left ventricle) is less than forty percent of capacity. Up to ninety

percent of all bypass procedures are done when the ejection fraction

is greater than 50 percent, which is adequate for circulatory needs.

In other words, as many as 90 percent of all bypass procedures may be

unnecessary.

Encyclopedia Of Natural Medicine by Michael T Murray MD Joseph L

Pizzorno ND, page 243

 

Dr. Whitaker views most of the current therapies available to heart

disease patients as needless and unjustified. Most are ineffective in

terms of actually stopping and/or reversing the deterioration that has

begun by the time the patient seeks treatment. Catheterization, for

example, has insufficient scientific basis in Dr. Whitaker's opinion,

yet thousands of catheterizations are done almost routinely.

Catheterizations are used to detect arterial blockages and to open

them up, often in conjunction with a balloon angioplasty or a bypass.

The angioplasty technique, as explained earlier, is an invasive method

of trying to force open blocked spots within the arteries, while

bypass surgery involves severing the artery before the blockage and

rerouting the blood flow through an unblocked vein taken from the leg.

Get Healthy Now by Gary Null, page 411

 

Recent clinical and laboratory studies have seriously questioned the

validity of the theory that a blocked coronary artery is the primary

cause of a heart attack. The angiogram, an invasive test to evaluate

coronary artery blockages, poses significant risks, and has often been

discredited. In many cases, bypass surgery is considered unnecessary

and dangerous.

Healing Myths by Donald M Epstein, page 69

 

A team of conservative cardiologists in Brigham Hospital, Boston,

evaluated 88 patients that had been scheduled for cardiac bypass

surgery. They advised against surgery for 74 of the 88. Among those

74, 60 accepted a second opinion and didn't have the operation. These

patients were followed for a period of two years plus. Only two had

minor attacks that could be treated conservatively, an outcome

comparable to that of the 14 (scared not to take the advise of the

conservative specialists) patients that underwent open-heart surgery.

In short, a vast number of patients are submitted to unnecessary

procedures by cardiologists.

Health In The 21st Century by Fransisco Contreras MD, page 212

 

A second opinion clinic was opened in Boston in 1982. The first

published study from the clinic involved 88 patients who had been

advised to have cabbage surgery elsewhere on the basis of ordinary

angiograms. Some had been referred by insurance carriers who were

hoping to get out of paying some large bills. Large insurance

companies are well aware that about 85 percent of cabbages are

unnecessary, and teach this fact during private seminars for their

executives. However, they don't make this public.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 36

 

On the brighter side, several studies have confirmed it is possible to

evaluate heart patients with non-invasive means and identify people

who will do well with medical management alone. In the best of all

worlds, this should become the wave of the future. But this will never

occur as long as these crises situations remain under the control of

people who are becoming rich by doing unnecessary surgical procedures.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 39

 

Three of these studies were published in leading medical journals. No

efforts were made to attract media attention to the embarrassing

results. If the media had picked up the story they could have

accurately reported, " The diagnostic test used to scare the pants off

heart disease patients and coerce them into billions of dollars of

unnecessary surgical procedures is a scam. " The information was

ignored by physicians and never picked up by the press.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 14

 

I have attacked myths about heart disease that cost Americans billions

of dollars per year in unnecessary surgical procedures, as well as

untold suffering. The list of abuses can start with the widespread use

of inaccurate angiograms that are used to plan surgical procedures.

People are conditioned to expect to live longer if they have cabbage

surgery, but survival rates are not improved with surgery. The system

encourages doctors who are learning to do balloon angioplasties to

practice on people who don't need any surgical procedure. Long term

survival after balloon angioplasty has never been studied. The

cholesterol theory is an empty shell. These approaches to our number

one killer disease represent a fraud against the people more often

than not.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 161

 

For example, bypass surgery for heart disease, at an average cost of

$44,000 per operation, is " one of the most unnecessary operations of

all, " says McTaggart. Heart surgeons have known since the 1970s that

bypass does not improve survival except for patients with severe left

ventricle coronary disease, while U.S. government statistics state

that about 90% of patients receive no benefit. The " miracle cure " of

beta blockers to lower high blood pressure (hypertension) also

evaporates when you look at the outcomes, McTaggart says. A British

study of 2,000 patients with high blood pressure showed that in barely

50% of the cases blood pressure dropped to a moderately healthy level

as a result of taking hypertension drugs.

Heart Disease by Burton Goldberg, page 23

 

Yet when faced •with heart disease, doctors recommend a bypass. By so

doing, we think, they bypass the real problem. Bypasses are the single

most commonly performed unnecessary surgery in the country. Only two

groups have been shown to benefit from bypass surgery: one, those

whose arteries are so badly clogged that the heart can no longer beat

adequately, and two, those with severe blockage in the main artery to

the heart and signs of resulting poor blood flow.

Ultraprevention by Mark Hyman MD and Mark Liponis MD, page 68

 

Pierce now knew the research in the field of nonlocal medicine inside

and out. She was amazed that many physicians ignored the evidence.

Their reasons, she suspected, were rooted in the tendency of humans to

hang onto what is familiar and comfortable. Many physicians, for

example, continued to do coronary bypass surgery the old way, opening

up the chest cavity, instead of using the new percutaneous fiberoptic

methods that made open-chest surgery unnecessary.

Reinventing Medicine by Larry Dossey MD, page 184

 

The departments of health of each state should conduct a study, at

least every two years, on the success of such common operations as

bypass surgery and angioplasty, as does New York State. In addition,

they should publish risk-adjusted figures on breast cancer recovery

and other common illnesses, along with the rates of unnecessary

surgery as compiled by an independent board of surgeons.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 99

 

Unnecessary Bypass Operations Coronary cirtery bypass operations have

had a better record than the neck artery surgery. Earlier studies of

the heart operation—in 1979,1980, and 1982—also showed some evidence

of surgical mayhem. Fourteen percent of the surgeries were

" inappropriate " or unnecessary, defined as " performing the procedure

under circumstances where the medical risk exceeded the medical

benefits. " The fourteen percent was high, but much less than the

carotid surgical extravagance. But the unnecessary rate for bypass

operations has now been reduced considerably by new techniques and

better choices by patients.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 189

 

An outspoken critic is Thomas A. Preston, professor of medicine at the

University of Washington, Seattle. Preston claims fully one half of

all cabbage surgeries performed in the United States are unnecessary.

He says that survival rates are basically the same as with medical

management, except for a well-defined minority of patients, and in

most cases cabbage surgery is no more effective than a placebo.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 32

 

Race has been found to play a role in who gets cabbaged and who does

not. Nationally the rate of having a cabbage surgery runs 27.1 per

10,000 whites per year, and only 7.6 per 10,000 blacks. Hospital

admission rates for coronary artery disease for the two races are the

same. The authors concluded that racial prejudice appears to influence

cabbage surgery rates. There is another way of viewing this study.

Black people with coronary artery disease are being spared a lot of

unnecessary heart surgery because of racial discrimination.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 35

 

These unusual treatments may make open-heart surgery unnecessary for

many heart patients. If your doctor recommends angioplasty or bypass

surgery for your angina, ask him about these new options before making

a decision.

Natural Cures And Gentle Medicines by The Editors of FC & A Medical

Publishing, page 23

 

Unjustified Surgery - Hysterectomy:

 

Hysterectomy: A hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) is another risk

factor for early osteoporosis, even if the ovaries are still intact.

" This is because anywhere between 16% and 57% of all women who undergo

uterus removal suffer from premature loss of ovarian function with its

associated rapid bone loss, " explains Dr. Brown.24 Unfortunately, this

surgery, a conventional medical solution for uterine fibroids and

endometriosis, is all too common among premenopausal women. Every year

in the U.S., 750,000 women undergo hysterectomies (many including

ovary removal); about 90% of these are unnecessary.

Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 841

 

Hysterectomy may also be performed after cesarean section in cases of

complications such as uncontrolled bleeding, gross infection, or

cancer of the cervix. Once misused in the belief that removing the

uterus (and often the ovaries) would control what were considered

inappropriate sexual urges and ambitions, it is still the most common

unnecessary surgery.

Britannica Encyclopedia Volume One, page 901

 

Nearly half of all hysterectomies performed in the United States are

medically unnecessary. According to the People's Medical Society, in

1970 one in twenty babies was delivered by Cesarean section rather

than normal vaginal childbirth. Today, one in four babies is delivered

by Cesarean section. (Interestingly, both surgeries are performed on

women.)

How to get out of the hospital alive by Sheldon P Blau MD FACP FACR,

page 142

 

Many people question the fact that over 650,000 hysterectomies are

performed in the United States each year. Very few of these operations

are performed because of a life-threatening situation, and it is

likely that many of them are actually unnecessary. Per capita, half as

many hysterectomies are performed in Great Britain as in the United

States, and, statistically, American women show no health benefits for

their higher incidence of surgery. Outside the United States, very few

hysterectomies are performed for what doctors often term " quality of

life " reasons.

Prescription For Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A Balch CNC and James

F Balch MD, page 453

 

Obviously, despite the shortage of reports from the medical profession

itself, the problem of unnecessary surgeries is still a serious one.

Yet, ironically, unnecessary surgery normally is not considered

medical malpractice. According to " Medicine on Trial, " a People's

Medical Society book: " When greed controls the impulse to operate when

an operation is not called for, as is often the case in unnecessary

surgery, such an operation is certainly a grossly unethical and

immoral act, but not a medical mistake per se. " The ultimate solution

is prevention. But when, as a last resort, surgery must be considered,

patients need to have full and honest information about the risks and

benefits involved in the procedure.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 132

 

UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MODERN MEDICINE lions of unnecessary

hysterectomies yet it is still the most frequent surgical procedure

inflicted on females.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 128

 

She also found that patients play a part in unnecessary surgery. When

they voiced objections to a hysterectomy for such conditions as

painful fibroids, doctors tended to change their opinion that the

operation was necessary.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 182

 

One of the most outspoken critics of unnecessary surgery is Dr. Sidney

Wolfe of Public Citizen. " If a doctor immediately says, 'Have a

hysterectomy/ shop for a new physician, " he suggests. " You need tests

to write off all the alternatives. "

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 181

 

Unwarranted Surgery – Cesarean Section:

 

In 2001, Cesarean section is still the most common OB/GYN surgical

procedure. Approximately 4 million births occur annually, with a 24%

C-Section rate, i.e., 960,000 operations. In the Netherlands only 8%

of babies are delivered by Cesarean section. Assuming human babies are

similar in the U.S. and in the Netherlands, we are performing 640,000

unnecessary C-Sections in the U.S. with its three to four times higher

mortality and 20 times greater morbidity than vaginal delivery.105

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 25

 

Research has indicated that cesarean sections, as well as being

associated with greater risks to mother and infant, are often unnecessary.

Get Healthy Now by Gary Null, page 706

 

Unnecessary surgery referred to the modern rash of cesareans as a

" surgical epidemic. " Calling on understatement, the American College

of Obstetricians and Gynecologists admits that C-sections " are more

common than they should be. " An actual estimate, made by the Centers

for Disease Control, says that 349,000 of the cesarean surgeries were

unnecessary. This is a serious situation. The operation is major

surgery, and when inappropriate, carries two to four times greater

risk to the mother than normal vaginal birth.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 184

 

This is a serious situation. The operation is major surgery, and when

inappropriate, carries two to four times greater risk to the mother

than normal vaginal birth. Public Citizen, which puts out a regular

report on the rate of C-sections, believes the surgery is done almost

twice as often as medically indicated, at a cost of an extra $1.3

billion and unnecessary pain and injury.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 184

 

Just as one surgical operation—like tonsillectomy—is shot down by

intelligent criticism, another, like C-section, rises to take its

place in the inventory of often unnecessary surgeries. It is now up to

the profession—or if forced, the states—to stop the excess cutting

stimulated by either greed, medical fashion, or ignorance. That is the

only way to protect the unknowing patient public. Chapter VI

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 191

 

Women who have their babies without CNMs are also more likely to be

denied room to walk around during labor to ease their discomfort, more

likely to be denied the use of a bath or shower during their labor,

and more likely to undergo unnecessary cesarean surgery.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 125

 

Multiple Types of Surgery Mentioned:

 

In 1985 the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging found that

unnecessary operations (most for hernias, hemorrhoids, gallstones,

enlarged prostates, heart disease and similar conditions), far from

helping patients were actually shortening their lives and wasting

money — billions of dollars. The committee found that operations

increased 130 percent after Medicare went into effect. The American

College of Surgeons and the American surgical Association suggested

that 30 percent of the millions of operations being performed each

year were unnecessary with 50 percent of the remaining procedures

beneficial but not essential to save or extend the patient's life. In

all, it was thought that the needless and dubious operations were

causing an unnecessary thirty thousand deaths per year. The

unnecessary expenses and deaths become noticeable when doctors are in

short supply or go on strike. In such cases the death rate in an area

can drop remarkably — much to the embarrassment of the medical

community (when the facts can't be covered up).

Attaining Medical Self Sufficiency An Informed Citizens Guide by

Duncan Long, page 9

 

1974: 2.4 million unnecessary surgeries performed annually resulting

in 11,900 deaths at an annual cost of $3.9 billion. 2001: 7.5 million

unnecessary surgical procedures resulting in 37,136 deaths at a cost

of $122 billion (using 1974 dollars). It's very difficult to obtain

accurate statistics when studying unnecessary surgery. Dr. Leape in

1989 wrote that perhaps 30% of controversial surgeries are

unnecessary. Controversial surgeries include Cesarean section,

tonsillectomy, appendectomy, hysterectomy, gastrectomy for obesity,

breast implants, and elective breast implants.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 19

 

Myriad of reasons—mix-up of X rays and patient charts, surgeons' haste

to " beat their time " doing a procedure, poorly trained surgeons, and

unnecessary surgeries, especially hysterectomies (nearly half are

unnecessary), coronary bypass operations (one out of every three may

be unnecessary), and Cesarean sections. In addition, the area of the

country in which you live plays an important part in the type of

surgery you will undergo.

How to get out of the hospital alive by Sheldon P Blau MD FACP FACR,

page 140

 

Hysterectomies. American Health also reported in April 1993 that the

chance that a woman in Maine will undergo a hysterectomy varies from

20% to 70%, depending on where in the state she lives. Local

preference, not science, explains the disparity. In general, the

reason for most hysterectomies is to resolve symptoms related to

benign uterine fibroids. New studies show that if they aren't causing

any serious and immediate symptoms, surgery is unnecessary. Cesarean

sections. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that in 1991

some 349,900 unnecessary cesarean sections were performed, at a cost

of more than $1 billion. The rate skyrocketed from 10.4% of births in

1975 to 24.5% in 1988. Again, the issue isn't just money, although $ 1

billion would pay for a lot of health care for those who don't have

it. Surgery can lead to infections and longer hospital stays.

The Consumer Bible by Mark Green, page 70

 

On the other hand, studies show that particular areas of the country

as well as specific hospitals within a community often are more likely

to perform operations that may be unnecessary—such as tonsillectomies,

hysterectomies, and cesareans—than others. If you're assigned to a

particular physician's group or hospital where the standard of care

mandates surgery rather than more conservative treatment, demand a

second opinion.

How to get out of the hospital alive by Sheldon P Blau MD FACP FACR,

page 194

 

Myringotomies are currently being performed on nearly 1,000,000

American children each year. It appears that the unnecessary surgery

of the past, the tonsillectomy, has been replaced by this new

procedure. In fact there is a direct correlation between the decline

of the tonsillectomy and the rise of the myringotomy. Over 2 million

myringotomy tubes are inserted into children's ears each year, along

with 600,000 tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies. These surgeries are

unnecessary for most children.

Textbook of Natural Medicine Volumes 1-2 by Joseph E Pizzorno and

Michael T Murray, page 1465

 

Unjustified Surgery due to Back Pain:

 

Unnecessary surgery waxes and wanes. First one operation, like

tonsillectomy, is in fashion, then another, like C-sections. The most

recent " in " technique is " back surgery. "

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 184

 

A forceful critic of much back surgery is Dr. Richard A. Deyo,

professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He

points out that most low back pain is caused by a simple muscle

strain, which over time heals itself. It is not, he says, usually

caused by herniated disks in the spine, which are the target of most

surgeries. Dr. Deyo estimates that " diskectomy, " the name of such

surgery, is performed on 300,000 people a year, and is often a

wasteful, unnecessary activity. A diskectomy involves cutting through

the bony parts of the vertebrae to remove the jellylike substance

inside. The reason is that in herniated disks, the substance

protrudes, putting pressure on the nerves.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 185

 

Dr. Deyo, writing in the journal Spine, says America is undergoing an

unnecessary back surgery epidemic of such proportions that surgeons

here perform diskectomies forty percent more often than other Western

nations and five times more often than in England and Scotland. It

also appears that the number of back surgeries relates directly to the

number of appropriate surgeons available in the nation according to

population. In the same publication, Dr. Deyo and others also studied

hospitalization for back pain and found that from 1979 to 1990,

nonsurgical hospitalizations decreased dramatically. Meanwhile,

admissions for surgery increased.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 185

 

Orthopedic doctors, who specialize in injuries related to the muscles,

joints, bones, tendons, and ligaments, are often inexperienced with

conservative methods of treatment and are sometimes too willing to

engage in unnecessary surgery. The problem is that surgery has limited

long-range benefits and is completely unnecessary for many lower back

pain sufferers. When confronted with pain caused by a factor that does

not show up on an X ray, an orthopedist will generally refer the

patient to another professional. If you are going to an orthopedic

specialist for advice on back pain, it is recommended that you see one

who does not reflexively advocate surgery or prolonged reliance on

prescription drugs.

Complete Encyclopedia Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 63

 

In 2001, the top 50 medical and surgical procedures totaled

approximately 41.8 million. These figures were taken from the

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project within the Agency for

Healthcare Research and Quality. Using 17.6% from the 1974 U.S.

Congressional House Subcommittee Oversight Investigation as the

percentage of unnecessary surgical procedures, and extrapolating from

the death rate in 1974, we come up with an unnecessary procedure

number of 7.5 million (7,489,718) and a death rate of 37,136, at a

cost of $122 billion (using 1974 dollars). Researchers performed a

very similar analysis, using the 1974 'unnecessary surgery percentage'

of 17.6, on back surgery. In 1995, researchers testifying before the

Department of Veterans Affairs estimated that of 250,000 back

surgeries in the U.S. at a hospital cost of $11,000 per patient, the

total number of unnecessary back surgeries each year in the U.S. could

approach 44,000, costing as much as $484 million.

Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 19

 

They studied the surgical treatment for the common complaint of " low

back pain, " and concluded that most of the operations were

unnecessary. In fact, says the agency, the less treatment for these

pains, surgical or medical, the better. A report in the New England

Journal of Medicine, for instance, decried the use of corticosteroids

as risky and of little value. The evidence, says the federal agency,

shows that regular activity rather than bed rest reduces the chances

of developing a chronic condition that leads to surgery.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 186

 

The findings of the MRIs are often misleading and lead to " unnecessary

surgery and the results are not very good, " Froymeyer said. Another

expert, Robert Boyd, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Massachusetts

General Hospital in Boston, said, " surgery doesn't put new backs in

and it doesn't give better long-term results. It is indicated when

pain doesn't respond to conservative treatment and is clearly

associated with nerve root compression. Then the results of surgery

are excellent. " But only a small percentage of people with back pain

fall into this category, according to Boyd.

The Miracle Of MSM by Stanley W Jacob, page 102

 

Unwarranted Surgery due to Results of Mammography:

 

Mammograms Add to Cancer Risk—Mammography exposes the breast to

damaging ionizing radiation. High Rate of False

Positives—Mammography's high rate of false-positive test results

wastes money and creates unnecessary emotional trauma. A Swedish study

of 60,000 women, aged 40-64, who were screened for breast cancer

revealed that of the 726 actually referred to oncologists for

treatment, 70% were found to be cancer free. According to The Lancet,

of the 5% of mammograms that suggest further testing, up to 93% are

false positives. The Lancet report further noted that because the

great majority of positive screenings are false positives, these

inaccurate results lead to many unnecessary biopsies and other

invasive surgical procedures. In fact, 70% to 80% of all positive

mammograms do not, on biopsy, show any presence of cancer. According

to some estimates, 90% of these " callbacks " result from unclear

readings due to dense overlying breast tissue. High Rate of False

Negatives—Mammography also produces a high rate of false-negative test

results. While false

Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 588

 

Breast Cancer type of abnormality found and the age of the woman.

Usually the follow-up tests begin with the least invasive methods,

such as an ultrasound or second mammogram, and progress, if necessary,

to the more invasive methods, such as a needle or surgical biopsy. A

biopsy should spare the tissue, removing just enough tissue to make a

diagnosis without being unnecessarily invasive. A woman should not

rush from one abnormal screening mammogram or clinical breast exam to

a major, invasive surgical procedure or to treatment for breast

cancer. Following the series of tests outlined below can ensure that

the diagnosis is correct and assist in avoiding unnecessary procedures.

Disease Prevention And Treatment by Life Extension Foundation, page 30

 

Early detection is currently one of the primary strategies for

prevention and successful treatment, which is why the breast self-exam

is so important. The benefits of mammography are still a subject of

debate. Questions that are still present include whether low-level

radiation used in the test can contribute to cancer, whether equivocal

results lead to unnecessary surgery, and the accuracy rate of test

results.

Treating Cancer With Herbs by Michael Tierra ND, page 467

 

Equivocal mammogram results lead to unnecessary surgery, and the

accuracy rate of mammograms is poor. According to the National Cancer

Institute (NCI), in women ages 40-49, there is a high rate of " missed

tumors, " resulting in 40% false-negative mammogram results. Breast

tissue in younger women is denser, which makes it more difficult to

detect tumors, and tumors grow more quickly in younger women, so

cancer may develop between screenings.

Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 973

 

Corruption and Unjustified Surgery ($):

 

Doctors and hospitals are paid more for doing more, largely without

regard for evidence of improved health outcomes (examples are the

rapid increase in the number of MRI machines, excess capacity for

neonatology and invasive cardiac procedures that lead to excess use,

and the approximately 12,000 deaths that occur each year as the result

of unnecessary surgery). Health care providers that deliver high

quality, efficient care are financially penalized for not delivering a

higher volume of more intensive services, beneficial or not (referred

to as the " perverse incentive " ).

Overdosed America by John Abramson MD, page 256

 

We could do much more to lower costs, such as practicing

scientifically based medicine, but it's like combating an epidemic.

There is such a strong incentive, as with the pharmaceutical industry

and surgical subspecialists, to keep prices—and profits or

incomes—high. It will likely require a major change in how we organize

health care in America to effect any meaningful change. If we were

really to practice scientifically based medicine, the cost savings

would be great. We order and do so many unnecessary tests and

procedures, and our prescribing patterns are illogical and expensive.

Health Care Meltdown by Robert H Lebow MD, page 57

 

Most health problems are not emergencies. To treat them as though they

were chronic, recurrent emergencies, which is the way medicine is

often practiced today, is costly, time consuming and generally

ineffective. It causes many problems, often more than it relieves, and

these are sometimes deadly. Side effects of medications kill more

people annually than automobile accidents. Unnecessary surgery (heart

disease and other conditions) has significant mortality while it also

drives up health care costs. This approach to health care also takes

the power and responsibility for your health out of your control.

The Vitamin Revolution by Michael Janson, page 200

 

Clinical care, which was improving, is now being subject to new rules,

systems, and regulations from the outside, which punish both good

medicine and good doctors. Surgery is still too often unnecessary.

Medical fraud, always a small problem, has become near epidemic.

American hospitals are adrift, struggling against empty beds, fierce

competition, and massive confusion.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 254

 

Surgery is similarly a vastly lucrative practice, acting as the third

financial mooring in the tripod of cancer treatments. The more radical

the operation, the more costly. Since surgeons are rewarded monetarily

for the magnitude of their handiwork, excess becomes a perverse

incentive for financial success. The amount of unnecessary surgery is

high. As early as 1953, Dr. Paul Hawley, director of the American

College of Surgeons, stated matter-of-factly in an interview in U.S.

News and World Report, " You'd be shocked, I think—we are—at the amount

of unnecessary surgery that is performed. " The reason, according to

Hawley? " Money. "

When Healing Becomes A Crime by Kenny Ausubel, page 268

 

This truth has been deliberately concealed from the general public.

According to Dr. Gould, the reason for this conspiracy of silence is

money. The public must continue to see the cancer establishment as a

winner to continue providing money. One of the quoted scientists said

that, with tens of thousands of radiologists and millions of dollars

in equipment, one still gives radiation treatment even if study after

study shows that it does more harm than good. Dr. Gould says patients

who could be comfortable without medical treatment until their

inevitable death are made miserable with medical treatment in a

pointless attempt to postpone death for a few unhappy weeks. Of

course, that is when most of the money is being made. Dr. Gould says

doctors poison their patients with drugs and rays and mutilate them

with unnecessary surgery in a desperate attempt to treat the untreatable.

The Natural Way to Heal by Walter Last, page 320

 

Unnecessary surgery: With appendicitis produced only two " false

positives, " patients who did not have the disease. This is in contrast

to the twenty percent proven to have healthy appendixes after surgery.

The technique, called " Focused Appendix CT " or FACT, could eliminate

this type of unnecessary surgery—at least in the hands of honest

surgeons. Unlike other doctors, surgeons are not content to live on

forty dollars per patient visit. Many still see the operating table as

a chance for the brass ring—the new SL600 Mercedes coupe for $139,000,

or even the down payment on a piece of land in Southampton or Malibu.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 180

 

Miscellaneous (tonsils/adenoids, prostatectomy, cancer, carotid

endarterectomy, mastectomy etc):

 

Rufer and her husband sued Abbott Laboratories, UWMC, and the cancer

specialist who treated her. UWMC and the doctor argued that they had

relied on the Abbott test results. Abbott denied all responsibility,

even though the literature distributed with its tests made no mention

of the potential for false positives. What's more, according to a

court opinion, it turned out that " Abbott also had access to reports

that false positive results on its assay led to unnecessary cancer

treatment before 1998. It received over forty complaints of false

positives, including multiple complaints of unnecessary chemotherapy

and surgery before Jennifer Rufer's first treatment in April 1998.

Critical condition by Donald L Barlett and James B Steele, page 63

 

Although it embraces new technology, the medical profession has a

tendency to reject new ideas. Surgeons are willing to learn new ways

of performing operations, although few seem eager to examine possible

alternatives to surgery. Much of this can of course be explained by

the fact that research into surgery is normally performed by surgeons.

Their training and experience does not lend itself to looking into

other options. Cardiac surgeons, for instance, would be unlikely to

work at a project that would prove that most heart operations are

unnecessary or dangerous. That conclusion would not only put their

livelihood at risk, but also invalidate their entire vocation. The

only people in the operating room who have a clear reason for wanting

the truth are the patients on the tables. But if we wait until that

moment to learn the truth, it might be too late.

Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 131

 

Anesthesiologists benefit from bypass surgery. In medical slang

anesthesiologists are called gas passers. Anesthesiologists use

measured amounts of poisons to put surgical patients to sleep and,

hopefully, wake them up. They bill patients by the hour. Each cabbage

case may take about two to three hours of their time. They have

nothing to do with the decision to do surgery, but you don't hear any

of them making waves by complaining about unnecessary surgery. To do

so would jeopardize their standing in the anesthesia department and

their livelihoods.

Heart Frauds by Charles T McGee MD, page 53

 

About 300,000 men per year have surgery to correct enlarged prostates,

but many of those surgeries may be unnecessary. There are many natural

remedies that you can find in health food stores that will shrink your

prostate, if BPH is the cause. (Note: Only a doctor can tell the

difference between BPH and prostate cancer, so get a firm diagnosis

before you go ahead with natural remedies).

Proven Health Tips Encyclopedia By American Medical Publishing, page 136

 

But religious considerations aside, circumcision has caught on among

non-Jews in the United States. The operation has been the center of a

medical debate: Does it provide health benefits, or is it unnecessary

surgery?

Healthcare Online for Dummies by Howard and Judi Wolinsky, page 200

 

Surgery has come under increasing criticism in recent years for a

number of other reasons. Some doctors and patients hold that much

cancer surgery is either unnecessary or excessive in its scope. The

fiercest argument has taken place over the question of breast cancer,

but the issues raised in this debate appear applicable to other forms

of cancer as well.

The Cancer Industry by Ralph W Moss, page 49

 

Surgery is unnecessary when the risk is greater than the benefit, or

when there is no strong evidence that the surgery will benefit most of

the people operated on.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 186

 

Going under the knife. One explanation for high U.S. medical costs is

that so much surgery is unnecessary. Ask for a plain-English

explanation of the need for and alternatives to any surgery.

The Hope of Living Cancer Free by Francisco Contreras MD, page 114

 

The innocuous behavior of recurring tumors is a mystery. Some surgeons

think that leaving a few cancerous cells to roam about after surgery

is a deadly mistake. Others believe that these cells simply turn into

tumors that can be removed without threatening the life of the

patient. Still, many leaders in the field of oncological surgery,

either out of fear or arrogance, continue to demand that more studies

be conducted before modifying the traditional treatments. How many

patients will become the innocent victims of this irrational

posturing? The same tendencies have also been observed in other types

of tumors. For example, sarcomas are tumors that generally form from

muscle or fat in the extremities. Treatment of them always consists of

an extensive amputation followed by radiation therapy, with the object

of reducing the incidence of recurrence. After reviewing the

experiences of numerous hospitals, one concludes that " a reduction of

local recurrence does not mean a betterment of average life expectancy

in the long run. " In other words, the frightening mutilations are

entirely unnecessary. The same conclusions can be applied to melanoma

a very aggressive skin cancer, which is generally treated with

excessively radical surgery.

Health In The 21st Century by Fransisco Contreras MD, page 196

 

The indiscriminate, and often unnecessary, surgical removal of these

glands does not solve the underlying immunological problem that caused

them to be swollen and diseased in the first place. Often, after a

short period of improvement, it leads to chronic allergy problems. If

the microorganisms get past the tonsils and adenoids, ciliated

microfilaments lining the upper passages of the lungs remove them in

secreted phlegm; they do this in a wavelike fashion, much like firemen

of an earlier time on a bucket brigade.

Viral Immunity by J.E, page 90

 

The common carotid endarterectomy surgery is designed to prevent a

full-fledged stroke. But is it often overused and unnecessary,

especially when there is insufficient diagnosis.

The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 187

 

In fact, because of the high potential for false positive

readings—where people are told they have cancer when they

don't—screening may only be increasing the number of patients

mutilated through unnecessary drug treatment or surgery.

The Cancer Handbook by Lynne McTaggart, page 12

 

Doctors differ considerably in their approval of this " nontreatment. "

Naturally the more surgery-prone physicians lean in the direction of

early removal of the prostate, while the more conservative ones tell

us that for any man whose life expectancy is less than 10 years, the

surgery may offer only unnecessary discomfort and incapacity.

The Prostate Cure by Harry G Preuss MD and Brenda D Adderly MHA, page 184

 

Alvsborg County Council felt the costs of a mass-screening program far

outweighed any benefits, and that the money saved could be better

spent helping those diagnosed with cancer. The council voted for the

ban, following advice from the county's chief physician, Dr. Christer

Enkvist, who felt that the advantages of screening are " extremely

marginal " and can lead to unnecessary surgery.

The Cancer Handbook by Lynne McTaggart, page 60

 

 

 

Overview:

 

* Unnecessary surgery exposed! Why 60% of all surgeries are

medically unjustified and how surgeons exploit patients to generate

profits

 

Source: http://www.newstarget.com/012291.html