http://silverbuzzcafe.com/?p=10402 Are We Kidding Ourselves About Modern Medicine? diceIt would be nice to think that everything your physician does is based on sound medical science, but a recent study1 in the United Kingdom found that only just over a third of medical treatments are beneficial, or likely to be beneficial. A similar evaluation by the US government in 1978 reached a similar conclusion, finding that only 10 to 20 percent of medical treatments had evidence of efficacy. Even when there is proven efficacy of treatment in studies, the best treatments may not be the ones that actually get used, mainly for financial reasons. In other words, our doctors may be driven to use a less effective treatment because the health insurer simply won’t pay for a more expensive treatment, even if it has been proven to be more effective. It’s ironic that opponents to the recently passed health care reforms were right about the mythical “death panels” that they invoked to scare seniors – but for the wrong reason. The health insurers decide who lives and who dies. The Big Pharmas market their products extremely effectively, but they’re a part of the problem too, as we’ve covered in a series about their triumphs and flaws.