If the first rule of medicine is “do no harm,” the second rule might very well be "do not over diagnose." If all of our gleaming technology is now able to monitor even the most minute changes in our physical condition, does responding to those changes do more harm then good? In short, does the holy grail of preventative medicine really prevent disease or just spark unwanted treatment and often harmful consequences? This is the question posed by Dr. Gilbert Welch, professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and the co-author of Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health
.My conversation with Dr. Welch:
