The US spends more on healthcare for no gain says new report from Johns Hopkins

Re:The US spends more on healthcare for no gain says new rep... by vasili111 on Monday January 07, 2019 @11:21PM (#18853118)

>I had this in US. Shoulder pain, that was diagnosed via an XRay... But the doctor decided he wanted an MRI.

Xray is mainly for bone problems. MRI shows well soft tissue. In medicine, if something you suspect even it has a low probability and the diagnostics are not invasive, it is better to check than to miss and regret later. Why are you so sure that MRI was not necessary in your case?

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Re:The US spends more on healthcare for no gain says new rep... by JAlexoid on Tuesday January 08, 2019 @12:34AM (#18853462)

I saw my other doctor, slightly more decorated orthopaedic surgeon, that literally told me that I was blasted with XRay for no reason or my MRI wasn't necessary.

I have an irritating bone spur in the shoulder, that's the only problem.

The doctor ordered both Xray and MRI at the same time, while there was literally no need for one of them.

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Re:The US spends more on healthcare for no gain says new rep... by notabee on Tuesday January 08, 2019 @11:02AM (#18856480)

You are reasoning backwards. Had the cause been something besides a bone spur, such as a tumor or vascular problem, the X-ray might have missed it. Some things like soft tissue calcification don't show up as well on MRI as on a plain X-ray film which is a really low radiation dose these days anyways. Go read up on the terms sensitivity and specificity.

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