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Wednesday, Oct 12 2016

Full Issue

Treating Children With Alternative Medicines Can Be Dangerous, Doctors Caution

In other public health news, KHN reports on two researchers trying to help patients better understand the risks and benefits of medical tests and treatments.

If you search for聽the words 鈥渁utism鈥 and 鈥渢reatment鈥 online, you'll find all kinds of suggestions聽outside of accepted medical practice for how to try to minimize or even cure聽the symptoms. Some of those ideas聽can be dangerous. Doctors recently described what happened to a 4-year-old boy who聽showed up in the emergency room after having been sick for three weeks.聽He was throwing up, had lost his appetite, was constipated and extremely thirsty, and had lost more than 6.5 pounds in two weeks. (Cha, 10/11)

Mammograms are said to cut the risk of dying from breast cancer by as much as 20 percent, which sounds like an invincible argument for regular screening.Two Maryland researchers want people to question that kind of thinking. They want patients to reexamine the usefulness of cancer exams, cholesterol tests, osteoporosis pills, MRI scans and many other routinely prescribed procedures and medicines. (Hancock, 10/12)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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