Many cancer screenings may be unnecessary

iWatch News/Center for Public Integrity: Forty Percent Of Medicare Spending On Common Cancer Screenings Unnecessary, Probe Suggest
Cancer screening tests are vastly overused in the United States, with about 40 percent of Medicare spending on common preventive screenings regarded as medically unnecessary, an iWatch News investigation reveals. Millions of Americans get such tests more frequently than medically recommended or at times when they cannot gain any proven medical benefit, extracting an enormous financial toll on the nation's health care system. Doctors disregard scientific guidelines out of ignorance, fear of malpractice suits or for financial gain, as patients inundated by medical advertising clamor for extra tests (Sharpe and Lucas, 10/7).