Sunday, February 01, 2009

Which is worse--the disease or the cure?

In David Leonhardt's nice piece in today's NY Times, this passage jumped out at me:

Doctors who spent more — on extra tests or high-tech treatments, for instance — didn’t get better results than their more conservative colleagues. In many cases, patients of the aggressive doctors stay sicker longer and die sooner because of the risks that come with invasive care.

Just like economics!