Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Thu, Jun 25 1992 Date: Thu, 25 Jun 92 05:35:29 EDT Message-ID: 06-25 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update June 25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network WASTE BLAMED FOR RISING COSTS: One of every $4 spent on health care in the USA is wasted on unnecessary medical procedures and administrative inefficiency, Consumer Reports says. The USA's medical bill in 1992 will run about $817 billion. Of that, "we will throw away at least $200 billion on overpriced, useless, even harmful treatments, and on a bloated bureaucracy," says the July issue. MANY TESTS, PROCEDURES UNNEEDED: Consumer Reports ranks unnecessary medical procedures as one of the top causes of rising health care costs. Up to 60% of pre-operation lab tests are unneeded. Other procedures: Cesarean sections, 50% not needed; hysterectomies, 27%; heart bypasses, 14%. Hospital billing. In an average hospital budget, 20% goes to billing administration. COURT ALLOWS TOBACCO LAWSUITS: The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Wednesday that victims of smoking-related illness can sue in state court claiming that manufacturers deceptively market cigarettes as safe, even if they contain warning labels. But the sharply divided justices also foreclosed other types of lawsuits against tobacco companies. Anti-smoking activists and the tobacco industry praised the decision. AMA ADOPTS FEE-POSTING POLICY: Doctors should make their prices available to patients up front, the American Medical Association said Wednesday. Doctors at the AMA's policy meeting in Chicago voted to make fees for common procedures more public. They also want pharmacies and medical device firms to follow suit. People don't order meals without seeing the prices, said AMA trustee Dr. Lonnie Bristow. (For more, see special Fees package.) FETAL RESEARCH VETO UPHELD: The House Wednesday failed to override President Bush's veto of a bill that would have allowed research use of fetal tissue from elective abortions. The House's failure to override the veto, Bush's seventh on an abortion-related issue, raises doubts about the Democrats' ability to pass a bill guaranteeing abortion rights. CHEMOTHERAPY'S DANGERS ASSESSED: Chemotherapy will cause leukemia in about five of every 10,000 breast cancer patients during the next 10 years, but that's far lower than figures from the 1970s, says a study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Today's therapies use lower radiation doses and different kinds of chemotherapy than those of the 1970s, says Rochelle E. Curtis of National Cancer Institute. FAULTY PACEMAKERS SOLD: More than 100 patients might have received faulty or used pacemakers through Indiana businessman Michael Walton, 43, who has been charged with selling used or altered devices, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. He was arrested Saturday after a federal grand jury indicted him and six former employees. DENTAL CREDIT-CARD CHARGES RISE: MasterCard and Visa reported a 20% increase in credit-card charges for dental services in 1991, according to the American Dental Association. Of that year's estimated dental spending - $35 billion - more than $900 million was charged, and the trend is expected to continue. The average charge on Visa was $172. More than 54,000 dentists' offices accept Visa or MasterCard. SEX EDUCATION FOUND SUCCESSFUL: Education about AIDS and sex can change teen-age boys' behavior, new research shows. Boys who get formal instruction on AIDS risks become more consistent condom users and have fewer sex partners than those without such education. Education also tended to reduce their number of sexual partners, says a study in the current issue of Alan Guttmacher Institute's Family Planning Perspectives. MORE WOMEN RECEIVE MAMMORGRAMS: More women are getting mammograms, increasing their chances of finding breast cancer at a treatable stage. But the numbers in a new survey, out Tuesday, still are too low, says the American Cancer Society. The survey of 980 women over 40 by the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health in Washington shows 75% have had a mammogram - up from 64% in 1990 and 37% in 1987. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON FEES: POLICY SHOULD SPUR COMPETITION: A new American Medical Association policy asking doctors to post fees should create competition, cutting costs to patients, says AMA trustee Dr. Lonnie Bristow, San Pablo, Calif. It will also make fee-for-service medical practices more competitive with pre-paid plans such as HMOs. AMA will soon decide how to implement the policy, but many doctors will begin posting fees before that, says Bristow. FEES VARY NATIONWIDE: Fees often vary widely within a community and geographically. For instance: Routine office visit to a family physician in New England costs an average $35; north-central states, $26; mid-Atlantic, $30; Pacific, $35. First-time visit to a family physician in New England, $60; north central, $42; mid-Atlantic, $45; Pacific, $70. (End of package.) Health Editor: Christopher Goldthwaite. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM