Do I really need this test, treatment or procedure? What are the downsides? What happens if I do nothing? And are there simpler, safer alternatives?

 

Dr. Ray Moynihan (@raymoynihan) joins BJSM’s Daniel Friedman (@ddfriedman) to discuss the growing problem of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and what is being done to wind back the harms of too much medicine.    

 

Ray is an Australian academic, author and award-winning health journalist who completed his PhD on overdiagnosis in 2015 at the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice at Bond University in

Australia, where he is also a senior research fellow. Having reported across print, radio, television and social media, Dr Moynihan has worked at the ABC TV’s investigative program, Four Corners and

the 7:30 Report, and The Australian Financial Review. He has also developed an impressive body of academic work published in the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, PLOS ONE and the

BMJ.

 

Dr. Moynihan has won several awards for his investigative journalism, and his book ‘Selling Sickness’ (2005) was described in the New York Times as a “compelling case” and has been translated into a

dozen languages. His fourth book, ‘Sex, Lies & Pharmaceuticals’ was released globally in 2010 and generated widespread interest internationally.

 

Dr Moynihan hosts the very popular podcast, ‘The Recommended Dose’, that is produced by Cochrane Australia and co-published by the BMJ. https://soundcloud.com/therecodo

 

In this 25 minute conversation, Dr Moynihan explains the drivers of too much medicine and

addresses:

       embracing healthy scepticism in healthcare

       the threat of too much medicine to our health

       the problem with diagnostic labels

       his ground-breaking discovery of a dangerous new disease