When symptoms of polypharmacy are consistent with those of difficult-to-diagnose disorders, reliable determinations about which drugs are necessary is critical.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1133-1138. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1133.
The Moseley study found no significant difference between those in the arthroscopic lavage and debridement arm of the study and those in the sham surgery arm.
All medical care should seek to achieve one or more of three goals: to prevent future suffering, to relieve suffering, or to prolong life. Detecting low-grade indolent cancer may not further any of these goals.
Although not everything on the Choosing Wisely lists is likely to reduce low-value care, it is a good starting point for a conversation about curtailing low-value interventions.
The Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine provides a scale for stratifying evidence from strongest to weakest on the basis of susceptibility to bias and the quality of study design.