Jeff was told by multiple surgeons he needed spinal fusion for neck pain. He tried physical therapy, diet, and exercise instead and became pain-free. The story shows how financial incentives can drive unnecessary surgery, and why asking "what happens if we wait" matters.
I often get contacted by friends who want help finding a good doctor. And so one time my buddy Jeff had a lot of pain in his neck and in his spine. And so he was told that he should get a spinal fusion surgery. So he wanted help finding a good surgeon. I looked up some surgeons, but before I referred them to Jeff, I said, hey, Jeff, look, you know, a lot of back surgery is actually unnecessary and ineffective and, and it can have high cost and permanent complications for the patient. So Jeff went to the first surgeon. This surgeon told him, look, Jeff, if we don't do the surgery right away, you could be paralyzed. If you even go out and play golf on Saturday, I'm gonna set up an appointment right now for you. Jeff took a step back, thought about it, went to a second surgeon. That second surgeon also said, jeff, absolutely, you need surgery. It's not a dire emergency, but I wanna get you scheduled. Jeff decided to go to physical therapy. He changed his diet, he changed his exercise routine, and lo and behold, the pain in his back and his neck went away. It's been years since that happened, and Jeff is still pain free. And now he just shakes his head thinking about what would have happened if he would have taken the advice of those initial surgeons. This does not mean that every back surgery is unnecessary, of course, but what it means is there are incentives that are guiding our doctors and our surgeons when they make recommendations to us about the type of care that we should receive. You might want to check and make sure that there's not something less invasive or with fewer side effects or with fewer possible complications that could be a solution to whatever medical problem that you have. Check out some resources, like the U.S. preventive Services Task Force to check out the most independent guidelines about the screening tests that you need, like mammograms or colonoscopies or other tests that can tell whether or not you might have a particular disease. Some of those tests get recommended by our doctors way often than they should. And also remember, ask your doctor what happens if we wait. That question will reframe the conversation to talk about the risk of not doing the procedure or giving you a particular drug, instead of automatically assuming that they're going to give you the procedure or the drug. The only thing worse than paying for ridiculously priced health care is paying for ridiculously priced health care that we didn't need in the first place. So make sure to protect yourself from getting unnecessary care. Check out the resources and links below for more information. I'm happy to help.
Marshall Allen, "Never Pay the First Bill' Part 1 | The Ovation Show w/ Dan Labroad
