With so much of our healthcare spending — an estimated 30 percent — going toward needless tests and treatment, Consumer Reports has stepped up its efforts to highlight both the most effective health choices and to promote awareness of inappropriate procedures.
We help you find the safest, most effective drugs and help you focus on the smartest screening tests for heart disease and cancer.
We also have teamed up with other groups to call attention to overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
And for more than a year now, we have contributed to the nationwide Choosing Wisely campaign, an effort to get doctors and patients talking frankly with each other about tests and treatments that really are useful, and those that just add risk with little benefit.
Can you help us out?
You can assist Consumer Reports and our advocates by telling us about your own experiences of overly aggressive care that you or a family member received.
Were you ever prescribed a drug or given a test you didn’t think you really needed, for instance a test or imaging procedure with no clear purpose? Did you ever question your doctor about what you thought was unnecessary care that put you at risk of harm? Have you talked with a doctor about appropriate levels of care?
If so, we want to hear your story. That way, we can explain to patients and physicians how important it is for consumers to get the right care.
Please go to our stori.es page and fill out a survey about your experiences.