Incentives to increase patient satisfaction: Are we doing more harm than good?

Epinephrine for cardiac arrest: are we doing more harm than good?

Vaccine mandates in the US are doing more harm than good.

Since my medical career began in 1962 I have seen the harmful effects of nearly all of the vaccine preventable diseases on the US immunization schedule. I have enthusiastically administered many thousands of vaccine doses and am glad that my children and grandchildren are well vaccinated. However, the current attitudes of public health officials about vaccine mandates and exemptions are arrogan...

Ultrasound: more harm than good?

PSA in screening for prostate cancer: more good than harm or more harm than good?

The aim of screening for prostate cancer is to detect malignancy at an early and potentially treatable stage, thereby increasing the chance of cure. Although serum PSA has been used as a screening test for prostate cancer for over 20 years, the practice is controversial. As a screening test for prostate cancer, PSA lacks sensitivity and specificity for early disease. Furthermore, screening may ...

On the philosophy of diagnosis: is doing more good than harm better than "primum non nocere"?

Diagnosis is arguably the cornerstone of medicine. Without at least some form of diagnosis the practice of medicine would not be possible. This narrative review explores common philosophical assumptions and challenges the notion that a certain diagnosis can ever be made. The idealistic concept of "primum non nocere" is discussed, and whether the utilitarian goal of achieving "the greatest happi...