Why ‘Useless’ Surgery Is Still Popular

Most people are familiar with the FDA drug approval process, but do not realize that there is no organization or approval process for surgeries. In most cases high qualilty studies are not done for many years after a new surgery begins to be performed, and in some cases it is later found that the surgery is useless or of little benefit. Unfortunately many of these surgeries then continue to be performed.
This article focuses on 3 common surgeries that have been shown to have little to no benefit... spinal fusion surgeries, knee meniscal cartilage surgeries and vertebroplasty for spinal compression fractures. 
Any thoughts on why useless surgeries continue to be performed?

Why ‘Useless’ Surgery Is Still Popular

What to Expect On Your First Visit To A Doctor Of Chiropractic

We sometimes have people call and ask my staff what is done on the first chiropractic visit. Well, it is very similar to the first visit of any other medical provider. Of course there are the every present intake forms, a medical history is recorded, a physical examination is performed, and further tests are ordered if necessary. 
Here is a whiteboard presentation by the American Chiropactic Association that goes into more detail about the first visit.
Does this surprise anyone?
What to Expect On Your First Visit To A Doctor Of Chiropractic

For Knee Pain, Experts Say Don’t Think About Scoping It

Guidelines published in the British Medical Journal base on 13 research studies recommend against surgery for knee arthritis including meniscal cartilage tears secondary to arthritis. 
Those studies compared the surgery with a variety of options, including physical therapy, exercise and even placebo surgery.
The panel said meniscal tears “are common, usually incidental findings, and unlikely to be the cause of knee pain, aching or stiffness.”
There are 2 million of these types of surgeres performed for $3 billion dollars every year! 
Why do you think surgeons are still performing so many of these surgeries when the research shows they are not effective?
For Knee Pain, Experts Say Don’t Think About Scoping It

It may surprise some, but I treat many patients for knee disorders. Here is a follow up study from the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases showing no benefit of surgery for degerative meniscal cartilage tears of the knee. This type of study with sham (placebo) surgery is not done very often. This showed that after two years there was not significant differences between the surgury group and the sham surgery group. It lends evidence to the evolving consenus that degenerative tears are just part of the arthritis process and not seperate clinical entities.
Anyone have experience with knee meniscus surgery?
Sham Knee Surgery as Good as the Real Thing?

Why you really can’t believe everything you read about your health

Much of the health and medical information reported by the media leaves out important points and/or comes to inaccurate conclusions. This is because most of the writers are not trained in medicine or research methods, and because getting clicks on the articles has become so important. 
Most studies reported are observational studies in which there is no control or placebo group and these types of studies can only show associations but do not give information on causations.
I am a big fan of Gary Schwitzer's Health News Review website which is the topic of this article.
Did you know that association does not equal causation?
Why you really can’t believe everything you read about your health