The story involves the creation of osteopenia, a supposed
subthreshold version of osteoporosis or low bone density. I also
involves the systematic dissemination of inexpensive "diagnostic"
machines for the new disorder that, however, fail to assess bone
density where most breaks occur, that is, where it really matters. It
involves Merck funding a number of organizations to lobby for the
Medicare law to be changed, allowing doctors to be reimbursed for using
these new machines of questionable utility. And it involves Merck
selling a lot of Fosamax to women with the new "disorder" and making a
lot of money. And it involves questions as to whether Fosamax is
actually helpful, or may even be harmful, in these women who a few
years ago were only experiencing normal aging. It also involves a lack
of any plans to conduct the long-term follow-up studies necessary to
determine if this treatment is helping, useless, or harmful.
This is a story that tells us so much about what is wrong with
our healthcare system. Questionable diagnoses created and treatments
administered to make money for large corporations. Alas, the recent
reactions to the changed breast cancer screening
guidelines suggest that
once a constituency of doctors, drug dealers companies, and advocacy groups sees "benefits" from a new prevention approach, it will be extremely difficult to change.
Read or listen to the story here.
Stephen Soldz is psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health researcher, and faculty member at the
Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He is co-founder of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology and is President of
Psychologists for Social Responsibility. He was a psychological consultant on two of (
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