IVF overtesting in the futile quest for certainty

When I review the medical records of patients who have done IVF in other clinics , I'm quite amazed by the amount of testing which they've undergone . A lot of these tests are extremely expensive  -and many are exotic ; of unproven value; and provide information which is of no clinical use. It’s a long list – and includes: NK cell testing; pregnancy destroying factor; TB PCR testing of the endometrium; and TORCH tests.Why do doctors do so many unnecessary tests ?There are multiple reasons.One is financial. It’s much more profitable to order the test , and it's often easier to do this. One of the reasons doctors order tests is that this is an easy way of terminating the consultation, so they can move on with seeing the next patient. This is much easier than spending 10 minutes explaining why the test is not needed. Not only does this eat into the doctor’s time, they can’t charge for this either. This is because the system doesn’t reimburse doctors for talking to the patient – even though this is often far more useful ( and much less harmful) than ordering tests and doing procedures !On the other hand, the doctor can order the test, charge the patient, and say –  Please come back and we will discuss treatment options once we get the results !Lots of doctors crave certainty , and when we come across problems for which we don’t have clear answers ( for example, why a perfect looking embryo did not implant),  the standard knee jerk reflex is – We...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Assisted reproductive technology Health In vitro fertilisation Latin Medicine Natural killer cell patient Scandinavia Source Type: blogs