It sounds enticing. How could I turn down a genetic blood test to see if I have a hidden cancer? Illumina, the world’s largest maker of DNA sequencing machines, said on Sunday that it was forming a company to attempt to develop such a test (note – this author has some shares of Illumina). The new company is called Grail (something like the Holy Grail I suppose). Many big name tech investors are in on the deal. My concern with all the hype to come is just who will truly benefit from this screening? And what are the risks? When medical folks start screening a bunch of relatively healthy people, results show up that generate fear, more testing, and even medical harm as more procedures are carried out. So I’m worried that this will be another step in “medicalizing” large populations, saying “you can’t be sure you’re really OK until you’ve had the latest blood test, scan, etc.” Yikes, do we really want to live that way?
The Scientific American has a great article, “Putting Tests to the Test: Many Medical Procedures Prove Unnecessary—and Risky“. It goes on to say, “The routine use of 130 different medical screenings, tests and treatments are often unnecessary and should be scaled back, according to 25 medical specialty organizations. The medical societies jointly released lists of tests and therapies patients should question in their campaign, Choosing Wisely. The initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation is aimed at reducing unnecessary interventions that waste money and can actually do more harm than good.”
Actually Jonathan Swift may have the best advice: “The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman.”