Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far

by Paul A. Offit M.D.

Overview

An acclaimed medical expert and patient advocate offers an eye-opening look at many common and widely used medical interventions that have been shown to be far more harmful than helpful. Yet, surprisingly, despite clear evidence to the contrary, most doctors continue to recommend them.

Modern medicine has significantly advanced in the last few decades as more informed practices, thorough research, and incredible breakthroughs have made it possible to successfully treat and even eradicate many serious ailments. Illnesses that once were a death sentence, such as HIV and certain forms of cancer, can now be managed, allowing those affected to live longer, healthier lives. Because of these advances, we now live 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago.

But while we have learned much in the preceding decades that has changed our outlook and practices, we still rely on medical interventions that are vastly out of date and can adversely affect our health. We all know that finishing the course of antibiotics prevents the recurrence of illness, that sunscreens block harmful UV rays that cause skin cancer, and that all cancer-screening programs save lives. But do scientific studies really back this up?

In this game-changing book, Dr. Paul A. Offit debunks fifteen common medical interventions that have long been considered gospel despite mounting evidence of their adverse effects, from vitamins, sunscreen, fever-reducing medicines, and eyedrops for pink eye to more serious procedures like heart stents and knee surgery. Analyzing how these practices came to be, the biology of what makes them so ineffective and harmful, and the medical culture that continues to promote them, Overkill informs patients to help them advocate for their health. By educating ourselves, we can ask better questions about some of the drugs and surgeries that are all too readily available—and all too heavily promoted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062947499
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	105,588
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Paul A. Offit, MD, is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as the acclaimed author of Autism's False Prophets, Vaccinated, Pandora's Lab, and Deadly Choices.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Ignoring James Lind 1

Part I Infections

1 Treating Fever Can Prolong or Worsen Illness 7

2 Finishing the Antibiotic Course Is Often Unnecessary 20

3 Antibiotic Drops Don't Treat Pinkeye 35

Part II Supplements and Drugs

4 Vitamin D Supplements Aren't a Cure-all 45

5 Supplemental Antioxidants Increase the Risk of Cancer and Heart Disease 59

6 Testosterone for "Low T" Is Dangerous and Unnecessary 70

7 Baby Aspirin Doesn't Prevent First Strokes or First Heart Attacks 84

Part III Food and Over-the-Counter Products

8 Embrace Allergenic Foods for Infants 97

9 The False Security of Sunblock 102

10 Avoid Reflux Medicines for Fussy Babies 109

Part IV Cancer Screening

11 Prostate Cancer Screening Programs Do More Harm Than Good 117

12 Thyroid Cancer Screening Programs Don't Save Lives 124

13 Breast Cancer Screening Programs Aren't Exactly as Advertised 133

Part V Surgery

14 Heart Stents Don't Prolong Lives 147

15 Surgery for Knee Arthritis Is Unnecessary 156

16 Don't Remove Mercury Dental Fillings 168

Part VI Common Beliefs

17 Vitamin C Doesn't Treat or Prevent Colds 187

18 Don't Ice Sprains 197

19 Teething Doesn't Cause Fever 202

Epilogue: Choosing Wisely 205

Acknowledgments 213

Notes 215

Index 267

Editorial Reviews

2020-02-07
According to this expert skeptical account, there is less to many medical interventions than meets the eye.

Offit, a professor of pediatrics whose books include Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong (2017), begins each chapter with the history of a belief or treatment and why it became popular, and then he describes the research showing why it’s ineffective and sometimes positively harmful. Regardless, too often, these remedies remain popular. Antibiotic eye drops rarely cure pinkeye. Antioxidants and vitamin E can contribute to cancer. Giving testosterone to older men doesn’t improve their sex lives but doubles the risk of a heart attack. Sunscreen doesn’t prevent skin cancer. Readers may be shocked to read that many studies designed to measure the efficacy of mammograms in preventing breast cancer deaths find no benefit. Other studies disagree, and this is an area of fierce debate. Offit writes that mammograms may save lives, but the effect is not as dramatic as once thought. The prostate specific antigen test measures a blood chemical sometimes elevated in prostate cancer but sometimes elevated for other reasons. Many experts agree with the author that it does more harm than good. Some worthless treatments are blasts from the past. As a cure for the common cold, Vitamin C peaked in the 1970s with Nobel Prize–winning Linus Pauling’s research. Today, enthusiasts still consider it miraculous, but it’s no more so than other vitamins. That teething causes fever is a Victorian belief that has achieved new life with the internet; ditto the conviction that amalgam dental fillings contain poison and should be replaced. Medical organizations such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians discourage most of the practices that Offit condemns. Physician inertia often hinders their work, but so does patient demand. Most readers know that doctors dispense too many unnecessary antibiotics, but research has shown that “no…factor was as strongly associated with patient satisfaction as receipt of a prescription for an antibiotic.”

A valuable corrective text for our overmedicated nation.

Kirkus Reviews