Australian public not being informed about dangers of medical overdiagnosis
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 - 16:20
in Health & Medicine
A national survey reveals that only one in ten Australians report being told about the risk of overdiagnosis by their doctors, according to research. The increasingly recognized problem of overdiagnosis happens when someone is diagnosed with a disease that will never cause them any harm, often as a result of healthy people being screened for diseases such as breast or prostate cancer. Overdiagnosis can be harmful due to unnecessary labeling and treatment.