tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post2655001643936443822..comments2023-12-05T07:50:19.855-05:00Comments on No Oil for Pacifists: Chart of the Day@nooil4pacifistshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16688417615117569825noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-4933485124472261092009-07-08T13:15:27.540-04:002009-07-08T13:15:27.540-04:00dridel, I agree that correlation isn't necessa...dridel, I agree that correlation isn't necessarily causation. Yet the relationship expressed in the chart naturally would be <a href="http://nooilforpacifists.blogspot.com/2007/09/healthy-supplement.html" rel="nofollow">the product of the elimination of patient incentives to economize</a>. (A rough analogy is the way college tuition costs have risen far faster than inflation--due to the now widespread availability of student loans.) As an MD, would you deny that patients with less "skin in the game" are more likely to authorize potentially unnecessary diagnostic testing?@nooil4pacifistshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688417615117569825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-72900598921110274122009-07-08T12:59:18.611-04:002009-07-08T12:59:18.611-04:00i want to contribute my 2 cents. although i dont ...i want to contribute my 2 cents. although i dont think that graph is lying, it is only showing association. it is a pretty big jump in logic to go from association to causative effect. medical costs have risen also as technology has developped, and that technology is not cheap. diagnosing appendicitis was practically free in 1960. it now requires a CT scan and diagnosis alone costs over $2,000. however, take into account all the hidden costs that were ignored back then, when people died of missed appendicitis or unnecessary surgeries.<br /><br /><br />dridel, mdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com