Details

Titel

Our Stubborn Quest for Diagnostic Certainty

Ist Teil von

• The New England journal of medicine, 1989-11, Vol.321 (18), p.1272-1273

Ort / Verlag

United States: Massachusetts Medical Society

Erscheinungsjahr

1989

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• To the Editor: Kassirer (June 1 issue)* recently implicated the quest for diagnostic certainty as one of the many causes of excessive medical testing. Clearly, the cause of excessive diagnostic endeavors involves many factors; however, the physician's desire for absolute certainty in diagnosis probably contributes little to the overall problem. Physicians have always been confronted with uncertainty, and inference still has a role in medical judgment, especially for the experienced clinician. Excessive testing is probably a result of the societal demand for completeness. Thoroughness is often equated with quality. Among laymen, juries, and physicians there is a willingness to forgive . . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.