The Straits Times; Published on Nov 5, 2011
Be more discerning in adopting latest medical tests
THANK you, Professor Tommy Koh, for shedding light on the controversy surrounding prostate cancer tests ('Why prostate test is being peddled'; last Saturday) and Professor Feng Pao Hsii ('The public is being sold increasingly sophisticated tests, devices, machines and procedures that have little long-term scientific evidence'; Wednesday).
These are pertinent issues that we seldom read about.
Last month, the Finnish government and major insurance companies announced they will pay for lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy - a chronic sleep disorder - after receiving the swine flu vaccine.
I learnt about this from forwarded e-mail messages. When I researched further, I learnt that Finland suspected a link between the flu vaccine and narcolepsy in August last year, and confirmed it in February this year. I didn't read any of this in the local newspapers.
At the height of the H1N1 outbreak, there was much discussion about flu vaccines being largely ineffective for the people most in need of protection - children and the elderly. Those discussions took place in other countries and over the Internet.
Another controversial medical procedure is the human papillomavirus vaccine against cervical cancer. This is designed to protect against two of the four viruses known to cause cervical cancer. Yet we are given the impression that it protects against all cervical cancers.
There are even suggestions that males should be vaccinated in order not to spread the virus to females, even though the vaccine's safety has not been tested on males. Among vaccinated females, there have been reports of serious side effects, including deaths. But these reports have been dismissed by the medical authorities as being unrelated to the vaccine.
We need to be more discerning about adopting the latest medical treatments and not confuse quality medical care with quantity. At the very least, we should be informed of controversies surrounding them and not blindly accept the recommendations of pharmaceutical companies driven by multibillion-dollar vested interests.
Richard Seah
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_730578.html
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