RT Journal
A1 Cassel CK
T1 PAtient requests for nonbeneficial care
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2012
FD May 2
VO 307
IS 17
SP 1797
OP 1798
DO 10.1001/jama.2012.3572
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.3572
AB 
To the Editor: Drs Brett and McCullough articulated the need for physicians to take responsibility for steering patients away from unnecessary or harmful tests and procedures by “making reasoned judgments about what is beneficial and appropriate and then practicing accordingly.”1 Patient requests for tests that may not be necessary, and the acquiescence by physicians to these requests,2 have helped lead to an inefficient health care system in which resources are often overused—some say as much as 30% of Medicare spending is wasted—at a substantial cost and with little benefit.3