Many U.S. physicians think that their patients and their patient's purses could get by with less medical care. Katherine Harmon reports

在美國，一些內科醫生認為他們的病人若少做些醫療保健，自己會過得更好，錢包也會癟的更慢。凱瑟琳·哈蒙這樣寫道。

When was the last time you left the doctor's office without a prescription, test or referral? It's probably been a while. And many argue that this increase in care—more drugs, procedures and tests—is a big reason the U.S. spends about twice as much on healthcare as other industrialized countries.

離最近一次你離開醫生的辦公室，卻不用帶走藥方、進行體檢或者轉診是什么時候？或許有段時間了吧，一些人認為美國人在醫療保健方面的花費出現增長的趨勢---越來越多的藥物、程序和檢測。這就是美國比其他工業國家多花費了兩倍成本在醫療保健上的原因。

Despite all the extra treatment, the U.S. ranks only 36th in life expectancy, just below Cuba.

盡管擁有這些額外的治療，美國人的平均壽命僅排名世界36，這比古巴還低。

Even doctors say we could do a little less doctoring. Forty-two percent of primary care physicians think their own patients are getting too much healthcare. That’s according to a survey analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. [Brenda E. Sirovich, Steven Woloshin and Lisa M. Schwartz, "Too little? Too much? Primary care physicians' views on U.S. health care"]

甚至醫生也在說，我們是可以減少醫療治療的。42%的初級治療醫師認為他們的病人在醫療保健上花費太多。這觀點來自于發布在《內科醫學檔案》上的調查分析。[Brenda E. Sirovich, Steven Woloshin 和 Lisa M. Schwartz的文章---“太少？太多？初級治療醫師對于美國醫療保健的觀點?！盷

So why do docs keep giving these extra tests, meds and referrals? To avoid malpractice suits, according to the report. More than three quarters of physicians fessed up to practicing more aggressively because they worried about being sued. This fear is so pervasive that it has its own name: "defensive medicine." But to keep patients healthier and costs down, maybe it's time to send this kind of practice to the morgue.

那么，為什么醫生繼續進行這些多余的檢測，藥物和處方呢？根據報告顯示，這是醫生為了避免醫療事故訴訟。多達四分之三的內科醫生承認，他們在進行治療的時候都會采取較為激進的治療方案，因為他們怕（由于醫療事故）被起訴。這種擔憂是廣泛存在的，甚至這種行為因此有著自己的名號：防御性醫療。但是為了使病人更加健康并且花費減少，也許是時候讓這種慣例消失匿跡的時候了。
—Katherine Harmon 凱瑟琳·哈蒙