News

September 13, 2011

Letters Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20071

To the Editor:

While instances of inappropriate testing at the end of life no doubt occur, your story overlooks a much more significant problem for Americans of all ages-too little preventive testing and treatment ["Years pass, but the tests never end," September 13, 2011]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention point out that7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, andstroke. All of these conditions are costly, damaging, and highly preventable. For example, as many as 60 percent of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented if everyone age 50 and older were screened according to guidelines; yet 22 million people in the US are not up-to-date on their colon cancer screening. Studies by the RAND Institute have found underuse of preventive testing and treatment in such areas as cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer, HIV, heart disease, and diabetes. For example, it found that only about a quarter of patients with diabetes get the blood tests they need to help preventkidney failure, blindness, and amputation.RAND concluded that, on average, Americans receive only about 55 percent of recommended preventive care and that underuse of such care was a much bigger problem than overuse.

Alan Mertz
President
American Clinical Laboratory Association
1100 New York Avenue, Suite 725-W
Washington, DC 20005

202-637-9466