During the fiscal year of 2010, self-referrals amounted to over $109 million dollars in extra payments from Medicare, which equates to approximately 400,000 diagnostic imaging examinations for seemingly arbitrary purposes.

Self-referral leads to more images, more treatment, more surgeries, etc., and contributes to the escalation in the unsustainable rising health-care costs. It is a vicious cycle. So why not just eliminate self-referral?

We alone are responsible for our own health. Physicians are guides, but we all need to feel more entitled to direct our medical care.

Shouldn't we be focusing on preventative health care instead of discouraging patients to see their doctor annually? Aside from the unnecessary tests, over-prescribed medications and needless scans, what's so wrong with fostering this basic human interaction?

The medical field continues to define health as the absence of disease, an impoverished conceptualization that underlies the most fundamental problems in our health care system.

Make your standard of care better than standard. Be a good boss -- ask good questions, get good answers. By doing so, you can help ensure that you and your doctor are always diligent, and choosing wisely -- together.

Research should guide decision-making but not be the end all. Physicians need to know how the "research findings" might be applied in a patient's individual circumstance.

CHICAGO — Ninety percent of physicians surveyed said doctors overtest and overtreat to protect themselves from malpractice lawsuits. That senti...

CHICAGO — Fast decisions on life-and-death cases are the bread and butter of hospital emergency rooms. Nowhere do doctors face greater pressures...

I've tried to present both "sides" and provide a glimpse of a "typical" procedure. Now I'm hoping that the truth about the need for animal testing for human health and survival will finally "out."

A myelogram can help your doctor make a diagnosis or plan the appropriate treatment to help relieve back or leg symptoms.