William R. Reinus
Editor

2014

One of the central principles of patient management is that one should only request studies, whether laboratory tests or imaging examinations, on patients when there is reason to believe that the result will affect patient management. While this may appear as a near truism, it is surprising how often this tenet is not followed. The most common reason that unindicted studies are requested is that the patient wants a test of some sort and the clinician for social, political, economic, and medico-legal reasons feels obligated to oblige. This type of expenditure, though typically wasteful and at times dangerous to the patient, will continue to one degree or another as long as there are doctors and patients.