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[deleted] t1_itvqz9v wrote

Reply to comment by SenTedStevens in Neema Roshania Patel, Post editor who cultivated younger audiences, dies at 35 by aresef

If someone comes in every month for a stomach ache and there is nothing else wrong with them (no hematemesis, no weight loss, no blood work abnormalities, nothing on imaging), it would absolutely be malpractice to send them for an unnecessary (surgical) work-up just because they are repeatedly requesting it.

In a lot of cases, the gastroenterologist will actually make more money if they just perform the endoscopy even when it is not indicated, but any good doctor will refuse to perform a procedure unless they think the likely benefit to that patient outweighs the potential harm. There is nothing wrong with getting a 2nd opinion, but if two doctors are both saying "based on your current symptoms, I don't think there is anything serious/treatable, let's hold off on anything drastic," then the absolute worst thing you can do is go to a 3rd, 4th, 5th doctor until you find one who will do surgery when it is way more likely to harm you than find some sort of treatable root cause.

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RadsCatMD t1_itwfi5u wrote

I'm not sure if that's necessarily true. As part of a workup for chronic GI symptoms that are nonresponsive to standard therapy, I can see some causes that might only be clearly evident with direct visualization. Strictures, HPylori sampling / ulcers, gastroesophagitis, malignancies, inflammatory bowel typically require endoscopy. Point remains though, this is for patients who have undergone reasonable workup in a step wise fashion, usually with lifestyle changes and medications beforehand.

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[deleted] t1_itwkx1x wrote

That's fair. Let's be honest though. The average patient who sees their doctor every month for IBS has probably already had at least one unremarkable EGD. My point was, if your GI doc is telling you he doesn't want to scope you (again), there is almost definitely some medical reason, rather than him just wanting patients to suffer and not receive medical care.

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