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

在美国，一些内科医生认为他们的病人若少做些医疗保健，自己会过得更好，钱包也会瘪的更慢。凯瑟琳·哈蒙这样写道。

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.

离最近一次你离开医生的办公室，却不用带走药方、进行体检或者转诊是什么时候？或许有段时间了吧，一些人认为美国人在医疗保健方面的花费出现增长的趋势---越来越多的药物、程序和检测。这就是美国比其他工业国家多花费了两倍成本在医疗保健上的原因。

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

尽管拥有这些额外的治疗，美国人的平均寿命仅排名世界36，这比古巴还低。

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"]

甚至医生也在说，我们是可以减少医疗治疗的。42%的初级治疗医师认为他们的病人在医疗保健上花费太多。这观点来自于发布在《内科医学档案》上的调查分析。[Brenda E. Sirovich, Steven Woloshin 和 Lisa M. Schwartz的文章---“太少？太多？初级治疗医师对于美国医疗保健的观点。”]

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，为什么医生继续进行这些多余的检测，药物和处方呢？根据报告显示，这是医生为了避免医疗事故诉讼。多达四分之三的内科医生承认，他们在进行治疗的时候都会采取较为激进的治疗方案，因为他们怕（由于医疗事故）被起诉。这种担忧是广泛存在的，甚至这种行为因此有着自己的名号：防御性医疗。但是为了使病人更加健康并且花费减少，也许是时候让这种惯例消失匿迹的时候了。
—Katherine Harmon 凯瑟琳·哈蒙