Physicians say more than a fifth of all medical care is unnecessary

• A survey of 2,106 U.S. physicians found that, on average, they believe 20.6% of medical care is unnecessary, including 22% of prescriptions, 24.9% of tests and 11.1% of procedures.
• An overwhelming majority (84.7%) attributed overtreatment to fear of malpractice, according to the study in Plos One. Other oft-cited reasons were patient pressure (59%) and difficulty accessing medical records (38.2%).
• More than seven in 10 respondents said there is a chance profit encourages overtreatment, and most believed less fee-for-service reimbursement would reduce overutilization.