Health Affairs, 26, no. 3 (2007): 624 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.26.3.624 © 2007 by Project HOPE	New Online   Pay Cuts For Medicare Docs   Access To Care Woes   Public Coverage More Efficient   Empowering Consumers

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Risks & Benefits

PROLOGUE

Risks, Benefits, And Uncertainty In Health Care

Just as every rose has thorns, many things we do to protect our health carry some risk—some uncertainty about the likelihood and severity of adverse events. Should one take aspirin daily to avert a heart attack and accept an increased risk of stroke? Does an arthritic knee hurt enough to justify the risks of a replacement, or of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug if we keep the biological knee but try to control the pain? Mostly we make those choices ourselves, trying to follow expert advice—often being confused by uncertainty even among experts. The complexity of choices, whether everyday matters or . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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