Newsletter

Diagnose, then Prescribe2024-11-04

In medical practice, and in industry, there seems to be a greater emphasis on prescribing vs. diagnosing properly and comprehensively, and on pharma vs. the diagnostics industry. The two are complementary and interconnected, but let’s not put the cart before the horse. Macro changes in reimbursement and economic incentives need to be considered.

A lack of in depth and comprehensive diagnostic workout can lead to wrong treatments being used, or ones that are too reductionistic, or missed opportunities to improve health globally and definitively. Treatments are not just medications, but also nutraceuticals, lifestyle changes, psychological approaches.

This problem is particularly acute in psychiatry, where most patients get put on the wrong medications, or partial treatments, or not using the best choices. That often leads to pseudo- treatment resistance, and irrational polypharmacy. People are multi-dimensional, their body and mind are interconnected. Use treatments that target the multiple co-morbidities, that help upstairs and downstairs. Everybody wants and needs to be diagnosed and then treated in a comprehensive and 4P way (precise, personalized, participatory, and preventive). We are doing our best to help with that.