Compared with other western countries, we do more invasive studies of the heart for patients with chest pain, without actually improving their outcomes. We put more of our patients into the intensive care unit, even though they are, on average, less sick than their counterparts abroad. We give more chemotherapy to cancer patients near the ends of their disease, even though it improves neither the quality nor the length of their lives. We do these things because we can, because to do otherwise would be considered giving up—even if doing less would be an extremely sensible and kind decision.
