"The Great Prostate Mistake"

Richard J. Ablin is the University of Arizona research professor who discovered the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in 1970. Today, in a New York Times op-ed, he decried the misuse of that test by health care monopolies to drive up profits with promises of catching prostate cancer early. First of all, the test can't detect cancer. Screening most men over age 50 costs over $3 billion a year, but has been proven in two recent studies to have little or no effect on life expectancy. Only 16% of men will ever be diagnosed with prostate cancer and only 3% will ever die of it. A European study concluded 47 men suffer grievous treatments that result in loss of sexual activity and incontinence for each life saved. Professional associations are beginning to recommend against PSA tests, but not those captive of the drug companies. Ablin concluded, "I never dreamed that my discovery four decades ago would lead to such a profit-driven public health disaster. The medical community must confront reality and stop the inappropriate use of P.S.A. screening. Doing so would save billions of dollars and rescue millions of men from unnecessary, debilitating treatments." The profit motive in competitive markets has proven benefits, but, in monopolistic markets, it leads to uncontrolled costs and, in this case, to human suffering.