From Defensive Medicine to Quaternary Prevention: The Transition That Pakistan Needs

The issue of overprescribing laboratory investigations is an old one in the world of medical practice and it has unfortunately seen a tremendous increase with the digitalisation of medicine, in more recent times. Phrased usually as 'defensive medicine,' this kind of overmedicalisation steers medical practice away from the ethical, skill-refining fronts on the part of doctors and imposes an unnecessary financial burden on the patients' pockets, adding to their suffering. Pakistan has not been able to save itself either, from the impropriety that roots out of what is now almost a norm in medical practice. The existent low literacy and awareness rates in the masses of the country, coupled with the cultural respect for doctors and lack of financial resources amongst the poor patients to stand up to doctors or the hospitals, have all made it even easier for physicians to get away with ordering whatever investigations they choose. The issue is a grave one and its rampancy demands that attention is drawn to it and efforts are made to transition into the practice of evidence-based medicine and quaternary prevention.