Every two weeks or so, I receive an unsolicited phone call from people who, after identifying me, offer me a free back brace. I’d say there have been 20 phone calls during the last year. They just want me to answer a few simple questions. Then they’ll bring the back brace over.But as they persisted, I wondered how they knew I had a back problem. So, with the next call, I asked that question.
This past August, the results of a study by The Wall Street Journal about this were published front page. CBS also reported on it. I read both. One disease called hyperaldosteronism is discovered over and over. Another is peripheral artery disease. The former disease was diagnosed 244,000 in recent years, the latter 568,000 times. Each new diagnosis brings in extra taxpayer money from the government to the provider.
In other words, had I said yes to the back brace, it would be the highlight of the visit. After that, I would likely be shown – by the diagnosis spit out in the computer cart — how I was going downhill far faster than I had thought.