Dr. H. Gilbert Welch

"An internationally recognized expert on the effects of medical screening and overdiagnosis, H. Gilbert Welch’s work is leading many patients and physicians to think carefully about what leads to good health. For Welch, the answer is often “less testing” and “less medicine” with more emphasis on non-medical factors, such as diet, exercise, and finding purpose in life.

Welch’s research examines the problems created by medicine’s efforts to detect disease early: physicians test too often, treat too aggressively, and tell too many people that they are sick. Most of his work has focused on overdiagnosis in cancer screening: in particular, screening for melanoma, thyroid, breast, and prostate cancer. He is the author of three books: Less Medicine, More Health: 7 Assumptions That Drive Too Much Health Care (2015), Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health (2012), and Should I Be Tested for Cancer? (2006).  His op-eds on health care have appeared in numerous national media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal." (From Dartmouth Medical School website)

Medicine has been haunted by the myth that early diagnosis allowed by screening provides optimal results for most diseases especially cancer. This is true for colon and cervical cancer but not so for many others: breast, prostate, thyroid, kidney for example.

Welch is an expert in medical outcomes analysis- what happens after different interventions. His work has received attention by independent observers but the medical community has not paid much heed. Medical centers and physicians make a lot of money because of ill advised screening and treatments. The validity of Welch's conclusions are ignored and many patients are harmed.