Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Pre-disease and Pre-crime?

Mr Khaw, the Minister for Health, was discussing whether to allow people to claim health screening charges from Medisave in Parliament recently. He said (if I have quoted him correctly) that too comprehensive (ie. expensive) a health screening package will go beyond the required and necessary tests. It would make the patients and the medical providers go into unproven "pre-disease" management and consequently higher costs.

Pre-disease management - to take the necessary medication now to prevent a disease (that has or may not occur yet) that you have been found out (from the tests) to have some affinity to.

I remember the movie (can't remember title) by Tom Cruise on "pre-crime". In the movie, he works in a special unit that goes around the country arresting people on the verge of committing crimes based on dreams by 3 gifted ones lying in some water.

Does "pre-disease" management hold water?

1 comment:

Lisa said...

oooh that movie - Minority Report.