lynx-
Something that harms the wellbeing of the patient instead of improving it. The act of testing contribute to anxiety, false positives lead to unnecessary stress and more testing, and statistically every medical procedure carries a degree of risk of harm or complication*. That’s leaving aside more complex issues like psychosomatic illnesses, disfunctional doctor-patient relationships, etc.
Basically, while the jury seems to be still out, there is some evidence showing that people are better off testing when there’s a reason to test for something, rather than blanket testing in case something appears. 🤷♂️
*E.g., yours truly in the recent past. Routine blood draw at Kings College Hospital, stupid fucking phlebotomist hit a nerve, which hurt like hell and left me with reduced feeling and occasional electric shock in my dominant hand. They also didn’t lay me down or brace me when I passed out, and their manager shortly after instructed me to walk to the ER by myself when I fell to my knees saying I was going to faint onto the ceramic floor then and there.
Life pro tip: always get blood drawn from your non dominant arm.
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Muc-ed-off
Curiously, increased testing without commensurate indications that something is wrong is correlated with negative patient outcomes.