A shocking new report from Yale University found that children who visit oncologists suffer more medical interventions and die at substantially higher rates than children who are never taken to these doctors at all. The findings were the most dramatic with children taken to pediatric neuro-oncologists, where up to 50% of patients are no longer alive 5 years after their first visit.
“These numbers are a real wake-up call for doctors,” said the lead author of the study, integrative physician Dr. David Catz. “Doctors are supposed to save lives, but our results show that even having a single visit with a pediatric oncologist dramatically raises a child’s risk of dying in the next few years.”
Many parents reacted to the report with shock and anger. Alex Jordan, whose son died at age 6, three years after his initial visit with a pediatric neuro-oncologist, told The Spudd, “If I knew then what I know now, I never would have taken him for his initial appointment, and he would still be here today. Oncologists kill.”
Jenny Margulis, a healthcare writer from Atlanta told The Spudd that she can see no reason any parent would take their child to an oncologist again. “I have never taken mine to one,” she said. “And they could not be any healthier.”
