A survey of government records and medical databases from USA Today indicates that between 10 and 20 percent of all surgeries are avoidable or unnecessary.
In the realm of spinal surgery, data analysis from Medicare program audits showed that around 10 percent of Medicare-funded spinal fusions in 2011 did not have documentation so support their necessity.
According to the article, those surgeries lacked a medical basis or had not been first addressed through appropriate non-surgical means. These medically unnecessary spinal surgeries cost Medicare 157 million dollars in improper payments in 2011.
The article cites another 2011 study in Surgical Neurology International that indicates 17 percent of neck and back complaints ended in surgery lacking a medical basis.
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