[kach22i]

I have been doing some research on this topic and critics claim that the procedure is just as likely to kill you as the cancer it is intended to detect.

The critics claim that when the AHCA (Obamacare) made colonoscopy an item covered by insurance it became a big money maker for the healthcare industry and that's why they push it so heartily.

2013
Only an Accident: Fatal Colonoscopy Leaves Family Stunned and Unpaid
https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2013/10/13/only-accident-fatal-colonoscopy-leaves-family-stunned-and-unpaid

Read the comments section of the above too.

2012
Why I Won't Get a Colonoscopy
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/why-i-wont-get-a-colonoscopy/

Another analysis of British data on colon cancer, by the watchdog group Straight Statistics, concluded that screening 1,000 patients for 10 years will prevent two deaths from the disease. Meanwhile, colonoscopies lead to "serious medical complications" in 5 out of every 1,000 patients, according to a 2006 report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Given these risks, my guess is that a rigorous examination of colonoscopies will find that their benefits do not outweigh their downside.

2015
I’m skeptical about … screening colonoscopies
https://robertclaremd.com/im-skeptical-about-screening-colonoscopies/

Medical screening tests harm more people than they help. It’s true, and like the sinking of the Titanic: “It’s a mathematical certainty.” Remember first that the goal of medical screening is to detect or prevent potentially fatal diseases in an asymptomatic population. And the reason most people in the population are asymptomatic is because they don’t have the disease in the first place. You have to screen many to benefit a few....................

But if the real point of screening a population for disease is to increase the life expectancy of the group as a whole then colon cancer screening fails. Despite what you might have heard from Katie Couric (who had her colonoscopy broadcast on the Today Show in 2000 to promote colon cancer awareness after her husband died of the disease), your family doctor, gastroenterologist, and the American Cancer Society, colon cancer screening hasn’t saved any lives. Life expectancy and all-cause mortality in people undergoing screening are the same as in people who don’t. The small reduction in colon cancer death is simply replaced by a slight increase in death due to other causes like infection, heart attack, stroke, and other forms of cancer. There is no long term survival benefit to screening. One possible explanation for this is that chemo and radiation are toxic forms of treatment that increase the risk of dying from other causes. Another is that bodies are designed to fail, if not from cancer then from something else.

2015
By Dr. Mercola (long article but the best of them)
The Pros and Cons of Colonoscopies
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/12/09/colonoscopy-pros-cons.aspx

Story at-a-glance

About 1 in every 350 colonoscopies do serious harm. The death rate is about 1 for every 1,000 procedures

About 80 percent of endoscopes are cleaned using Cidex (glutaraldehyde), which does NOT properly sterilize these tools, potentially allowing for the transfer of material that could easily infect you

Asking what solution is used to clean the scope is a key question that could save your life. Make sure it’s been sterilized with peracetic acid, to avoid potential transfer of infectious material from previous patients

2016
Is colonoscopy the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening?
https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/14/colonoscopy-colon-cancer-screening/

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also gives FIT and colonoscopy equal billing. “We don’t need to do colonoscopy as a primary screening,” Wender said. “We have equally excellent tests.”

More radically, last month a Canadian task force recommended against colonoscopy for routine screening of average-risk adults, and instead endorsed FIT and flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Fecal immunochemical test (FIT)
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000704.htm

The fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is a screening test for colon cancer. It tests for hidden blood in the stool, which can be an early sign of cancer. FIT only detects human blood from the lower intestines. Medicines and food do not interfere with the test. So it tends to be more accurate and have fewer false positive results than other tests.

The website below is much more alarmist than anything above, so if you had issues with the other ones, don't bother clicking it. It looks to be out of the mainstream in any case. Including it as a colorful extreme.


Colonoscopy: Is it worth the risk?
https://www.gutsense.org/colonoscopy/is-colonoscopy-worth-the-risk.html

Each year over 14 million Americans are getting screened for colon cancer. Of these, according to the report “Complications of Colonoscopy in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System” by the Annals of Internal Medicine, an estimated 70,000 (0.5%) may be killed or injured by colonoscopy-related complications [link]. This figure is higher than the total number of annual deaths from colon cancer itself, 22% higher.

And to be fair a 180 degree swing in the other direction - from the go get one crowd.

December 17, 2018
Long-term Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Related Deaths After a Colonoscopy With Normal Findings
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2718339

Key Points


Question What are the long-term risks of colorectal cancer and related deaths in average-risk patients after a colonoscopy with normal findings (negative colonoscopy results)?

Findings In this community-based study of 1 251 318 individuals, adjusted annual colorectal cancer risks were reduced by 46% to 95%, and related deaths by 29% to 96%, across more than 12 years of follow-up after negative colonoscopy results compared with average-risk individuals with no screening. Although reductions in risk were attenuated with increasing years of follow-up, there was a 46% lower risk of colorectal cancer and 88% lower risk of related deaths at the guideline-recommended 10-year rescreening interval.

Meaning A colonoscopy with normal findings in average-risk patients appears to be associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer deaths and overall, proximal, distal, early-stage, and advanced-stage colorectal cancer for more than 12 years compared with no screening.

The best article I read from a few days ago I am unable to find today, it was written by a doctor. I paraphrased this critic's message at the top of this post.

For the second or third leading cause of cancer deaths, one would think some kind of test is warranted. However, why are not the other less invasive options being offered? I know that I wasn't offered any options. My wife knows of two people from church that died from their colonoscopy procedure, and it's a pretty small congregation.

Published on Nov 25, 2015
Dr. Greger
Should We All Get Colonoscopies Starting at Age 50?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GDdWTnzVsU


EDIT:
Finished watching the video....................follow the money.