There are a few facts of life that we know. I will name some:
- Dead doctors don’t lie. Live ones sometimes do.
- Some doctors do not practice the “do no harm” credo. Some do horrific harm to patients. My new bride is an example of several such procedures, some in childhood and some as an adult. And I had a quack dentist as a child.
- Money is a big big factor and motivator. My not-long-ago encounter with a cardiologist who owned a cath lab is an example. Find any reason to get patient to his cath lab. 2nd opinion was: In absence of symptoms, it was probably not indicated.
Now as far as the colonosopy goes, I tend to agree with this guy. But I did get talked into one a while back as I had heard of the sigmoid scopy as an alternative. When I went in to see Dr Mazel Toff, I first confirmed that he is looking for polyps which “can” become cancerous. then I axed if he ever found anything above the sigmoid. His eyes lit up and he declared that just last week he was doing his thing on a woman and there was indeed one above the sigmoid. So I relented and did the whole thing. Did he lie? I don’t know.
I have Kaiser and have had a few They test. Also if you have a lot of polyps more frequent. Last one all clear so next one in 5 years. Worst part is the prep
A fairly accurate description
Get to gather with some other patients and have a poop party.
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I’ve never had one of these colonoscopies. I did watch one once when guarding an inmate at the hospital. Saw the whole thing on the doctors monitor and watched him clip off what must have been polyps, but looked like chicken fat stuck on the wall of the colon. The doctors were listening to music, and the same when I watched them remove a blood clot from an inmates leg. Anything worse than those I would ask another officer to switch with me, they liked watching brain surgeries or hip replacements, I did not. They were like woo hoo.
It might be worth the travel for some easy prep called Hygeacare (I think) and I have thought about going to Austin it is pretty cool. Costs a couple hundred and go in an hour and a half early. Patented and specially made facility where you relax and get pumped and drained real easy. Then you wander across to the day surgery center for your exam.
Oh s**t Raspy that could result in a traffic jam at the throne.
I don’t think colonoscopies are a scam, They are a medical test that one can agree to have or not, and not because we may do more here than is done outside the US. At the recommendation of a doctor I had my first one at 69. The result was clean and I got a “see you in 10 years.” That probably won’t happen due to the clean result and colonoscopies after age 75 are generally not recommended unless prior ones have noted something of concern.
There may be a replacement for colonoscopies as science progresses.
" Galleri can detect more than 50 types of cancer, including:
This reminds me of an accident from my youth.
I ended up with an accidental gun shot in my left forearm and reported to the emergency room.
As is routine the police showed up because all gun shots are investigated accidental or other wise.
The office that came into the ER was over 6 tall and looked like he worked out often.
As they were working on me flushing the gun shot would with saline they suddenly quit and started working on the officer who was face down because he fainted.
What is wrong with this picture? Why is our government not on top of Galleri? Sounds like to me to be a great development in detection of cancers. All from a grubby little almost-non-invasive blood test.
Yet that same government could/would/did let slide the Covid jabs and even implore people to take them. Now proven to be non-effective and non-safe and responsible for the worst record ever of any product in VAERS data base. Worse than all the others put together in the history of the data base! We are supposed to get that but we cannot get a little blood test with a proven good record?
Most honest thing ever said on this forum!!
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Scam is the wrong word.
Are they over used? Nowadays with other techniques, I could say there is a fair debate.
This is a litmus test for GI doctors. If they say I must be a colonoscopy because my grandfather died from colon cancer. I remind them it was from a radiation accident. If they still push. I to somewhere else.
About every 5 - 8 years I have a colitis flare up since my early thirties.
My Dr knows the prescription I need that will clear it up in 30 days or less. I still have to have a colonoscopy and once I even had to try a different medication because the insurance company insisted on trying something cheaper
Every outbreak they want a scope. I have occasional outbreaks. I said no. If there are complications then yes. Otherwise no.
My understanding is that the test has not been finally approved yet.
It is available through the Mayo clinic for self pay.
My wife took it several months ago with negative results.
The blood was drawn locally and sent to the Mayo Clinic through the mail.
Cost us $ 1,000.00 because it is not yet covered by medicare.
If I develope positive symptons like rectal bleeding I will go that route.
You could shit yourself blind. 
There are many test that are approved. A colonoscopy is just one of those test
I was referring to the blood draw analysis test.