overtreat
Apply remedies excessively
To overtreat is to provide more medical treatment than necessary or beneficial—extra tests, procedures, or medications that don't improve outcomes and may cause harm.
The concern arises especially with aggressive interventions for conditions that might resolve on their own or progress slowly: Doctors worry about overtreating early-stage prostate cancer.
Overtreatment is the noun form.
Finding harmless conditions unnecessarily
- overprescriptionExcessive medication ordering
- overmedicationExcessive pharmaceutical treatment
- polypharmacyUsing numerous drugs concurrently
- overutilizationExcessive consumption of resources
unnecessary · overscreening · medicalization · overtesting · complications · hospitalization · antibiotics
Causing ruin or decay
- coddlingOverindulgent, protective treatment
- babyingTreating as helpless
- mollycoddlingOverindulgent protective care
- cossetingOverprotective care
overprotective · smothering · indulging · helicopter · hovering · doting · fussing · enabling
overdiagnosis
Finding harmless conditions unnecessarily
- overprescriptionExcessive medication ordering
- overmedicationExcessive pharmaceutical treatment
- polypharmacyUsing numerous drugs concurrently
overutilization · unnecessary · overscreening · medicalization · overtesting · complications · hospitalization · antibiotics
spoiling
Causing ruin or decay
- coddlingOverindulgent, protective treatment
- babyingTreating as helpless
- mollycoddlingOverindulgent protective care
cosseting · overprotective · smothering · indulging · helicopter · hovering · doting · fussing · enabling · overbearing
overtreatundertreat
Treat with insufficient intervention
undertreating · neglect · medical neglect · undertreated · watchful waiting