overtreating
Too much therapy
Overtreating is giving more medical treatment than necessary or beneficial.
Doctors may overtreat by ordering unnecessary tests, prescribing excessive medication, or pursuing aggressive interventions when watchful waiting would suffice: Critics argue that we're overtreating early-stage cancers that would never become life-threatening.
The term reflects growing concern about healthcare costs and the harm of unnecessary procedures.
Finding harmless conditions unnecessarily
- overprescriptionExcessive medication ordering
- polypharmacyUsing numerous drugs concurrently
- overmedicationExcessive pharmaceutical treatment
- overscreeningExcessive preventive testing
medicalization · side-effects · overutilization · hospitalization · overmanagement
Surpassing reasonable bounds
- unnecessaryNot essential or required
- redundantExceeding what's needed
- superfluousExceeding what suffices
- wastefulUsing resources carelessly
overuse · overabundance · immoderate · disproportionate · overzealous · aggressive · overboard · overmuch
Difficulties that emerge unexpectedly
- harmInjury or damage
- burdenOppressive weight or duty
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
Disproportionate emotional response
- hypervigilanceHeightened threat sensitivity
- alarmismNeedless raising of fears
- overcautiousExcessively careful or wary
- precautionaryDone to prevent harm
overestimation · mismanagement · risk-averse · paternalistic · overprotective
overdiagnosis
Finding harmless conditions unnecessarily
- overprescriptionExcessive medication ordering
- polypharmacyUsing numerous drugs concurrently
- overmedicationExcessive pharmaceutical treatment
overscreening · medicalization · side-effects · overutilization · hospitalization · overmanagement
excessive
Surpassing reasonable bounds
- unnecessaryNot essential or required
- redundantExceeding what's needed
- superfluousExceeding what suffices
wasteful · overuse · overabundance · immoderate · disproportionate · overzealous · aggressive · overboard · overmuch · extravagant
complications
Difficulties that emerge unexpectedly
- harmInjury or damage
- burdenOppressive weight or duty
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
overreaction
Disproportionate emotional response
- hypervigilanceHeightened threat sensitivity
- alarmismNeedless raising of fears
- overcautiousExcessively careful or wary
precautionary · overestimation · mismanagement · risk-averse · paternalistic · overprotective
overtreatingundertreating
Giving insufficient treatment
undertreatment · neglecting · watchful waiting · palliative care · undertreated
treat, retreat, treaty, treatment, treated, treats, treating, mistreat, untreated