Overtreatment of medical conditions has become the most talked about topic in medicine.  Every medical specialty is looking at overtreatment and how to minimise it. 
 
There are two main reasons why this is happening.  First, if a patient is not going to benefit from treatment, then we as doctors are placing these patients under unnecessary risks of complications from the treatment.  Secondly, we are wasting the resources that should be used for other treatments that patients would benefit from.

The number of women having immediate or delayed breast reconstruction following mastectomy is increasing in New Zealand and Australia. Implants are commonly used for breast reconstruction, and their safety has been debated extensively since the 1960s.

Mesh has routinely been used in hernia repairs in the last 20 years for all groin hernias as well as hernias in the abdominal wall that are more than 2 cm in diameter. Lately, there is lots of controversy with regards to the use of mesh in abdominal surgery.

I have often been asked by patients if they are a candidate for breast conservation surgery or should they have a mastectomy. So is there a right answer?
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Both you as a patient and your surgeon have a say in this decision, but ultimately the choice is yours. 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic medical condition affecting your intestines, predominantly large bowel.  There are more and more people living with it in New Zealand and all over the world.