Technology in medicine: too much too soon?

The rapidly increasing cost of medical care and the contribution of high-technology procedures to that increase are examined. The lack of effective brakes is attributed to the demand for advanced medical care by an aging population and to the fact that third parties-taxpayers and employers-pay 72% of US medical care through Medicare and insurance. Problems also arise because technology is deployed too quickly. These problems are examined with respect to specific technologies, namely, lithotripsy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and pacemakers.<>