Five emergency procedures that offer little value are listed in US study

Doctors in the United States have identified five tests used in emergency departments that are of little value to patients and could help to reduce costs if used more rationally.

The authors of the study—from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, all in Boston—said that the cost of medical care in the US was growing at an unsustainable rate. From 2003 to 2011 the cost of a visit to the emergency department increased by 240% from $560 (£334; €409) …