The United States Preventive Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent, volunteer body of national specialists in prevention and evidence-based medicine that offers recommendations on clinical preventive services such as screening tests, counseling, and drugs. They are intended to help primary care providers, and patients determine if a preventive intervention is appropriate for a patient’s needs based on a thorough examination of current peer-reviewed data. The USPSTF looks for direct proof that a clinical preventive treatment leads to better health outcomes.
The Preventive Task Force’s primary responsibility is to ensure that essential clinical preventive themes are prioritized and that relevant research is evaluated for each recommendation. Preventive care can help individuals stay healthy by avoiding disease or discovering it early treatment is more successful and extends their lives (US Preventive Services Task Force, 2021). For example, Ralph DeAngelo’s 70-year-old man’s story tore apart the system of the United States, which ranks first in healthcare spending but 50th in life expectancy among all nations. To describe this case in detail, Ralph DeAngelo took a free PSA test to appease his wife and received a letter claiming that his results were “seriously abnormal.” Ralph underwent 12 biopsies, a cancer diagnosis, prostate removal, radiation, a hole between his rectum and bladder, and a colostomy in a clockwork way. He died of a urinary tract infection connected to his death (Brawley, 2012). Brawley explains how he examined Ralph’s medical records at his request. He concluded that the slightly higher level of prostate-specific antigen in the original PSA test might have been caused by a swelling of the prostate gland, which is typical in older men, rather than cancer. DeAngelo’s case questioned the efficacy and ethics of specific cancer tests, such as those that led Ralph to surgery, radiation, and even death.
The USPSTF produces evidence-based recommendations on preventive services such as screenings, behavioral therapy, and preventive drugs based on a chain of direct and indirect evidence. However, the USPSTF recommendations should be considered differently in each medical case, and specific medical examinations cannot always be valid.
References
Brawley, O., & Goldberg, I. (2012). How we do harm: A doctor breaks ranks about being sick in America. St. Martins Press.
US Preventive Services Task Force. (2021). Understanding how the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) works.