Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, called on 20 hospitals today to stop marketing health screening programs directly to the public, saying such screenings do “a great disservice to the community … and to public health more broadly.”

In letters sent directly to the hospitals sponsoring screenings by HealthFair, based in Winter Park, FL, Public Citizen called on the hospitals to stop “fearmongering — scaring healthy individuals about their future health.” The letters note that for “many people, false-positive test results from this screening lead to unfounded anxiety and additional unnecessary, risky, and costly diagnostic procedures and treatment interventions.” They also point out that false positives can also lead to overdiagnosis.

“None of the current evidence-based guidelines issued by major medical professional organizations for the appropriate use of these six tests supports the type of widespread screening of asymptomatic individuals promoted and provided by HealthFair for any one of these tests individually, let alone together as a package,” the letters state.

The questions raised by Public Citizen about mass screenings have some merit. Medical screenings can be hugely beneficial to patients, but they are also costly and can contribute to some of issues of false positives and overdiagnosis outlined in the letters. To that end, both the ACC and the American Heart Association have joint guidelines that offer recommendations to guide physicians in making decisions with individual patients about their risk for heart attack and stroke. Other than assessing blood pressure and serum cholesterol, being attentive to diabetes and promoting a healthy weight with regular exercise, we do not recommend broad and untargeted screening.

From the patient perspective, decisions about the need for additional testing should be based on each patient’s circumstances. The College was one of the first associations to participate in the Choosing Wisely campaign, which encourages physicians and patients to discuss the costs and benefits of often overused tests and procedures. In addition, the College’s CardioSmart initiative is focused on educating patients and caregivers about cardiovascular disease, treatments and prevention.

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