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CNN Sunday Morning
A Look at Executive Physical
Aired December 01, 2002 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: It has been called the executive physical. Several clinics around the country offer teams of specialists who spend all day poking and prodding to see what might ail you. But is it worth it? Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill and Debbie Steckel (ph) aren't about to get run-of-the-mill physicals; they're about to get ultimate physicals.
At 7:00 a.m...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll have as many as 25 to 30 individual different blood tests.
COHEN: Next...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put you on a treadmill next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, boy.
COHEN: Then EKGs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The doctor will be right in and he'll be monitoring the test.
COHEN: Hearing tests, eye tests, lung capacity tests.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three, four, five.
COHEN: Debbie will have a mammogram.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're looking at your lungs today.
COHEN: And a lung scan, since she's a smoker.
Bill will have prostate cancer tests, and they'll both generally be measured, weighed, poked and prodded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 51, she's 50. I think at that age, it's a great time to really start paying attention to what's changing in these old shells we call bodies.
COHEN: Specialists pore over every number, then offer counseling in the afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My regular doctor is a great guy, but he's busy, very busy. When you're here, you get a chance to talk to more than one doctor, and they're coming from different areas in their medical professions.
COHEN: So who gets these physicals?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Average picture of someone who walks in our front door is a male, between the ages of 40 and 60, usually have very high pressured, fast-paced lifestyle.
COHEN: And well off. You pay up front for the physical about $2,000. And no insurance accepted. So was it worth the money? Bill says yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had -- was diagnosed with prostate cancer that we really discovered through Scripps (ph) Center for Executive Health here.
COHEN: But others point out that a regular family doctor does many of these same tests. For example, the PSA blood test that caught Bill's cancer two years ago is routinely given to men his age.
And as for all the other poking and prodding, some say, do you really need to know exactly how flexible your ankles are? And with so many tests, some could come back positive by mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have enough people looking, someone will find something unusual and you're going to spend a lot of time worrying about it, when, in fact it doesn't amount to much.
COHEN: And that's why Dr. Vincenze Snow (ph) with the American College of Physicians says she wouldn't have an ultimate physical, even if someone else paid for it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't go looking for problems. I like to say, if it works, don't fix it.
COHEN: But Bill and Debbie Steckel (ph) are thrilled with their physicals. They say never have doctors devoted so much time to their health. Plus, there's that massage at the end.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 1, 2002 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: It has been called the executive physical. Several clinics around the country offer teams of specialists who spend all day poking and prodding to see what might ail you. But is it worth it? Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill and Debbie Steckel (ph) aren't about to get run-of-the-mill physicals; they're about to get ultimate physicals.
At 7:00 a.m...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll have as many as 25 to 30 individual different blood tests.
COHEN: Next...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put you on a treadmill next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, boy.
COHEN: Then EKGs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The doctor will be right in and he'll be monitoring the test.
COHEN: Hearing tests, eye tests, lung capacity tests.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three, four, five.
COHEN: Debbie will have a mammogram.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're looking at your lungs today.
COHEN: And a lung scan, since she's a smoker.
Bill will have prostate cancer tests, and they'll both generally be measured, weighed, poked and prodded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 51, she's 50. I think at that age, it's a great time to really start paying attention to what's changing in these old shells we call bodies.
COHEN: Specialists pore over every number, then offer counseling in the afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My regular doctor is a great guy, but he's busy, very busy. When you're here, you get a chance to talk to more than one doctor, and they're coming from different areas in their medical professions.
COHEN: So who gets these physicals?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Average picture of someone who walks in our front door is a male, between the ages of 40 and 60, usually have very high pressured, fast-paced lifestyle.
COHEN: And well off. You pay up front for the physical about $2,000. And no insurance accepted. So was it worth the money? Bill says yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had -- was diagnosed with prostate cancer that we really discovered through Scripps (ph) Center for Executive Health here.
COHEN: But others point out that a regular family doctor does many of these same tests. For example, the PSA blood test that caught Bill's cancer two years ago is routinely given to men his age.
And as for all the other poking and prodding, some say, do you really need to know exactly how flexible your ankles are? And with so many tests, some could come back positive by mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have enough people looking, someone will find something unusual and you're going to spend a lot of time worrying about it, when, in fact it doesn't amount to much.
COHEN: And that's why Dr. Vincenze Snow (ph) with the American College of Physicians says she wouldn't have an ultimate physical, even if someone else paid for it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't go looking for problems. I like to say, if it works, don't fix it.
COHEN: But Bill and Debbie Steckel (ph) are thrilled with their physicals. They say never have doctors devoted so much time to their health. Plus, there's that massage at the end.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
