Health: Yearly Checkups

Most medical experts now think they may not be necessary

THE SURPRISING THING about the annual checkup is that most medical experts now agree it's a waste of time. Many health organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians and the U.S. Public Health Service, no longer recommend such examinations, and more than 20 years of studies have found no evidence that they provide a long-term benefit if you're a healthy adult, even one over 50. "The problem with the old way of doing the annual checkup is that it's one size fits all," says Dr. Russell Harris, director of the program on prevention at the University of...

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