[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1606”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“title”:“inthenews-nyt”,“alt”:“The New York TImes logo”}}]]Men routinely get screened for prostate cancer with the P.S.A. blood test, but should they?

Shannon Brownlee, an instructor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, says in this article, “If there is one lesson from the P.S.A. test, it is that more information and intervention do not always lead to less suffering.”

She and her co-author talk to experts on both sides of the issue, including H. Gilbert Welch, a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute who believes men should be give a choice about screening because the benefits do not clearly outweigh the risks.

Read the full story, published in the The New York Times Magazine on 10/05/11.