The European Academy of Paediatrics is pleased to highlight a new opinion paper published in Acta Paediatrica as part of the EAP Choosing Wisely initiative.
In paediatrics, more care is not always better care.
Medical overuse can increase healthcare costs, place pressure on already stretched systems, and may expose children to unnecessary interventions. The paper reminds us that overuse is not only a technical or scientific issue. It is also shaped by clinical habits, fear of missing a diagnosis, defensive medicine, parental expectations, institutional pressures, and the way clinicians are trained to respond to uncertainty.
A new article by the Choosing Wisely SAG, “An Opinion on Medical Overuse in the Context of the European Academy of Paediatrics Choosing Wisely Initiative,” examines this important challenge: how to avoid unnecessary tests, investigations, and treatments while keeping the child’s best interests at the centre of clinical decision-making.
The authors explore how cognitive biases, risk aversion, decision fatigue, and the pressure to “do something” can influence clinical choices. In a healthcare culture that often rewards action, choosing a more measured approach may require confidence, support, and a broader change in mindset.
In paediatrics, more care is not always better care.
Medical overuse can increase healthcare costs, place pressure on already stretched systems, and may expose children to unnecessary interventions. The paper reminds us that overuse is not only a technical or scientific issue. It is also shaped by clinical habits, fear of missing a diagnosis, defensive medicine, parental expectations, institutional pressures, and the way clinicians are trained to respond to uncertainty.
Read the full publication in Acta Paediatrica:
An Opinion on Medical Overuse in the Context of the European Academy of Paediatrics Choosing Wisely Initiative
EAP warmly thanks the Choosing Wisely SAG and its representatives and all partners involved in this publication.
New ways to test high-risk medical devices.
Manufacturers of medical devices need to test their products before being allowed to market them. Specifically, they require clinical data showing their medical device is safe and efficient. In this context, the EU-funded CORE-MD project will translate expert scientific and clinical evidence on study designs for evaluating high-risk medical devices into advice for EU regulators. The project will propose how new trial designs can contribute and suggest ways to aggregate real-world data from medical device registries.
It will also conduct multidisciplinary workshops to propose a hierarchy of levels of evidence from clinical investigations, as well as educational and training objectives for all stakeholders, to build expertise in regulatory science in Europe. CORE–MD will translate expert scientific and clinical evidence on study designs for evaluating high-risk medical devices into advice for EU regulators, to achieve an appropriate balance between innovation, safety, and effectiveness. A unique collaboration between medical associations, regulatory agencies, notified bodies, academic institutions, patients’ groups, and health technology assessment agencies, will systematically review methodologies for the clinical investigation of high-risk medical devices, recommend how new trial designs can contribute, and advise on methods for aggregating real-world data from medical device registries with experience from clinical practice The consortium is led by the European Society of Cardiology and the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, and involves all 33 specialist medical associations that are members of the Biomedical Alliance in Europe.
