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Editorial
. 2019 May;114(5):716-717.
doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000000234.

Piles of Money: "Hemorrhoids" Are a Billion-Dollar Industry

Bard C Cosman  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Piles of Money: "Hemorrhoids" Are a Billion-Dollar Industry

Bard C Cosman. Am J Gastroenterol. 2019 May.

Abstract

Two persistent problems confront anyone wishing to gauge the public-health cost and impact of hemorrhoids. First, there is the slipperiness of the term "hemorrhoids," which both patients and physicians use with imprecision. Second, there is endoscopic over-diagnosis of prominent anal cushions as internal hemorrhoids. While these factors both inflate the apparent cost of hemorrhoids, the fact remains that hemorrhoid diagnosis and treatment has become a billion-dollar industry.

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