What a $20,000 Longevity Clinic Really Buys You
People are paying thousands for exhaustive medical tests and treatments like plasma exchange and peptide therapy. How much does it benefit them?
It turns out many people are willing to pay a lot of money to try and stave off feelings of mortality: High-end health and longevity clinics are ballooning. Firm data on the industry is scant, but by one estimate there are as many as 800 such clinics in the United States alone. At some, people pay five-figure annual membership fees to gain access to a barrage of medical tests and personalized health recommendations. At others, à la carte anti-aging treatments can cost thousands of dollars for a single session.
Patients say that they feel rejuvenated by the interventions, and that while the plethora of data can be overwhelming, it ultimately helps them feel more in control of their health. But experts worry that these clinics are capitalizing on people’s fears of aging and death without offering many tangible benefits — because almost none of this is covered
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It is an unscrupulous area for sure. Non-evidence based treatments, that people are lured into by testimonials, with major financial conflicts of interest on the ordering “provider” who is recommending the tests has become common. I have a few tests where I make a tiny % off of (10-15%), but nothing that impacts my recommendations.
Procedures have risks, in addition to huge costs. Many involved are not even medical doctors.
It is remarkable how non-licensed (to order or prescribe) individuals have been enabled to behind the scenes get everything ordered (by a physician upstage from them at the lab or compounding group), such that the non-licensed individual is seemingly educated to and allowed to order things that are outside of their formal training.
Buyer beware, and please understand what degree the person you are seeing has, what their board certifications and history are, and what the financial conflicts of interest are.
For example, if the practice buys machine X then suddenly this gets pushed to pay for the machine, rather than individuals being recommended to have this test based on solid grounds.
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