A recent news article in Reuters described a surprising reduction in colorectal screenings, biopsies, and surgeries due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is unmistakable that the pandemic is causing a delay in colorectal cancer screenings and related treatment. Despite the fact that it is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths, hospitals and clinic have deferred screening and treatment to comply with shelter-in-place orders and to free up providers to deal with the pandemic.

The numbers are striking: for the period from mid-March to mid-April, colonoscopies and biopsies declined by almost 90%, and surgeries were down by 53%. The figures suggest that some who were newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer were postponing procedures.

Much of the decrease is likely based on patients simply deferring further screenings or procedures because of concern about visiting a clinic or hospital and potential exposure to the virus. A gastroenterologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago commented that catching up will be a challenge because, even when medicine “opens up” there will be a large backlog to overcome. “We don’t want people to further postpone screenings, and we certainly don’t want to postpone surgeries.”

Apart from the health risks involved, as we noted in earlier blog posts, deferring non-virus care has had a large financial impact on medicine. Many clinics and hospitals have found themselves with empty rooms and hallways, and many furloughs and layoffs of health care providers have occurred. Furthermore, delaying care can have a substantial negative impact on peoples’ health and potential malpractice claim.

There is no simple answer to the conundrum, as folks continue to put off increasingly necessary treatment in order to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. As clinics and providers adjust their practices to compensate, we expect that people are able to return for the care they need without injury from any delay.