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

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.