The Washington Post recently explored how the growing use of medical imaging services, including CT scans (computed tomography), is exposing millions of patients throughout the country to unnecessary risk.  The number of scans performed has grown from 3 million in 1980 to 67 million in 2006.  David J. Brenner, a professor of radiation oncology at Columbia University, said that  "radiation doses from CT have been pretty clearly demonstrated to increase cancer risk." 

While experts do not want to alarm patients, they are worried about overuse, especially in children since the average CT chest scan, exposes patients to more than 150 times the radiation compared to a typical chest X-ray.  Several researchers including Brenner and Fred A. Mettler Jr., a radiation health expert at the University of New Mexico, have recently co-authored a series of reports warning about the potential risks of CT scans.  Data shows that every 1,000 to 2,000 CT scans may produce one additional fatal cancer that would not have occurred, and rates are much higher for children and young women, sometimes as low one additional cancer for every 143 scans.

Reasons for overuse of CT scans vary but some suspect financial interests in imaging facilities or the role of defensive medicine by doctors (to fend off accusations of withholding necessary care) may be attributed to the unprecedented rise in use of these services.

Read more...