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CT Scan Overuse

Each year, hundreds of thousands of computerized topography scans (CT scans) are performed on patients. These scans are used most often as a means of diagnosis. Undoubtedly, hundreds of patients in the Kansas City area alone benefit from this useful tool.

Concern is increasing, however, about the amount of radiation emitted by CT scans. Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine addressed the issue from both perspectives. The debate wages over the potential harm to patients, weighed against the possible benefits.

The frequency with which CT scans are being used has tripled since 1993, according to another article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Studies estimate that seventy million or more scans are performed each year. Unfortunately, there is no universal regulation for the amount of radiation produced by the scans. This is of great concern when it is estimated that up to three percent of the 1.4 million diagnosed cancers are reported to be from CT scan use.

This lack of a universal standard is problematic. A single patient undergoing scans in two different hospitals might receive significantly different levels of radiation. In fact, receiving three scans in the abdominal area of the body can equal the amount of radiation received by a victim of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, Japan at the end of the Second World War. A basic CT scan of the chest is equivalent to the radiation in an x-ray, one hundred times over.

Concerns over the amount of radiation the scans expose patients to have prompted some in the Food and Drug Administration to call for a dialing back in the amount of scans performed. While acknowledging the value of CT scans as a diagnostic tool, some have expressed concern that the scans are too often performed unnecessarily. There is concern that scans are performed too often for the sake of a patient's piece of mind. Doctor's and technicians must explain the danger of the radiation to the patient's overall health.

Proper training for radiology technicians is a necessity. In recent cases of technicians exposing patients to far too much radiation during a CT scan, the amount of radiation patients received bordered on deadly.

If you or a loved one is living with an unnecessary side effect of radiation exposure from CT scan overuse, you may have questions about your rights. The Kansas City medical malpractice lawyers at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys offer a free initial consultation; call them at 888-348-2616 for more information. Access your free copy of the resource guide The Truth About Medical Malpractice Claims for other helpful information.

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