RESEARCH - Overexposed: imaging tests boost US radiation dose

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Overexposed: imaging tests boost radiation dose

Wed Mar 4, 2009 1:58am GMT

By Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Americans are exposed to seven times more

radiation from diagnostic scans than in 1980, a report found on

Tuesday as experts said doctors are overusing the tests for profit and

raising health risks for patients.

The findings, issued by National Council on Radiation Protection and

Measurement, add to already mounting evidence that doctors are

ordering too many diagnostic tests, driving up the cost of healthcare

in the United States and potentially harming patients.

While diagnostic scans give doctors valuable information and many

times are necessary, doctors fear too much radiation exposure can

cause cancer, especially in younger people.

" Imaging has literally become the guiding hand of medical practice, "

said Dr. Thrall, chair of the American College of Radiology's

Board of Chancellors, who was not part of the study.

" Unfortunately, one of the things we have seen in the imaging world is

that many physicians look at imaging as the solution to their

financial problems, " Thrall, head of radiology at Massachusetts

General Hospital in Boston, said in a telephone interview.

He said imaging technology has created a financial incentive for some

doctors to cash in by referring patients to get imaging tests on

equipment in their own practices. This is one place the federal

government and Congress can look in enacting healthcare reform, Thrall

added.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNewsMolt/idUKTRE5226IR20090304

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