Posted by Gary Schwitzer in Health care journalism
Headline: “CT scans may pose cancer risk, new research indicates: Doctors, patients should weigh risks vs. rewards of medical imaging.” Good infographics in the paper and online (see below). And a sober ending:
“And some doctors who own scanning equipment have a financial stake in diagnostic imaging. Research shows that doctors who own machines perform two to seven times more imaging tests than those who don’t, said Dr. Vijay Rao, chair of radiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.Moreover, “the physicians who own this equipment and order the tests have generally had no training in radiology and little understanding of the complexities of radiation dosing” and its attendant health risks, Rao said. “For patients, this is absolutely the perfect storm.”
Disclaimer: I welcome comments but will delete those with any kind of product pitch, profanity, personal attacks or those from anyone who doesn’t list what appears to be an actual e-mail address. I will also end any thread of comments that are repetitive. Because I moderate comments, I can’t keep reacting to repeatedly inaccurate or unsubstantiated claims. We don't give medical advice so we won't respond to questions asking for it.
Treatment for advanced ovarian tumors may lengthen survival, but questions still remain, despite the story’s emphasis on “promising” and “new hope.”
As with the HealthDay story on this research that we reviewed, readers of this story get a good dose of caveats and cautions along with the suggestions that electrical brain stimulation might someday “have implications” for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The readers of this story and the other one we reviewed by Reuters are likely to understand that electrical brain stimulation could have some memory effects, but it’s a long way from becoming a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
We will not display your name or e-mail address on the site, nor will we share youre-mail address with any third parties.
For site updates and news from Gary, find us on Twitter:
HealthNewsReview: @HealthNewsRevu
Gary Schwitzer: @garyschwitzer
Copyright © 2012 Health News Review
Greg Pawelski posted on March 8, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I remember well how much my oldest brother had to train in radiology to know and teach it well. I was amazed years ago when I found out that physicians who own this equipment and ordered the tests did not necessarily have the training in radiology and very little understanding of its complexities. Indeed, the “perfect storm.” Then I found out that some night-shift (our time) in India was reading my wife’s scans so her physician could have the results the next day. Geesh!